I've written hundreds of essays. Some were brilliant, most were mediocre, and a few were genuinely embarrassing. The difference between them wasn't talent or inspiration. It was strategy. After years of teaching, editing, and wrestling with my own writing, I've discovered that essay writing isn't mysterious. It's a…
academic writing
I've spent the better part of seven years watching people navigate the dissertation process, and I can tell you with certainty that most arrive at their doctoral program with wildly incomplete ideas about what they're actually building. They think it's an extended essay. They think it's a book.…
I've been reading student essays for seven years now, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the moment I see a quote just sitting there, orphaned and unintroduced, something inside me dies a little. Not because I'm dramatic, but because it signals a fundamental misunderstanding about…