Summary
With training, you can write better essays, and this video series, based on the grading of over 14,000 Seton essays, makes it simple.I often make the observation to students who find themselves in the throes of a research paper or essay assignment that, “Yes, writing is hard.” But I say these words not in hopelessness but in encouragement.
“Why is that encouraging?” you might wonder.
Here’s why.
As a Seton student, you might read selections by Jane Austen, Dante, and Saint Thomas Aquinas—all in the same day. In other words, you read some of the most gifted and brilliant writers in history—and then, it becomes your turn to write an essay.
The Blank Screen
You sit and look at a blank screen and a cursor that waits patiently in anticipation, and nothing comes to you. It’s Monday night, and you need to finish the paper by Friday. But you feel like you couldn’t finish it even if you had a year to write it.
So you turn off your computer monitor, pick up Pride and Prejudice, and read a few lines. You put that book down on your desk, and you read the opening lines of The Divine Comedy. You marvel that composition came so easily to Jane Austen and Dante, yet somehow that gift seems to have escaped you entirely. It doesn’t seem fair.
Writing is Training
And this is when I say, “Writing is hard. Writing well is almost impossible.” This is when I remind my students that Jane and Dante didn’t find it so easy at first either; for that matter, maybe they never found it easy, even as they astonished the world with their books.
I think it’s consoling to understand that writing is hard for everyone. You’re not alone. It’s not just you who’s struggling. It can be done. But it takes considerable training.
Like so many things in life, we must begin learning to write by focusing on the fundamentals. And even before that, we must understand the fundamentals in the first place.
It is for that reason that—with the help and expertise of the creative staff at Seton—I have just written and produced a series of short videos that revisit the fundamentals of writing.
Lessons from 14,000 Essays
Since 2020, I have graded over fourteen thousand essays for the American Government, Personal Finance, and Economics courses I’ve written. That’s not a misprint: over 14,000. As you might imagine, I’ve noticed some patterns emerge. This series of videos is uniquely designed for Seton High School students to address these patterns. I wrote this with you students in mind.
In large measure, this series brings together ideas and techniques you’ve already learned: how to write clear sentences, how to quote original sources, and how to organize introductions and conclusions. But there are some new ideas here as well, or perhaps some old ideas with fresh explanations.
We discuss topics such as writing for your audience, diagramming paragraphs (yes, paragraphs), finding the right word, expressing complete thoughts, avoiding run-on sentences and paragraphs, avoiding overstatement and finding the right tone, and turning a rough draft into a final draft.
You Can Write Well
The series is called 12 Rules for Writing A+ High School Papers. As the old saying goes, “The best things in life are free.” Well, this series is no exception. These videos are all available on YouTube, free of charge.
Again, as a teacher who has graded thousands of Seton papers, I believe these techniques will greatly help you achieve excellent grades—especially if you’ve struggled with writing in the past.
Keep in mind, these are the same techniques I use every day to write books and articles. In short, these techniques work.
I would ask one favor. Please provide me with feedback on these videos. If these videos are well-received, I have a 24-part series called Writing With Flair ready to produce. These would build upon the 12-part series and further help you to write well.
