Essay-Writing: Its Importance in Every Sphere of Life
The term ‘Essay’ literally means an ‘attempt’, and in this sense the word is still sometimes used as a verb. An Essay is therefore nothing but a piece of composition attempted by an individual writer. It differs on the one hand from a finished treatise, and on the other, from a letter or note. It has neither the ordered stiffness of a formal discourse, nor the unfettered freedom of a private letter, and in so far as it lacks the former quality it lacks also the dignity pertaining to it. And in so far as it is a mere attempt it enjoys certain privileges not far different from the unrestrained liberty of a private letter. An Essay, for example, may contain expression of opinion such as would be misplaced in a regular treatise; while on the other hand it may not descend to trivialities that sometimes give their best relish to private letters.
The province of Essay is unlimited, comprising every conceivable subject of thought. Anything upon which anything can be written is a fit subject for an essay; indeed, some of the most delightful essays in English literature deal with subjects of an apparently insignificant nature. Hazlitt’s essay on the Postman (entitled “the Letter Bell”) is an instance in point, and so are Lamb’s essay on the “Chimney-Sweeper” and R.L. Stevenson’s essay on “Child’s Play.” Reading through these charming essays, one feels surprised that such humble themes could afford such a wealth of thought to the writers. But the truth is, that it is not the subject written upon, but the writer who writes it, that makes an essay readable or otherwise. The most lofty subject Tails flat on the ground in the hands of an unskillful writer, whereas in the hands of a brilliant essayist the most unnoted theme may soar into high zones of thought and feeling, depicted in language at once striking and durable. In a broad sense, practically every species of composition may be regarded as an essay. An essay is properly a literary piece, of course ; but there is radically no difference between a literary essay and, say, a business report, except in the nature of the subject, and as light change in the mode of handling. In a business report too the writer has to put down his thoughts in black and white with the same care as to clearness and accuracy as in a regular essay ; the only difference is perhaps in the emotional qualities of style, which are rather out of place in a business or official report. Barring these comparatively unessential differences in style, it may be boldly laid down that every one who has to write anything at all on any matter has really to write an essay. The lawyer, who has to prepare what is technically called a “written statement” to be filed in a court, has really to write an essay on the particular case on behalf of his client. The judge, who has to write a judgment on the case, after hearing both sides, has really to write an essay on the same case on behalf of the court. The Police officer who has to submit a report on a case of burglary after making his investigation of facts, has really to write an essay. The mercantile agent who has to write to his principal, or his business head, upon the working of his firm during a certain period, or in connection with a certain branch of industry, has really to write an essay. We thus see it is essay-writing all along, essay-writing every where, essay-writing at all times.
Essay-writing thus possesses an importance which should be felt by every one except the illiterate. Essays have value not only in the eyes of school and college pupils, or in the judgment of school and college teachers, but for all classes of people who have, in any capacity, to write pieces of composition for themselves or for others. Even when there is no compulsion to write, the attempt at writing is a most useful aid to thought. In his essay on the “Transaction of Business,” Sir Arthur Helps says, “Use the pen-there is no magic in it, but it prevents the mind from staggering about. It forces you to methodise your thoughts. It enables you to survey the matter with a less tired eye.” Besides being an aid to thought, the process- of writing is an admirable test of one’s own knowledge. No man can be sure of his knowledge -or, which is the same thing, no man can be convinced of his ignorance, until he has made an attempt at writing down what he knows about a subject. Even in matters of common observation, no one can be sure of what he has seen until he has tried to make a written record of it. Most of us are fond of seeing new and strange things, but very few of us have the capacity to describe in clear words what we have seen. We flatter ourselves that we have visited such and such places, and seen such and such sights, but when we proceed to write down our observations we are able to produce very little worth reading or worth writing. We see that we have really failed to observe anything, and that our visit to a particular place has resulted in nothing but a few vague impressions which melt away even in the act of recording them. But still the attempt, however unsuccessful in the beginning, does us good : it enables us to make a better observation next time; as observation is helpful to essay-writing in furnishing us with materials, essay-writing is no less helpful to observation, in that it gives to objects an added interest derived from the necessity or delight of describing them in language of our-own.
And it is this delight of expressing in language what we observe, or what we think and feel, that constitutes perhaps the greatest use of essay-writing. A good essay is more a thing of beauty than a thing of use : its beauty is its use. The chief motive of writing an essay ought to be the pleasure that it affords to the writer, and in so far as this pleasure is real and keen, will an essay be a successful performance. An essay imposed as a task is seldom a delightful pursuit, simply be-cause it is set or prescribed by some one else, and not under-taken by ourselves for our own delectation. But this need not be so. A man who has written essays for his own pleasure can easily derive pleasure from writing an essay set by another. It is not the quarter from which a subject comes which makes it interesting or otherwise : that depends on the mind of the writer himself, and upon his power of writing. And the power of writing comes from practice, from diligent and regular practice, which is in one word the whole secret of successful essay writing.
