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Essay writing has the power to change lives, to influence people, to change minds, to educate. It has the power to bring down governments, influence policies, inspire innovation, and move people to act beyond simply exchanging words. Essays, when written well, moves readers to question age-old beliefs and traditional ways of thinking. It affects readers not just intellectually, but also emotionally. On a deeper, more primitive level, it engages the reader's sense of trust and inner reflection. We can say this on all types of writing, but essays are the prime movers of the written word. It is mainly the type of writing employed by philosophers, demagogues, educators, activists, intellectuals, and spiritual leaders.

Defined in simple terms, an essay is simply an article written to express the author's personal beliefs or point of view. It is thus a personal action of the writer, reaching out to the reader, baring his soul open for attack and criticism . It is a most personal activity that dares the author to share his most intimate thoughts on a wide range of topics to the public. Because of this personal nature, readers react to essays also on a personal level. They allow essays to affect them in ways they would not normally allow other people to affect them. A person reading an essay is more prone to suggestion and to convincing than someone on the opposite side of a debating table.

Essay writing is taught in schools as a way to hone students' writing skills and critical thinking. It trains students to organize their thoughts and write in a coherent, logical manner. It simply isn't enough to express one's thoughts. One must be able to communicate those thoughts effectively. Then too, communication isn't just the end goal of essay writing - it is simply the by-product. The ultimate goal of writing essays is to change lives, to change modes of thinking, to call people to action. It's not enough that you are understood. You must be able to convince the reader to act on what they have read. If it is an essay aimed at propaganda, then you must affect the reader to spread the word.

Writing good essays is an acquired skill. While there are people with an innate talent for writing, none of them are born to be good essayists. Writing excellent essays require experience and discipline. Writing one's thoughts on paper isn't as easy as some people think. Organizing those thoughts into words and paragraphs that will have sense and convincing power is a difficult thing to do. Try to put your thoughts on paper without a plan and see what happens. You'll probably be reading a rant instead of an essay later on.

Essay writing takes more than just skill. It takes courage and passion. You have to be enthusiastic of the things you write about in order to convince others to see your point of view. It is a poor essayist that writes mechanically and unemotionally. An essayist must be able to move readers' emotions as well as move them intellectually. An essayist must inspire as well as initiate discussion.