"The point of the essay is to change things." -Edward Tufte
Tufte wasn't saying that your essay must be a political pamphlet. He was calling on all writers to write as if they had the power to change the world, or at least one small portion thereof.
The word "essay" has a lovely double meaning. A short piece of writing from the author's point of view is referred to as an essay. But so is any attempt or effort made. From this double meaning, I conclude that your essay will be an attempt to win our trust, to persuade us to believe something, to describe a person or an event important to you, to teach us something, or to describe something you believe will interest us. Success in your attempt will depend on the amount of planning and work you put into it.
An essay is an expressive form of prose, unlike a newspaper article or a business report. An essay is an invitation to get personal. You are not only permitted but encouraged to use personal pronouns such as I and we and you in an essay. The best essays read as if we were listening in on a writer's private conversation. We want to participate in that conversation. It interests us. Such essays flow like spontaneous narrations to live events, but are in fact very carefully planned and crafted works of premeditated art.
When writing your essay, no matter how short or long it might be, strive to make one overall point, one that emerges from your personal point of view. Obviously, you will need to use several supporting points, but they must all be clearly subordinate to your main point.
Essays don't require the use of sources or footnotes as do scholarly papers. But, if you do quote another author, mention that author's name just before or after the quote. Fair usage need not impede the flow of your essay. Just write something like, "as John Doe said in Love and War," and you'll be fine.
If you've never written an essay before, I suggest you read a few written by the best writers to get a feel for the form. The yearly publication, "Best American Essays," offers a wide variety of subjects written in an even wider variety of styles. For free essays written on topics that interest you, run an Internet search or check with your librarian.
How do you go about writing an essay? This may seem very intimidating to you after reading works by professionals with years of experience. But, don't feel intimidated. Everybody must begin at the beginning. And, don't make the mistake of trying to write your masterpiece all at once. Break the job down into small pieces. Do a little bit at a time.
First, pick your topic. It must be something that interests you, something that you are passionate about. Why? If you aren't enthralled by your topic, your readers certainly won't be.
Your topic may deal with anything: A political issue that gets your blood boiling, a person near and dear to you, an event that excited you, a scientific discipline you've mastered and love to talk about, a movie that really disappointed you, or a trip that surprised you.
Second, figure out what you want to do with your topic. If you could write an essay that perfectly illustrated the way you responded to your topic, how would it do so? Do you want your reader to experience what you experienced? To learn something? To agree with your political or moral belief? To laugh? To cry? To shudder?
Once you know, organizing your essay will prove to be one of the easiest things you've ever done.
Third, generate your material. Write down everything you've ever thought or heard about your topic. It doesn't matter if it all comes out on the paper in a jumble. Don't edit yourself. Don't pick and choose. Don't rearrange. Just dump it all out there. Let one memory or insight trigger another.
When stuck, use idea generation tricks on the material you've already written. Techniques such as reverse the procedure, make the opposite point, extend your point, add another argument, connect the unconnected, and magnify the point will jog something loose. Ask who else is involved or what else needs to be done as you develop your points.
If you're still having trouble coming up with enough material, skim a book or surf the Internet. Allow the material you find there to inspire your own thoughts. As we used to say in the Sixties, let it all hang out.
Fourth, organize your material. Read everything you've written so far. Certain patterns of concern will become apparent. Note these. Remember your topic and what you want to do with it. If the patterns that are emerging in your mind fit nicely in with these, they will guide you to your theme. Theme is not the same thing as topic. Theme immerses your essay in a broader concern with humanity and the universe.
Theme usually doesn't come first in the writing process. It emerges as you develop your work. One of the best examples of this I've ever heard occurred during the writing of the Broadway musical, "Fiddler on the Roof." Choreographer Jerome Robbins told this story about the process:
As the writers and composers met with the director and producers, Robbins asked the group every single day what the show was about. Someone would answer with specific plot points, such as Tevye being worried about marrying off five daughters, or what the daughters did, or how the people were struggling for survival against Russian prejudice against Jews. Robbins would answer, "No, that's not what the show is about."
Several months went by. The writing dragged on. Finally, one writer said, "Well, I guess Fiddler is about people losing their old way of life."
"Exactly," responded Robbins.
Out of that insight, the composers came up with the grand opening number, "Tradition." It's a wonderful showstopper. It thrilled audiences. The composers and the other writers realized that if you are telling a story that addresses the theme of the end of traditions, you must begin the story with a detailed depiction of those traditions.
Knowing your theme, knowing what universal concerns your essay addresses at least in some small way, will help you plan what you must write in order to effectively address that theme. Who knows? By considering theme, you too may produce a genuine showstopper in your essay.
Fifth, outline. An outline is a scaffolding of thought, the bare bones of your essay. Write your topic at the top of the page, what you want to do with it right underneath, and then your theme. Then write three to five main points, the ones you've found in the patterns of your notes.
If you wish, break these down into secondary and tertiary points, the way your English teacher taught you to outline with Roman numerals. If you don't want your essay that tightly structured, simply type in all your material underneath each main point.
Sixth, write your first draft. You have everything at hand now to write the essay. When you have any questions about grammar or definitions or facts, put those questions in parentheses and leave them for later drafts. Right now, you want to write your draft as fast as possible. This will help you avoid writer's block.
Every creative trick that comes to mind, every metaphor, syllogism, analogy, simile, argument, and joke; every descriptive bit of imagery, sound, touch, smell, taste, heat and cold - if they seem to fit the point you're trying to make, use them. You will soon learn it's much better to have far too much than too little in your first draft. It's much easier to cull than to pad.
Seventh, write your second draft. But first, take a break. After a couple of hours or a day, read your first draft. See where your essay is going. By now, you should have a much clearer sense of what you are trying to say. As you write, you learn.
Make appropriate notes on every paragraph you've written. Look up answers to the questions you scribbled down earlier. And then begin your new draft. Go through your essay; see if the overall organizational structure is sound. See if your paragraphs follow a logical order, one that is tightly related to your theme and topic. If it isn't, move things around.
If you spot grammatical and spelling errors, make quick corrections, but don't dwell on your essay's exact wording at this point. Save your line editing for later revisions.
Quickly go through your second draft just after you finished it to see if it's in reasonably good shape. Make any obvious additional corrections. Then put it away for a day or two.
Eighth, write your third draft. This is the point at which you start doing some serious editing. Think of yourself as a no-nonsense English teacher instead of a free spirit writing your heart out. If you've done your work well in the first two drafts, your emotion is already out there on the page. Don't worry about it. Now, shape your material into something coherent, something readers will find readable. Remember the First Law for Writers: Make the way easy for readers.
Go through your second draft. If there are any problems remaining with the structure of your essay, now's the time to fix them. Go through each paragraph. Fix all such problems by rearranging the essay.
Weed out all sentences or phrases that don't belong, are weak, don't help the paragraph make its point, or repeat an earlier point. Make sure your sentence structure isn't too repetitive. Vary the length of sentences. Rewrite sentences so some include several supporting clauses and others include fewer clauses. If you find two or three good points covered in one paragraph, split your paragraph into several smaller paragraphs.
Again, if you notice any blatant typos or errors, fix them. But don't do any line editing yet. Read through your third draft. Does it flow? Does the structure make logical sense? Are the transitions between paragraphs effective?
By the time you get to the last sentence, are you certain that your essay effectively says what you intended to say? Have you been true to your theme? If so, put your essay away again for a day or two.
Ninth, write your final draft. This is where you get to do your line editing. Lucky you. By line editing, I mean going through every sentence, every phrase, and every word to make sure the grammar and spelling are correct, all typos have been eliminated, and every word is the correct word.
Line editing enables you to make the best possible use of language. Remember, even a grammatically correct word may not be the very best choice for that particular spot in that particular sentence. Another word may express the meaning you intend better. Another phrase may give your sentence a more pleasing rhythm. A brief metaphor may convey a difficult point better than an entire sentence.
Emphasize active voice (she took the newspaper) rather than passive voice (she was given the newspaper). Occasionally, passive voice is the only way you can be precise, but use it sparingly.
When you edit, take advantage of every opportunity to cut unneeded words and phrases. Once you look for them, you'll find redundancies, filler, and dreck everywhere. Be ruthless. Hack and slash.
Line editing is hard work. I find myself going over and over and over my essay, finding mistakes every time I do so. Typos and poor word construction slip into the text in devious ways. After I fix a word here, something else pops loose over there. I must remind myself to maintain parallel construction. When I change a noun from singular to plural, I must then change the verb.
Keep fixing problems as you spot them. You may want to leave your essay for a few minutes or an hour in order to come back to it with fresh eyes. If you tire, take a break.
When you know you are nearing the end of your line editing marathon session, begin reading your essay out loud. You will be astonished to "hear" mistakes you never realized were mistakes when you were reading your work silently. Fix them. Then, read your work out loud again.
Keep reading and editing until you can find no mistakes and are completely satisfied with your work. The end is near when you know you've done everything you could to produce an essay that will communicate exactly what you want to say. That means you're done. It's time to stop.
You may now submit your essay for publication here at Helium or at another appropriate web site or print publication.
Now that you've successfully "essayed" an essay, you've become a full-fledged essayist. Congratulations. Celebrate your achievement. You have just changed things.