Choose Voice

This acceptance of the reality of our mutual stupidity, as liberating as it is, opens up the terrifying problem of how to know who then to be. What voice should we choose? Our ancestors who left the Old World behind did not want to return, as Scripture says, like a dog to its vomit and carry on the old voices. They came to the wilderness of the New World hoping to be transformed and to be made into new men and women. And in time, they might. But what to do and who to be while waiting? Like any writer facing a blank white page, they found themselves having to fake it.

Essay Voice:

Also experiment with different voices. Should your essay be written in the third person voice, that all-knowing narrator? Or is the first person voice, presenting your point of view, a better choice?

General interest topics work well with a third person narrator, while topics that are personal to you work better in the first person voice.

Grab a Reader’s Attention from the Start:

Remember that whatever your topic, style, and voice, you need to grab a reader’s attention from the start. One way to do this is with a question or series of questions that makes a reader want to learn the answers.

You could also begin with a tantalizing or startling fact, something that will spark a reader’s curiosity.

A third way to draw a reader in is to start your essay with an anecdote, which gives you the opportunity to show rather than tell.

The Body of the Essay:

Once you have a reader, you have to keep him or her.

Try using short story techniques such as selective use of description or dialogue to keep interest. Varying your sentence lengths will help create different moods, as well.

For example, a reflective essay will benefit from longer sentences, which give a thoughtful quality to the work, while short sentences will give your essay a sense of immediacy. Experiment with both.

Transitional Words:

When you finish a thought or paragraph and need to move on to the next, transitional words such as “first”, “second”, “earlier,” “later,” can provide a smooth flow.

Another way to accomplish this flow is to arrange information so that the item mentioned last in one paragraph is mentioned again at the beginning of the next.

Wrap Everything up for a Sense of Satisfaction:

A good writer knows the importance of wrapping all the thoughts in an essay together to sum up the piece. By doing this, you will leave a reader with a sense of satisfaction at the end.

So choose a voice, put on your mask, march onto the stage of that blank white piece of paper, and construct a story that will wow the crowd.

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