I’ve spent the better part of a decade teaching students how to write, and I’ve noticed something peculiar. Most people approach the outline as though it’s a punishment–a box to check before the real work begins. They treat it as busywork, something their teachers demand but nobody actually needs. That’s where they’re wrong, and I […]
I didn’t understand evaluation essays until I failed one. That’s the honest truth. I walked into my sophomore year of college thinking I knew how to write. I’d done narrative essays, arguments, research papers. How different could an evaluation be? Turns out, completely different. My professor handed back my first attempt with a note that […]
I’ve been writing for about fifteen years now, and I can tell you that the moment I stopped thinking of topic sentences as some rigid rule and started seeing them as the spine of my argument, everything changed. Most people treat them as an obligation, something to check off before moving on to the real […]
I’ve spent the last five years working with students who struggle to articulate their positions on contentious topics. Abortion sits at the top of that list. Not because students lack conviction, but because they’re terrified of getting it wrong. They come to me asking how to structure an argument that feels intellectually honest while navigating […]
I’ve spent the last eight years reading thousands of essays, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that most titles are forgettable. They’re safe. They’re predictable. They’re the academic equivalent of beige wallpaper. And yet, a strong title can transform how someone approaches your entire argument before they read a single body paragraph. The […]
I spent three years watching students crumble under the weight of unsupported claims. Not because they were lazy or unintelligent, but because nobody had actually taught them the difference between having an opinion and building an argument that matters. I’ve been there myself–sitting in front of a blank page, convinced I had something important to […]
I’ve read thousands of essays about why students chose their majors. Most of them sound like they were written by the same person, filtered through a corporate memo machine. They talk about passion and purpose in ways that feel rehearsed, like someone memorized a TED talk and regurgitated it onto the page. But here’s what […]
I’ve stared at blank pages more times than I care to admit. The cursor blinks. The pressure mounts. You know the feeling–that moment when you’ve done the research, gathered your sources, and suddenly the hardest part isn’t the argument itself but figuring out how to begin. I’ve learned that introductions aren’t just formalities. They’re invitations. […]
I’ve read hundreds of synthesis essays. Some of them made me sit up straighter in my chair. Others made me wonder if the student had actually read the source material or just skimmed SparkNotes at midnight. The difference between the two isn’t always obvious at first glance, but once you understand what separates a mediocre […]
I’ve been writing about my own life for longer than I care to admit, and I’ve learned something that most people don’t expect: authenticity isn’t about telling everything. It’s about telling the right things in a way that makes someone else feel less alone in their own mess. When I first started writing memoir essays, […]