The hardest thing about essay writing is keeping a “voice”.
People tend to struggle most at maintaining an interesting and unique sound and style in their writing.
Developing a voice as a writer is difficult, to begin with, and trying to use it within the confines of an essay, especially a synthesis essay or TOK essay, only proves more daunting for the inexperienced and unenthused.
This article explores some pitfalls of bad essay writing and offers guidance for better essay writing by having a voice. While it’s true that most essays have a typical “intro, body 1, body 2, body 3, (etc…), conclusion” format, there are many different styles of essays.
Not all are strictly academic; for example, there are also personal or anecdotal essays, persuasive essays, analytical essays, narrative essays, and comparative essays, and they each serve a different purpose.
Anecdotal essays tell a story, but a good one will make the reader feel immersed in the writer’s experience. Personal essays need to have a voice that builds an intimate connection between reader and writer, and it must be genuine.
Persuasive essays have to be credible and convincing, and again, must be genuine. Readers are clever and they can tell when the writer isn’t connected. Writers must be passionate and excited about what they’re writing, even in the dreaded “formal essay.”
Formal essays present the additional challenge of needing to be professional to have credibility, but needing to be accessible so people can actually read them.
Developing a voice as a writer is already difficult, and writing a formal essay often comes with higher stakes, so writers need to remember that if it’s overwhelming to write, it’s probably overwhelming to read.
Many young writers get stuck in “legal speak” where big words and long, vague sentences are used to create a face of credibility. The problem in writing like this is that it’s glaringly inauthentic and often doesn’t make sense when looked deeper.
Readers know when the writer is lying or faking interest, or simply being pretentious, so using too much legal speak in an essay won’t work.
In summation, the use of unnecessarily confusing and condescending jargon proves disadvantageous for a word composer whose ultimate agenda aims to form a bond among those involved in the literary art of essay writing.
The last sentence of the previous paragraph is an example of showing personality in an academic essay by demonstrating irony. It says in too many big words not to use too many big words, which pulls the reader back in if they’ve started to lose interest.
Having no personality in writing is boring and essays don’t have to be sans personality. Writers can be more engaging in their work by connecting with the reader and using words that are evocative and descriptive.
Changing up sentence structure, breaking grammatical and syntax rules with purpose and intention, and having a good topic that the writer is excited to write about all help the reader want to read.
Another way to hold the reader’s attention is to be clear. Having an unfocused or inconsistent voice pushes readers away.
Being unfocused confuses the reader on who the writer is, what the topic is, how they should feel about the writer, and how they should feel about the topic. Being unfocused hurts the connection that the essay is trying to establish.
Essays lose readers by being unfocused in content, style, and purpose.
Switching tenses and perspectives within the essay, changing vocabulary and style, and going from formal to casual and back again are all ways that an inconsistent voice hurts the connection between writer and reader.
Essays lose their readers when the writers lose their focus and forget their voice.
This article in particular focuses on how voice is applicable to essay writing. Ultimately, the hardest part is finding the right voice for the essay, but it isn’t impossible when the writer considers the right things.
The writer has to know what kind of essay it is, who the audience is, what the purpose is, and how to stay focused. If the writer can do all of that and sound interesting with a unique voice, people will enjoy reading the essay.