the importance of essay writing

The Fundamentals of Essay Writing

Writing essays can be important for expressing yourself, succeeding in school, and growing professionally. It’s a great way to communicate and grow as a person. But a lot of students aren’t totally sure what essay writing is.

No need to worry as this article will introduce you to essay writing with examples. You will also get to read expert tips for crafting one like a pro. So, without further ado, let’s get started.

Table of Contents

All You Need to Know About Essay Writing

What is essay writing.

Writing an essay is like crafting a piece of art. It requires careful thought and structure to present your ideas logically. You need to develop a thesis statement for the introduction, build your arguments in the body, and wrap it all up with a summary in the conclusion.

Let’s look at an essay about how social media has changed modern society. The intro would say something like, “Social media has completely changed how people communicate and interact in the digital world.”

The main section will detail how social media affects our relationships. How does it help spread information? And how can it be used for activism? In the end, it would sum up the main points, restating the thesis statement and emphasizing the impact of social media on our mentality.

The Importance of Essay Writing

Essay writing sharpens your critical thinking, communication, and exploration skills. Academically, it tests your understanding and analysis. Professionally, it helps you put forward your ideas persuasively and spread knowledge. On a personal level, it encourages self-discovery and lets you explore creatively.

Let’s say a high schooler is assigned an essay about the advantages of renewable energy. After good research, he has come up with a solid argument to show its environmental, economic, and lasting benefits. By doing so, the student’s knowledge of the topic improves. Also, his ability to express persuasive and coherent points.

Types of Essay Writing

There are different types of essays. Narrative, explanatory, argumentative, and descriptive are some of the most popular ones. Each has a specific purpose, and it is written in a different style:

Narrative Essays

These essays present a narrative, often with descriptive elements to draw in the reader and make them feel something. Narrative essay writing is intended to be enjoyable, create feelings of understanding or sympathy, or impart wisdom.

Descriptive Essays

A descriptive essay provides readers with an image of the topic being discussed through vivid sensory details. Descriptive essay writing enables readers to form a mental picture of the subject and experience it more vividly.

Expository Essays

Expository essays provide information on a particular topic or idea through the presentation of facts, evidence, and logic. Expository essay writing intends to be clear and objective interpretations of the subject.

Persuasive Essays

Persuasive essay writing focuses on convincing readers to adopt the author’s perspective on a certain topic. Evidence is presented to support the arguments, and a counterargument is often included to reinforce the writer’s point of view further. It is also known as argumentative essay writing! 

Compare and Contrast Essays

This essay examines the similarities and disparities between two or more topics. Providing readers with an understanding of their characteristics and connections.

Cause and Effect Essays

These essays analyze the origins of an event and the results that followed. They attempt to demonstrate the link between different aspects and the causal relationship between them.

Process Essays

Process essays provide readers with a step-by-step guide to accomplish a particular goal or complete a task. They offer directions and explanations in a straightforward manner.

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Reflective Essays

Reflective essay writing requires the author to reflect upon a particular experience or event. Also, to express their ideas, emotions, and reflections on it. Hence encourage reflective thinking and self-evaluation.

Informative Essays 

Informative essay writing focuses on facts about a certain subject to inform the reader without giving out their opinions or arguments.

Synthesis Essays 

In synthesis essay writing , you combine different sources or views to form a single argument, showing that you understand different sides of an issue.

Analytical Essays 

Analytical essay writing gives an in-depth look at a subject, going over all the details and exploring all the different aspects of it. Thus, provides a more profound understanding than what’s just on the surface.

Evaluation Essays

Evaluation essay writing looks at the good and bad of a certain topic, like a book, movie, or product. You decide what’s good and bad about it and why based on evidence.

Definition Essays

Definition essay writing thoroughly explains terms, concepts, or ideas. These go beyond the basic dictionary definition to discuss the various ways time can be interpreted.

Cause and Effect Essays 

Cause and effect essay writing examines the causes and effects of an event or action. It is a way to look into how things happen, showing how one event or action leads to another. Analyzing patterns and connections helps to understand how things are related and how they fit together.

Critical Essays 

Critical essay writing analyzes and examines works of art, literature, or concepts. It looks at the positives, negatives, and implications of them while taking into account broader contexts.

Components of a Good Essay

A well-crafted essay comprises several essential components that work harmoniously to create a coherent, compelling, and impactful piece of writing. Let’s explore each of these components in detail, along with examples:

Introduction

The start of an essay is the entry point. It draws the reader in and sets the tone for the rest of the piece. It can be done through a captivating sentence or thought-provoking question. 

A thesis statement in the introduction is vital to outline the main point or purpose of the essay. The example below will illustrate how to start an essay .

“Imagine a world where machines surpass human intelligence, reshaping our societies and challenging our very existence. It is the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), a rapidly evolving technology that has sparked intense debates on its potential benefits and dangers. 

In this essay, we will focus on the impact of AI on various industries and its implications for humanity’s future.”

The essay should provide a well-structured and well-supported argument that follows a logical progression. Each paragraph should have a focused point backed up with evidence, examples, or data. Transitions between paragraphs should be seamless.

Paragraph for the Impact of AI on Healthcare

In the medical world, AI has become a real game-changer, revolutionizing how patients receive treatment and diagnosis. AI-based algorithms can quickly process vast amounts of medical info, helping spot illnesses early and determine the proper diagnosis.

Counter Arguments

To make the essay more convincing, it’s a good idea to bring up any arguments against the author’s opinion and then prove them wrong with solid facts and figures. That way, it looks like they’ve taken a fair look at both sides of the story, and it makes them look more trustworthy.

“While the potential advantages of AI in healthcare are undeniable, skeptics argue that widespread AI implementation may lead to job losses for medical professionals. However, studies have shown that AI complements rather than replaces human expertise.

Medical practitioners can focus on more complex tasks while AI handles routine data analysis, leading to increased efficiency and better patient outcomes.”

In the end, you should summarize all the main points discussed in the essay and reiterate your thesis statement. You want to leave your reader with an impactful, lasting impression and may even suggest further ideas or advice.

To wrap it up, AI has opened the door to a world of opportunities and difficulties for many fields, especially healthcare. We have to make sure we use AI wisely and consider its ethical and social effects if we want to make the most of it for the good of people.

As we move towards the future, finding a balance between technology and humanity will decide what type of world we create for future generations.

Language and Style

An essay should be written using straightforward language that avoids being too complicated or using any confusing jargon. The tone and style should stay consistent in order to be appropriate for the audience and the purpose it’s intended for.

Proper Citations and References

Incorporating credible sources and providing proper citations and references strengthens the essay’s credibility. Doing this step also acknowledges the work of others.

According to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (Smith et al., 2021), AI-powered algorithms demonstrated an accuracy rate of over 90% in diagnosing rare diseases.

How to Write an Essay 

You should know that writing an essay is a structured process that requires careful planning, organization, and effective communication. Here are some essay writing tips with examples to illustrate each stage: 

Understand the Assignment

Before getting started on your writing, ensure you read and understand the essay question or instructions for the assignment. Figure out what you need to write about, the kind of essay you need to write, and any instructions your teacher gave you.

Plus, if you have an option to pick one from different topics for essay writing , go for one that has enough data available as supporting evidence.

Essay Prompt:  “Discuss the impact of social media on interpersonal relationships.”

Brainstorm and Plan

Take some time to think of ideas and make a solid outline for the essay. Figure out the main points that back up your main idea and organize them in a way that makes sense.

A)  Hook:  Start with a thought-provoking statistic or quote about social media.

B)  Thesis Statement:  social media has transformed interpersonal relationships by reshaping communication patterns and shaping social behaviors.

Impact on Communication Patterns

A)  Increased Connectivity:  social media enables constant communication regardless of distance.

B)  Changes in Communication Tone:  Online interactions may differ from face-to-face communication.

Shaping Social Behaviors

A)  Influence of social media on Decision-Making:  Peer recommendations and influencers’ impact.

B)  Social Media and Identity:  How online platforms influence self-presentation.

A)  Restate Thesis:  Reiterate the impact of social media on interpersonal relationships.

B)  Final Thoughts:  Reflect on the broader implications of these changes in modern society.

Write the Introduction

It’s essential to start off with something that will grab the reader’s attention and give them a good idea of what the essay will be about. You should also ensure that your thesis statement is clear and concise to outline the essay’s main argument.

“Social media has become an integral part of modern life. It is transforming the way we connect with others and shaping our social interactions. 

In this essay, we will explore the profound impact of social media on interpersonal relationships. Also delves into its influence on communication patterns and its role in shaping social behaviors.”

Develop the Main Body

In the main body of your writing, ensure each paragraph focuses on one idea and back it up with facts, examples, or research.

Paragraph on Increased Connectivity:

Long-distance relationships are a lot easier to manage since couples can stay in touch through messages and video calls. Thus, staying close and offering emotional support is easier and more convenient. Thanks to social media!

Address Counterarguments:

If appropriate, acknowledge counterarguments and refute them with solid evidence or reasoning.

“While some critics argue that social media isolates people from face-to-face interactions, research shows that it can also enhance offline relationships. Since social media strengthens existing connections and facilitates new ones.”

Write the Conclusion

Sum up the important points discussed in the essay and restate the thesis. It will help in leaving the reader with a lasting impression or broader insights.

“As we navigate the digital landscape of social media, its impact on interpersonal relationships continues to evolve. By understanding and adapting to these changes, we can harness the good side of social media to foster meaningful connections and enrich our social lives.”

Revise and Edit:

Review the essay for coherence, clarity, and proper structure. Edit for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors to ensure a polished final piece.

How to Format an Essay? 

It’s important to present your ideas neat and organized so they’re easy to read and make sense. Giving your essay the proper format adds to its overall presentation and makes it look more professional. 

Here’s how to format an essay :

Use the Appropriate Font and Font Size

Pick a font that is easy to read, like Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri, and make sure it’s 12 pt. That way, everything looks nice and neat.

Set Page Margins

Ensure your document has a balanced and nice look by having one-inch margins.

Use Double Spacing

Make sure to give your essay some breathing room by double-spacing it. That includes the main text, any quotes, and the references. Doing this makes the essay easier to read and allows you to add notes or feedback if it’s for an assignment.

Create a Clear Title

Put the name of the essay at the top of the first page. Make it stand out using bold or bigger font size.

Include Page Numbers

Label all the pages starting with the second one in the top right corner. Leave the first page blank; no number is needed.

Align Text to the Left

Set the text alignment to left-justified for a clean and professional appearance.

Indent Paragraphs

Start each paragraph by indenting the first line by about half an inch or one tab space. This’ll help make it clear when one paragraph ends and another begins and make the text easier to read.

Separate Sections with Headings

If you’re writing an essay with many different parts, consider using headings and subheadings. Doing so will group the info and make it easier for people to read.

Use Italics or Quotation Marks for Titles

Italicize or employ quotation marks for titles of books, articles, films, or other significant works mentioned in the essay.

Follow Citation Guidelines

Ensure you use the correct citation system (like APA, MLA, or Chicago) for any external sources you use when writing your essay. It’s important to cite correctly so the original authors get proper credit.

Include a References or Works Cited Page

List all the sources you used in your essay and put it at the end. Arrange them alphabetically by the author’s surname or to the rules of the citation style you’re using.

Check for Consistency

Check over your essay to make sure it looks good and has the same font, headings, and citation style throughout. Having all the formatting consistent shows that you’ve put in attention to detail and you’re serious about your work.

Essay Writing Examples 

Here are a few essay writing examples to demonstrate different types of essays:

Narrative Essay Example (Extract)

Title:  “A Journey of Self-Discovery”

“I was right at the edge of the cliff, my heart pounding with a mix of fear and exhilaration. It wasn’t just a physical experience; it was a journey of learning about myself. I inhaled deeply and knew that the only way to challenge my anxieties and accept my true self was to dive into the unfamiliar…”

In this narrative essay, the writer shares a personal experience and takes the reader on a journey filled with emotions and introspection.

Argumentative Essay Example (Extract)

Title:  “The Impact of Technology on Human Interaction”

“Advances in technology have resulted in a big shift in how humans communicate and interact. Evidence suggests that it has caused a decrease in face-to-face interactions and increased isolation. This essay will explore the potential negative impacts of technology on human relationships. Also, elaborate on the importance of finding a balance in the digital age…”

In this argumentative essay, the writer presents a clear thesis statement and supports it with logical evidence to persuade the reader of their viewpoint.

Descriptive Essay Example (Extract)

Title:  “The Enchanting Sunrise”

“The sun’s initial beams reached the edge of the sky, waking up the world with a mix of colors. There was an orange, pink, and gold sky, and the dew on the grass glimmered like jewels. The serene beauty of the sunrise held my heart, giving me a deep feeling of amazement and admiration…”

In this descriptive essay, the writer uses vivid language and sensory details for painting a picture of a serene sunrise. Thus, creating a captivating and immersive experience for the reader.

Expository Essay Example (Extract)

Title:  “The Life Cycle of a Butterfly”

“The life cycle of a butterfly is interesting, featuring four different phases: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Each part of the process is essential for transforming a small caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly that adds color and elegance to our gardens.”

In this expository essay, the writer provides factual information and explains the process of a butterfly’s life cycle, educating the reader about the subject.

Common Essay Writing Tasks for Students 

A student is often engaged in the following writing tasks. 

Opinion Essay

Opinion essay writing expresses the writer’s viewpoint on a specific topic, supported by reasoning and evidence.

Dissertation Essay

A dissertation essay is a comprehensive and original research document. It is often a requirement for advanced degrees.

Biography Essay

Biography essay writing narrates the life journey and significant events of a person. Provides insights into their character and impact.

College Essay

A personal statement or essay submitted during college admissions. A college essay showcases the applicant’s qualities and aspirations.

History Essay

History essay writing is all about analyzing historical events, periods, or figures. The facts in this essay are supported by evidence and critical analysis.

Psychology Essay

In psychology essay writing , we explore psychological theories, experiments, or phenomena.

Political Science Essay

A political science essay writing examines political systems, ideologies, and policies. Such essays often require critical evaluation and argumentation.

Biology Essay

In biology essay writing , we focus on biological concepts, research, and discoveries. It provides insights into living organisms.

Physics Essay

Physics essay writing explores principles of physics, theories, or experiments. It aims to explain natural phenomena.

Chemistry Essay

Chemistry essay writing discusses chemical properties, reactions, or applications, backed by scientific evidence.

Computer Science Essay

Computer science essay writing investigates topics related to computer technology, programming, or algorithms.

Law essay writing analyzes legal issues, cases, or principles, applying legal reasoning and citing relevant statutes and cases.

Nursing Essay

The nursing essay writing addresses nursing practices, patient care, or healthcare policies based on evidence-based research.

Finance Essay

A finance essay writing discusses financial concepts, markets, or investment strategies. It often involves data analysis.

Sociology Essay

Sociology essay writing explores social structures, cultural phenomena, or sociological theories.

Free Essay Writing Tools for Students 

Luckily students can access many tools today that will assist their writing. Let’s discuss a few top free essay writing tools . 

Grammarly is a popular writing assistant that looks over grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It also gives tips to help make sentences clearer and more structured. 

Hemingway Editor

Hemingway helps learners make their essays easier to understand by highlighting long sentences, too many adverbs, and passive voice. It’s all about making the write-up easy to read.

Thesaurus.com

A thesaurus can be a great tool to boost your vocabulary and come up with different words to express the same idea in writing. Thesaurus.com has a ton of words and synonyms to give your language some extra spice.

Google Docs

Google Docs is an excellent online word processor that allows people to collaborate in real time. It makes it much simpler for students to cooperate on group projects or get teacher feedback.

Evernote is an excellent note-taking app for students. It lets you keep all your research, ideas, and sources in one spot, so you can create a neat outline before you even start writing your essay.

Zotero is a fantastic tool to help students collect, organize, and cite sources in different formats. It makes creating bibliographies a breeze and guarantees that the referencing is spot on.

Canva is an excellent tool for students to make their work look more impressive. It’s a graphic design platform that lets you create attractive presentations and infographics to accompany essays. It’s a great way to make your work look more professional and engaging.

Cite This for Me

Cite this for me helps in creating citations in various formats like APA, MLA, and Chicago. Just enter the source details, and it’ll do the work for you! It’s a great time-saver and guarantees accuracy.

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Essay writing is a fundamental element of academics, career paths, and personal development. To write a good essay, Knowledge of the basics is essential. Also, you need to craft strong introductions and solid arguments and exhibit creativity.

Importantly, essay writing is a skill, and it will only improve with practice. So, ensure you devote proper time to it regularly.

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This page continues from our page: Planning an Essay , the essential first step to successful essay writing.

This page assumes that you have already planned your essay, you have taken time to understand the essay question, gathered information that you intend to use, and have produced a skeleton plan of you essay – taking into account your word limit.

This page is concerned with the actual writing of your essay, it provides some guidelines for good practice as well as some common mistakes you'll want to avoid.

Structuring Your Essay

An essay should be written in a flowing manner with each sentence following on logically from the previous one and with appropriate signposts to guide the reader.

An essay usually takes the following structured format:

• The introduction
• The main body: a development of the issues
• A conclusion
• A list of references of the sources of information you have used

The Introduction

The function of the introduction is simply to introduce the subject, to explain how you understand the question, and describe briefly how you intend to deal with it.

You could begin by defining essential terms, providing a brief historical or personal context if appropriate, and/or by explaining why you think the subject is significant or interesting.

Some people are far too ambitious in writing their introductions. Writing a lengthy introduction limits the number of words available for the main body of the assignment.

Keep the introduction short, preferably to one or two paragraphs and keep it, succinct, to the point.

Some students find it best to write a provisional introduction, when starting to write an essay, and then to rewrite this when they have finished the first draft of their essay. To write a provisional introduction, ask yourself what the reader needs to know in order to follow your subsequent discussion.

Other students write the introduction after they have written the main body of the essay – do whatever feels right for you and the piece of work you are writing.

The Main Body: A Development of the Issues

Essays are generally a blend of researched evidence (e.g. from additional reading) and comment.

Some students' essays amount to catalogues of factual material or summaries of other people's thoughts, attitudes, philosophies or viewpoints.

At the opposite extreme, other students express only personal opinions with little or no researched evidence or examples taken from other writers to support their views.  What is needed is a balance.

The balance between other researchers’ and writers’ analysis of the subject and your own comment will vary with the subject and the nature of the question.   Generally, it is important to back up the points you wish to make from your experience with the findings of other published researchers and writers.

You will have likely been given a reading list or some core text books to read. Use these as your research base but try to expand on what is said and read around the subject as fully as you can. Always keep a note of your sources as you go along.

You will be encouraged and expected to cite other authors or to quote or paraphrase from books that you have read. The most important requirement is that the material you cite or use should illustrate, or provide evidence of, the point you are making. How much evidence you use depends on the type of essay you are writing.

If you want a weight of evidence on some factual point, bring in two or three examples but no more.

Quotations should not be used as a substitute for your own words. A quote should always have an explanation in your own words to show its significance to your argument.

When you are citing another author's text you should always indicate exactly where the evidence comes from with a reference, i.e. give the author's name, date of publication and the page number in your work.  A full reference should also be provided in the reference list at the end.

See our page: Academic Referencing for more information.

A Conclusion

At the end of an essay you should include a short conclusion, the purpose of which is to sum up or draw a conclusion from your argument or comparison of viewpoints.

In other words, indicate what has been learned or accomplished. The conclusion is also a good place to mention questions that are left open or further issues which you recognise, but which do not come within the scope of your essay.

Neither the conclusion, nor the introduction, should totally summarise your whole argument: if you try this, you are in danger of writing another assignment that simply repeats the whole case over again.

You must include a reference list or bibliography at the end of your work.

One common downfall is to not reference adequately and be accused of plagiarism. If you have directly quoted any other author's text you should always indicate exactly where the evidence comes from in a reference. If you have read other documents in order to contrast your argument then these should also be referenced.

See our page: Academic Referencing for a more comprehensive look at the importance of referencing and how to reference properly.

Signposting or Guiding your Reader

When writing an essay it is good practice to consider your reader.

To guide the reader through your work you will need to inform them where you are starting from (in the introduction), where you are going (as the essay progresses), and where you have been (in the conclusion).

It is helpful to keep the reader informed as to the development of the argument. You can do this by using simple statements or questions that serve to introduce, summarise or link the different aspects of your subject.

Here are a few examples:

There are two reasons for this:  first,... second,...

Moreover, it should not be forgotten that...

With regard to the question of...

Another important factor to be considered is...

How can these facts be interpreted? The first point...

There are several views on this question. The first is...

Finally, it is important to consider...

Constructing Paragraphs

One important way of guiding the reader through your essay is by using paragraphs.

Paragraphs show when you have come to the end of one main point and the beginning of the next.  A paragraph is a group of sentences related to aspects of the same point.  Within each individual paragraph an idea is introduced and developed through the subsequent sentences within that paragraph.

Everyone finds it easier to read a text that is broken into short paragraphs.

Without paragraphs, and the spaces between them, the page will appear like an indigestible mass of words.

You should construct your essay as a sequence of distinct points set out in a rational order.

Each sentence and paragraph should follow logically from the one before and it is important that you do not force your reader to make the connections. Always make these connections clear signposting where the argument or discussion is going next.

Although the points you are making may seem obvious to you, can they be more clearly and simply stated?

It is also worth bearing in mind that the marker of your work may have a lot of other, similar pieces of work to mark and assess. Try to make yours easy to read and follow – make it stand out, for the right reasons!

Essay Style

There are two general misconceptions about essay style:

• One is that a good essay should be written in a formal, impersonal way with a good scattering of long words and long, complicated sentences.
• The other misconception is to write as we talk. Such a style is fine for personal letters or notes, but not in an essay. You can be personal, but a certain degree of formality and objectivity is expected in an academic essay.

The important requirement of style is clarity and precision of expression.

Where appropriate use simple and logical language and write in full or complete sentences.  You should avoid jargon, especially jargon that is not directly connected to your subject area. You can be personal by offering your own viewpoint on an issue, or by using that view to interpret other authors' work and conclusions.

Drafts and Rewriting

Most essays can be improved by a thorough edit.

You can cross out one word and substitute another, change the shape or emphasis of a sentence, remove inconsistencies of thought or terminology, remove repetitions and ensure there is adequate referencing.

In short, you are your first reader, edit and criticise your own work to make it better. Sometimes it is useful to read your essay out loud.

Another useful exercise is to ask someone else to read the essay through. A person proofreading the essay for the first time will have a different perspective from your own and will therefore be better placed to point out any incoherence, lack of structure, grammatical errors, etc.

Ideally find somebody to proofread who has a good grasp of spelling and grammar and at least a casual interest in your subject area.

One or two edits should be sufficient. It is best not to become involved in an unproductive multiplicity of drafts. The remedy is to analyse the question again and write another, simple, plan based on how to organise the material you are not happy with in the draft of your essay. Rewrite the essay according to that revised plan and resist the tendency to panic in the middle, tear it up and start all over again. It is important to get to the end and then revise again. Otherwise you will have a perfect opening couple of paragraphs and potentially the rest of the essay in disarray.

You will learn and improve much more through criticising and correcting your work than by simply starting again.

Don't Panic!

A few students can get so anxious about an assignment that they find themselves unable to write anything at all.

There are several reasons why this can happen. The primary reason is usually that such students set themselves too high a standard and then panic because they cannot attain it. This may also be due to factors such as the fear of the expectations of others or placing too high an expectation on themselves.

Whatever the reason, if you cannot write an assignment, you have to find a way out of your panic.  If you find yourself in this position, do not allow the situation to drift; try to act swiftly.  Discussing your worries with your tutor and/or peers, or simply writing them down, will help you clarify why you might feel stuck.

Another trick is to dash off what you consider to be a 'bad' essay, hand it in and see what happens, or decide to write the assignment in two hours without notes or references and see how that goes. You can always come back to enter the references later.

Students often say that their hurried and most casual essay got a higher mark than one which they struggled with for weeks; in fact this happened because they got down to essentials and made their points quickly.  The experiment might be worth a try.

If, despite study and good intentions, you cannot seem to get your essay written, or even started, you should let your tutor know as soon as possible.

Your tutor will have encountered such problems many times, and it is part of his/her job to help you sort them out.

Continue to: Assignment Finishing Touches Academic Referencing

See also: The Do’s and Don’ts of Essay Writing Effective Reading Note-Taking for Reading

By the Northeastern Community

What are the benefits of essay writing.

by Matthew | Sep 6, 2022 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

If you are a student in college or university, you may be wondering why essays feature so heavily in your academic career. Regardless of your major, you will probably have to write several essays each semester. In fact, essay writing is viewed as such an important skill that students are given basic essay writing assignments from as early as elementary school.

Because essay writing can be a challenge, many students naturally feel averse to it. With so many overwhelming commitments and deadlines, it is lucky that students can easily order essay online to avoid failing. That said, essay writing can help you to gain valuable lifelong skills under the right circumstances. This article will explore some of them.

Why do we get many essay assignments?

Before we go into how essay writing is useful, let us look at why students have to write so many essays. Although the academic essay has been an integral part of the higher education experience for centuries, students today are given more frequent and harder essay assignments. Why?

You may be surprised to learn that the Internet played a crucial role in increasing our essay writing workload. Because so much information has been moved from dusty tomes and academic textbooks onto the web, people can access information quicker and more conveniently than ever.

Therefore, there is no longer a need for the academic system to prioritize memorization and recollection. While examinations and recitation used to be the standard way to assess learning, they are now largely irrelevant. Instead, educational institutions are focusing their efforts on developing higher-level abilities such as critical thinking.

Hence, essay writing is now widely utilized as an effective method of evaluating the understanding and analytical skills of students. If you are wondering how this shift in the education system helps you, here are the advantages that you can gain from essay writing.

1. You learn to research and analyze evidence

If students want to create an excellent essay, they must be able to correctly locate and make use of evidence that is relevant to the topic. Finding relevant sources of information from academic journals, the Internet, and independent research is a painstaking and involved process. When doing research for your essay, you learn how to conduct efficient research and separate useful knowledge from extraneous (albeit interesting) information.

Instead of simply regurgitating concepts that you studied in class, essay writing forces you to use critical thinking. You need to determine the kind of evidence that you need and undertake the relevant research to find it. Then, you must differentiate reputable and disreputable sources of information and apply standards to the evidence that you use to support your claims.

2. You learn to construct and defend arguments

It is futile having a strong opinion about a subject without having the skills to explain your point of view and persuade others to accept it. In the process of writing an essay, you learn how to formulate and defend your arguments. You learn to develop your idea from a single point and expand it into several smaller arguments that cover various facets of the issue. In short, you learn how to give your arguments substance.

Being able to effectively communicate one’s ideas is an important part of any profession. It also helps you to become a more well-rounded person. When writing an argumentative essay, you practice anticipating and addressing opposing views, which teaches you to see your issue from different perspectives. Through essay writing, you learn to articulate your thoughts in a way that is both clear and convincing.

3. You improve your writing skills

Essay writing allows you to put your talents to the test. You can improve your overall writing ability and confidence by routinely practicing writing. When you write an essay, you become familiar with mechanical writing skills, such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation, which are critical in all forms of written communication. Outside of academia, these writing skills will help you in many aspects of your future career.

Furthermore, essay writing provides you with the opportunity to receive expert feedback. Higher education is a time for academic and personal growth. Essay writing allows you to share your thoughts and writing skills with respected professionals who have a wealth of insight and experience. Whether you send your essay to a professional editor or your professor, you will come away with valuable advice on how to improve.

4. You learn to organize effectively

Essay writing is not merely about writing. It takes a fair measure of time management and organization to fit research, planning, and writing into your busy study schedule. You also apply organizing skills to information as you consider how to best structure your content to create the most compelling arguments. As you move blocks of time and pieces of information around in your head, you become a more effective organizer.

Students are receiving essay assignments more regularly today than ever before. As essay requirements become more demanding and difficult, it helps to remember that the exercise is designed to develop your skills and not just a sadistic requirement from your professors. However, if you are truly unable to cope with your essay workload, it can help to hire a professional essay writer to lend a hand.

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Why Is Writing Important? (22 Reasons)

Have you ever stopped to think about how much writing impacts your life? From jotting down a shopping list to sending a text message, writing is everywhere, shaping how we interact with the world and each other.

It’s fundamental, yet we often take for granted just how powerful a tool it can be. Good writing not only helps us share information but also transforms the way we think, learn, and connect.

In the pages that follow, let’s explore the myriad ways writing touches every corner of our existence. Can writing truly change your life, or is it just another skill to master? Stick around, and you just might discover that writing holds more power than you ever imagined.

Table of Contents

Writing Enhances Clarity in Communication

Effective communication is all about getting your point across with clarity and precision. Writing is the chisel that shapes rough ideas into sharp narratives. 

Think about the times you’ve written an email or a report. Choosing your words carefully, you have to consider how the reader will interpret them. This process alone can transform a muddled thought into a clear message.

• It leads to a better understanding of personal and professional relationships.
• Well-crafted writing avoids misunderstandings that can occur with spoken words.
• Smooth communication builds trust and respect between parties.

By fostering clarity, writing becomes the bridge connecting intention with understanding, ensuring everyone is on the same page, quite literally.

Writing Aids in Learning and Retention of Information

There’s a reason why note-taking is encouraged in classrooms worldwide. Writing while learning actively engages the brain, prompting it to analyze and reframe information. This dual action cements knowledge more firmly than passive listening.

Remember those scribbled margins in your textbooks? Here’s what they’re actually doing:

• They’re boosting your recall by creating unique connections in your brain.
• Summarizing complex ideas in your own words locks in learning.
• Writing by hand has been linked to improved memory retention.

When learners write about what they’re studying, they create a personal connection with the information, which is invaluable for retention. It also encourages them to think critically, ask questions, and explore the material on a deeper level. 

This technique is employed in various settings, from classrooms to professional workshops, demonstrating the significant role writing plays in learning and education.

Writing Can Influence Social Change

Writing isn’t just about putting words on a page; it’s a powerful tool for advocacy and reform. The written word has sparked revolutions and nurtured movements that have reshaped nations. 

Here’s a look at how writing changes the world:

• It disseminates ideas that challenge the status quo, encouraging people to think and act.
• Influential works, from Thomas Paine’s “ Common Sense ” to Rachel Carson’s “ Silent Spring , ” demonstrate the impact of writing on public opinion and policy.

This form of communication can sneak past barriers that might restrict spoken words. Written appeals to reason, emotion, and shared values can cross geographical and cultural boundaries to unite people under a common cause. 

Through blogs, social media, articles, and books, famed and anonymous writers stir hearts, evoke dialogue, and drive action. So, while a pen may seem mightier, it can indeed be more powerful than a sword when it comes to championing rights, justice, and democracy.

Writing Preserves Stories and Cultures

Cultures are the tapestries of human existence, woven with stories, traditions, and languages. Writing is the crucial thread that holds these tapestries together across time. 

It’s almost magical how script locked away in dusty tomes or engraved on ancient ruins breathes life into civilizations long gone.

• Folktales:  Maintaining folklore through written records ensures generations to come know their ancestral stories.
• Language:  Documenting dialects and idiomatic expressions keeps languages alive.
• Traditions:  From recipes to rituals, writing preserves the unique practices of communities.

Through writing, individuals not only chronicle their current way of life but also ensure that future generations have a window into their ancestral past. 

Writing Sharpens Critical Thinking Skills

To craft a solid piece of writing, one must weigh evidence, discern patterns, and anticipate counterarguments—all activities that hone your ability to think deeply and critically. This is the rigorous mental exercise that strengthens your reasoning muscles. 

When you write an essay, for example, you must present a clear argument supported by facts. This process demands a level of analysis that goes beyond surface-level understanding.

Engaging with diverse perspectives is also part of being a thoughtful writer. By reading the works of others and writing critiques or responses, you immerse yourself in a dialogic process, exchanging ideas that refine your own thoughts and positions.

This dialogue with different viewpoints is integral to broadening your own intellectual horizons.

Writing Connects People Across Distances

Imagine you’re writing a letter to a friend on the other side of the world or a text message to a loved one just down the street. In both cases, the words you pen bridge the physical gap between you and them. 

Writing is a unique tool that connects us irrespective of location; it’s a heart-to-heart dialogue that can cross continents and oceans.

There’s something magical about opening an email from a friend abroad or stumbling upon a blog post that changes your perspective. It feels like they’re right there with you, sharing a moment in time. 

Even in our tech-savvy world where video calls are just a click away, the written word holds a special kind of intimacy — it can be saved, reread, and treasured in a way that spoken words cannot. 

Writing Improves Focus and Discipline

Engaging in the act of writing requires a level of concentration that few other activities can match. You’re pulling together thoughts, weaving words into sentences, and sentences into paragraphs—all of which demands a disciplined mind. 

Maintaining that focus over time helps to develop your ability to concentrate on tasks, both big and small.

For anyone who has set out to write a blog post or a book, the process often involves setting up a routine and sticking to it, come inspiration or writer’s block. This habitual commitment translates directly to improved self-regulation and time management skills as you become better at setting and achieving goals. 

Writing Assists in Conflict Resolution

By expressing ourselves through writing, we can clearly convey our thoughts and feelings, which is crucial in conflict resolution. Let’s break this down:

Clarifying Perspectives:

• Expression of emotions : Writing allows individuals to articulate their feelings  without  the heat of verbal confrontation.
• Rational argumentation : Parties involved can lay out their points logically, minimizing the potential for emotional escalation.

Understanding Parties’ Positions:  Written communication gives each party time to consider the other’s viewpoint and respond thoughtfully rather than reactively.

Documenting Agreements:  Written summaries of conflict resolutions serve as tangible records that can prevent future misunderstandings and foster long-term peacekeeping.

Whether it’s in personal relationships or international diplomacy, the pen can guide us toward finding common ground.

Writing Documents History and Important Information

Writing is the cornerstone of preserving human achievements and learning. Every innovation, from the wheel to the smartphone, has its development outlined in written form. 

Legal documents, with their precise language, dictate how societies function, maintaining order and recording the framework of our civilizations. 

But beyond the structural, writing offers intimacy with the past; it’s personal. Reading the musings of a 12th-century philosopher or the letters of a World War II soldier, we bridge the gap between now and then, understanding events and the people behind them.

The act of documenting through writing, as such, serves a dual purpose: 

• It establishes the record that shapes the structure and identity of society.
• It creates a pathway to revisit and learn from the experiences of those who came before us. 

Without writing, history would be like the wind, felt briefly but invisible to the eyes of the future.

Writing Refines Language Skills

Engaging regularly in writing is one of the most effective methods for improving language proficiency. It’s an active process that involves:

• Vocabulary expansion : Delving into writing naturally exposes you to new words and phrases.
• Grammar and syntax mastery : With practice, your sentence structure improves as you find more efficient ways to convey your message.
• Style and tone variation : Writing allows you to experiment with different voices and styles suitable for various audiences and purposes.

The act of writing also provides an opportunity for feedback. Be it through a teacher’s corrections, an editor’s revisions, or comments from peers, each piece of feedback is a stepping stone toward language mastery. 

Whether you’re a native speaker or learning a new language, writing turns the abstract rules of grammar and style into concrete examples you create yourself, promoting a deeper internalization of the language.

Writing Organizes Thoughts and Ideas

Have you ever had a “ light bulb ” moment only to find it slipping away before you could fully grasp it? Writing is the tool we use to catch those ethereal thoughts and pin them down. 

It’s a mental sorting exercise, transforming a jumble of ideas into an ordered sequence. This linear format is tremendously powerful, allowing us to navigate complex concepts and construct detailed plans. 

Moreover, this ordering process is iterative; as we draft and redraft, our organized thoughts become refined arguments, compelling stories, or actionable strategies. Writing doesn’t just capture our initial musings; it shapes them into their most precise form.

Writing Helps Build Persuasive Arguments

When it comes to persuasion, writing is your secret weapon. It’s not just about having an idea but about  effectively  convincing others to get on board with that idea.

Through writing, you can carefully craft your argument step by step. 

• You introduce your idea (the claim)
• Back it up with solid evidence
• Explain why this evidence matters (the explanation)

You’ve got the time to research your points thoroughly and present them in the most compelling way possible.

Consider the persuasive essays of high school, the debated op-eds in newspapers, or the carefully constructed cover letters accompanying job applications. Each is an exercise in persuasion, aiming to convert the reader from a state of indecision to one of agreement. 

Writing Fosters Creativity

Imagine the vast landscape of a blank page. Now, see it transforming as words dance across it, crafting worlds, characters, and plots. This is the realm where writing and creativity intertwine.

• Unleashing the imagination : Writing gives life to the imagination, allowing the invisible to sculpt worlds as vivid as our reality.
• Exploring possibilities : It allows us to ask “ what if ” and “ why not, ” pushing the boundaries of conventional thinking.
• Expressive freedom : There are no limits; genres, forms, and styles become playgrounds for creative experimentation.

Whenever writers pick up a pen or type on a keyboard, they engage in a creative act. Whether it’s composing poetry, developing a story, or finding a creative solution to a problem, writing is a discovery process. 

The more you write, the more you tap into the depths of your imagination, stretching its capabilities. The act of writing itself can be a muse, sparking insights and ideas that might never surface in the regular rhythm of daily life.

Writing Can be Therapeutic

Engaging in the practice of writing has unexpected healing properties. It’s a canvas for the soul, where one can paint feelings, fears, and hopes in word form. As you articulate your inner narrative, you experience a sense of personal discovery and growth.

In therapy sessions,  writing  is often used as a tool to help individuals confront traumatic events or deal with psychological stress. The act of committing thoughts to paper can sometimes reveal patterns or solutions that were not evident before. 

Many people find that regular journaling makes their emotional burdens lighter and their minds clearer. This simple, quiet act of writing can be akin to a personal therapy session, fostering emotional health and well-being.

Writing is a Form of Entertainment

Whether getting lost in a fantasy novel or chuckling over a clever blog post, writing captivates and entertains our minds. It’s an escape hatch from reality, allowing readers to dive into different worlds, times, and experiences.

The Spectrum of Entertainment:

• Novels and Short Stories : Craft vast adventures or snapshot moments.
• Plays and Scripts : Bring characters and conflicts to life on stage and screen.
• Poetry and Lyrics : Play with rhythm, rhyme, and emotions.

Writing is not only an important aspect of the entertainment industry, but it also serves as a personal amusement. From witty social media status updates to engaging articles on your favorite subjects, writing can elicit joy, suspense, laughter, and a range of emotions that enrich our daily lives.

Writing Aids in Personal Reflection and Introspection

When we put pen to paper, we engage in a solitary journey, navigating the corridors of our psyche. In a way, writing serves as the mirror through which we scrutinize our lives, dissecting our actions, thoughts, and feelings. 

Writing is introspective by nature; it requires us to slow down, reflect on our experiences, and examine them in the light of our deepest truths and beliefs. It’s a dialogue with the self that can lead to profound insights and a better understanding of personal motivations and desires. 

Whether chronicling daily events in a journal or composing letters that may never be sent, writing helps distill the essence of our experiences and offers a lens through which we can understand and evolve our sense of self.

Writing Empowers Self-Expression

Embracing the power of self-expression is to embrace the essence of what it means to be human. 

Through writing, individuals can craft their unique voices, assert their opinions, and leave an indelible mark on the tapestry of human experience. It’s an act of courage and an act of personal truth.

• In novels, a character’s journey may mirror our own, echoing the complexities of real-life choices.
• Blogs and articles serve as platforms for sharing insights and sparking discussions on topics that matter deeply to us.
• Poetry breaks the chains of traditional narrative, allowing emotions to flow freely in a rhythmic and expressive dance.

Writing Keeps the Brain Active and Engaged

Just like how a runner sprints to keep muscles in peak condition, a writer pens words to exercise the brain. This mental workout boosts cognitive function and keeps the gears of the mind well-oiled. 

Consider the following:

• Puzzling over the right word choices sharpens decision-making abilities.
• Constructing complex sentences tests and improves memory.
• Articulating abstract thoughts challenges the intellect and sparks neural connections.

Whether drafting a quick note or composing a lengthy manuscript, writing engages multiple areas of the brain, from language centers to memory storage. This continuous engagement is vital to maintaining a healthy and active mind throughout life, warding off the mental rust that can come with age or inactivity. 

Writing Helps in Career Progression

Writing is a ladder to career advancement. Here’s how it serves as a boost to professional growth:

• Resume Crafting:  Your resume is your story, a narrative of your achievements. A well-written one can open the doors to new opportunities.
• Effective Communication:  Clear, concise writing in emails and reports proves your professionalism and attention to detail, garnering respect from colleagues and superiors.
• Thought Leadership:  Share your industry insights through articles or social media. It raises your profile and can position you as an expert in your field.

Proficiency in writing sets you apart in the job market and workplace. It’s a skill that shines a spotlight on your capabilities, helps you build influential networks, and can be a deciding factor in promotions and leadership roles.

Writing Secures Transactions and Agreements with Contracts

A contract is the backbone of a binding agreement, etched with words that spell out the expectations and obligations of all parties involved. 

Here’s how writing plays a crucial role:

• Foundation : A written contract lays the groundwork, detailing the terms clearly to avoid ambiguity.
• Protection : It serves as a legal safeguard, protecting interests and asserting rights.
• Accountability : The contract ensures all parties are accountable, making commitments enforceable.

In the complex network of transactions and agreements that keep our world moving, writing stands guard against misunderstandings and disputes. Be it for buying a house, starting a new job, or entering into business partnerships, contracts captured in writing are the sentinels of our socio-economic landscape.

Writing is Integral for Marketing and Branding

In the realm of marketing and branding, words are currency. They can inform, persuade, and evoke emotions that drive consumer behavior. The language used in marketing materials can significantly impact how a brand is perceived and engaged with.

• A captivating slogan can resonate with audiences, lodging itself in the communal consciousness.
• Well-crafted copy defines a brand’s voice, from professional and authoritative to casual and friendly, shaping the brand’s public image and appeal.
• Storytelling through content marketing forges a connection with customers, much like a novel draws in its readers, binding them to the characters—in this case, the brand and its offerings.

Through the strategic use of writing, a brand communicates its identity, values, and promises to the customer, establishing a narrative that differentiates it from competitors and builds brand loyalty.

Writing Encourages Lifelong Learning and Curiosity

The process of writing, though often seen as an output of learning, is equally powerful as a driver of continued education. When we write, we are not merely recording what we know; we are often learning anew.

Writing propels us to keep questioning, exploring, and absorbing the world. It injects curiosity into every subject touched by the tip of the pen. It opens the door to untapped reservoirs of knowledge, inviting us to step through and discover.

Can everyone benefit from writing, even if they’re not naturally good at it?

Yes, everyone can benefit from writing. Like any skill, writing improves with practice. It’s not just for professional writers or those with a natural talent. Writing is a fundamental skill that serves numerous practical purposes in everyone’s life.

How does writing differ from other forms of communication?

Writing allows for  thoughtful  expression where ideas can be refined and structured before sharing, providing a level of clarity and permanence that other forms of communication (like speaking) may not offer. It also transcends time and space, allowing for asynchronous communication.

How can someone improve their writing skills?

Improving writing skills can involve:

– Regular practice. – Reading widely. – Seeking feedback on your work. – Studying grammar and style. – Engaging in writing courses or workshops.

The key is to write consistently and be open to learning and refining your craft.

Can writing be a collaborative process? How?

Writing can be highly collaborative, with individuals working together to brainstorm, edit, and revise content. This is common in professional environments, academic settings, and even in creative writing, where authors may work with editors, publishers, and peer writers.

Is it important to maintain a personal style in writing?

While it’s crucial to adapt your writing to different contexts, maintaining a personal voice or style can help to differentiate and personalize your writing. It gives readers a sense of who you are and can make your writing more memorable and engaging.

Final Thoughts

It’s clear that it isn’t just about words on a page. It’s a tool for learning, a bridge for communication, and a foundation for building societies.

Whether carving out a career path or penning thoughts in a personal diary, writing is a companion that nurtures growth, kindles imaginations, and captures the full spectrum of human experience.

So the next time you pick up a pen, type out an email, or update your journal, remember the profound impact those seemingly simple acts of writing can have.

After all, each word you write weaves a thread into the vast tapestry of history, culture, and personal identity. And who knows? In sharing your story, you might just inspire someone else to start writing theirs.

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Top 10 Importance of Writing Essay

Writing is a very important part of our history and lives as humans. There are several advantages that come with writing, but in this article, we have selected some of the top 10 importance of writing essays.

It may interest you to know that ever since the Greek and Roman eras, humans have been writing essays and papers. We have always been looking for ways to tell our stories, share our ideas, and even keep records by writing.

In our world today, essay writing forms a vital part of our degree programs and academic work . Some people may consider this irrelevant, but it has so many benefits that it creates which we will discuss in detail later.

However, before you can fully understand the importance of essay writing, you’ll need to know what an essay really is including its structures and categories. 

The following section gives you a brief introduction to essay writing, describes the structure of an effective essay, and offers you an interesting fact about essay writing you may have never known. 

Let’s dive right in together…

Table of Contents

Introduction to Essay Writing

Below are some things you’ll need to know about writing an essay.

What is an essay

An essay is a piece of writing about a particular subject, that is aimed at presenting the author’s point of view, sharing an idea, expressing an opinion or emotion, and communicating to others. 

It is believed that the word “essay” was derived from the French verb “essayer” which means “to try” . The word was originally known to mean “an attempt” or “a trial” in the English language.

However, the word began to acquire a new meaning when Michel de Montaigne (a French Man) described his writings as Essays. This was his way of characterizing his written work as “an attempt” to write down his thoughts. 

Classification of Essays 

Essay writing has been classified under two broad categories which are:

• Formal essays
• Informal essays 

Formal Essays:

These are also referred to as impersonal essays. They are often written in corporate settings and may require research, facts, and evidence to back them up. Some formal essays are written in the 3rd person voice or view.

Informal Essays:

Writing informal essays may not require a lot of research like formal essays. Essays like this can also be referred to as personal essays and are often written in the first person point of view. They can be subjective and conversational in nature and the author may freely express his/her opinions without necessarily providing evidence to prove them.

Structure of An Essay

To guide your essay writing, the structure of the essay sometimes called the shape of an essay is often broken down into 3 parts:

• An introduction 
• The main Body
• Conclusion 

An introduction:

This is where you present your topic, offer your reader background and provide a thesis statement if you have any. The introduction of an essay usually contains;

• Thesis statement

The Main Body: 

Writers often use the body of their essay to express more clearly and broadly the statements or ideas in their introduction. When writing an essay, you can use the body to explain core arguments, give clear analysis, and present evidence to back up your claims. It is recommended to start each paragraph of your essay body with a topic sentence.

Conclusion:

After you’ve exhausted your points and explanations in the body of your essay, you’ll need to round everything up. A conclusion helps you to do that by tying up your main points and showing clearly the conclusions you wish your readers to acquire from your essay.

What are the Benefits of Essay Writing?

Below is a list of the top 10 importance of Essay Writing:

• Makes You A Better Writer
• Improves your Communication Skills
• Acquire Research Skills
• Essay writing Improves Creativity
• Essay Writing is Useful for Professional and Employment Purposes
• Broaden Your Knowledge Base
• Essential for Academic Success
• Helps You Become More Aware of your Choices
• You make better decisions
• Think Smarter.

Thinking about the general importance of writing skills? Read these top 10 importance of writing and find out for yourself. Let’s quickly get down to the benefits of Essay Writing.

1.  Makes You A Better Writer

It is said that practice makes perfect. That statement holds true for essay writing as it does for other things too. Writing essays will help you improve your writing skills, produce better papers, and may also improve your college score.

If you write essays often, you may begin to discover new ways to write, new writing tips, tricks, and new strategies.

You become able to structure a more clear argument and write persuasively.

2. Improves your Communication Skills

As long as we live in the midst of people, we would always need to communicate our ideas, feelings, and desires to others.

Essay writing helps you to develop the ability to clearly lay out your thoughts and express them in the best possible way. It is believed that great communicators have a greater chance to get what they want and become successful.

With essay writing, you learn to structure your thoughts into words and this develops your ability to communicate better.

3. Acquire Research Skills 

Most essays will require you to conduct research inorder to find facts and evidence to defend your work. In the process of finding these facts for your essay, you begin to pick up essential research skills that will help you in other areas of your life.

Essay writing will help you know how to find accurate and trusted information from the vast amount of information on the web.

4. Essay writing Improves Creativity 

Some essay topics may cause you to stretch your mind inorder to find creative ways to deliver them. This does something to your ability to reason and come up with creative ideas.

You may begin to search for new information, a new presentation style, and other creative ways to make your essay come out well. All these activities will help you discover new aspects of your creativity you never knew you had.

5. Essay Writing is Useful for Professional and Employment Purposes

Essay writing involves a lot of information gathering, analysis, and research. These activities are also useful in professional organizations.

For example, marketers will need to provide reports, programmers will need to prepare documentation and other professionals may need to send out letters.

If you’ve already had a previous essay writing background, this may come in handy.

6. Broaden Your Knowledge Base

Writing has a way to help you see things in a more clear way. As you make research for your essays, you become enlightened on subjects you had little or no knowledge about.

You begin to see certain connections and you begin to have a better understanding of certain subjects and concepts.

Also, you may be given essay writing assignments in fields you’re not knowledgeable in.

As you carry out your research, everything begins to become clearer and you learn more about the subject than you knew before.

7. Essential for Academic Success 

In our educational institutions today, writing is one of the core aspects of everything we do.

It is important if you want to acquire good academic grades in fulfillment of your educational pursuit. Students who are aware of this employ essay writing services to help them ace their projects and/or assignments.

8. Helps You Become More Aware of your Choices.

Let’s say you had a particular opinion about a subject you were told to write an essay about. While you were gathering information, you became aware of what the subject really entailed and you began to see the cracks in your past opinion.

That’s exactly what essay writing can do for you. It can help you see more clearly why your opinion on a particular topic may have been biased or uninformed.

9. You make better decisions 

The research skills you pick up from essay writing will help you to make better decisions. You’ll learn how to use research to guide the decisions you make.

Research essays train your mind to decide upon the most credible and reasonable options thereby teaching you how to pick the better option from a list of other conflicting alternatives.

10. Think Smarter

Some people wrongly believe that essay writing should be for only people in the arts, language studies, or writing. When you begin to develop an essay with your outline, you’ll learn how to pick the best approach to your essay. You’ll naturally begin to have the tendency to think Smarter as you delve deeper into topics.

As you do this continuously, you’ll begin to see beyond surface level understanding, and you’ll start engaging in critical thinking.

Frequently Asked Questions About Essay Writing 

1. what is the most important thing when writing an essay.

Your Thesis or Argument. The main argument of your essay must be clearly written with logical facts, evidence and proof. Make a strong argument and persuade your readers with a well-written thesis.

2. What are the important parts of essay?

There are 3 major parts of an essay which includes: •The Introduction. •The Body. •The Conclusion. Using an outline before you start writing, will help you identify how to properly structure your essay within these parts.

3. What are the important uses of writing?

Writing is a vital part of our lives and history. There are several uses of writing, but some of them include: •Communication, •Keep Records, •Store information.

4. What purpose does writing serve?

Writing has so many purposes. However, there are 5 purposes that stands out. They are; 1. Persuasion. 2. Information. 3. Entertainment. 4. Explanation. 5. Record Keeping.

5. What is the purpose of essay writing?

Essay Writing can serve so many purposes. However, a major purpose of essay writing is to present an opinion, idea, or argument in response to a subject matter or question and offer evidence that persuades your readers that your opinion is correct or reasonable.

Important Recommendations 

• 100 Best Free Online Books to Read for Kids and Adults
• Benefits of Studying Abroad
• Top 20 Sites to Read Free Books Online Without Downloading
• 20 Importance of Education .

You can acquire a lot of soft and hard skills from your essay writing projects and activities. This article has outlined just 10 importance of writing essays, but there are other benefits that we’ve not discussed.

Writing Essays may be a tedious and difficult task, but it pays off if done properly and with a goal in mind. Recently, a lot of software has also been developed to help people become better writers and make writing fun.

This article was written to help you, we hope it did. Check out other valuable recommendations and articles within the blog.

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5 High-Impact Writing Strategies for the Elementary Grades

Simple, effective exercises can help elementary students develop the foundational writing skills they need for their academic journey.

When considering writing as part of the instructional day, teachers may think only of the type of writing where students engage in storytelling or informational pieces. While the ability to leverage student choice and produce fiction and nonfiction text is beneficial for all grade levels, it’s important to consider how writing can be incorporated and layered across all content areas, as well as develop the deep foundational understanding to prepare young writers for authoring texts.

For us as teachers, it’s vital that we share a common language and understanding about the types of high-impact writing strategies that students can engage in and how to effectively implement them in the classroom. 

1. Handwriting in the Early Grades

In the digital age, prioritizing handwriting education during phonics instruction remains instrumental in nurturing well-rounded learners and sets them up for success when more stamina is required of them. The tactile experience of handwriting establishes a profound connection between language and sensory perception, contributing increased cognitive development .

Teachers can adopt a common path of movement language (language used to describe how to form the letters) when teaching the letters. In addition to that, providing students with multisensory ways of forming the letters helps create a strong understanding of the letters’ features.

A practical example of this type of instruction is having students trace a lowercase a in a tray full of salt, repeating the path of movement language, “over, around, down.” Then, students practice writing the letter using a pencil or dry erase marker. As the teacher models the directionality, it’s important to ensure that students know what “over,” “around,” and “down” mean and look like and that the teacher is using on-the-spot intervention for correction.

2. Dictated Sentences

Utilizing dictated sentences in elementary phonics instruction holds profound importance in nurturing early literacy skills. This strategy serves as a powerful bridge between decoding individual phonemes and comprehending them within a meaningful context. 

For example, in a phonics lesson where students are practicing decoding and spelling words with a short i vowel and have practiced reading the high-frequency words they and the , the teacher may end the lesson with students writing the dictated sentence, ”They will fill the big bin with wigs.”

This method encourages the application of phonics knowledge in real-word scenarios, promoting fluency and automaticity. In addition, dictated sentences provide a valuable opportunity for students to hone their listening skills, enhancing their ability to discern and reproduce distinct phonetic elements accurately and to authentically apply irregularly spelled high-frequency words in context. This practice benefits students of any grade level working on phonics skills.

3. Writing to Read

Another foundational type of writing that prepares students for more demanding types of writing in later grades is writing to read. This is an interactive approach to early writing instruction where the teacher models early literacy and print concepts starting as early as prekindergarten through early kindergarten. Through collaboration with the students, the teacher models drawing pictures and sentence creation.

Teachers can start by engaging students in a conversation around an event in a book or nursery rhyme they read together. Then, the teacher offers a prompt: “In the story, the characters went to play at the park. That gives me an idea for a story. What kinds of things do you like to do at the park?” Students can share multiple ideas for the story, and the teacher chooses one to model. 

While the teacher explicitly models drawing and develops a sentence about the drawing, the students offer ideas on where to start writing, count the words in the story, identify the sounds they hear as the teacher spells out each word, and notice where spaces will occur. The more that students engage in this type of instruction, the more responsibility we can hand over to them, and they can write the story along with us. As students are given more opportunities to apply early writing principles and rereading strategies, they begin to understand the reciprocal relationship between reading and writing.

4. Reading to Write

When the foundations for early writing have been established, students can quickly move into another layer of high-impact writing, which is writing about the texts that they’re reading. 

Even starting in kindergarten, encouraging students to write and/or draw in response to reading across multiple content areas is a valuable strategy that helps deepen comprehension and understanding of a particular topic, as explored in Linda J. Dorn and Carla Soffos’s book Teaching for Deep Comprehension .

These “writing about the reading” prompts require students to analyze, synthesize, and connect ideas, fostering a deeper understanding of the material. For example, if first-grade students are working on story elements, after reading a story, a student might write, “The character in the story is a bear who lives in the forest. The problem in the story is that he is sad, but he solves his problem when he learns to be happy.” 

This expression encapsulates comprehension, language reinforcement, and academic vocabulary. As students progress through grade levels upward to 12th grade, the scaffold of giving the students a prompt for writing about the text should decrease as they develop enough self-regulation to write about their own thinking.

5. Writing About Learning

Similar to reading to write, this strategy is solely focused on writing about what the student has learned, why the learning is important, and when to use the learning. This type of writing can happen as early as kindergarten, but in a highly scaffolded manner that mostly focuses on articulating why the learning is important.

Students up to 12th grade can benefit from writing about their learning because it keeps the purpose of what they’re learning in various content areas relevant and promotes quick retrieval of the information.

This strategy also promotes metacognition , because it helps learners organize their thoughts and reflect on their learning process. For instance, a second-grade class could collaboratively study the nature of bees in a nonfiction text. Then, because the teacher focuses on the skill of identifying and explaining main ideas and details, a student may write, “I learned the main idea by using headings and key details. Knowing main ideas helps us understand the most important information in a text.”

How Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition Powers Technology Education

The Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition has established itself as one of Nigeria’s most prestigious and soughtafter competitions. This annual essay competition, which was established to promote intellectual development and the growth of young minds, has become an important platform for Nigerian students to demonstrate their writing skills and critical thinking abilities. As the organising committee announces the entries for the 19th edition, ROLAND OGBONNAYA writes about the competition’s significance and impact over the years.

The Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition is one of Nigeria’s most prestigious competitions, and it is specif­ically designed for secondary school students nationwide. This highly regarded competition was founded to provide a forum for young minds to express their opinions on current issues and demonstrate their writing abilities. Dr. Mike Okonkwo, a well-known cleric and philanthropist in Nigeria, was the driving force behind the competition’s inception and con­tinued existence.

Okonkwo founded the competition in 2004 because he was passionate about education and wanted to con­tribute to the development of future leaders. Recognising the power of the written word in shaping societal be­liefs and fostering intellectual growth, he sought to encourage young Nigeri­ans to improve their writing skills and engage in critical thinking. He hoped that the essay competition would al­low students to express their opinions on current issues and contribute pos­itively to national discourse.

The competition has always been open to all Nigerian secondary school students, including those from private and public schools. The competition’s topics are carefully chosen to address current issues that are important to the students’ lives and understand­ing of Nigerian society. These sub­jects frequently include leadership, ethics, governance, social justice, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development.

Dr. Okonkwo formed a commit­tee to oversee the selection process to ensure the competition was con­ducted fairly and transparently. This committee is made up of experienced educators, writers, and scholars who have the necessary expertise to eval­uate and judge the essays objectively. The committee members, chaired by Prof. Akachi Ezeigbo, evaluate the submissions using a variety of cri­teria, including originality, clarity of thought, coherence, grammar, and topic adherence.

The Mike Okonkwo National Es­say Competition has been recognised and supported by prominent individ­uals and organisations throughout Nigeria. Over the years, Dr. Mike Okonkwo has collaborated with a variety of corporate institutions, ed­ucational bodies, and public figures to ensure the competition’s success. These collaborations have improved the prize packages available to the winners, which typically include ed­ucational grants, laptop computers, books, and other valuable resources to help them with their academic en­deavours.

The competition has expanded and had a significant impact since its in­ception. It has inspired thousands of secondary students to improve their writing skills and gain a better under­standing of societal issues. The essay competition is now an annual event that students, teachers, and education stakeholders all over the country look forward to. It not only recognises and rewards outstanding young writers, but it also creates a nurturing envi­ronment that encourages academic excellence.

Last year, the winners of the Mike Okonkwo Essay competition received N750,000, computers, and other priz­es. Destiny Ike of VIK International School, Akere Alagbado in Ogun State was named overall winner in 2023, with Chibuzor Alexander of Arch­bishop Heerey Technical College, Ogidi in Anambra State coming in second place.

The winners of the 18th edition of the essay competition were Ike, who received a cheque for N500,000, a trophy, and a plaque, and Alexander, who received a cheque for N250,000, a plaque, and a set of computers for the school. The theme of this year’s essay was “Nigerianisation of Nigerians: A Look Inward.” According to the competition’s Chief Examiner, Prof. Akachi Ezeigbo, Ike, and Alexander won the coveted trophy for writing with commendable passion and inde­pendent thinking about a topic within their age group.

The winners received their prizes at the Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture on September 7, 2023. The theme of this year’s lecture was “Nigerianisa­tion of Nigerians: A Look Inward”.

While congratulating the win­ners, the Chief Examiner said: “We congratulate and present them as ex­emplars of young people determined to forge their path through critical use of easy ways.” She added, “This year, we are limited to presenting an over­all winner and only one runner-up, as opposed to the usual practice of presenting one winner and two runners-up. As is customary, a large percentage of the entries we received were unsuitable for consideration.

They were either lifted directly from online sources and presented as original content, or they were revised and presented as such. “We are used to this practice among young people, so we spent a significant amount of time tracking the essays on the inter­net by our quality assurance proce­dures.” Mike Okonkwo National Es­say Competition was established in 2004 as part of activities to commem­orate and mark the birthday of Dr Mike Okonkwo, Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), and, more importantly, to contribute to the development of the education sector.

Dr. Mike Okonkwo has continued this gesture for the past 19 years, us­ing his God-given talent, strength, and resources to bless the younger gen­eration in their pursuit of academic excellence by encouraging them to cultivate the habit of reading and writing effectively.

Bishop Okonkwo, who believes in mankind’s complete development in all aspects of life, has continued to use the essay competition to realise this dream and aspiration.

According to TREM’s Corporate Services Director, Rev. Oluwayomi Uteh, the essay competition has helped some students develop an in­terest in research work, reading ex­tensively, and writing constructively. She stated, “Aside from serving as a tool to encourage reading and writ­ing, the competition has also provid­ed students with the opportunity to express themselves on current issues that are important to the nation’s so­cial-economic development.

“The essay competition has also helped to develop ICT in secondary schools, particularly those owned by the government. Over the years, win­ners have emerged from both public and private schools, and they have al­ways been encouraged with various gifts and prizes.

This week, the 19th Mike Okonk­wo National Essay Competition an­nounced that entries from all Nigeri­an secondary school students will be accepted between April 8 and June 15, 2024.

According to Rev. Oluwayomi Uteh, the Church’s Corporate Ser­vices Director, this year’s competition will focus on “Nigeria’s Pathways: Di­agnosis And Prescriptions.”

The 19th Mike Okonkwo Nation­al Essay Competition for Secondary School Students requires a maximum of 2000 words, a passport photograph of the student, full name, address, contact phone number, class, school, and the principal’s name and phone number. All essays should be sub­mitted via email to [email protected] in Word document format.

This year, the star winner received N500,000.00 in cash, a trophy, and a plaque, and the school received a desk­top computer. The first runner-up receives a cash prize of N250,000.00 along with a plaque, while the school is given a desktop computer. The sec­ond-place finisher gets N100,000 in cash and a plaque, while the school gets a desktop computer.

The competition is one of Dr Mike Okonkwo’s Corporate Social Responsibility activities, to raise the standard in the country’s education­al sector while also sensitising stu­dents by developing their analytical and computer skills, allowing them to excel in their world by improving their ability to think through issues. In addition, activities are planned to commemorate Dr. Mike Okonkwo’s 79th birthday as Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM).

Over time, the competition has proven to be very effective in reshap­ing students’ thought patterns and assisting them in developing prob­lem-solving abilities.

The winners of this year’s compe­tition will be announced at the Muson Centre (Shell Hall) on Thursday, Sep­tember 5th, 2024, at 10 a.m. during the 23rd Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture.

As the host of ‘Power in the Word,’ a life-changing television broadcast series that empowers people in Nige­ria and around the world, Dr. Okonk­wo’s Holy Spirit-inspired insight into God’s Word is truly outstanding. He also hosts “Power for the Wise,” a dai­ly radio devotional programme that transforms people’s lives. He is also an author whose books have had a signif­icant impact on the lives of those who have read them.

He is a man motivated by a de­sire to demonstrate God’s love for humanity in whatever way the Lord permits. This passion inspired the Empowerment for the Less Privileged Foundation, a non-governmental or­ganisation dedicated to alleviating the plight of society’s less privileged through donations to hospitals, the establishment of free vocational training centres, the operation of free preparatory schools for second­ary school students, and the facilita­tion of regular public enlightenment campaigns on health issues, among other activities. He also established a scholarship programme for gifted stu­dents. His strong faith and confidence in women and their potential earned him a seat on the board of Trustees of Women of Global Impact (WGI), a non-governmental organisation that, among other things, provides shelter to the homeless and organises free medical fairs for both men and wom­en across the country.

To fulfil his contribution to nation­al development, he established the Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture in 2000. The lecture has evolved into an important contributor to government policies because it brings together ex­perienced men and women to discuss pressing national issues. The Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition was also established to encourage second­ary school students’ writing abilities and to help them become solution providers for the country. Today, the essay topic serves as the annual lec­ture topic.

In 2012, the Federal Government conferred upon him the National Honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (MFR). He is married to Bishop Peace Okonkwo, and they have a daughter, Uche.