I spent three years teaching composition at a mid-sized university before I started questioning everything I’d been taught about essay structure. The five-paragraph essay, the topic sentence, the restatement of thesis in the conclusion–these were the pillars of academic writing instruction. Then I actually started reading what professional writers produced, and I realized we’d been […]
I’ve written enough essays to know that the answer isn’t simple. When someone asks me how long it takes to write a thousand words, I want to give them a number. Two hours. Three hours. Maybe four if you’re being thorough. But the truth is messier than that, and it depends on so many variables […]
I’ve read thousands of essays. Not an exaggeration. Between my years as a teaching assistant at a state university, freelance editing work, and my current role helping students navigate academic writing, I’ve encountered every structural approach imaginable. Some were brilliant. Most were forgettable. A few made me question whether the writer had ever read their […]