How to Write

Question 1

What is an essay?

Answer 1

A short piece written by someone attempting to explore a topic or answer a question.

Question 2

What is the primary reason to write an essay? (ICS)

Answer 2

To formulate and organize an informed, coherent and sophisticated set of ideas about something important

Question 3

Why is it important to write before taking action?

Answer 3

Action based on thinking is more productive than action based on ignorance.

Question 4

What are three ways that writing improves thinking? (MEC)

Answer 4

Extends Memory, facilitates Editing, and Clarifies ideas.

Question 5

What does it mean to be “powerful in a good way”?

Answer 5

Able to do a wide range of things competently and efficiently

Question 6

What is the maximum number of hours you can write productively in a day?

Answer 6

About three hours.

Question 7

What are the five levels of resolution in an essay?

Answer 7

1) Words, 2) sentences, 3) paragraphs, 4) paragraph arrangement, and 5) the essay as a whole

Question 8

About how many words should be in a paragraph, as a rule of thumb?

Answer 8

100 words, or 10 sentences of 10 words each.

Question 9

When is the only time you are allowed to break a rule?

Answer 9

Once you have mastered them.

Question 10

What are the two final levels of resolution of an essay, “beyond the essay” itself?

Answer 10

6) the reader, and 7) the culture in which the reader is embedded. In other words, you have to take your audience into account.

Question 11

What does getting bored as you are writing signify?

Answer 11

That the essay will also be boring. And, perhaps at a deep level, that you are lying to yourself about the importance of the topic…you just are not interested in it at the deepest levels of significance.

Question 12

What is the arguably the hardest part of writing an essay?

Answer 12

Choosing a topic the proper question; a topic that is interesting to you and a question that you want to answer.

Question 13

What is the intensity of your interest in a topic evidence of?

Answer 13

The importance of the topic. Don’t waste your time with topics that don’t grip you.

Question 14

How should you begin the organization of the writing process if 1) you can already identify several areas of interest versus 2) if you are unsure?

Answer 14

If you already have areas of interest, make a list of potential topics. If you are unsure, craft a reading list.

Question 15

When you choose a topic of interest, how should it be phrased?

Answer 15

In question form

Question 16

If you have writer’s block, what should you do?

Answer 16

Read something until you get interested. If that doesn’t work, read something else. Repeat until the problem is solved.

Question 17

Where can you start to build a reading list when you don’t have a topic?

Answer 17

Wikipedia, books, research articles, or other source materials. Then look at references for further reading ideas.

Question 18

When you find an author whose writing you admire, what can you do to expand your reading list?

Answer 18

Look at the authors they read and admired and referred to in the text

Question 19

About how many books or articles do you need per 1,000 words of essay?

Answer 19

5 to 10

Question 20

Should you highlight when you read?

Answer 20

No. There is no evidence that it works.

Question 21

How should you read for understanding?

Answer 21

Read a bit, and look for ideas that you disagree with or catch your interest. Jot down the concepts in your notes. Put it into your own words…never write something down word-for-word.

Question 22

What’s the most-important part of learning?

Answer 22

Recreating what you have learned using your own language.

Question 23

What’s a way to think about note-taking in reference to the author?

Answer 23

It’s a conversation with the author. It’s you saying, “This is what I think you are saying.”

Question 24

When is the best time to take notes? How can you practice doing this in a small way?

Answer 24

The best time to take notes is after reading something, when the book is closed. To practice, read a paragraph. Then speak out loud what you believe the paragraph was about.

Question 25

How many notes should you take (by word) compared to the number of words you are writing in your essay?

Answer 25

Two to three times. So for a 1,000-word essay, take 2,000 to 3,000 words in notes.

Question 26

What are the differences between production and editing in writing?

Answer 26

The purpose of production is to PRODUCE. The purpose of editing is to REDUCE.

Question 27

What is the #1 thing a novice writer can do to improve his or her writing?

Answer 27

Reduce each sentence by 15% to 25%.

Question 28

Describe the end-to-end editing process

Answer 28

1. Write a new version of each sentence under the original
2. Arrange the new sentences within each paragraph
3. Compare the original paragraphs with the new paragraphs and choose the best version
4. Rearrange the new, improved paragraphs into the best possible order
5. Read your entire essay
6. Write a NEW outline from memory
7. Paste paragraphs from previous version into the new outline
   - -wait a day or two–
8. Repeat