This advice should cover all levels and aims to keep things as simple as possible, without leaving out any persuasive gems.

Planning a persuasive essay

Always give yourself enough time to plan your persuasive essay, even if that only constitutes a few notes. I always used to hate planning essays as it seemed like additional work that wasn’t really worth the effort. However, a quick brainstorming session before starting your essay can help you put together more ideas and improve the ones you already have.

Things you should consider when planning your persuasive essay:

1. What are you trying to persuade people about? Write it down and keep referring back to it when you get stuck.
2. What are your main points? For a good persuasive essay you need to think of at least four or five points to support your main point of view. Write down everything you can possibly think of, regardless of how weak it seems. One idea can help you think of others and no points should be wasted.
3. What are the opposing views? A great method for persuading readers is to think of the opposing arguments and how they can be discredited. You don’t want to base long parts of your essay on the opposing views, but a short paragraph shooting down the other side of the argument can be a good addition to any persuasive essay.

Starting a persuasive essay

Always start a persuasive essay by clearly stating your point of view. Don’t let yourself waffle on or elaborate on your point too greatly, as you’ll do that in the later paragraphs when you present your different points of view. In my opinion a good persuasive essay should have a two (or three maximum) sentence introduction.

Persuasive essay paragraphs

After your introductory paragraph, aim to have another four paragraphs. Each one of those four paragraphs should contain a valid point to support your main argument. The first sentence of each paragraph should be the point itself. The second sentence should explain fully why that point supports your main point of view. You might then have a third sentence with additional evidence or examples to support that point.

By the end of the main body of your persuasive essay, you should have at least four paragraphs of similar size and if you’ve followed the formula, it should flow nicely.

Concluding a persuasive essay

The last paragraph of your persuasive essay is the conclusion, which will probably be longer than your introduction but should be just as direct. Recap your strongest points and explain why they prove your bottom line point of view. The last sentence of the essay should be memorable and leave readers thinking about your opinion and why it is valid.

Persuasive essay tips

Here are a few more quick-fire additional persuasive essay tips to remember:

1. Don’t go on for too long. If you’re particularly passionate about the subject matter and have lots to say it can be easy to go on and on, but don’t. Edit everything down to the direct point and only keep the most important information. A concise, well written essay that communicates your best points will get a much better response than simply forcing as much in as possible.
2. Avoid repetition. You should never use the same words or phrases too much in any form of writing as it disrupts the flow of sentences and lessens the impact of what is being said.
3. Proof read. Make sure you read your essay through at least once or twice to fish out any mistakes and errors. This can be the difference between a top grade and a less impressive mark.
4. Consider your audience. Who are you writing this persuasive essay for? Do you have to explain everything in detail or can it be assumed your audience know a little bit about the subject in question. You should think about this and it should be reflected in your writing-style.

I hope this little post has helped you with your persuasive essay. Please feel free to use the comments below as your chance to ask questions, share views or add your own input.

Fortunately I found this cool little line break removal tool.

Just paste your text into the top box, push the magic button and it appears in the bottom box with the line breaks removed.

Easy.

What is SEO copywriting?

I’ll start by explaining the (very) basics. SEO means Search Engine Optimisation which is anything you do to a website to improve its visibility on search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSN.

A website that does well on search engines (mainly Google) will get thousands or even millions of visitors a day so SEO is a huge market as you can imagine, particularly for advertisers trying to sell their products online.

Copywriting is one way of improving a sites SEO performance because search engines work out the best sites based on written content (as well as more technical aspects of the website design).

SEO copywriting is basically writing content for web pages that targets a specific set of words, so that when people type in these words on Google (and other search engines) it is your website that gets displayed.

SEO copywriting jobs

There are many companies that will hire people to just do SEO writing on their website and nothing else and this shows how important SEO writing actually is. Speaking from personal experience, my first writing job was as an SEO copywriter, even though I didn’t know it at the time. This has since developed into a strong interest of mine, hence why this website you see now stands before you.

Many SEO copywriters work on a freelance basis for different websites, so if you’re a writer and have some spart time or want to make some cash, this is certainly something you should look into.

Is SEO copywriting hard?

No is the simple answer. If you can string coherent sentences together then you already have the ability to do well with SEO copywriting. However, sometimes your integrity as a writer might become compromised because you’re asked to write quickly and not always to the highest standards. This is because a website needs a lot of pages to perform well on search engines. Hundreds, thousands or even millions of pages are required so often speed is of the essence with SEO copywriting.

Basics of SEO copywriting

What you’re trying to achieve with SEO copywriting is telling the search engine exactly what a particular page is about. So, if you’re writing a page about red curtains you need to damn well make sure that the search engines know your page is about red curtains.

The title of your page should always be the main phrase you’re targeting e.g. ‘Red Curtains’

The first sentence should always include the exact phrase you’re targeting e.g. ‘If you’re looking to buy red curtains then there are many styles to choose from…’

You should look to repeat the exact phrase at least 3 or 4 more times on the page in different sentences.

If you can’t find a way to fit in the exact phrase then use parts of it e.g. ‘Red is a great colour for any room’ or ‘Buying curtains isn’t always easy’.

To place further emphasis on your target phrase so that search engines know it’s important you can make it bold or italic or both.

Advanced SEO Copywriting

I call this section advanced because it probably goes beyond what has to be done to be successful with SEO copywriting. However, this advice will certainly be of use if you’re starting your own website or looking to boost traffic on an existing one.

Keyword research tools - Keyword research tools are huge online databases that track what people are searching for. You can use them to find out how many people are searching for your target phrase and similar ones. So for example if you typed in ‘red curtains’ you might get results like this:

red curtains - 52

red curtain - 37

spotty red curtains - 20

dark red curtains - 17

etc

etc

The benefit of these keyword research tools to SEO copywriting is that you can find other popular phrases to use. So you might include the phrase ’spotty red curtains’ in your writing to target another phrase other than just ‘red curtains’. Including all (or as many of) the words in your writing that a keyword research tool shows you will almost certainly boost the number of visitors you get from search engines.

Link text - If you use your target phrase as link it puts further emphasis on it so search engines are more likely to take notice. This is much the same as making it bold or italic but far more effective. So, if I mentioned ‘red curtains’ I would make that phrase a link to another page about ‘red curtains’.

SEO copywriting mistakes

Many people think that search engines punish websites that deliberately have SEO writing on their pages. However, the opposite is actually true. Search engines like to be told exactly what a specific web page is all about so repeating phrases and making things bold actually helps them and they reward you for that with higher rankings.

OK, you shouldn’t just repeat phrases over and over again like a huge list and write things that don’t make sense, but as long as you’re sensible, you can write uninhibited in whatever style you want.

I hope this has proved helpful (to someone). Hopefully you’ll have found this very page through a search engine which will prove my competence and also provide you with some light irony.

I went all the way through high school and then University studying writing in many different forms from journalism to academic essays to short stories and even writing for children. I vaguely remember one University lecturer mentioning something about ‘blogging’ but other than that I never thought about the internet in terms of a future job-prospect. Fortunately, I would eventually see the light.

Here’s the bottom line: If you’re a writer and have some spare time, you can make money off the internet. Allow me to elaborate…

As we all know, Google is the biggest and best search engine on the internet and we all use it to find the things we’re looking for.

The websites that do best on Google are the ones that have hundreds and thousands of pages of written content. This is because when we search for things using Google it crawls the internet looking for those words and if it finds those words on your site then your site will be one of the sites they display.

Therefore, if you’re a writer and can quickly hammer up a few hundred pages of content on any given subject, then you can make money on the internet.

Of course you have to have the technical knowledge to set up a website and learn a little about how to monetize it but if you’re prepared to dedicate a small amount of time to learning, then you’ll be more than rewarded in the long run.

Here are a few ways you can get involved with internet copywriting either for fun or for hard cash.

Blogging

A blog or a weblog if you’re not sure, is like an online journal that writers (or anyone) can keep to talk about their life, their interests, their family, their hamster…you get the point. You can basically write about anything you want and then post it on the internet for an audience of millions to read. So if you’re itching to write, not that bothered about making money and just want your writing to live on through the ages, then blog away my friend. There are hundreds of blogging sites on the internet but the best one by far is Blogger. Free and easy to use and your pearls of wisdom can be live in seconds.

Writing for existing websites

If you’re like I was and have a passion for writing but don’t know where to look for a job (outside of journalism, publishing etc) then there are websites and online companies everywhere that are looking for internet copywriters so be sure to keep an eye out. They will probably want you to know a little about SEO copywriting and I’ll explain about that on a separate page.

Start your own website

This takes a little more dedication but you can easily set up a website within a day and be writing content just like you would on a blog. Take this website for example. I set it up in about an hour and can now write pages like this in a matter of minutes. Put in a little time and do some research and when you’ve set up your website, write like there’s no tomorrow.

Once you’ve written a couple of hundred pages you should start thinking about monetizing your blog with adverts and tracking your visitors to see how many people are actually visiting your site. I’m not going to go into these things now because this site is after all, about writing. However, what I will say is that Google itself offers you everything you need to monetize and track your sites performance.

Anyway, these are just a few things I wanted to share with you about internet copywriting because it has done so much for me. Hopefully, I’ll get round to adding some more pages about specific things at some point and if I do they’ll be listed below.

Here is some general advice on essays.

Usually, essays follow a structure. Great essayists, such as Orwell and Bacon, do not always follow these rules. Rules are neither hard nor fast. Good writers do, however, engage the reader. Orwell’s strength, for example, (in my view) was to make the ideas he was putting down entertaining. Humour (where appropriate), clear examples with a simple metaphor and an almost narrational style added up for often both an engaging and informative piece of work. Their work is still on the shelves; the longevity perhaps a testament to their skill.

Understand what is being asked of you. Read the question thrice over and click your heels, but understand it. A lot of people fall down by simply not carrying out what is being asked of them. Here is a small list that might help.

Understand the question

Analyse: Dissect an issue or argument into parts. How do these parts interrelate?

Argue: Create a claim or support a point of view with logically selected evidence.

Assess/Review: How important or significant is the issue in question? What have other people said about it? Based on the above, what is your own evaluation?

Comment on: Mixture of evaluation, assess, and analyse. Ask the person who set the question if unclear.

Compare/Reconcile: Highlight commonalities. What characteristics do they share? How can they be seen in a similar light?

Contrast: Highlight differences. What characteristics are dissimilar?

Criticise: This does not mean disapprove or condemn. In an academic context, it means consider how valid something is, and substantiate you argument with evidence.

Define: Interpret. Deduce. How did you read it?

Describe: What are the significant aspects of the topic under discussion? What are the key events?

Discuss: Similar to argue or comment on.

Evaluate: Form or state an educated view. Present the information and make sense out of it.

Examine: Scrutinize it. Observe the prominent points.

Explain: Clarify. Elucidate, enlighten.

To what extent?: To what degree? How much? How far?

Identify: What are the salient points? Features?

Illustrate: Like describe. Demonstrate.

Interpret: Evaluate. What do you make of it?

Justify/Prove: Defend a point a view. Offer solid evidence to support the reasoning.

Relate/Trace: Explain, compare, the cause and effect. What are the interactions between the pieces of evidence?

Summarise: Identify the key points.

If still puzzled, seek clarity from whoever set the question, or get a thesaurus and dictionary (radical, old fashioned, but startlingly effective).

Present your ideas

The essay structure, of course, will be dictated by the nature of the question. Personal choices will have to be made, but again, the nature of the evidence and how it relates to the question will shape those choices. For example, does the essay follow a chronological order? Perhaps it would be better to follow a conceptual order, where each point constitutes a basis to accept your claim.

There are two common ways to present your ideas. Firstly, state a chunk of facts, then another, and try to draw commonalities, differences, or whatever information you choose to extrapolate from the two.

Secondly, dovetail ideas. State a fact or idea, then a second, and produce a third. This syllogistic pattern usually takes place over a single paragraph, and is favoured for close analysis.

In terms of linking ideas together, essays sometimes follow patterns. For example, some essays are deductive, making an assertion or posing a common view, and providing information for it. Or, they tend to be inductive, facts or observations can be scrutinised, with a conclusion drawn. But enough of the science. Writing a good essay is as much inspiration as it is organisation and an enthusiasm for the subject. A good writer also does their research.

Structuring your ideas in some way will help both yourself and the reader digest what you are feeding them. In this modern age, lecturers and tutors and Joe and Josephine Public like what is rapidly becoming the standard format.

The typical structure is as follows.

Introduction paragraph.

This contains the hook, or whole point for the work. Use quotes, definitions, key terms, highlight an argument, reference the texts under discussion, but always try and make it interesting and leave it in one whole piece, James. If you are writing about Stalinist Purges do not talk about the Cold War, unless it had a direct bearing on what you are about to explain, which it might well do.

Condense your overall idea into two sentences. Sometimes this is called a ‘thesis statement’. If unsure, keep it simple. Simplicity often helps you get a grip on what you are saying. You can always come back to it and spruce it up.

Further, the introduction is specific. It narrows your field to context and specific reasons for your argument. It also defines the work, and what the writer is capable of. You want to show the reader you have thought about the subject and are capable of making informed views. If unsure, keep it simple. Do not try and write Das Kapital in a thousand word essay limit.

Supporting paragraphs.

These blighters are where the arguments are made, and your overall idea developed. This is the body of your work. As is the case, the best modern essays stay focused on the chosen topic. Tempting as it is, do not stray from the path. Bad grades or confusion await to ambush you in the forest. Like most paragraphs, dull as they are, every one of these typically has a topic sentence, supporting sentence and summary sentence. For example:

“It was found in August 2007 most British people resented not being allowed a referendum on accepting the revised European Treaty. An online survey conducted by M.O.R.I. found that 80% of those asked thought the government was treating the voting public like muppets. This, added to the recent inquiry into the so-called ‘cash for honours’ scandal, Prime Minister Brown’s reluctance to hold an early election, and the recent loss of 25 million personal details or families receiving tax credit, mean the current administration is experiencing an all time low in the polls”

Ok, that wasn’t a good example. I’m sure you can do much better. I’m sure you will. If writing an academic essay, you would need to include the sources of the M.O.R.I. survey and the poll ratings to support your claims, to lend it veracity.

Use transition words to create an illusion you know what you are carping on about. If listing, (and there are several types, ie. syndetic or asyndetic) use “firstly…secondly…thirdly…lastly…”. For counter examples of information use “however…even though…nevertheless…” and so on. For additional ideas use “furthermore…also…” and for cause and effect, “consequently…therefore…”. You get the idea.

A skilled supporting paragraph, written by a skilled writer, criticises others information, and is able to draw it’s own conclusions. Emphasising contradictions in other’s claims, and even your own (in other work, if in print) mark ability to discriminate between valid, appropriate information, and spurious, out of date material. You may wish to consider:

Errors in facts or compilations, statistical or otherwise.

New facts that query earlier ones. Sometimes the old ideas are displaced in favour of new ones.

Errors in reasoning.

Mistake in relations between parts.

Mistake in citations of history/origins/development.

Failure to properly identify causal relationships.

What possible biases do they have?

What important points may they have missed?

Also, be aware language itself shapes your views, and that of your reader. Words are your representatives. Coach them well.

Above all, attempt to focus on the salient points in your argument. Write about the important bits first. It is the nature of composition and constructing an argument to go back to qualify a point later.

Summary

Conclude it. Now you are at the end of your voyage, across the frothy brine of ideas. The leviathan now needs to be slain.

You can effectively do this in several ways. Restate how important what you have spent the past one thousand nine hundred and thirty three words banging on about is. Or, make a Nostradamus like prediction of what the future holds.

Equally, end on an appropriate quote. End with an anecdote or even…a joke. You should make sure it is effective. And avoid rude jokes.

You shouldn’t really be repeating ideas you have mentioned earlier solely to demarcate clearly your argument. The reader, poor fellow, has already waded through the swamp; the last thing they want is to have to trawl back through it empty handed. They want a pot of gold or a magic scroll or an everlasting biro. This is the final say, like Jerry Springer, only much less exciting and with less stupid people.

You should not need to further explain much because all the fighting was in the supporting paragraphs. Ideally, link all the ideas up in a big net and tow them back to harbour. Now, what has changed, and what has stayed the same since you have to?

A Note on Style, A few general ideas that may help.

Essay writing tends to be cautious in approach. It does not make sweeping statements or generalisations, such as “America is the best place in the world” or “coffee is best served with one sugar and stirred anticlockwise”.

Essays tend to be formal in approach and style. That is, the language should illustrate your points, not detract attention away from it.

When quoting or paraphrasing, distinguish where you got the idea from. Long quotes deserve their own paragraph, normally indented, where single words or short pieces can be integrated in your own text.

Do not list points, and never, ever, use bullet points or numbers. They will penalise you for this. You should be able to expound your ideas through prose.

A significant problem for essayists is selection of material. Normally you are limited in how many words you can write. Cherry pick prominent points, and if you are lucky they will be appropriate to your argument.

Do not use the first person unless asked to (personal pronouns, such as “I” or “my”). Even informal essays sometimes adopt third person. It just sounds better, and far less egotistical.

Be confident, but never arrogant in your language. Avoid the passive voice (this is true of most forms of writing). Eg. “The Iron Age fort” is superior to “the fort made in the Iron Age”.

The information is presented with accuracy and simple, lucid language. That is, with minimum verbosity. That is, is not too prolix or loquacious. Annoying, isn’t it?

Essays try to remain objective, and open.

Avoid repetition. Above, all, don’t repeat what has already been said.

Essays are sceptical about information and its origins. People always have their reasons for writing stuff. Ask why are they writing it and what are their biases and objectives? Oil companies financing ‘research’ about global warming being a ‘myth’, for example.

Reference ideas. Where have you got your information from? Plagiarist. Do not copy and paste it all from certain encyclopaedia sites. You will be found out. Make sure your references are clear. Preferably, keep a separate file open for your bibliography.

Le mot juste. Say what you mean. Use concrete, specific, unambiguous language.

Keep it simple if unsure. Do not fear short sentences. They are effective and give the impression you are in full command of your faculties. Look at Hemingway, for example.

Use standard methods. Avoid flashy phrases and tired clichés. Purge jargon and ostentatious words where you find them. A good proofread and editing session should reduce your overall word count. Be ruthless in the editing process. Furthermore, avoid colloquialisms and informal phrases. They will undermine you argument.

Do not use bold or italics. If writing in English, use English. Use Latin or French or German only if absolutely life threateningly vital.

Submission guidelines. Check what the marker is after. Look for required text size, word count and word spacing. If in doubt, ask your tutor or whatever villain is making you write the thing in the first place. Reference your sources. Academic essays need references. Find out what system your tutor prefers, or the in house style of the university. It may be footnote, but the current trend seems to be the Harvard system. Always check this.

Do your research. Lazy individuals get caught out with hollow arguments. The marker can always tell, unless you are a gifted liar, in which case you will do well in life.

Do not holly trust the spell chequer. It sew often makes miss steaks. It is up to you to proof read effectively. The screen lies. Print out hard copy of your work and read that, and notice how many mistakes you missed when just reading off the screen. Proof reading improves essays. Get some poor fool to go over it for you. Pay attention to grammar and punctuation.

Be aware of others ideas and how they have informed your own argument.

Things that have worked for me that might work for you.

This probably isn’t the time to say this, but essays have never been my strong point. Most of the time I use the Force and muddle through. Looking back, (hindsight is marvellous, and seldom used) a bit of organisation could have meant better grades. I could have been Prime Minister by now! Not that I am bitter, but I am. The best candidates always seemed to be decisive about what they argued, and started planning in advance, doing the reading well before the composition began. Fair play to them. Everyone else bummed around getting drunk and smoking weed. Fair play to them, too.

This is going to sound controversial, but essays are not all about intelligence. A lot of staggeringly boring people write essays. Many teach for a living. This is because essays are things of structure, meticulous research, organisation and planning. They are not always virtuoso displays of imagination, verve and invention.

For it is the average Joe and Josephine will rarely have an original idea in their entire lives, and when they do, they will infrequently have an appropriate medium or capacity to explore these ideas. A surprising number of people have ideas involving strange things you can knock up in their sheds using the lawnmower and bits of the toaster.

When I sit down and stare at my computer screen, sometimes for days, trying to write an essay, I have picked up a few habits along the way. Some, like how I rub my beard when I think, or lean back on my chair when the circulation begins to cut off all feeling in my arse, will be of no interest. So, here are some that might be.

All my research is on bits of paper. Possibly my whole academic career, and any notion I did any work at university or even attended, is on bits of paper. Make notes beforehand, taking care to jot down the whole reference at the top of the page. From experience, nearly all of it bitter, always write down the whole reference. There is no greater ballache than trawling back looking for references for the bibliography when the essay is long finished.

Keep a blank pad next to the computer. Sometimes, if you are lucky, subsidiary ideas will occur in mid flow and you will forget them if you plough on. So, make a note and come back to them. It is not a unique phenomenon to have ideas inflict themselves on you during writing.

Keep a blank document open to copy and paste paragraphs you might delete now, but need later. Losing work is a profound ballache that is almost, but not quite, comparable to the ballache of writing bibliographies.

I try not to hate essays, or my superiors, too much. There lies madness and bad grades. At least essays are better than presentations. Sometimes I surprise myself, which is nice. Sometimes I almost touch originality. I touch a part of myself. There is a chance you can touch yourself as well, quite within the boundaries of law.

Keep reference books to hand and an internet connection open. I was graduating just as the new wave of computer assignments were floating down the ranks. It is not unfeasible in future for online lectures and discussion. Although technology will be the ruin of humankind, we might as well make use of it while it is not trying to nuke/enslave/absorb/amalgamate/eat/annihilate us.

On that apocalyptic note, fare thee well friends. Observe the link to post your work on the site, and your fellows might give you a few pointers in the right direction. Remember, kids, essay writing is a marathon, and not a sprint. Do not blaze away two thousand words of nonsense just to fill a word count.

Like any writing, you need to have a beginning, a middle and an end. This sounds simple enough but each of these parts serve a specific purpose and getting them right will make or break your speech.

You need to start your speech as strongly as possible. Most experts will tell you that if you don’t have your audience in the first thirty seconds, then you won’t get them at all. Don’t think you have to tell the worlds funniest joke though. If humour isn’t your thing or perhaps isn’t appropriate for the occasion then you can start with a strong statement or even a thought provoking question. Just put something in there that will immediately hold your audiences attention.

The middle or ‘body’ of your speech will be where you deliver all of the relevant information. Whatever the purpose of your speech is, the important thing to get right is the organisation. Know exactly what you’re going to say and the order in which you’re going to say it. This will ensure that your speech flows and comes across effectively. Heading in unorganised can lead to mistakes and an uncomfortable flow, so don’t make this mistake.

Always finish your speech strongly, reminding your audience of the most important information. You can sign off in a number of ways, for instance with a toast to the bride and groom or a friend celebrating a birthday. Whatever it is, strong sentiment will always go down well and leave your audience with a warm memory of your words.

These thoughts will help you put together the skeleton of your speech. Make sure to look at further resources for help with more specific parts you might be stuck with.

The function of editing is to remove needless words, and to streamline your work.

Sometimes it is best to leave work for a while and come back to it with “fresh eyes”. I do of course mean a better perspective, and not literally having eye transplants. That would just be weird.

Print out hard copy and look at it then. You will notice mistakes you missed when viewing it from the screen. Of course, if you write by hand, perhaps by quill and parchment by candle light, and then type it up, the same applies.

Get someone else to read it for you. Although this leaves you wide open and vulnerable to attack, like dangling your bits over a tank of hungry piranha, for better or worse, your work will improve. So, develop a thick skin, so to speak, and listen to what they say instead of filling up into a monumental rage and throwing abuse at them. Remember, you asked them to read it. They would probably have something much more worthwhile to be doing, like watching the telly or picking fluff out of their navel.

Read the paper aloud, and use your ears. If something stutters and you have to stop to make sense of it, that sentence could do with revision. Make a note in the margin and continue. If you get to the end and all the sentences flow wonderfully, you are either a liar, conceited, or an exceptional writer. Very few writers have the ability to create good copy from the off.

Importantly, has the work accomplished what you want it to do? If it is an essay, does it adequately answer the question? If a narrative, does the story make sense and interact with the plot/story elements well? Could anything be moved, altered or merely deleted to improve the text?

Depending on how organised you are, how dedicated, or in my case bone idle, you may want to break each paragraph down and isolate it from the rest of the work. Apart from the transition words or phrases, does it make sense standing alone?

It must be clear and accessible to others. This is the function of writing. People need to understand the work. If you have written something only you or you close friends would understand, you have failed. At the same time of course, and this is a general rule, assume that your audience is intelligent. Readers like to be flattered when reading. It makes them feel clever and important, even if they put the tops on toothpaste tubes, so leaps of logic and understanding they can make on their own makes them like you and your work.

Above all, omit needless words. Your work should be tight like a pair of Speedos.

Precision is the mark of good writing, and your editing should reflect this. Colloquialisms, purple phrases, redundant words, clichés should be removed or replaced with precise, coherent language.

Once you have read to check the ideas themselves are solid, check the nuts and bolts: grammar. Grammar and punctuation are strange creatures, and lurk around the dark recesses at the back, underneath or at the side of words. Do not fear them; they are your friends. If, for example, an editor (who more often are not your friends) was checking a piece of work they would be very angry if they had to stop every line to correct punctuation and grammar. (See Punctuation and Grammar)

A Few Tips that will serve you well.

Below are a few tips not just for editing, but overall good practice. They also include issues of clarity which all good writing should aspire to be.

Do not be afraid to clear the syntax; chop large sentences down to small ones.

Focus the effect of your clauses. Draw attention to the points you want to make by making sentences ‘bottom heavy’. Focal points should go at the end.

Use a positive, ‘active’ voice. Add words to clarify. E.g. ‘The shoes were complimented by the man’ is ambiguous and rather odd. ‘The man complimented the woman’s shoes’ is better but still not perfect. Work at it until you say exactly what it is you want to say. The active voice clearly explains what the verb is doing. There are exceptions, especially when the mode of writing calls for stricter neutrality, such as law and science.

Always present old information first, and new information second. Remember the ‘bottom heavy’ principle. Tell the reader what had changed by them reading your work.

Consider the use of parallel constructions, and other rhetorical devices, for more effective points. That is, a small rhetorical mirroring of ideas or technique that greatly elaborates or emphasises clauses. Eg. ‘When considering what colour hat to wear, I always take into account the weather conditions (1), the prevailing winds of fashion (2) and the Consider the application of ‘the rule of three’ also.

Make sure the tense is correct and stays the same throughout a sentence.

Avoid bunches of nouns. These crop up like mushrooms. Persons, places and dates should be kept separate if possible. Jargon is a particular villain when helping to cluster nouns together. Also, do not crowd verbs around nouns; ‘has the chance’ becomes ‘can,’ for example.

Make sure the pronoun is clear. E.g. ‘Each football season I have an old jersey. They might come in useful at the drop in centre, I suppose.’ Note ‘jersey’ and they were in agreement. The transition and object was clear.

Do not use two or even three negatives in the same sentence. It causes untold chaos.

Avoid repetitive sentences or clauses unless used for rhetorical effect.

Omit redundant phrases. For example, ‘the field of construction’ becomes ‘construction.’ ‘Large in size’ becomes ‘large’. And so on.

Avoid excessive detail or obvious explanations. For example, the ‘balloon full of helium rose heavenward’ is silly. It would be obvious to the reader that the balloon was full of gas both in order to both inflate and to rise.

Be succinct where possible, unless what you are saying needs to be said. Is it vital to the work? Does it lend it something? Advance the narrative, characterise someone, strengthen or elaborate your argument, serve as useful description…

Delete words such as ‘a’ or ‘the’ if you can. Do not reduce your work to poverty, but sometimes sentences can be streamlined. Similarly, delete ‘who,’ ‘which’ or ‘that’. Also consider getting rid of ‘it is’ or ‘there are’ .

Now, let me say this is not an easy task. The journey will be fraught with danger; temperamental printers, computers with selective memories, editors blind to genius. So listen closely, pilgrim.

I am no more equipped to tell you what to write than a baboon on acid can tell you about the square root of infinity. Without a calculator. But, here is my brief take on things.

Elsewhere on the internet, taking up a large amount of server memory, are a thousand titbits of advice, mostly from experts who graduated from Quacky Duck University in the Land of Narnia, all barking at you what is acceptable and what is not. One must question the probity of advice on the internet. I mean, anyone could put it up.

Equally, significant shelf space in every book store in the land is taken up with ‘How To’ books. Buy one. They will be filled with clichés about commitment, idea generation and so on. Some are better than others. Most are written by people who are not successful novelists, presumably because they are too busy writing novels or filling the Comment section in newspapers with their unwanted opinions. Here are two that I found useful: E.B. Strunk’s and White’s Elements of Style. A solid founding of grammatical accuracy and an excellent tool to help form. Secondly, Stephen King’s Pulitzer winning On Writing; A Memoir of the Craft.

Most are generalised accounts of narrative form and developing the Idea. This is fine. The nuts and bolts of the endeavour relies on an understanding of language and how stories develop and hold reader’s attention. There are contradictions in the advice. Most claim to speak with a strong narrative direction and voice, and above all with clarity. But what about James Joyce, and others, creating some of the most complex but finest literature ever produced?

Each individual will write with a unique voice. This is a given. You may have to write several hundred thousand words to find the voice, but when you do, and you will know when you find it, it is a sweet day indeed.

Some of the best novels are ones that play with structure and ‘norms’ of form and style. Unless you do this well, you work will not get published. Unless you submit manuscripts according to publishing houses’ guidelines, your work will not get published. One general rule, then, is to play the rules of the game, paying attention to proofreading and clarity.

Creativity we will deal with later. The nuts and bolts come first, a solid foundation. There is no point building a castle with laser guided cannons and eighteen turrets on a foundation of sand.

Basics

Deal with the practicalities first, and treat it seriously. Give yourself a limit each day and stick to it. It is all well and good saying, perhaps at a party, ‘I am writing a novel about a celestial badger called Dave set across the intergalactic time space matrix’ when it is all in your head. Think end product. What is actually on paper or disk? In this life only the tangibles matter.

Save, and remove on separate storage. Countless times thousands of words have been lost due to temperamental technology. If you write on a typewriter or by hand, photocopy duplicates and put them in a safe place, so save for an Act of God your darling will survive. Let me tell you, I have seen adults weep for want of taking a minute to save work properly.

Copyright it. The world is a mercenary place, and there are always those who will steal your ideas for gain. In the U.K., authors assert moral rights over the work as soon as it is written, but you have to be able to prove it, so seal it in an envelope, date it, and post it to yourself. The post stamp will also verify the date. In case of protracted legal battle, break envelope accordingly. If you are one of our U.S. or Australian cousins, get the patent.

Do your research. I hate the jargon, but the idea applies. All writers write to an audience of one, but it helps if that one is represented in a marketable group, preferably with disposable income. There is little point wasting time writing a book that has, in effect, already been written, unless you are a famous writer and can do that sort of thing because your fans want to read your uninspired junk. Editors want to make money out of your work, and so do you. It helps to focus on what people want. If the Idea is original, then good luck.

Write with a purpose. All writing serves a function. Are you writing to argue, persuade, irritate, satirise, lampoon, entertain, scare or give people a little glow in their tummies? What is the object? Identify the need, and satiate it. Most novels, fiction at least, will entertain all of the time in some manner.

Pay attention to grammar and presentation. No editor will look twice at a shabby, badly typed, badly spelt, knocked up piece of work. They are busy people. They read lots and their eyes hurt. Make your prose and presentation easy on their eyes. Use the spell checker.

Get some fool to read it before submission. A second pair of eyes helps. Even one eye, if your neighbour happens to be a pirate, and you have written a few sea shanties in your shed he can peruse. If you ask a loved one, they will say, invariably; ‘well…it’s good,’ even if it is an abomination and should be destroyed in a pit of fire for the sake on mankind. Ask someone who is willing to give the time and a fairly honest observation. Do not ask someone who hates you, because they will think you are odd and probably hate you more.

Creative

This is the tricky one. Creativity is entirely subjective. Again, it depends on your chosen genre and purpose. It helps if you are a bit of an oddball who sees things in an imaginative way. If not, then observe your fellow human beings. Of course, it depends on what you are writing that will shape what you look for in others. A humorous piece may include how people speak. What do they do when asking a difficult question or lying? Are they nice people? What do they say, and how do they interact?

My old lecturer told me to devise some method of storing ideas that come to you. It is the way of things that they (ideas, not lecturers) will arrive when you or on the toilet, or, if you hail from the U.S., the ‘bathroom’. They will (ideas, not Americans) arrive at night in bed, perhaps if you are lucky when making love (incidentally, do not start doodling on a jotter if in such a position-it kills the mood) or eating morning toast. Use the ‘notes’ function on your phone. A chef friend of mine used printer paper and brought them home covered in chocolate sauce. Write them up into a pad after and keep them, because even the most odd reflections can be useful.

How do you get ideas? Where do they come from? Is there any kind of reward scheme? The answer is Imagination strained through Experience, like a chunky soup. Consider possible events, rather than those that have happened. Imagine Kennedy was shot by a second gunman (hmm…wait a minute!) or the Germans won the war or Ringo was really a good drummer.

Pay attention to detail. The detail in stories makes them believable, like a good joke or anecdote. Do not be tedious, sprinkle the ideas lightly but effectively.

Play with language. It is flexible. Bend it a bit. Bend it a lot. Ideas are sprung from it. Language is the basis of society and a large part of human communication, and a novel is a communication of ideas.

Look at the big picture. How does your idea relate to the rest of society? Enough said. Although maybe this will not become clear until the work is finished.

Create the world. What is the setting? Generate a sense of time and place. This is important to realise character motivation and attitude, and the constraints of the story. If it is set in the Roman Empire it is unlikely the hero will nip into Burger King. For the reader, who is normally permanently 50% baffled anyway, it helps them locate and put into context what they are reading about.

Develop Characters. What do these people do? Some writers choose to write a biography of the character’s life up to the point of the novel to clarify, at least in their own minds, who they are writing about. It helps to know how your character would react if being chased down the road by a giant metallic orb. Would they laugh and see the funny side? Would they get mown down like so much grass? Would they make a pithy comment, leap to one side, blast the orb with a laser and save the world and go and make love all night long? Only you can answer that one.

The Idea. This has to be good. Some writers know what they are writing from the start. Others do not have any kind of plan, and just pit their characters against the events that unfold. Sometimes this can have productive results, and other times it does not.

Idea generation. A lot of silly advice is out there, like standing on your head to get blood to the brain. Writing a stream of consciousness on a page is effective. Another good plan is to sit and look inot the white infinity of the blank paper for a while. You will write something eventually. This is what my partner in crime, King Tom, in his own patois, calls writers block. Just write something down, anything, and I promise the ideas will come. Obviously this promise is not legally binding.

Well, there you have a very quick take on things. I don’t pretend to be any authority on it, but if it helped, then great.

Lastly though, novel writing, while being infuriating, is undoubtedly a joyous thing. Just enjoy it, and from your enthusiasm will spring all manner of little things, be they hairy and threatening or cuddly and sweet. The structure will come if you work at it. It will make sense at the end.

Coming from a cynical bastard like myself, you may shake your head. But listen. Come closer. Back up a bit. That’s better. Now forget everything I have just said and write what the fuck you want. Just remember, the voyage is long and wearisome, but seldom boring…”

Fear not though minions, the King is on hand to give you the necessary tools to craft your very own persuasive masterpiece.

It’s worth noting that for the purpose of this we’ll be using essays as the sustained example, but the theory applies to any form of persuasive writing. So whether you’re crafting your dissertation or begging to be taken back by the partner who threw you out for being such a useless bum, read on my friend….and sit up straight.

Allow me to start by breaking things down into easily digestible nuggets of wisdom. Persuasive writing works on a four stage structure:

The Introduction

The Body

The Elaboration

The Conclusion

Considering these four basic principles individually will allow you to form the skeleton for your work. With that in place the flesh of your essay will slide into place much easier. Applause perhaps for the graphic analogy?

The Introduction

Oh, where to begin?

Well, when you’re writing academically it’s important to start by outlining exactly what it is you propose to talk about and your stance on the matter. The person reading can then quickly determine these two things and then concentrate on the strength of your evidence. This sounds simple, but it’s easy to go wrong and start jabbering on with various facts and figures without explaining why exactly you’re presenting them.

Don’t believe that by following this theory you have to be boring about what you write. Remain creative and think about how you can incorporate this theory into an attention grabbing first paragraph that holds the readers attention.

For example, you could open with a bold, over the top statement or a striking quote and then go on to apply our initial theory.

Below is a plagiarised example:

Of all the problems facing the environment today, the one that bothers me the most is global warming. Some scientists say that the earth is getting warmer because of the greenhouse effect. In this paper I will describe the greenhouse effect and whether the earth’s atmosphere is actually getting warmer.

Moving swiftly on…

The Body

Consider this; nobody likes to see a malnourished body. By the same token, a gluttonous obese body is equally uneasy on the eye. These same rules apply to writing the body of any text.

Too much irrelevant information and the reader gets lost and wanders away from your point. Too little, and no matter how good you think your argument is, you’ll never succeed in bringing the reader round to your way of thinking. Come on people, it’s not rocket science…its art remember and art’s easy.

You ideally want to come up with three strong paragraphs in which you put forward a point, substantiate it with evidence (i.e. a quote or citation) and then hammer home your view once more. Following this simple structure will allow you to really place emphasis on what you’re saying. Allow me to repeat it so it remains in the old noggin.

Make your point

Present your evidence

Re-iterate your point and state how it relates to the evidence

The Elaboration

Fear not, tis not complicated. Elaboration is my own special word for ‘Other things to include’. Nevertheless, you must take note. These things could be the difference between a glorious Picasso and a pathetic Monet.

Acknowledge other views - Think about what people arguing the opposite to you might say and acknowledge this in your writing, before shredding it to pieces with a glorious retort - On Guard!!

Draw analogies - You can add another dimension to your masterpiece by noting comparisons and making analogies to make your writing more accessible to the reader. Be warned though, an irrelevant analogy will deter and distract so if you can’t find something razor sharp, leave well alone.

The Conclusion

Hurrah, the finish line is in sight…don’t make a mess of it you bum.

Do the following, no arguments please:

Summarise the most important parts of your argument and stress once more what the reader must believe.

Make sure to mention the most hard hitting pieces of evidence so the reader (and more specifically the person marking your work) remember the clout of your argument.

Instead of just tailing off why not go out with a academic bang. Try one of these spicy meatballs on for size. (I don’t even know what that means).

A prediction - What might happen if global warming isn’t taken into consideration.

A question - Can we really continue to ignore global warming based on this evidence?

A recommendation - I recommend we all start thinking seriously about global warming (Ok, that’s poor - I admit).

A Quotation - “Global warming is not very good at all really” (OK, you got me, I’m just tired. I’m sure you can find something hard hitting though).

Until next time kids.

• Persuasive letter writing
• Persuasive Writing Examples
• Persuasive Writing GCSE
• Persuasive writing in advertising
• Persuasive Writing KS2
• Persuasive Writing KS3

Make sure to start with a statement of what you’re going to try and persuade your reader about. This a very clean way to start any persuasive essay but many students get it wrong which sets a poor tone from the beginning. Outline the issue and the point of view you’re trying to persuade your reader towards in the first paragraph.

Key stage 3 persuasive writing still requires a logical essay structure. Points need to lead on to one another so make sure you take a few minutes to plan out the order in which you’re going to present everything.

Accurate evidence and examples are also required to get higher grades at ks3 level. In your initial plan, consider a few examples you can use to supplement your strongest points. For instance, if you make the point ‘Fruit is good for you’, then the evidence you might present with it is ‘Fruit contain Vitamin C which helps maintain a strong and healthy body.’

Three words that are often used at ks2 level are attract, engage and inform. You need to attract your reader to your writing by making it entertaining. You can use rhymes, alliteration or even a small jokes to attract your readers attention. Engaging the reader is all about the style of your writing. Write concise sentences that make strong points and don’t babble on when you don’t need to. If you’ve followed the previous points about structure and evidence then informing shouldn’t be a problem.

For ks3 persuasive writing you must consider your reader. Think about everything you write and ensure it contributes to your overall point. When you think you’ve written enough good points to persuade your reader then you can begin to write your conclusion.

Your conclusion for a key stage 3 persuasive essay should reinforce your point and sum up all of your evidence. Try to keep it to 2 or 3 sentences and finish with a strong statement to leave your reader with a positive impression of your essay.