Writing a strong essay

“I don’t know what I think until I see what I say.” -- E.M. Forster

By William Mares
Teacher, writer

What is persuasive writing? It’s about real issues in which you are using words (not clubs or looks) to get people to change their minds or actions. This is no mean feat when most people are set in their ways and opinions. Writing is about caring. Here are some thoughts on how to best write persuasively.

Style. First, read Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style,” still the best compendium of writing advice written in the last 100 years. I do so every year. It’s full of simple, clear reminders about what makes good prose.

The point. Next, ask yourself: “What’s the point? What’s the assignment?” It makes no difference whether you chose it or a teacher does it for you. That’s your task for the day. If you don’t care about the topic, you can’t be very persuasive. A reader can spot a phony writer in 25 words or less.

The audience. Next, care about the reader. Are you trying to inform someone, or just to shoot off your mouth? Do you want to change people’s minds, or just listen to your own? If you want to persuade, you have to know that there is another side to the issue you address, one you must overcome with your ideas and words. In the polite society of ideas, you can’t bludgeon the other person. It actually means you have to respect the other person’s point of view. So, why not imagine you are writing for your best friend who happens to disagree with you on this topic. When I write, I put an imaginary photo of a real friend in front of the typewriter to help me write conversationally.

The tools. Like a good carpenter, use sharpened tools. How will you change his/her mind? Beat them up? Walk away? No, you stand there and use good arguments, good images. Give them an intellectual paper trail they can follow. Use image and analogy and quotes to make your case. Wouldn’t you want the same treatment?

Avoid “I.” Paradoxically, even though you feel strongly, you don’t want to use the first person except in the rarest times when you are part of the story. George Orwell said to write so that your prose is a clear pane of glass through which the reader looks. Most times when you use the first person, you’re putting a thumb print on the glass.

Use history. Remember, you don’t have to start from scratch. You’ve got the whole of human history’s written record to draw on — facts, statistics, events and quotes to buttress your case. I love quotes. They can save some of the most wretched prose.

Be strong. Be concrete in your language. Give the reader meat and potatoes and then salt, pepper and herbs for flavor.

Set a deadline. Try to write the first draft on a fixed deadline: 60, 75, 90 minutes, something like that. Turn off your music, phone and instant messaging and write the piece straight through. Then make the corrections on the next draft. The set length of time aids in building a consistent style.

(Several times a year, I require my foreign policy students to write an article on deadline about a guest speaker. I encourage them to take their notes from class, figure out the “lead” or opening, and then sit down at home for a specific length of time and write what is called a “color piece” about our visitor incorporating what the person says with some description of the setting and his/her demeanor or dress. )

Be brief. As the economist, professor and writer John K. Galbraith wrote, “The gains from brevity are obvious: In all but the worst efforts to achieve brevity, it is the worst and dullest that goes. It is the worst and dullest that spoils the rest.”

Read out loud. When you are done, read it aloud. There’s no better way of finding grammatical errors, or logical flaws, or arrhythmia.

Style II. Finally, review Strunk and White a second time.