How to Write Better Essays

Writing lightly – the guiding principles

Nevertheless, for some people this might seem a far too mysterious

process, reaching fruition only for those who have spent a lifetime

dedicated to unravelling the arcane secrets of writing. Although this is

far from being the case, there are still other practical steps we can take.

But first, to do this we need to establish certain guiding principles, de-

finite markers, that we can use when we choose our words and phrases.

After applying them in two or three pieces of work, you should be

seeing quite noticeable improvements in your writing.

Each of these guiding principles is focused on one pre-eminent goal:

to avoid all heavy, unreadable prose. Make your writing as light as your

subject allows. The result is likely to be a more enjoyable experience

for the reader and a memorable, effective piece of writing. Keep in mind

the three main guiding principles, which can be summed up in just

three words:

• logic


• interest


• brevity

The first of these you’ve already met if you’ve planned well and written

an introduction that lays out the logical map that you will be follow-

ing throughout the essay. As we’ve said, as you pick up each topic in

this map in the first sentence of each paragraph, indicating with tran-

sitions what you will be doing in the paragraph, the reader can follow

you, step by step, without fear of being lost.

As to the second, interest, we shall discuss this in Chapter 29 when

we look at the type of evidence you might use. For now, our concern

is with brevity – saying what you want to say in the fewest possible

words. Here lies what most of us mean when we think of style. It means

simplicity and economy in the use of language.

Simplicity

The key to writing lightly is not to overcomplicate things; to remind

yourself constantly that writing is nothing more than talk in print.

Some of the best writing we’ve ever read seems to glide across the page

as if it’s just someone talking to you in the same room, even though

the writer may be grappling with the most complex ideas and the

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