I had to write a weekly technology column for a number of years. The best method I found was to prepare a outline of the content you are going to write as a series of questions. For my column I used 5 questions in a logical progression. Example question might be "Why is this technology important to small businesses?"<p>Once I defined the questions, I wrote in sprints without correcting grammar or spelling to answer each of the questions. Sprints were a few minutes, not more than 5.<p>When I answered all of the questions I would go back and remove the questions and edit for flow and add references and supporting facts. Last would be a grammar check, but I relied on my editor to review that given that I was often writing on deadline.<p>I produced more than 200 articles of 800-1000 words. Week over week even when I had writers block or no desire to write at all.
In my own experiences, the key to writing essays quickly and expertly is just writing a lot of essays and consciously trying to hone your craft. Writing is a complex skill that takes lots of time and attention in little incremental steps, and the further you go the faster/better you get.<p>It's more than just practice though. It's also momentum. I find that the more I write, the more my brain passively seeks more material to write, and so I get faster at generating ideas and putting them on paper. This happens with programming too - the more I do, the faster I get at coming up with ideas and prototyping them. Same with sports, gaming, really everything that combines skill and creativity. I get more creative by just doing it more.<p>Certainly there's real technique to writing quickly, but I've always found that my own biggest barrier was having something meaningful to say, and the fastest way to get into a rhythm of actually coming up with meaningful things to say was to just start putting words down in the first place. Which leads to the paradox: you become prolific by trying to be prolific.
Here's a common essay structure I've picked up on, from many sources(From Eliezer Yudkowsky's rationality articles to John Oliver's Last Week Tonight)<p>1. Introduce a problem/concept - can be a social issue, bias, or a useful cognitive tool.<p>2. Define/explain what it is.<p>3. Give several examples or studies.<p>4. Call to action - propose a solution, debiasing, or a practical real life application.<p>Also add an intro that grabs attention and promises value.<p>This seems to work well and I like it a lot, it gives me a pretty universal way to write on many subjects.
I personally have found the article pretty informative as I can relate to the topic very well. Takes me enormous amount of energy to write something that's more than a few random sentences together. There is a well-known fear of public speaking and in my case it's more like a fear of public writing.<p>Still looking for an efficient way to break thoughts down into pieces and that's one way to approach it.
For a self-writing timed exam essay, structure more simply:<p>- Thing because reasons 1, 2, and 3.<p>- Thing because Reason 1. Reason 1 elaborated. Supporting examples.<p>- Thing because Reason 2. Reason 2 elaborated. Supporting examples.<p>- Thing because Reason 3. Reason 3 elaborated. Supporting examples.<p>- From reasons 1, 2, and 3, the thing.<p>Paint by these numbers against the clock:<p>- Divide time available by 5, e.g., 50 minute period, 5 intervals of 10 minutes.<p>- <i>Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em:</i> Spend first 10 minutes thinking about the topic and write a thesis statement based on three persuasive reasons you can support with examples from what you remember about the topic. (10 mins)<p>- <i>Tell 'em (x3):</i> Spend each of the next 10 minute blocks writing a paragraph connecting that part, elaborating on the reason, then providing as many supporting examples as you can fit in the ten minutes. (3 x 10 mins)<p>- <i>Tell 'em what you told 'em:</i> Write a compelling conclusion based on the reasons. Spend any leftover time proof-reading. (10 mins)
1. Just as with code: read and write a lot.<p>2. Have models to emulate.<p>3. Learn the rules.<p>4. Clearly structure your sentences, paragraphs, and larger semantic units (essay, short story, etc.).<p>5. Edit extensively.<p>6. Be kind to your reader: concise and clear will always be better than wordy and vague.<p>7. Vary your word use, sentence length, phrase structure, and in general, rhythm. A mumbling monotone is difficult to comprehend. Read your drafts out loud just to make sure you have FLOW.<p>8. Don't be a pompous ass. I am very smart, is not a great way to start. Avoid being cute, pretentious, precious, ponderous, and otherwise fake. Develop your voice, which is how you sound to other people.<p>9. Ermm... formatting is an art of its own.
Excellent article but I think it is missing one point, and why I think joewee in his comment is more right.<p>Argument, Explanation, Definition, Description<p>are not the only types of articles or essays. What's missing from the list is "Story". Story is something that is entertaining to read because it first creates some expectations, perhaps in the wrong direction on purpose like a good detective story. Then resolves the issues preferably in a non-obvious way.<p>Therefore I believe joewee is right, it is best to structure your article based on a set of questions which should pique the interest of the reader.
How to write prolifically and expert-like? Why, by using the Postmodernism generator, of course!<p><a href="http://www.elsewhere.org/journal/pomo/" rel="nofollow">http://www.elsewhere.org/journal/pomo/</a><p>Hint: Hit refresh to generate a new essay.