There are two types of people in this world: people who divide people into two types, and people who don’t. (Yawn!)
The same point can be made for almost anything,, including essay writing.
Essay writing is part science, which this series of posts address, and part art. There is also a poetic element to good essay writing.
I have not (yet) addressed the artistic or poetic elements of good essay writing, but merely put forward some tips and tricks to help get anyone who is feeling 'stuck' unstuck and moving. Addressing these elements of writing great essays would be a big undertaking and is beyond the current scope of this collection of posts.
Getting someone who is familiar with and competent at writing good academic essays to proof-read and suggest edits to your work is one of the best ways to develop your essay writing skills. It's also one of the easiest ways to quickly develop the more artistic, poetic aspects of essay writing. Reading good writing is another great tactic for improving here.
It should be acknowledged that essay writing is a skill that, like most complex endeavours, takes considerable time and persistence to do well. Yes, it will come more naturally to some than others, but everyone has the capacity to continually improve in this area and most people are capable of writing academic essays to a higher standard than they might believe possible at the outset.
Chin up. Keep writing. You will most likely end up surprising yourself with what you are capable of, regarding writing essays, as is the case in virtually any other area of life you apply yourself to.
Next Post: Effective Communication
March 2018 (Updated January 2021)