I have always been a firm believer in the idea that you learn more from your failures than from your successes. Life is full of both, but it is what you do with the learning experiences that truly defines you as a person. The things that you have experienced, both good and bad, help you form opinions on various topics and can, in some cases, even improve your writing. One of the greatest minds of all time, Abraham Lincoln, said “I write essays on history, morals, and economy; I address Congress, the Supreme Court, commercial bodies, and individuals. I must, at times, be brief, clear, and to the point.” When you put these words in writing, it is easy to see how Lincoln could be so effective in his speeches and writing. Indeed, Lincoln once said: “I write as I talk, for I find it easier to express myself in writing than in talk.”
Like Lincoln, I find that writing about history, particularly American history, is extremely easy for me. My father was an English teacher and historian, and he often inspired my hobbies and interests. I grew up watching documentaries and listening to history lectures, so when it came time to write my own history papers, I found the task to be rather easy. Of course, there is also a lot of information that I did not know about and had to do some pretty significant research into. In these cases, I have tried to ensure that the information that I have found is as accurate as possible and cites my sources thoroughly. If you are having trouble with your academic assignments, this is a good place to start your research!
The Articulation Of My Ideas
When I write, I try to think of what the reader might not know or be able to fill in for themselves. For example, a lot of people know about the Emancipation Proclamation, but might not know that Lincoln issued a separate proclamation, abolishing slavery in the military. Or, people might know that the Civil War was caused by slavery, but might not know exactly how Lincoln came to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which was a direct result of the Civil War.
This level of detail encourages the reader to think about the issues and topics that I discuss in my essays and gives the essays more substance. For example, it is easy for someone to read about the Civil War and think that it was just about slavery, but it was much more than that. The Civil War was about many issues, including the treatment of southern unionists and loyalists who were known as “copperheads” by the Republicans, the reestablishment of white supremacy, and the suppression of voting rights for freed blacks. The more detailed our history is, the more interesting it becomes. The more interesting your history, the more you have to write about!
The Influence Of My Childhood
I believe that anyone, no matter what age, can have an influence on the way that you write. As a very young child, I became fascinated by the letters, words, and sentences that came out of my grandfather’s typewriter. I would sit there, listening to the clackity-clack of the keys as he typed out his thoughts and ideas. The older I got, the more I wanted to do the same thing, so when I got my first computer at age 12, the floodgates opened. I started entering documents and taking notes in class, which in turn, led to me joining a creative writing club in high school. I started writing short stories and eventually turned these drafts into novels. It was during this time that I started learning about the craft of writing and how to make my work better.
Even if you do not consider yourself to be a particularly talented writer, I hope that you will agree that the more you put in it, the more you will get out of it. Writers are a hard-working lot and will constantly be putting their passion into their work, whether successful or not. If you want to be effective, you should try and do the same.
The Development Of My Style
As I have gotten older, my writing has changed as a result of my experience. Instead of writing in the third person, as I did when I was a teenager, I have started to use first person for the majority of my essays. This is because I believe that it is more effective in creating a personal connection with the reader and provides a more holistic view of the events that I write about. For example, instead of writing “Abe Lincoln was born in […]” I would write “I was born in […]” or “Abe Lincoln experienced poverty in […]” rather than “Abe Lincoln had poverty in […]”. Using first person allows me to place myself in the events that I write about and makes it much easier to connect with the audience that I am trying to reach. Indeed, this level of intimacy can be extremely powerful, particularly if you want your reader to believe that you are speaking from experience rather than just parroting historical facts.
How Do I Write?
Before we get started, I just want to remind you that writing is a very personal process and you need to find what works best for you. Some people prefer to write in the mornings, while others prefer to write at night. Some people like to work with others, but alone, while others prefer to be left alone with their thoughts. The important thing is that you do what you can to make yourself happy and comfortable, and the rest will take care of itself.
With that said, let’s have a look at how I write:
Short And Sweet
I always try to keep my essays as short and to the point as possible. There are several reasons behind this. First of all, I want to give the reader as much information as possible in the shortest amount of time possible. I also want to encourage the reader to think about the issues that I discuss because I believe that a lot of information comes more easily to people when it is imparted at the right pace and in the right way. In many cases, I have deliberately kept my essays as short as possible because I do not have the patience for lots of writing, especially when I am trying to get a lot done in a short amount of time. For example, if an essay is going to take me 3 hours to write, I will write a shorter one in an attempt to get my work done faster. Sometimes this results in the inferior quality of my work, but I suppose that is a risk that you have to take if you want to get your work done on time.
An Outline
When I first started writing, I did not take my research and writing very seriously and would just throw together some notes and ideas and call it a day. I quickly learned my lesson and started doing my research and outlining in advance. When I did this, everything started coming together much more quickly and it actually felt like I was making progress. Every time that I would complete an essay or a chapter, I would re-outline the next one. This helped me identify the main ideas and facts that I needed to include in order to make my work as effective as possible. Indeed, the more that you do in advance, the less stressed and more efficient you will feel when it comes time to actually write the essay. There is a common saying that goes “write what you know” and it is extremely true. If you know that you are going to have to write about a particular topic, then do your research first and know precisely what you are going to write about before you start.
Research
If you are going to base an essay on facts and figures, then you have to make sure that the information that you are providing is as accurate and detailed as possible. For many of my essays, I have made sure to thoroughly research my subject matter and have even gone as far as contacting the original source to get the best possible information. In some cases, I have had to do a lot of research and I feel that this has improved the quality of my work. For example, when I was researching material for my essay on the abolition of slavery, I came across an article about a man by the name of John Wilkes. Apparently, John Wilkes was the son of the famous English journalist, William Wilkes. In some ways, William Wilkes was kind of like Abraham Lincoln and it was because of this that I decided to base my paper on the life and legacy of John Wilkes. Because of my extensive research into the life of John Wilkes, the paper that I wrote about him was ranked among the top 2% of all of the papers that I have written. After reading my paper, a professor at Columbia University even went so far as to tell me that he had never seen anything like it before. He even commended me on my “ability to research thoroughly and present the facts in an engaging manner”.