How to master essay writing

ESSAY WRITING - ITS EMOTIONAL!

Essay writing is an emotional domain for so many neurodiverse students. It embodies a multitude of executive function challenges and is commonly a space in which we see the manifestation of these issues.

It challenges organisation, (are you following the correct structure?), impulse control (are you ‘waffling’?), planning and prioritisation (have you addressed the key themes?), working memory (can you keep the argument in mind whilst writing?), self-monitoring and time management (can you stick to times in exam conditions?)

In short, students may have the most wonderful ideas, but they are required to express these in an order predetermined by our national curriculum. No matter how brilliant the idea, the student has to communicate their argument in a certain format in order to access higher marks, which can become a very emotional space.

AN EXECUTIVE FUNCTION LENS

Essay writing requires more than just knowledge on the subject and words on a page. What it requires is a complex harmony of many different executive functions (EFs). What is key to remember about these EFs is that they are skills - just like touch typing, cooking, or driving a car: the more you practise , the better you get.

There are roughly 11 EF skills at our disposal, and whilst we have some abilities across all of them, it takes time for them to fully mature. Neuroscientists now believe that these skills don't develop fully until our mid twenties! Here are five of our EFs below in the coloured boxes - and how they are challenged when essay writing.

• ORGANISATION - Are you following the correct structure?

• IMPULSE CONTROL - Are you waffling?

• PLANNING & PRIORITISATION - Have you addressed the key themes?

• WORKING MEMORY - Can you keep the argument in mind whilst writing?

• TIME MANAGEMENT - Can you complete the essay in timed conditions?

PAULA’S CASE STUDIES

Our director, who is an essay writing specialist of over twelve years, has worked with a number of students with essay writing challenges. Every student is unique in their executive function, neurodiverse and academic profile, but no matter the starting point, any student can overcome and progress in their writing skills.

Here are two examples of students Paula has worked with in the past: where they started, and where they ended up.

MEET POLLY..

Who? A GCSE student with dyslexia and ADHD

• Eloquent, has many advanced ideas and is hoping to study Further Maths at Oxbridge

• She had a spiky, neurodiverse profile which was certainly no indicator of her academic success, with the exception of one major area: essay writing.

• Despite exceptional ideas, she consistently got poor grades in essay writing subjects

What became of Polly?

• She developed a growth mindset, perseverance and correct recall techniques which led to big improvements.

• She produced a template of an exam essay and used this to transform lengthy notes

• Effectively used tips to increase recall such as interleaving and the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve.

• Realisation that ideas and content were all hers, she just needed the essay writing ‘formula’

• Awarded an A* and was asked by her school if they could use her exam script for future students

MEET JEMIMA..

Who? A-Level student with ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and OCD

• Consistently in trouble at school and was told she should give up any hope of going to university

• Underpinning truancy was undoubtedly upset and frustration of not achieving potential

• Had chosen History of Art which is assessed through essays written in exam conditions

• Talented artist with extensive ideas but anxiety led to very long essays/visual analysis transcribing teacher’s notes

What became of Jemima?

• Development of a growth mindset, perseverance and correct recall techniques led to big improvements.

• Produced a template of an exam essay and used this to transform lengthy notes.

• Effectively used tips to increase recall such as interleaving and the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve.

• Realisation that ideas and content were all hers, she just needed the essay writing ‘formula’.

• Awarded an A* and was asked by her school if they could use her exam script for future students

TOOLS AND STRATEGIES THAT CAN HELP

It is important to emphasise that Polly and Jemima's successes took time to come to fruition. They were also able to access consistent support through Paula's tuition. But key to their successes was also strategy. Polly and Jemima revolutionised the way they approached essay writing by using new, more effective tools.

There are many different tools and strategies for essay writing, and some will suit some students more than others. But there are a few essentials that will target most curriculums, formats, and exam requirements. Here are three essentials to start off with.

1. THE 'SCAFFOLD'

There are many different names and analogies for the scaffold, but the basic principle comes down to this: every good essay must have a structure.

Invariably the structure for a full-length essay will include:

• Introduction: a summary of the argument

• Paragraphs: 3-4 distinctive themes that are developed with evidence + analysis

• Conclusion: State final viewpoint

Some call this PEEL / PEAL / Scaffold/ the Hamburger Method -plsy around with which one works for you, and remember to consult your teacher that it corresponds with the exam format they're teaching you!

2.PLAN, PLAN PLAN: GROUP IDEAS

One big struggle students have when writing essays is the explosion of ideas/thoughts/points/evidence they have and not knowing how to harness them. To navigate this flurry of thoughts, a highly useful strategy is to plan methodically, using a variety of tools such as:

• Mindmapping

• Post-it notes

• Google docs

The key is to throw down all your ideas, thoughts and evidence so you can see them, organise them, and channel them into the scaffold structure demonstrated above.

3. ARGUMENT

Another cause for struggle lies in the fact that students don't always understand that an essay is essentially an argument - a line of reasoning supported with evidence and analysis.

This argument should thread all the way through the essay - starting with the introduction, then, flowing down each paragraph until you reach the conclusion, with different themes and pieces of evidence used to demonstrate the strength of your argument.

Generally, the stronger the argument, the stronger the essay.

THE CHAIR & THE STRING….

Another way to think about the argument in an essay is to imagine that the essay is a chair, and the argument is a piece of string. The goal is to tie the string to one leg of the chair, and then thread it along to the second leg, tie it around that one, then repeat this process for the third and fourth leg, before arriving back at the first.

A strong and consistent argument should run through an essay without being broken or lost. In this analogy, it would be like someone cutting the string mid way round the chair.

To make sure the 'string' of your argument isn't lost, use topic sentences, the scaffold structure, and link back to your argument at the end of each paragraph.