The Secret to Choosing Persuasive Essay Topics Teachers Will Love

The first thing you need to understand is that the secret to choosing essay topics your teachers will love IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK.

No. It’s not.

It’s not something that:

• Will make your teacher happy.
• Is so politically correct that it’s boring and puts your teacher to sleep
• Will impress your teacher with your genius
• Is longer than anyone else’s
• Is perfectly grammarized and punctuated
• Is what you think your teacher wants

No.

=====================

The secret to choosing a topic
your teacher or professor will love is

====================

To pick something that comes from an emotional reaction inside you to the subject, question, prompt or situation you’ve been asked to write about. In other words:

• Something that sets off a reaction, either positive or negative, in relation to the idea or ideas you have to write about.
• Something that triggers an agreement or disagreement inside you.

If you think this is the weirdest thing you’ve ever heard from a teacher and that I’m crazy, I understand. Hang with me for a moment and I’ll explain.

=========================

Why this is the fastest and easiest way
to find a grade-raising essay topic

=========================

Because your emotional reaction is a clue—from yourself to yourself—that you actually have something to say about this topic, subject, prompt, question, idea or situation.

And the coolest thing is, all of the ideas you need to be able to write a grade-raising essay or paper, which means a persuasive essay or paper where you:

• Take a Position on your topic
• Create 3 Proof Points that back up your position
• Find 3 Proof Details for each one of your 3 point

are sitting there—just under your emotional reaction—waiting for you to bring them to the surface which you do by asking yourself a few simple questions.

=======================

Here’s the seldom-taught reason why
your teacher will respond positively
when you write from an emotional reaction

=======================

Because when you get emotional and write from some sort of feeling (even a tiny little one), your emotion will cause an emotional reaction in your reader, (in this case, your grader), and make an emotional connection between your paper and them.

In writer’s terms, this connection hooks them into your paper and once they’re hooked emotionally, they will be a lot more interested than usual in what you have to say.

You may not think this matters. But it does.

Because 95% of student papers and essays are boring. Mind numbingly boring. Especially when they are all about the same subject.

Double especially when a teacher has 80-120 kids writing about the same topic or prompt.

The main reasons the papers are boring are because most students:

• Don’t care about the subject
• Don’t like to write
• Don’t like finding and using their own idea
• Will basically be spewing the same facts they found in their textbooks or from different lectures
• Wait until the last minute to start which makes it hard to have enough time to write and edit a good persuasive paper

How do I know?

Because I’ve been doing surveys with high school kids for 2 years and they told me.

And as you know from reading textbooks—reading fact after fact after fact without the subject making any emotional kind of connection with you while your reading—is BORING! Mind numbingly boring.

Am I right or am I right?

Therefore, making some sort of emotional connection between you and the subject—and then your paper and your teacher—is the #1 grade-raising topic picking secret.

Now, I realize you’ve probably never heard this before from any teacher.

• The #1 reason is because they don’t understand this
• The #2 reason is, they don’t know how to teach it is because they’ve never been taught how (so it’s really not their fault)
• And the #3 reason is because they aren’t professional writers who realize it’s impossible to write anything that people will want to read without making some kind of emotional, intellectual and/or spiritual connection with the reader.

==================

Let me give you an example
from my playwriting life
of how quickly this
emotional reaction hook thing
can work and how to use this secret
for your next essay or paper.

==================

How an emotional reaction hooked me in and led to the creating, writing and success of “The Bah of Humbug”

“The Bah” is a play I wrote that I wasn’t planning to write in October of 1980. (Yeah, I’m a pretty old dude but that’s actually lucky for you because I’ve lived long enough to understand how this works and can actually explain it to you).

I wasn’t planning to write the play but did due to an emotional reaction I had from to a brief conversation with a school principal that pissed me off. (Yeah, I used the dreaded “P” word but that was the emotional reaction I had so it’s ok.)

Here’s What Happened.

I was 27 years old. I’d been working at this school for a couple of years as a writer and theatre guy in residence. I’d written one musical, “Columbus, Where Are You?”, which we’d done with 5th and 6th graders the semester before and was a huge success.

The old principal who liked me retired and this new guy came in. He was a crummy communicator and wasn’t very popular among the teachers, the students or the parents.

One morning, I was walking down the hallway to my room and he was walking towards me.

He stopped and asked if I was planning to do anything for the Christmas Holiday Show. (This was in 1980 when it was still OK to use the word Christmas at Christmas time in public schools. Told you I was old.)

Anyways, I told him I usually didn’t because the teachers liked to do holiday stuff with their classes and my smaller groups of kids were pulled from regular classes so we usually did things at other times of year.

He listened, didn’t say anything for a moment, then points one finger towards me and says, “Well, think about it,” and turns his wrist so his finger twists up towards me.

It was an odd thing to do and it made my head jerk back a little.

Then he smiled, put his finger down and continued down the hall leaving me standing there.

I shook my head and started walking, repeating the words, “Just, think about it” over and over until I got to my classroom.

The more I said it, the more annoyed I got and in a few minutes the group of 15 kids came in for their hour drama class.

=================

Here’s where the emotional hook takes over…

=================

I hadn’t decided what play this group would be doing yet. So I told them the story of what just happened and finish by saying, “If we can come up with a funny story that combines Christmas and Hanukkah, I’ll write it up and if you all like it, I’ll turn it into a play and we’ll do it for Christmas.”

They thought that was cool and for an hour we tossed around all kinds of goofy ideas. By the end of the hour the best one was “Santa is kidnapped on Christmas eve while riding on his skakeboard.”

At the end of the hour, I added that he gets kidnapped by the meanest man in the world. The guy who wants to ruin Christmas for everyone. And because it’s Christmas Eve, nobody’s working so they have to find some Jewish Detectives who can help them find Santa.

I liked the idea (the emotional hook goes in further) so I go home and over the next few days I fleshed out the story. I called the mean guy “The Bah of Humbug” and named the Jewish detectives after the hero’s of Hanukkah. And had Rudy (the talking reindeer) go with them on a quest that sort of follows the story of Christmas until they track down the evil Bah, capture him and save Christmas.

When I read the story to the group the next week, they loved it. Which hooked me in further, turned on the inspiration juice and I wrote the original version of the Bah, 33 pages, in one week. (It’s now twice as long but the same basic story.)

We put it together and performed it 6 weeks later.

The most amazing thing of all was, “The Bah” was an instant hit.

The entire school demanded a sequel, which turned out to be “The Easter Bah” and led to a 3rd play called “A Witches Choice” and my not-yet-thought-of after school drama program which allowed me to make a living directing plays with kids for the next 5 years.

We even did “The Bah” at St. Vincent’s Academy in Savannah in 2007 with high school kids, 27 years after that guy said, “Well, think about it.”

And again it was a big success.

The major takeaway from this story (the thing I want you to understand) is this entire idea and the final product all came from my original emotional reaction to the principal saying “Well, think about it,” and twisting his finger towards my face.

======================

There’s a second part to this success secret
which turned out to be more important
than getting the original idea.

And it is…

I turned the original reaction
INTO AN IDEA
and turned that idea INTO
AN ACTUAL PHYSICAL FORM

======================

A form people could do something with.

In this case, it turned into a play which we performed.

A form people can read, act out, watch and respond to.

In your case, it will be a physical paper people can read silently or out loud and respond to.

Now, if you think the creation of my play and the creation of your paper are different because they are two different forms—they aren’t.

This way of inventing things is called working with the Creative Process.

And the most effective creations always start with the creator’s intellectual, emotional and/or spiritual reaction to something in his life or the world that moves him enough to do something with it.

You may not have as big a reaction or write as much as I did. That doesn’t matter. The theory and process are the same. And will work for you too.

======================

How to use this secret to choose
an essay topic you’ll have lots to write about

======================

If you are starting from a PROMPT—

Which is a question or phrase your teacher gave you…

Ask yourself:

“Do I AGREE or DISAGREE with the phrase

or

have a YES or NO answer to the question?”

Now listen close because this is the key to the whole thing…

Your agreement or yes—or disagreement or no—

is your TOPIC for this paper.

And the reason why you agree or disagree will be the Position or side you’ll take and prove with the rest of your paper.

I’ll get into taking a postion and finding all the proof you need to write a persuasive essay or paper in a future blog post. For now, let’s stick to nailing down a topic.

If you want to use The Bah of Humbug as a finding a topic example, it works like this…I’m thinking…I never had to look at it this way before and didn’t know I was going to until I wrote this sentence…

…hmm…tricky…hmm…scary…can I even come up with something?…ah hah!

The weird principal actually suggested I “think about” doing a Christmas Holiday show. That was like a prompt, wasn’t it? A prompt I didn’t like and disagreed with.

My idea for an actual topic was to come up with a story that combined both Christmas and Hanukah in a fun, silly and different way.

And because it came out of my resentment over what the principal had said and done, I had an emotional attachment to the idea. An emotion I needed to get the feeling and idea out of my head and share it with the class and led us to come up with a simple story outline that I could take and make into a complete story.

And there it is.

• A topic.
• That came from an emotional reaction.
• That led to a position.
• That inspired an idea I could outline.
• And turn into an actual written piece.

And it all started with that first emotional reaction. Which is all you ever need to get started too.

If that seems too easy, it may be.

But that’s all you need to begin anything.

And it’s that easy because this isn’t rocket science. It just feels like rocket science when you haven’t been shown an easy way to do it. So don’t make harder than it needs to be.

=================
If your teacher doesn’t give you a prompt
and you have to choose an essay topic and
position and start from SCRATCH…
================

It’s a little harder.

So review all of your class notes, lecture notes, browse through whatever chapters in your textbook or novel have to do with the assignment—and as you do—be on the alert for any positive or negative feeling or little zing of emotion you get as you are looking.

As soon as you feel something, positive or negative—stop.

Because that’s the emotional reaction you want.

Then quickly write down:

• What you felt

• Why you felt it

• What part of the subject or situation your reaction was in reaction to

That feeling or reaction to is your TOPIC.

And your Reason Why—is your POSITION

for your paper.

———————————————-

This is trickier to explain so lets use

“The Bah of Humbug” as an example
for starting from scratch.
———————————————-

My original emotional reaction to the principal twisting his finger in my face was being offended by his attitude and gesture.

A few minutes later, when speaking to the group of kids, I was still stuck in the feeling. Not only was I stuck but I was starting to get resentful and mad.

I needed to do something with the feeling and being a writer and a teacher who needed something for this class to do—my solution was to come up with a story that combined Christmas and Hanukkah in a silly way and if we got something interesting, I’d turn it into a story and if the kids liked it, a play that we could do.

The idea of a story that combined Christmas and Hanukkah in a silly way was my topic.

My position, which came after we got the idea that Santa was kidnapped on Christmas Eve, was to have both sides work together to rescue Santa and save Christmas.

Which was different and something I’d never seen done before but made sense in our situation because the class (and the school) was part Jewish and part Christian and no one really knew anything aobut the other groups holiday.

(If you’re in a public school and can’t do stuff that combines holidays like this, I understand and am using this as an example of how writers get ideas. Remember, this happened 29 years ago when it was OK.)

Obviously, I hadn’t thought of any of this before the incident with the principal. It all happened lightning fast and had an unexpected payoff that’s affected my life in good way for almost 30 years.

This is what can happen when you just go with your reaction to things, turn them into something positive, get started and see what happens.

I had no idea when I got the idea if it’d be any good or not. Or if I turned the story into a play if the play would be any good.

You won’t know how your paper will turn out when you choose a topic and a position either.

You just get an idea, try it and find out.

================

If you want more help choosing an essay topic
starting from a Prompt or From Scratch—

Here are two easy ways to get it…

================

Get yourself a copy of “How To Plan, Write and Edit a Grade Raising Essay—in less time, with less work and less stress”

One section is called “The Essay Topic Idea Generator” and it will walk you through this process successfully in less than 10 minutes.

You can get the book from me by mailing a check for $49.97 to:

Rick Goldman
1908 Colonial Drive
Savannah, GA 31406

The tool kit comes with my “Raise Your Writing Grade or Bust 100% Money Back Guarantee” so if it doesn’t help you raise your writing grade on your next paper or you just don’t like it once you get it—you can easily get your money back. And I’ll pay for shipping.

=======================

If you’d like a Private Essay Writing Tutoring Session
(in person in Savannah or over the phone
anywhere else in the U.S. )

where I walk you (college students and teachers)
or you and your child (middle and high school students)
through the whole planning, writing and editing
of your essay—

Here’s what to do next…

======================

Middle and High School Students and Parents—Show each other this blog and then have them have a parent call me at 912-660-5353 between 9 AM and 7 PM eastern time.

College Students—call me yourself at 912-660-5353 between 9 AM and 7 PM eastern time.

If no one answers, leave a message with your phone number and I’ll call you back.

Your tutoring sessions also include a copy of “How To Plan, Write and Edit a Grade Raising Essay” and come with my “Raise Your Writing Grade or Bust 100% Money Back Guarantee” so you actually get your money back if I can’t help you raise your writing grade.

If you are interested in having me be your or your child’s Grade-Raising Essay Writing Tutor and want to know what other parents, kids and educators say about the program, read the Testimonials page of this blog. Then give me a call.

======================

That’s it for today.

Keep writing and keep coming back to this blog for more ideas and help and be sure to tell your friends, parents and fellow educators about it.

And leave a comment in the comment box below if you have a quick question.

Thanks,

Rick Goldman, the Grade Raising Essay Writing Coach

© 2009 by Rick Goldman

Testimonials For Rick Goldman, Grade Raising Writing Tutor Savannah

15 Reasons Why Students, Parents and Educators in Savannah Recommend Rick Goldman’s Grade Raising Essay Writing Tutoring, Presentations, Classes and Materials.

As you’re learning on this blog—to write a grade raising essay you have to take a position on your topic, create 3 proof points and then find 3 proof details that prove each point.

One of the most effective and powerful ways to prove your position is to get comments that prove your points from real live people who have experience with whatever it is you are trying to prove.

In my case, I have to prove to you that the ideas I’m giving you on this blog actually work so you’ll actually believe me enough to give them a try.

So here’s what 15 students, parents and teachers in Savannah and other parts of America have to say about how my essay writing tutoring, classes and materials helped them get more motivated, achieve better grades and gain lots more writing and real life confidence.

============================

“After getting 60’s on my first two AP English summer essays, my mom asked Mr. Goldman to coach me. He showed me how to take a position, find lots of proof and in only 3 hours I improved two grades and got an 80 on my final essay. I was actually excited to turn my paper in and I feel so much more confident about writing now.”
—Erin West, junior, Savannah, GA

———————–

“Alex writes frequently and she does get stuck. But she got into the car one day after Rick’s class and just had all of these solutions to every writing problem she’s ever had. She said, ‘Now I have a method to use whenever I get stuck.’ It was so very, very, very helpful to her. She was just beaming about it.”
— Sheila Magness, mother of Alex (St. Vincent’s Academy), Savannah, GA

———————-

“What I like best about Rick’s program it is that it focuses the students’ attention on what they need to know and need to do right now. It’s basically what I teach over a longer period of time but he’s cut out all the fat and gotten it down to a lean 10 questions they can use and refer back to.

His booklet and questions are like a No Rules Rulebook that turns planning and writing into simple steps. They say that if you follow the steps then put them together—you’ll have a good essay. The questioning mode allows them to discover what they have to say instead of having rules telling them what to say. So what happens is that they feel freer to write more and with more fluency, which makes them feel successful and more willing to write in the future.

The improvement in both the AP and low level students’ grades the first time Rick took them through it proves how well it works. (71% raised their grades!) I recommend it for both middle and high school students.”
— Grover Crosby, 11th Grade English Teacher, St. Vincent’s Academy, Savannah GA

——————–

“You can’t motivate teenagers by telling them what to do. You have to ask them questions that produce answers so they realize that doing this thing has a payoff that’s far more beneficial than not doing it. Rick’s Essay Writing Questions do this. Magically. In an amazingly short time. It’s a breakthrough system.”
— Dr. Mary Dreyer, Psychotherapist, Portland, OR

——————-

“The best part of Mr. Goldman’s essay writing system is how he helped us get proof for our point of view. I definitely feel more confident now about writing essays than I did before. I don’t know why but I feel more at peace with it. I’m not worrying about doing essays for summer reading and I know the essay book will be helpful next semester when I have to do lots more writing.”
— Amy Frazier, senior, Savannah, GA

——————–

“This method worked the first time Rick tried with it my two AP U.S. History Classes. It produced a bigger quantity and a better quality of writing than normal in a very short time (even with the last class of the day on Friday afternoon.) It’s because he’s coming at it the way a professional writer approaches writing, not the way a teacher like me was taught to do it. His materials helped them get more motivated and really solve the position taking, proof finding and proof proving problem.”
—Mary Catherine Mesaros, 11th grade history teacher, St. Vincent’s Academy,
Savannah, GA

———————–

“Rick has a talent for helping young people feel they have something to say—and then feel good about saying it. One of our students said Rick’s writing class was more fun than going to Disneyland!”
— Christine Demmitt, Executive Director, Gifted Children’s Association
of the San Fernando Valley, Van Nuys, CA

———————–

“I was struggling with a story idea and Rick’s Idea Flipperoo asked me to approach it in a way that I wouldn’t usually try. So I made an outline (which I never do) and wrote a nine-page story in three hours. I’d never written more than five pages at one time in my whole life!”
— Joey Fink, 10th Grader, Camarillo, CA

———————–

“Mr. Goldman’s The 2nd Biggest Success Secret CD Volume 2 is full of positive motivation ideas and great advice. Listening to it while driving home from school last week gave me the motivation to start researching a play that I wanted to write. I got home and immediately went to work. My mom has also been trying to tell me about seeking out more opportunities and after listening to the stories on this CD a lot of what she’s been saying finally made sense!”
— Kelsey Chandler, 12th grader, Savannah, GA

————————

“The SAT essay and writing in college are all about the writer being able to articulate their position on a subject and support it with reasons and examples. Rick is teaching your kids the skills to perform well on the SAT and to become themselves! And he’s an inspiring coach. I know because he’s coached me.”
—Dr. Monica Andrews, SAT Essay Test Scorer, Beverly MA. and creator of the Reel
Wisdom Series of ‘Videos For College Admission and Success’ www.reelwisdom.com

————————

“Reading your 2nd Biggest Success Secret and Stories Book helped me right away. When I read the ‘Take Your Trusty Tape Recorder’ section I realized I could take a tape recorder and interview all the people I have to talk to for a project on Iraq. That was great because before that I could never keep up with what people were saying to write it down. It worked instantly. After I read the “Am I Good Enough To Be In A Show?’ section, especially the part where you talk about how you got the confidence to act in front of a large crowd, I decided I’m going to try out for a solo in chorus for the Christmas Show and sing in front of hundreds of people. Reading your book gave me that much confidence and I’m already reading it again.”
— Shelby Brantley, 9th grader, Savannah, GA

————————-

“Lauren usually complains about things she doesn’t like but she didn’t complain about the way you taught the essay writing at all. She loved every minute of the class and it was a great way to help her with her writing before she enters high school this fall. You did an excellent job with her, excellent. She was so into what you were doing and enjoyed you so much that she said, ‘Mom, I’m going to take the story I’ve been writing and show Mr. Goldman.’ And she just doesn’t do that. She’s been so shy. It was a wonderful experience.”
— Cindy Davis, mother of Lauren (age 14), Savannah, GA

————————

“The essay writing part of the class and what you put into the essay writing book really did help me. Before this class I really didn’t know how to organize my ideas. But this helped me to do it automatically without thinking about it. It organized all my thoughts to where each paragraph should go, what to put into the opening paragraph and what to put into the conclusion. I would absolutely recommend this because it can raise your grade letter from C to A. I love to write stories but when it comes to essays I get stressed out. Now that I’ve learned all this and have the book I think I’ll get less stressed in the future.”
— Alex Magness, senior, St. Vincent’s Academy, Savannah, GA

————————

Kelsey loved the Goldman’s drama program at St. Vincent’s. They helped her increase her self esteem, her ability to get on stage and face an audience, actually lose herself in the part, feel good about herself and and express herself in a way that she doesn’t get to do in other arenas. She felt the Goldmans were very positive, that they always tried to find the positive part of the person and that they always motivated her to excel above what she thought her potential was. She felt like they just “hung the moon.” And as a senior, with Rick’s coaching, she won the regional Shakespeare Monologue competition and competed in the national finals at the Lincoln Center in New York City. The Goldman’s program is a win-win situation for both the parents and daughter. It promotes confidence and communication skills and really teaches everything. And if your child’s happy, you’re going to be happy. As your daughter takes part in this, you’ll get a better child out of it.”
— Norbert Chandler, Kelsey’s dad, Tybee Island, GA

========================

If You Want Results Like These For Yourself,
Your Kids and/or Your School, I Offer…

=========================

1. In Person (Savannah area) and On-the-Phone (anywhere else, USA) Private Essay Writing Tutoring.

Two one hour sessions.

I give each student a copy of the “How To Plan, Write and Edit a Grade Raising Essay” book which they’ll use to plan, write and edit their essay and which they and everyone else in your family can use for every paper they have to write for the rest of their life.

During the first session, they get organized, motivated and plan their essay. Then they take a day or two to write their first draft. Then I return for the second session and help them edit their essay so it’s really strong and they feel confident about turning it in.

I recommend a parent sits in on the coaching sessions so you can learn how the system works and be able to help your kids with future papers. It’s a simple system and no writing experience is needed to make it work

To learn more about tutoring or schedule a session, call me at 912-660-5353.

————————————————–

2. The Big Group, 1 Hour Grade-Raising Essay Writing Live Experience for Middle School, High School and College Groups of 50-500 students, teachers and if you invite them, parents.

Call me at 912-660-5353 and we can talk about it and/or I’ll mail you information about my programs for students and teachers.

————————————————-

3. The “How To Plan, Write and Edit a Grade Raising Essay—in less time, with less work and less stress” Book

If you’d like to purchase the book:

Simply send a check or money order for $49.97 (U.S. dollars) to:

Rick Goldman, 1908 Colonial Drive, Savannah, GA 31406.

Make sure you include your name and address so I can get your book to you. And because you found this blog and ordered, I’m paying for shipping.

==========================

All of my programs and materials come with a 100% Money Back Guarantee so you can try any or all at absolutely no risk to you.

==========================

To Learn More or to Schedule a
Big Group Live Experience or
Private Tutoring Session

==========================

Call me (Rick Goldman) at 912-660-5353
(11 AM to 7 PM Eastern Time, U.S.A.)

Leave a message if no one answers.

I’ll return your call within 48 hours
(depending on my schedule).

I look forward to hearing from you,

Rick Goldman, The Grade Raising Essay Writing Tutor

—————————

“No matter what college major your child chooses or what field they enter after college, they’ll have to be able to find their own ideas, shape them, stand behind them and communicate them to others (like professors, bosses, co-workers and clients). And they’ll have to communicate in actual writing (not just e-mail and text messaging). Rick’s new Essay Writing Coaching program gives your child the unique opportunity to learn and apply these crucial life skills now while working on a current paper. Then use the booklet with future assignments, papers and big projects as often as they want. And it really does raise their writing grades. Call Rick now.”
— Jody Riddle, St. Vincent’s Academy Guidance Counselor

————————

© 2009 by Rick Goldman

How To Get Motivated Enough to Plan, Write and Edit A Grade Raising Essay

It is absolutely critical that you are motivated enough to write your essay or paper before you start writing. Especially if you want a decent grade.

Why do you think this is true?

If you’re not sure, let me ask it this way, “What will happen if you’re not motivated enough to write a good essay?

Did you say,

• “If you’re not motivated enough to write it, you won’t write it”

• “If you’re not motivated enough, you’ll start but may not finish.”

• “If you’re not motivated enough, you might start and finish but do a crummy job?’

If you said any or all of these, you’re right.

And because the goal here is to write a paper or essay that’s good enough to get you a better grade than you got on your last paper for this teacher, any one of these answers will sink your grade instead of raise it.

=======================

You’ve got to take a minute or two
to find a motivation that’s strong enough
to get you started, then keep you going
until you finish the essay and
plop it on your teachers desk.

=======================

The truth is, taking two minutes to get motivated enough will be a big secret to your writing success.

Because in the Essay Writing Surveys I’ve been taking with high school students for the past two years:

• 77.2% said they aren’t motivated enough to start, try hard enough or finish their essay

• 82.6% said they think writing and the subject they have to write about are boring.

• 85.7% said they don’t see how writing this paper about this subject has anything to do with what they want to do or be in the future and therefore they think it’s pointless to write about it.

Do you ever feel the same way about a paper you have to write?

Feel any of things right now?

I thought you might.

So keep reading and I’ll show you the secret to finding a motivation that’s strong enough to overcome these three big writing problems.

=====================

I call a motivation that’s strong enough,
A Meaningful Enough Motivation.

And a Meaningful Enough Motivation is simply
a Meaningful Enough Reason to start,
work on and finish the darn thing,

=====================

Luckily for you, you get to choose your own meaningful enough reason. Because the reason has to come from you—not your parents, teacher or friends. If it doesn’t come from you, it won’t work.

Now, if they suggest a reason you like, that’s fine. But you have to want the result their reason will give you bad enough or that reason won’t be strong enough to keep you moving when things get hard, slow or frustrating. (And as you already know, things do get hard, slow and frustrating when you write.)

“Can I have more than one reason for doing something?”

Sure.

In fact, it can be a big help if you have more than one meaningful enough reason to do something.

Here’s Why: There will be times when you honestly don’t care about most of your own reasons. But maybe one of them will work in that moment and keep you moving. And that’s the ultimate goal. To keep moving forward, one step at a time. So more than one reason is always a good thing.

===============

For example
my most meaningful motivation
for writing this blog post today
actually has 5 Meaningful Enough Reasons.

===============

They are:

1. Because I told myself and you that I’d be adding one post a week to this blog.

2. Because I want to help some of the thousands of student writers and teachers who go on the internet every day looking for help with their essay writing

3. Because I’ve spent one and a half years creating a simple system that helps kids plan, write and edit essays that get better grades and I want to get that information into the world.

4. Because I want to let educators know I also do workshops and presentations at schools where I take kids and teachers through this process so they learn by doing it with me.

5. Because I’ve put everything kids need to do this successfully into 4 little 4 page booklets that schools, teachers and parents can purchase from me so they can do it in class or at home. And I have to let parents and teachers know because selling my materials is one of the ways I make a living.

And the truth is, I can’t do all of this unless I write and post one blog post a week and do some other marketing stuff consistently so I get and stay out there where people can find me and learn about all this.

These are my most meaningful reasons to write and post this blog post today.

Obviously, some of them have to do with making a living which may offend you.

If it does, I hope you’ll be open minded enough to realize that my wanting a few different kinds of results from this blog is very much like you wanting different specific results from writing your essay.

These results could be getting a better grade than usual which will help your over all grade in the class. And could also help you get into the college you want to go to. Or something else.

In the end, a meaningful enough motivation all comes down to wanting something specific bad enough to take the actions necessary to get it.

And the clearer you are in knowing the result you want, the easier it is to find the motivation to get started and do what it takes to finish.

====================

Here’s a Teen Age Motivation Success Story:

====================

A few years ago, my niece Cathy was getting crummy grades in 9th grade and didn’t care about school.

Her Dad told her if she’d get a certain grade point average and keep it up, he’d get her a car when she turned 16.

She got motivated, got the grades, got the car, kept the grades up and kept the car. Now she’s in college. Still has the car. Likes college. And her grandmother still can’t believe it happened.

Like I told you, motivation has to be meaningful enough to the person trying to get motivated. When it is—it works.

====================

The good news for you is,
finding your meaningful enough motivation
is easy to do.

All you have to do is
answer the following question.

====================

In your own words, what’s the most meaningful reason or reasons to start, work on, finish and turn in the essay or paper we are talking about?

“The most meaningful reason or reasons for me to start, work on, finish and turn in this essay or paper is… ______________________________________.”

Good. That’s your meaningful enough motivation.

Now take out a piece of paper, write your meaningful enough motivation answer on it and stick it somewhere you can see it while your planning, writing and editing. If you’ll be writing at school, tape it to your notebook and put it in front of you while you’re writing.

===================

What to do if you discover
your meaningful enough motivation
isn’t strong enough and
you are ready to give up or
do a crummy job.

==================

Ask yourself the question again and see if you come up with something that’s a little more meaningful to you.

If you can’t find anything, you need to take your meaningful motivation one step further.

I’ll help you with that next time with a post called,

“How to figure out a Meaningful Enough Future Benefit “when you need more motivation help”

The Meaningful Enough Future Benefit” idea is really powerful, really works and none of your teachers has probably ever mentioned it to you before.

==================

2 Easy Ways To Remember
This Blog is Here
and Can Help You…

==================

• Bookmark it or add it to your Favorites List. Then come back. Often.

• Ask me a question in the Comment Section at the end of each post. You may have to click on the comment link to get the comment box to appear. I’ll look over your question and answer it. (Note: I review all of the comments before I make them public. So if you don’t want me to answer publicly, just let me know and I’ll answer by e-mail.)

That’s it for today.

Now go get yourself a Meaningful Enough Motivation and get yourself going.

Till next time, keep writing,

Rick Goldman, Your Grade-Raising Essay Writing Coach

P.S. If you like what you’ve found here, please tell your friends, your students, your fellow educators and the other parents you know so these ideas can help them too. Thanks.

And keep coming back.

©2009 by Rick Goldman

Introducing an Easy Way To Write a Grade-Raising Essay…Quickly, Confidently and Without Stressing Out

If you are a student
and want help getting and staying motivated enough to plan, write and edit a grade-raising essay or paper you feel good about—you’ve come to the right place.

If you are a teacher
or professor and want to help your students get more motivated to plan, write and edit a grade-raising essay they feel good about—you’ve come to the right place.

If you are the parent
of a high school or college kid and you want to help them get more motivated and plan, write and edit a grade-raising essay they feel good about—guess what?…Yeah, you’ve come to the right place too.

Welcome to the blog that ‘s going to take the stress and struggle out of planning, writing and editing essays and papers. And do it quickly while getting you better results (better grades) and building your writing confidence.

If you don’t think it’s possible to quickly and easily write a persuasive grade-raising essay and feel good about it, it is.

In fact, I’ve been helping kids just like you do it for about a year now.

This intro page will explain who I am and how this blog will help you

===================

My Name is Rick Goldman.
I’m a Writer. And a Teacher.

===================

The fact that I’m both is the key to my being able to help you.

“What kind of writer are you?”

1. Playwright. I’ve written 7 produced plays and musicals. That means 7 plays and musicals that have been performed by real actors and seen by real audiences. Most of my shows are written for young actors (5th-12th) graders to perform and their peers, parents and families to watch.

2. How-To Book Writer. I’ve written and self published four.

• “How to Write Stories That Work Everytime”
• “How to Direct Kids in Plays and Stay Sane”
• “The Second Biggest Success Secret of Them All For Teenagers, College Students and Their Parents” (book and audio CD)
• “How To Find and Use Your Own Ideas For Essays, Papers and Projects (without worrying what other people will say or getting all stressed out!)”

3. “How-To Mini- Systems” Author. A mini-system is something that helps you do something you want or have to do—simply by answering a few easy questions and taking little action steps. My two mini-systems are:

• “The Grade-Raising Essay Writing System”
• “The Super Simple Stepmaker (How to Set and Reach Short Term Goals and Big Time Dreams”

4. Direct Response Marketing Writer. This means I write the copy (the words that have to persuade people to buy stuff) for print ads, sales letters, brochures, e-mails, special reports and web sites. Done that for 7 years. Helped sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of products and services.

——————————-

I’m Also a Drama and Writing Teacher.

——————————-

Been one on and off for 32 years. In Southern California and now Savannah, GA.

• I’ve taught zillions of story and play writing classes (helped 2500 kids write new stories and plays)

• I’ve directed 40 plays and musicals with elementary, middle and high school kid

• I currently direct 2 or 3 plays a year at St. Vincent’s Academy, an all-girls Catholic High School in Savannah. As I write this, we’re working on Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” (with the entire senior class of 80 girls) and a smaller group of 6 is doing “Michael Meets His Dream Team” by that famous playwright you’ve never heard of…me.

For the past two years, I’ve also been
an Undercover Essay Writing Detective

Putting together new ways to help teenagers and college students write faster, easier and better without being so stressed.

After 71% of the 11th graders who spent 1 hour with me planning an essay raised their writing grades last fall, some by as many as 20 points—I decided “The Grade-Raising Essay Writing System” was ready for the big time.

Or at least for anyone smart enough to look for essay writing help on the web. And that of course, is you.

=================

Here’s the True Story of How
This Grade-Raising Essay Writing System
Was Created With Kids and Teachers
Just Like You

=================

Three years ago, I started directing plays at St. Vincent’s Academy in Savannah. And began hearing from teachers and students about how much trouble the kids were having and how stressed out they get when they had to write essays.

Having taught over 2,500 students how to write stories and plays, I knew writing essays shouldn’t be this hard or stressful. So I started doing surveys to pinpoint what the kids and teachers believed were their biggest essay writing problems.

The kid’s survey answers shocked me because…

• 77.2% said they weren’t motivated enough to try and write a successful essay

• 82.6% said they think writing and the subject they have to write about are boring

• 85.7% said they think writing papers about certain subjects is pointless because they don’t see how it has anything to do with what they want to do in the future

• 65.2% said they didn’t know how to find the proof details to put in their paper so they could prove their position.

• 58.7% didn’t know how to take a position

• 78.2% said that because they’ve been trained to find and use only “the right answer” when they have to find and use their own ideas they feel uncertain, struggle and get stressed.

• 78.2% also said they have trouble taking the ideas they get in their head and putting them on paper

• 84.8% said they wait until the last minute to start, which makes it harder to get ideas and makes them even more stressed

These answers told me that their real problem
was a combination of:

1. A Lack of Motivation
2. A Lack of Skills, Tools and Experience and
3. A Lack of Confidence.

So the question is…

Are you struggling with any of the same issues when it comes to planning and writing your essays and papers?

If you are, you can see from the survey results that you’re perfectly normal. So don’t worry about it. Just keep reading. Help is here.

==================

Based on all this, I decided to create something
that would solve all these problems at once
and make essay writing easier and more fun.

==================

So for a year and a half I put ideas together, tested them in my own summer writing class, refined and tested them again in SVA History classes.

I wrote a 60 page how-to book about it and after doing some private coaching in the summer of ‘08—took out my editor’s knife, cut the essence into the 10 question “How To Plan the Writing of A Grade-Raising Essay Booklet” and tested the 10 questions with two of Grover Crosby’s 11th grade English classes.

The Results:

• 71.4% of the kids Improved their writing grades after only one hour.

• 55.8% said they felt more Motivated to write. 32.6% said they “sorta” did.

• 81% said they felt more Confident about writing future essays.

If you’re having trouble believing they did this well, Here’s what their teacher Mr. Crosby said about the experience.

“What I like best about Rick’s program it is that it focuses the student’s attention on what they need to know and need to do right now. It’s basically what I teach over a longer period of time but he’s cut out all the fat and gotten it down to a lean 10 questions they can use and refer back to. The improvement in both the AP and low level student’s grades the first time Rick took them through it proves how well it works (71% raised their grades) I recommend it for both middle and high school students.”
— Grover Crosby, 11th Grade English Teacher,St. Vincent’s Academy, Savannah GA

If you’re wondering why the other 29%
didn’t raise their grades…

Most didn’t improve because they did a bad job of Editing. (Many, especially the AP kids, didn’t even edit their papers.)

So I wrote another booklet called “The 17 Point Grade-Saving Essay Editor’s Checklist” to help the kids become instant editors and be even more successful.

And because this all started when the original group of seniors told me how stressed out they get when they had to write essays, I put together another booklet, “7 Stress- Reducing, Motivation-Maximizing, Confidence-Boosting Writing Secrets” to help them relax and build their confidence as they worked. Some kids think this is the most helpful part of the whole deal.

Finally, after seeing how many people were looking for essay topics on the internet (296,000 Google searches for essay topics in Nov. 08), I wrote one more booklet, “The Essay Topic Idea Generator.”

This one helps you find a topic fast, especially when your teacher says, “You’ve got to write an essay about ______” and doesn’t give you a prompt or question to answer and you have to start from scratch.

The four booklets together make up the “Grade-Raising Essay Writing System”

And this blog is going to offer you bits and pieces of the system in each blog post.

=======================

Here’s Why This Blog Will Help
Both Students and Teachers

=======================

Because it’s not going to be like anything anyone’s ever taught you about writing.

“Why?”

Because I’m not like any writing teacher you’ve ever had. I’m a writer first, and a teacher second. And I teach writing the way successful writer’s teach writing to other writers.

“How do writers teach writers?”

By paying attention to the feelings that come up when you plan, write, edit and put your finished product in front of the public as well as the practical how to write stuff.

“How do you know that’s how they do it?”

Because I’ve sat in rooms, workshops and meetings with some of the most successful playwrights and screen writers (many Oscar and Tony Award Winners) and some of the most successful marketing writers on the planet and learned from them. And I’ve been experiencing it myself for over 30 years.

“Why is it so critical to pay attention to the feeling stuff?”

Because that’s the part of writing will slow you down or stop you altogether. So it’s actually more important than the practical stuff. Especially when you don’t have much writing experience which most high school and college kids don’t have.

“Why don’t most teachers teach this way?”

Because they’re not writers and were not taught to teach writing this way. Not only that, they are under intense pressure to cover lots of material no matter how any of their students feel. So it’s really not their fault.

Which means if you’re a teacher—this will help speed things up and reduce your stress too—as soon you start applying the simple ideas you’ll learn here.

Most importantly, I’m not going to rehash all the boring essay writing stuff you’ve been taught all your life that’s made writing so unpleasant and finding and using your own ideas so scary and stressful. Because it obviously hasn’t worked for so many student writers all across the country.

So it makes more sense to try new way that works for the best writers in the world, right?

Bottom line: This is going to be new, different, fun, and because you probably have to write your paper and turn it in soon, the ideas will be easy to apply right now.

==================

2 Easy Ways To Remember
This Blog Is Here
and Can Help You

=================

• Bookmark it or add it to your Favorites List. Then come back. Often.

• Ask me a question in the Comment Section at the end of each post. You may have to click on the comment link to get the comment box to appear. I’ll look over your question and answer it. (Note: I review all of the comments before I make them public. So if you don’t want me to answer publicly, just let me know and I’ll answer by e-mail.)

That’s the plan. We’ll see how it goes.

Until next time, know that help is here and you know where to find it.

If you like what you’ve found here, please tell your friends, your students, your fellow educators and the other parents you know.

And keep coming back.

Rick Goldman, The Grade-Raising Essay Writing Coach