Writing Tips from Jordan Peterson

• 

A Canadian professor states that to become a better writer means to become a better thinker. Jordan Peterson claims that in order to improve your thinking abilities you have to learn how to write. Arranging own thoughts on a page in a proper order organizes your thinking better. It helps you understand things better and makes your communication more effective.

These 10 steps are time-consuming, however, they worth it. Try to follow the tips below in order to master your writing skills and achieve mental clarity.

Introduction

The introduction indicates the importance of essay writing. As Peterson claims, the main reason to write an essay is in the ability of a writer to formulate and present a coherent, relevant, and sophisticated set of ideas about something important. Actions that are based mainly on thinking through consequences are a way productive than the ones based on ignorance. While organizing your thoughts verbally, you allow yourself to think in an abstract way, having access to higher-order cognitive processes.

Levels of resolution

First of all, you need to choose a word. Then, create a sentence. Having done this, build up paragraphs by sequencing your sentences. It all goes in order. Jordan Peterson recommends making each paragraph of at least 10 sentences or 100 words long. However, such numbering can change with time. You have to master your writing skills really well to have the ability to break the rules and set your own. Sticking to the structure can be really helpful if you are only on the way to get writing competence. Writing produced by following the rules is easier for readers to accept since they know what to expect. And finally, the last two levels of resolution are arranging the paragraphs in a logical progression, what helps to understand the essay as the whole.

The Topic and the Reading List

You can either the topic you are interested in by yourself or you can just be assigned to write about this or that thing. Making a reading list for researching the chosen topic is the following thing you have to do. Peterson claims that it is a good idea to choose five to 10 books per thousand words of essay and make notes of them. Writing down the most important aspects and thoughts will help you to remember the information better and produce a good paper in the end.

The outline

According to Peterson, this step is one of the most difficult parts of writing an essay. Take into account, that it is not optional. In order to create a perfect paper and succeed with it, you have to work on your outline first.

Paragraphs

The hardest advice new writers cannot easily get is to just write. Everybody should understand that there exists no writer`s block if you are purposeful and disciplined. Success is all about the editing process, so do not worry about the quality of your work while dealing with paragraphs. Just write and express everything you want to have in your paper.

Editing process

Once you are done with the first draft of your essay, Peterson suggests rewriting each sentence in a different manner. Yes, it may seem overwhelming and completely useless. However, when you compare two drafts by reading them aloud, you definitely feel the difference. You will see what is better for you and for your reader by means of this strategy.

Re-ordering the Paragraphs

Having rearranged your sentences, it is high time to work with the paragraphs. Make sure all of them fit in the essay and make it coherent, readable, and interesting. Investigate whether your paragraphs parts make your essay sound smoothly and construct the whole puzzle of a paper.

Work on your new outline

Many suggest that this stage is unnecessary. However, Peterson disagrees, stating that writing another outline can make the writing process far better. While doing this, you don’t have to look back at your essay. This will help you to reflect the most important arguments of your essay, eliminate the unnecessary ones and strengthen the crucial aspects of your paper.

Repeat

After the whole writing process is finished, it is important to get back to your essay again. So, after a couple of days investigate every paragraph and every sentence of your essay. The space of days may give you a new fresh approach and view on this or that point of your essay. You may find something you have to change or remove at all. Never hesitate this step if you want to master your paper and take it to the next level.

References and Bibliography

Peterson advises working on it in the end. Certainly, you are saving all sources while writing, however, you arrange them only when the whole writing process is finished. It will help you to check the quality of your essay once more and see whether you have properly captured the collected information.

With all that being done, your essay is completed!