Journalism, English and Writing Skills

Public Speaking Skills

Public speaking skills just like any other skills are gained and polished through determination, persistence, patience, practice, and a lot of work and experience.

To be an effective speaker, you need to posses and hone the following public speaking skills.

1. Focused. “You get what you focused on.” In public speaking, your goal is to have a successful presentation, and to attain such success you should be an effective speaker, and to be so, you need to be focused. You need to put your mind, attention, body, and spirit into your speaking task. Do not be caught up by anything that goes outside your speech, anything that may disrupt you. You may have personal problems at the moment but just like what my choir teacher taught me, “you can not do anything about it right now, so focus on what you’re supposed to do and leave all distractions aside.”

2. Fluent in the language used. The word fluent is defined as: able to speak or write smoothly, easily, or readily. The smoothness, easiness, and readiness when speaking is a must. You should have a good command of the language you are to use in public speaking. Use the language you are most comfortable with. But this still depends on the setting or of your public speaking task. If it is an English class, of course you need to present your speech in English.

3. Powerful. You should be a powerful speaker, powerful in speech and in appearance for you to be able to create an impact or good effect on your audience. A speaker with not enough force is like a physically weak carpenter banging a nail with a hammer. Your message will not sink in like the nail which failed to be drilled into concrete. Sometimes your audience could be as ‘hard” as such concrete.

4. Convictional. This public speaking skill is the twin sister of “powerful.” They should go together. Even if you are powerful and display an agreeable force or strength if your audience sees a loop hole because you are lacking something — the appearance of being convinced, you are still half effective. If you want your audience to believe in your message, you should initially evoke a sense of conviction. Among these public speaking skills, this is the most difficult to possess and enhance, because you can not fake this, unlike being powerful. In a way you can sound and look powerful without much effort.

5. Prepared. This public speaking skill should come in handy before and during your public speaking assignment. Way before your presentation, prepare. And prepare well. During your speech, you should likewise be prepared specially for unexpected circumstances. Be prepared to answer questions to be thrown at you, if it was an interactive presentation. Be prepared in handling technical disruptions. Some speakers are too caught up by this kind of interruption that it triggers nervousness. Sometimes they can even be “lost” in their speech specially if it was a memorized speech. Be prepared in instances your memory may fail you. Be prepared to adlib; and make sure your audience do not notice you were startled. It is ok to be alarmed by such untoward happening, but make sure your audience could not tell. But the best thing to do is to expect the unexpected so you will not be caught unaware. Be prepared.

(Aside from these public speaking skills, use also some public speaking tools that would better your speech delivery)

You can not just go up the stage, grab the microphone, and deliver a speech, you need to have public speaking skills. Otherwise you will most probably make a huge mess or fail to accomplish your purpose of speaking.

You will have much of an advantage if you first work hard to gain and develop these public speaking skills.

Posted by journaliz - January 27, 2012 at 8:57 am

Categories: Public Speaking Tags: public speaking skills, speech, speech delivery, speech improvement

How to write a good essay

In order to write a good essay, there are a number of important things you need to take note of.

1. The first thing you need to do so you can write a good essay is to analyze the given question or the essay topic. Once you have misunderstood it or poorly examined it, it will lead you to a wrong direction and make your essay disconnected from that your teacher or professor wants you to touch on or write about.

2. You should have a well-composed and concise thesis statement. Teachers or professors give much emphasis on the thesis statement. They scrutinize it because it is like the heart of your essay. It is where all the rest of your sentences or paragraphs revolve around. The argument it carries should be strong and be persuasive enough, if it was a persuasive essay you are writing.

2. The facts you present on your essay should be strong and believable. Present it also in a an equally strong and believable way. A nature of anything could be changed by the way it is presented. Even if your facts are strong and believable by nature if you presented it poorly, it will also be perceived poorly.

3. You should have well-supported arguments, specially the argument laid down in the thesis statement. Present enough back up information.

4. Your references should be equally good. A well-written essay for a school assignment should be done with thorough researching and wide reading. Read from and refer to reliable sources.

5. Clarity is also a must. Even if you presented strong facts and good references if you presented it ambiguously, you will fail to write a good essay anyway. The clearness of the way messages are brought across in any form of writing is critical. An idea could be presented and perceived in totally different ways. Make sure your readers do not misunderstand the facts, arguments, and ideas you present in your essay.

6. There should be unity in your essay. The thoughts, arguments, supporting arguments, and details should be intertwined with each other. They all should be strongly connected with your thesis statement.

7. Follow the 3.5 essay format or style. It is an ideal format in essay writing. Learn its ins and outs and be guided to write a good essay.

The previous article I have posted entitled Tips in Essay Writing should give you additional important ideas that would enhance your essay.

Study more and do a lot of writing because it requires more than tips to be able to write a good essay.

Posted by journaliz - January 26, 2012 at 11:29 am

Categories: Essay Writing Tags: essay writing, good essay, improve essay, tips in essay writing

How to Improve Writing Skills

To improve writing skills and be a better writer, you must be determined to do the requirements. It may be tough at some times and could take you a while, but it would be worth it. Be patient. Good things happen when you are.

But here are some easy and simple tips that would help you improve writing skills.

The first key to improve writing skills is to have a good command of the language you intend to use in writing. If you are to use your second language, master it first. Study its grammar, and sentence and paragraph construction. If you are to use the English language, study its Parts of Speech, verb tenses and parallelism, syntax, etc. This may take years which possibly start from your preschool years. But even if you are writing in your mother tongue, you still need to do further study to master it and be better in writing using it.
After gaining a good command of the language you will use, increase your vocabulary. If you are really serious in increasing your word bank of say, English words, make reading the dictionary your new and bizarre habit. I remember, when I was in 2nd year high school and was reading a pocket dictionary, another student stared at me. I sensed he finds me a bit silly reading a dictionary. But it was worth it. That practice, increased my vocabulary, and the new words I learned from that day, I still use until now.But do not just read, study. Get a notebook and write down the new words you learned with its meaning, and pronunciation. After studying them, apply them. Otherwise you will forget those new words. Use the new words in sentences, write it down in your notebook, or better yet, use them in the articles, stories, or essays you are writing.
The next thing you need to do to improve writing skills is to read. A lot. A good writer should also be a good reader, not necessarily a book worm, but someone who likes if not loves to read. But do not just read like any everybody else does. You are a writer, read like one. Go beyond reading for what the story is about. While reading, you are studying. Dissect. That’s the perfect word. Look into writing styles, choice of words, vocabulary words, grammar and composition etc. Learn from good writers, study their well-written write-ups.
Write, write, and write. This is a must if you really want to improve writing skills. Make writing a daily habit. If you skipped a day or worst, couple of days without writing anything, your writing skills will turn dull just like a knife that is left unused, that gets blunt, rusty, and eventually useless.
Ask for feed backs. Other people’s opinions regarding your essay or story are important. To improve writing skills is getting constructive criticisms and applying them. Just like the principle of the Johari Window: there are things which other people know or see which you do not see and vice versa. They could spot an error or something you can improve which you do not notice.
Learn how to proofread, rewrite, revise, and edit. There’s a difference between a good writer and a better one. A good writer is one that writes wonderful stories or essays, a better writer is one that also knows how to proofread, rewrite, revise, and even edit his own write-up or others’.

Consider these important tips and through a lot of work and experience, you will surely improve writing skills!

Posted by journaliz - January 25, 2012 at 11:49 am

Categories: Essay Writing, Feature Writing, Speech Writing Tags: enhance writing skills, improve writing skills

How to Deliver a Speech Effectively

How to deliver a speech effectively is way too different from merely delivering a speech. You could just read or present your speech but was it effective? Was the message you wanted to impart to your audience sunk deep in their minds and hearts? Did your audience remember anything you said in your speech? Was your speech strong enough that it brought about change and made a difference at least to the lives of the ones who have heard it? Was your speech delivered effectively?

It takes a lot of preparation and work in order to deliver a speech effectively.

One of the challenging things to accomplish in delivering a speech is to be of good influence to other people, to persuade them, educate them, enlighten, and motivate them , urge them to act on or change something. Once you have accomplished these, you have delivered an effective speech.

To deliver a speech effectively is indeed a tough job, but here are some simple tips that will help you.

1. An effective speech delivery first depends on an equally effective and well-written speech. When writing your speech, make sure you take note of the things an effective writer would consider.

2. Before going into your speaking engagement, be sure you “look effective” as a speaker. Dress appropriately, not under-dressed or over-dressed. Radiate the essence of effectiveness initially by your over-all look.

3. Prioritize your audience. Your speech is mainly about them, about educating them, inspiring them, motivating them, satisfying them. Your speech is basically for their welfare.

4. Use public speaking tools appropriately: gestures, body movements, volume of voice, tone of voice, and facial expressions.

5. Speak with conviction. If you want your audience to believe in what you are speaking about, you need to sincerely sound convincing and believable.

Why put much emphasis on effectiveness? It is because the effect or the impact of your speech is critically important. You’d better not deliver a speech if it will not have any good effect to your audience.

That is why it is important that before your public speaking engagement, you study and learn how to deliver a speech effectively.

Posted by journaliz - January 24, 2012 at 4:07 pm

Categories: Public Speaking Tags: enhance speech, public speaking, speech

Public Speaking Tools

Public speaking tools are necessary in order to effectively deliver a well-written speech. It is not enough that you have written a perfect speech. It is more like eating just the patty without the buns. No matter how juicy and tender your patty is when you eat it alone, it would not still be pleasing to the taste buds since one important thing is missing, something that balances the taste.

A nicely written speech plus some ideal public speaking tools equals successful presentation.

a. Gestures. Gestures are important but do not overdo these. Otherwise your gestures might turn into annoying and disrupting mannerisms, which are a taboo. These are used to emphasize a thought and should be used always with a purpose and good timing.

b. Body Movements. These are likewise an effective tool to improve your speech delivery if used wisely. These also highlight a point or idea. Just make sure your body movements are not intimidating or lousy. Avoid being too jerky. It is a manifestation of nervousness and timidity.

c. Volume of Voice. You do not need to speak with a loud voice the whole time, or speak in a soft voice. A loud voice emphasizes a strong point, while a soft voice suggests thoughts that depict mellowness, subtlety, peace, quietness, even sadness. Or it is simply used in words that do not need emphasis.

d. Tone of Voice. The tone of your voice should likewise change with a purpose. It should match the emotion your words suggest. If you are uttering a happy line, make your voice sound happy. If it is a sad line, make your voice sound sad. It’s that simple. But do not overdo it, or you will sound like a theater actor.

It should vary or else you will sound monotonous which is an absolute no-no. No matter how well-written and effective your speech is if you are monotonous, you will just bore your audience and your message will not sink in.

e. Facial Expressions: Do not display a blank or a poker face the whole time or majority of the time. A face like such communicates nothing but nonchalance or disinterest. If you bring across such message, do not expect your audience to be interested or excitement about you and about your speech also.

f. Eye-to-eye Contact: Rapport-building is a canon in public speaking. You need to connect with your audience, and the eye-to-eye contact is the most popular way. Do not bow your head majority of the time.It is okay to glance at your paper, but not too often.

Stooping likewise evokes timidity and shyness. Face your audience, look at them in the eye. Have talking eyes. Communicate with them not just with words.

Take into consideration these simple but essential public speaking tools and be successful in delivering an effective speech. Rehearse so you can master them. But do not over practice so it would still come out naturally.

Remember to use these public speaking tools properly so it will serve to your advantage because the absence or improper usage of these public speaking tools will make your speech less than effective, persuasive, or believable.

Do more browsing and find out more public speaking tools in our website!

Posted by journaliz - January 22, 2012 at 7:21 pm

Categories: Public Speaking Tags: public speaking skills, Public Speaking Tools

Stop SOPA

You would definitely say “Stop SOPA,” if you are a daily internet user, if your past time mainly is surfing the internet, if you are an online seller or if you are someone whose everyday routine revolve mainly on the internet.
This is quite an alarming matter that could greatly affect how you use the internet in its entirety. It is a bill headed through the U.S. Congress called the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” or SOPA. The SOPA with its accompanying bill called the PROTECT-IP impends to dramatically change how information is carried out online. This will be done by implementing massive restrictions on contents generated by users like videos and images uploads, podcasts, or forum posts.

Once the SOPA gets approved, it will have site owners solely liable for anything and everything users post. They will be accountable and could be put into jail, be heavily fined, or be blacklisted from Domain Name System (DNS) for uploads, without consideration for whether or not the user asked permission for any video or image posted. By instigating the DNS blacklisting based only on declaration by an individual copyright or intellectual property owner, site owners would be deprived of due process of law. The SOPA impends to require huge web services like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to monitor and insistently filter everything every user uploads. This would not sound like good news to the avid users of the above mentioned sites.

It will also give the U.S. government the power to censor the web using systems and methods comparable to those used by other countries like Malaysia, Iran, and China. An example of this internet censorship is China’s Great Firewall.

For example, you took a video of your cousin, niece, or daughter taking her first few steps, edited the clip, played an audio on the background and posted it on YouTube then on Facebook for your relatives abroad to see. The company behind the soundtrack you used could file a complaint without being required to notify YouTube or Facebook. These web services would be prosecuted and could be imprisoned for not preventing the video from being posted. In other words, the users of Uniform Resource Locator (URL) http://www.youtube.com or http://www.facebook.com domain in the U.S. would be redirected to a “This site under review for piracy/copyright violations” page.

Once the SOPA gets approved this would mean that YouTube or Facebook ought to completely alter their approval system for all posts, be it in text, audio, video, or image form. They will have to approve every single comment, thread; even the simple captions you type under the images or pictures you upload would be scrutinized. The effects with these giant sites would be a total devastation considering that the changes and innovation would put everyone (including users) on a long and annoying halt if the new restrictions were to be implemented.

Many site owners in the U.S have already brought across their desire to stop SOPA and oppose the PROTECT IP Act. But websites which domains are in the US are not the only ones to be greatly affected by the SOPA. Since the internet is a worldwide tool, its effect would also be worldwide, not limited to US internet users alone.

So what do you think, do you oppose and would likewise want to stop SOPA?

Posted by - January 19, 2012 at 1:21 pm

Categories: CHIT-chats Tags: internet censorship, stop sopa

Feature Writing Contest Tips

If you are a feature writer and preparing for the next Campus Journalism contest, here are some feature writing contest tips that will be useful for you.

1. Remember that your target reader in a feature writing contest is the judge or the judges (in Campus Journalism, usually there is one judge in each slot). So make him your ultimate consideration.

Every individual has different preferences, has varying likes and dislikes. Every person thinks differently. Every judge judges differently. If it’s possible, know him/her personally. Get an idea on how he thinks, or behaves. You will have an edge if you know the writing style your judge prefers or sees better than any other writing styles.

2. Just like what I’ve told my favorite feature writing student a lot of times: “write not of your age.”

She’s a very young writer, I started coaching her at the age of 9 and now she’s 13. I told her when she was in 4th grade, “Try to write like a 5th grader does.” When she was in 5th grade I advised her, “Write like a 6th grader writes.” Now that she’s a 6th grader, I gently push her “Write like a high school student would write.”

There is an awe created when readers or judges encounter a very well-written feature article and get doubled awed to see that it was a nine- or ten-year old who wrote it!

3. Compose your feature story so as to radiate a positive energy to the judges.

One thing young feature writers tend to overlook is the whole outcome of their feature story. Sometimes, if they are asked or assigned to write a story based on tragic, or saddening events, their stories will end up tragic and gloomy as well.

If you are to write a feature story on such topics that do not suggest a positive disposition, compose and end your story with one that still enlightens, motivates, and inspires.

For example: In a feature writing contest, you are to write a story on something that evokes hopelessness, end your story with a tinge of bright hopes. If you are to write a feature story on something that is full of grief or struggle, angle or end your story with a touch of comfort and peace. If you are to write a story on something that is anger-filled, compose and end your story in a way that would mellow down the wrath.

4. Joining a feature writing contest is not just a matter of mental preparation. You do not only need to study, gain and hone your writing skills, but you also need to prepare yourself emotionally, and if you are religious, spiritually as well.

A writing contest could be very stressful from the first few weeks before the contest to the actual one, and if you do not know how to manage the stress and pressure coupled with it, it will greatly affect your writing performance.

Even if you are so well prepared and came fully equipped with ideal writing skills but succumbed to emotional elements like nervousness, fear, and other psychological distractions, you would most probably under perform.

So before your actual feature writing contest, or even way before that, prepare yourself emotionally. Have a good and positive mind set. Brush away all negative emotions until you finished your story.

I hope these tips would help you succeed in the feature writing contest you are in.

Posted by journaliz - January 19, 2012 at 10:07 am

Categories: Feature Writing Tags: Feature Writing Contest Tips

Feature Writing Taboos

Feature writing is not that restricted as News Writing, Editorial Writing, or Sports Writing. You could do almost anything, write in almost any style, even the so-called free style, but it is wise to take note of some feature writing taboos to better your article.

In my years of writing and coaching young feature writers, I have learned and come to realize that there are such things as feature writing taboos. You just don’t master the language and grammar you will use in writing, and study and apply different writing styles in feature writing, but you also have to take into consideration some important things to avoid. The following are but some of them.

1. Don’t use Feature Writing as an outlet of your own feelings.

The most important person a good feature writer should consider is his target or intended readers. You are writing for them. Even if you are writing a personal feature story, you are still doing it for your readers, not mainly for your own satisfaction. Otherwise, the only reader you will be left with is your self alone. The only writing form in which you write for yourself is journal or diary writing.

In feature writing, you write for your readers, remember that. So consider your target readers’ feelings, study how they think, put your self in their shoes and know their preferences, intellectual capacity and so on. Do not make feature writing your outlet of your anger, disappointment, discouragement, distress, and what-not.

This is one of the feature writing taboos which some writers especially young ones, unawarely commit which puts their article in jeopardy, much more in a writing contest.

Remember again that your readers could sense the emotion your feature article radiates. They will sense if it is a self-centered piece or not. If it is and they feel it wasn’t written for them, you will fail in satisfying your target readers and then lose, if it was a writing contest.

2. Don’t overdo the dramatic touch in your feature story.

It is one goal of a good feature writer to extract certain emotions from his readers, except boredom. This is one of the feature writing taboos which I consider very challenging because the line between drama and cheesiness is very thin, so be very careful. The overdoing of the dramatic effect will be conspicuous and therefore be irritating and not convincing at all.

3. Don’t overuse vocabulary words.

Vocabulary words enrich a feature story if sprinkled wisely. Do not stud your story with big words especially when your feature is as short as a 250-word article.

Do not dazzle your target readers with high highfaluting or fancy words. Do not drive them into browsing the dictionary the whole time while reading your feature story. Just like a cliche in Journalism: Write to express not to impress. Otherwise,you will be defying the main purpose of writing, and that is to bring across your message and be understood.

Be very careful also in your choice of words. Diction is very essential. Choose appropriate words for your written thoughts and use vocabulary words profoundly.

4. Don’t try to include every single fact you’ve gathered.

Among the four feature writing taboos mentioned, this is the most critical one because most of the time, if a writer gets too excited in writing, especially when writing a narrative feature article, he overlooks this taboo.

It’s unnecessary to include everything. If your facts basically came from an interview or series of interviews it is suicidal to inject every idea given to you. If it is a personality sketch, it is foolish to write every single information about a specific person. If it is a travelogue, it is unwise to write down each part of the trip. You don’t need all the facts to come up with a wonderful feature story. Learn to narrow down, specially your topic. Learn to master the skill I call the “Art of Omission.”

Writers have this tendency to try putting down everything which compromises the feature story’s focus. They are sometimes reluctant to leave some facts behind. Even if certain facts actually happened in say, a narrative feature story, it is wise to omit them if they will steer your story in a different point, focus, or direction.

Another tendency: too much information barely elaborated will clog your feature story. “The more, the merrier” does not apply wisely in feature writing.

It will work to your advantage if you will take note of these simple yet important feature writing taboos.

Posted by journaliz - January 18, 2012 at 8:48 am

Categories: Feature Writing Tags: Feature Writing Taboos, tips in feature writing

What is a 3.5 Essay?

A 3.5 essay is a five-paragraph essay which consists of an Introduction carrying the Thesis Statement, Body, and Conclusion.The 3 means “3 parts” which pertains to the Introduction, Body, and Conclusion; while the 5 means “5 paragraphs.”

The first paragraph will serve as the Introduction, the second, third, and fourth paragraphs are the Body, and the last paragraph is the Conclusion.

The ideal number of words for a brief 3.5 essay is 500, 100 words for each of the five paragraphs.

Paragraph 1: Introduction or Lead

In a 3.5 essay, the first paragraph or the Introduction (or Lead in Journalism) ideally should be three to five sentences long. As always, it should start with a “bang!” It should have a strong element that would pull your intended readers into your essay.

This part is what I call the “appetizer.” Just like dining in a restaurant, an appetizer is to be served first. It stimulates one’s desire to eat. The Introduction or Lead does likewise. It entices readers to read more.

This could be a Quotation Lead, Question Lead, Exclamatory Lead, Narrative Lead, or Summary Lead. You could write your Thesis Statement here.

The last sentence of the Introduction or Lead should be the “hook” or the transitional statement that would link the first paragraph to the next. The transition should be smooth and not so abrupt. It should not sound like it was forced to jump to the next paragraph.

Paragraph 2:

This consists of five to seven sentences. The first sentence of this paragraph is likewise an ideal place to write the Thesis Statement. (but the usual practice is writing the Thesis Statement in the Introduction or Lead) This paragraph starts to stretch, or expound the argument or point stated in the Introduction or in the Thesis Statement. Explain the Thesis statement in this part of your essay.

The last sentence of Paragraph 2 should be the “hook” or the transitional statement that would link this paragraph to the next.

Paragraph 3:

This consists of five to seven sentences. This paragraph is where needed examples based on the Introduction or Thesis Statement are written.Proofs or back-up information for the argument is also wise to write in this part.

The last sentence of Paragraph 3 should be the “hook” or the transitional statement that would link this paragraph to the next.

Paragraph 4:

This consists of five to seven sentences. You could write related short stories (personal stories are better), anecdotes, or quotes in this part of your 3.5 essay.

The last sentence of Paragraph 4 should be the “hook” or the transitional statement that would link this paragraph to the concluding paragraph of your 3.5 essay.

Paragraph 5: The Conclusion

This is the concluding part of your 3.5 essay, which consists of three to five sentences. Usually the Conclusion is the summary of the whole essay. Most of the time, this is where the Thesis Statement is reechoed, or paraphrased. If you choose not to reword the Thesis Statement, you could also present a different thought which is not totally detached from your Thesis Statement.

This part is what I call the “dessert.” Just like in taking a meal, it would not be considered “done” if there is no dessert. You will not be fully satisfied with your meal without it.

Your conclusion should have a strong effect on your readers for them to remember your essay. Equal the bang you have created in the Introduction or Lead, or better yet, surpass it.

Make sure your Conclusion has a sense of finality, the one that would not sound hanging. Do not force to end your essay, it will not sound good and your target readers will notice it.

Make the Conclusion of your essay the part where the biggest realization, inspiration, motivation, enlightenment, or learning takes place.

This is the easiest essay writing style. Learn more about it and realize how much convenience you will have in writing a 3.5 essay!

Posted by journaliz - January 16, 2012 at 11:02 am

Categories: Essay Writing Tags: 3.5 Essay, enhance essay, essay writing, tips in essay writing

Tips in Essay Writing

What is an Essay?
Before we proceed to the tips in essay writing, let us first define what an essay is.

An essay is a brief composition that informs, entertains, clarifies a certain topic, describes or analyzes something, or argues a specific issue. It is non-fiction which consists of an Introduction, Thesis Statement, Body, and Conclusion. It always has a core topic, and the subtopics elaborate, expound, and revolve around the main topic. In essay writing the 3.5 paper form or style is quite popular.

Students oftentimes encounter essay writing assignments in school. The essay could be as simple and short as a narration of a grade school student’s favorite pet, or it could be as complex and profound as a graduate student’s essay.

General Procedure and Tips in Essay Writing:

Here is a general step-by-step procedure and some tips in essay writing. It is the same as in feature writing, except that it does not put that much emphasis or importance on the thesis statement compared to essay writing. Sometimes a thesis statement is only an option in feature writing. The feature writer unintentionally writes a thesis statement.

1. Choose a topic

2. Decide on the Angle

3. Brainstorm and Narrow Down Topic

4. Write the Thesis statement

5. Write the introduction

6. Write the body

7. Write the Conclusion

8. Proofread and Revise

9. Write Final Draft

Choose a topic for your essay

If the topic is already assigned, proceed to the next tip. Otherwise, choose a topic that would interest your target readers, something they could understand, and relate with. Choose something your intended readers will find useful, entertaining, and important.

Usually interesting topics are timely or current. Check out the news, you may find something interesting to write about. If it is not a current event, issues that happened in the past could also be catchy. It all depends on your essay writing style. The events in your life, those that do not happen everyday are good essay writing topics.

Just like in feature writing, you can write anything under the sun.

Decide on the Angle

Once you have chosen your topic, angle your essay. Angling is a critical move before the actual essay writing. This should be done with a wise sense of decision. For example, your essay writing topic is “a personal vacation.” Choose an angle or a side of the whole vacation experience. It is unwise to write about everything about what happened during that vacation, from the packing of your things before leaving to the unpacking when you arrived home. Even if you are writing a narrative essay try avoiding that style.

A good angle in essay writing could be writing about something you learned or realized when you are in vacation, something you considered an eye opening experience while you are on your way, or something you took for granted but then loved after your escapade. If there were any untoward incidents, or any unexpected, or note-worthy happenings during your vacation, that would be a good essay writing angle.

Brainstorm and Narrow Down Topic
After you have angled your essay, brainstorm. Randomly write down anything you could think of that is related to the topic with a specific angle. Your ideas could be in words or short phrases. Then lean back and take a closer look at the paper; look at the bigger picture and narrow down your topic.

Omit some ideas that are a little off focused from the topic and its angle. Of course, all of the ideas in your brainstorming sheet are related to your topic and angle, but surely some of them may be unnecessary.

Deleting ideas is considered a skill, I call it the “Art of Omission.” This is also a critical activity before the actual essay writing because once it is done poorly or it is not done at all, you will not be successful in putting a finality in your essay or any article you write, because a raw topic which is too broad will lead you to an endless course. Your essay will only be a piece of paper with too much scattered information on it, or an essay with a hanging ending.

Write the Thesis statement

The thesis statement is a one- or two-sentence with a single idea to which all of the remaining sentences in your whole essay refer to or connect with.

It should be concise, and tightly-written statement which asserts a point, or carries an argument.

In essay writing, the thesis statement could be considered as a summary. If you could tell or relate your essay in one or two sentences, that would be the thesis statement.

Most of the time it is found at the Introduction.

Write the Introduction

Just like in journalism, the introduction in essay writing should be a “bang!” For one reason: to grab your readers’ interest. Since it is the first material your target readers will encounter it should be strong enough to urge them to continue on reading your essay. But for narrative type of essays, the introduction is not really that explosive. But it should still be catchy.

Write the Body:

The Body in essay writing is the part where you expound, stretch, or explain the thesis statement or the ideas in the Introduction. This is the longest part in essay writing. This is where you lay down examples in connection with your thesis statement.

Write the Conclusion

The Conclusion most of the time is considered equally important with the Introduction,therefore it should be as catchy, interesting, and explosive as the Introduction. But I believe it is “more important” if not the “most important” part in essay writing or in any written article. Since it is the last material your readers will encounter, its content will be the freshest in their memories. It is the Conclusion that your readers will remember the most. In fact, if you ask somebody to say something about what he just read, the tendency would be, he will refer to the what’s written in the conclusion.

This part is where you summarize your essay or restate your thesis statement.

Proofread and Revise:

Proofreading simply connotes leaving a “proof” that you have “read” your essay after writing the conclusion. That “proof” are basic corrections on spelling, punctuations, capitalization, and basic grammar. Revising on the other hand is a more careful and in-depth alteration or correction of major errors on grammar, sentence and paragraph construction or syntax, diction or the choice of words, etc. Revision could also include improvement of vocabulary.

Revising is very important. Even seasoned writers rewrite and revise their essays. No body really gets it perfectly on the first draft.

This is the best time to review and check your thesis statement. You can review, improve, and strengthen it.

Write Final Draft

After proofreading and revising your essay, finalize it. This is where final touches and polishing are done. This is where the least work is done.

Additional Tips in Essay Writing:

Remember, this is just a general procedure in essay writing. Some writers may not follow this procedure. Some may already have written a rough conclusion before they could even write the introduction, or some may be more comfortable drafting the body before anything else. Some may start with the thesis statement. One useful tip in essay writing, or in any journalistic writing: study how you write, because every writer is different, then start where you are most comfortable with.

These are just but some tips in essay writing, study harder, do more researches, ask or interview other essayists, read and study well-written essays so you can learn more tips in essay writing and be a better writer.

Posted by journaliz - January 12, 2012 at 10:32 am

Categories: CHIT-chats, Essay Writing Tags: enhance essay writing, tips in essay writing