How to Write Better Essays

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23 Getting your own ideas down

In this chapter you will learn:

• how to organise your work to allow yourself to write as freely as
  possible;


• about the importance of hanging a question over what you write;


• how to cope with thesis statements.

At last we have reached the stage at which many students think the

process of producing essays begins. Writing the essay should be much

easier now that you have completed the earlier stages. Because of this

you’re spared the nightmare we spoke of earlier – that of trying to do

the two most difficult things in writing both at the same time. In other

words, you no longer have to summon up your ideas and arrange them

in a logical sequence and, at the same time, search for the right words

that will convey the arguments accurately, at the right strength and with

every subtle nuance accommodated.

Write freely

However, you will still find there are advantages to be gained from split-

ting the actual writing into the two last stages: writing and revision.

This helps you inject fluency into your writing, that may not otherwise

be there. To do this you must keep your inner editor at bay. We all have

one; some are more persistent than others. They will try to intervene

whenever they can, but particularly when you start your work, or when

you complete a significant section and sit back to bask in the glow of

your achievement. At moments like these you will be tempted to read

it all through to allow your editor to give his or her approval. Editors

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