Writing starts with little steps

Writing is not a talent, but a skill and to hone it you must take baby steps. Every great writer started with short stories and essays before he or she could proceed further to larger forms like novels.

This house is for people who are brave enough to take those baby steps. Here we will publish essays, letters, memos and other small-form papers on any topic. And hey, there is a lot to explore here. Just look how many types of essays alone exist – expository, descriptive, narrative, persuasive, argumentative, comparative, and whatnot. The full list you can find on educational resources.

Writing an essay can be a good stepping-stone to writing your first fiction story. Why?

  • Because it teaches you to grab your reader’s attention right away, teaches to persuade them. Yes, argumentative essays do it logically with the help of relevant facts. However, persuasive essays are more about emotional impact. You explain your point of view; you explain how something is important to you and why it should be important to your reader. Your task is to make your reader care. And if you cannot make them care for whale beaching or whatever is occupying your mind currently, how will you make them care for figments of your imagination, aka fictional characters?
  • Essay writing teaches you the importance of structure. No matter what you write – one-page short story or an epic novel – structure is paramount. Good writers should never succumb to aimless rambling just to boost the word count.
  • Essay-writing teaches you to be concise, to the point, and use exactly the words you need to influence your reader’s mind. This may not sound like a superpower, yet believe me, nothing helps you to understand the importance of every single word as limited word count does.
  • Writing essays allows you to explore a variety of different – often unexpected topics and to be aware of different viewpoints on the subject. This is particularly helpful later when you are planning on handling a sensitive subject.
  • It builds the habit of writing. All successful prolific writers own their success to the fact that they simply wrote persistently. They showed up every day at their desks and got the job done. They say that three pages a day is all it takes. Slow and steady.
  • It helps you to keep your reader always in mind. Your intended audiences may vary depending on the particular topic, but diverse as they are, they should be always in the focus of your attention. What do they care about? What they find interesting? Entertaining? Challenging? Catering to your readers is a skill that any writer who wants to live by his or her pen needs to develop.

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