How to Write Essays Quickly
For a while, I wondered what the difference between an essay and a short story was?
The 2 almost seemed the same.
That’s when I came to realize the difference in experience that both created.
A short story puts the reader in a world and teaches them a lesson through that.
An essay is a logical breakdown of a topic to further inform the reader.
You may think the 2 are similar.
However, there are nuances.
No need to get caught up in the nuances too much.
Today, I’m going to be talking about the power of essay writing!
I’m a straight-to-the-point kind of guy.
Some people have essays up to 10,000 words long.
I want to keep mine around 1,100 words-ish.
The Importance of Writing Essays for a Creator
A writer should be versatile.
Being stiff can kill the creative spirit over time.
You should be able to unleash a writer on any platform, and they should be able to dominate.
Tweeting, blogging, short stories, writing a book, etc.
‘Does that mean that they have to tackle all these platforms?’
No.
They should just know that they are capable.
That’s how confidence builds.
The power of essay writing is important because of the internet.
Plenty of individuals are opting out of reading full-on books.
Their time is limited.
Unless they truly resonate with the creator, they aren’t reading a book.
Even if they do resonate with the creator, they still don’t want to commit.
In this case, having a portfolio of essays allows your ideas to still spread and be digested.
Essays are versatile.
I like to view them as the speedboat where books are like a ship.
You can cover different topics with your essays regarding your worldview.
This gives your audience the chance to get up to date with your business and/or brand philosophy rather quickly.
Over time, you can collect all those essays into one book and release an anthology.
That’s what I ended up doing for my book, Word Play.
Word Play is a collection of my top 101 short stories, essays, and insights bundled into one.
The theme of the book is on how to improve communication skills and each content piece covers a different topic.
The main takeaway is that essay writing is versatile.
Especially in the information age!
How to Write Essays Quickly
I used to hate writing because I thought it was this drawn-out process.
You need to outline.
Review the outline.
Polish it up.
Write.
Get feedback.
Write more. All these steps.
Nope, fuck that.
That type of philosophy may work with certain people.
My viewpoint is very different.
I believe if you know what you’re talking about, the essay writes itself and you are just a conduit.
You can do an outline at the beginning of your journey.
But you should be able to write without an outline.
For the sake of simplicity, let’s say you do go with an outline.
Which is perfectly reasonable.
Your outline serves as a map. It does not have to be this grandiose spectacle.
Heck, it’s better if your outline is simple as it can be.
An example is:
Topic: Why basketball is better than football.
- Part 1:
- History of both sports.
- Part 2:
- Breakdown of the setbacks of basketball.
- Part 3:
- Breakdown on the pros of basketball.
- Part 4:
- Breakdown on the setbacks of football.
…..
And so on.
Each outline is personal to the person writing.
In the initial stages, you want to take a stab at creating your own outline.
If you have no clue where to start, I’m sure you can get a basic template online.
If the templates are too confusing or have too many variables, run!
Confusion kills great writers.
The Purpose of an Essay
Just like a basketball player gets paid to put the ball into the hoop…
You as the essayist should be making POINTS. That’s your job.
‘Making points on what, Armani?’
That’s the beauty! There are no rules.
You can go wherever your imagination takes you.
The key is to leverage logic.
Where short stories are predominately there to entertain.
Essays are there to make a case for something and use logic.
In the best situation, we can cross-combine elements of short stories with essays.
Entertainment plus logic.
Call that edutainment.
As you warm up, focus on the logical components.
Is your essay making sense?
Logic at the basic level is node hopping rather than taking leaps.
Example:
“Being a ballerina makes it easier to be a better public speaker.”
Huh?? That made no sense.
It’s because I made a statement regarding the ballerina. Then I took a gargantuan leap to talk about public speaking.
Intellect does not register.
However, if I said:
“Being a ballerina improves cardiovascular activities and breathing patterns.
Novice speakers run out of breath due to anxiety and a rapid heartbeat.
Ballet can provide newbie speakers with further control of their breath.
This allows ballet to be a great tool for public speaking.”
Even though you may not agree, do you see the steps?
We hopped from one node to the next.
Rather than jumping like we are the Hulk.
Creating your Own Formula
Let’s review some of the important concepts.
Essay writing is important because it allows you to compress your big ideas and share them at scale.
To write essays, you should know the topic well.
An outline is optional.
A beginner essayist can use an outline for more practice.
At the fundamental level, essays are node hops.
One logical point after another, until a GRAND point is made.
If we can give the reader just one aha moment, then we did our job.
Here’s a challenge….
If you know the topic, divide the time you think it’ll take you to write by 3.
(So, if you think it’ll take you 1 hour to write an essay, give yourself 20 minutes.)
‘Divide by 3???’
Hey, the title of this article was to write essays quickly.
You can do it.
At least attempt the challenge.
- Find a topic.
- Clarify the purpose of your essay.
- Create a basic outline. No getting cute with it.
- Write.
- Polish up later.
Congrats! You wrote your first essay.
Build Your Portfolio By Mastering How to Write Essays Quickly
Writing your ideas on the internet is a subtle way to build a following and be held accountable.
Over time, you’ll learn that writing essays quickly is not work.
It’s fun.
Being able to make one point after another is a sport.
You just need to practice.
- Mediocre writers write occasionally.
- Great writers write every day.
It doesn’t always have to be an essay.
But it should be something.
Over time, the perception of the essay will drastically alter.
What was once a chore in your childhood is now a way to build a digital empire in your adulthood.
Create 1 essay on your own to realize the magic of the written word.
For more practical strategies to write more effectively and express your ideas with clarity, check out the Prolific Writer: The Holy Grail of Creative Writing.
– ArmaniTalks 
