Six Easy Steps to Essay Writing

"Most of what a person writes," says Gerry Christmas, "is the explanation of an idea. One has an idea and that idea has to be transformed into words, sentences, and paragraphs so another person can understand it. We have a name for this transformation, this process. It's called an essay. My book breaks down the essay into six parts or what I call 'six easy steps.' Most people can learn these steps and learn them well because the human race has been using them for thousands of years, way back to the Sumerians, the Babylonians, and the early Chinese. Sure, these steps are a bag of tricks but they are a benign bag of tricks. They not only make it possible for a person to understand the inner workings of the mind but also to have others share in that understanding, to know those inner workings. That is a beautiful thing, something that should be embraced, not shunned."

The cover says it all. Here we have Mark Twain sitting at a desk, writing. But notice that Twain is not just writing away. He is gazing skyward and conjuring up a thought or inspiration that he can transmit to the pen in his hand. So there is much going on here. Twain, like all writers, is trying to take an abstract and intangible thought and put that thought directly onto paper, thus making it concrete and tangible. Further, something magical is happening between Twain's mind and his pen. And that magic is freezing a fleeting thought into permanent form, a form that other humans can see and experience at a deep and fundamental level, not just in Twain's day but for eternity.

Gerry Christmas was born in Canada and raised in the United States. Following his graduation from Jacksonville University, Christmas joined VISTA as a social worker and housing specialist for the Utah Migrant Council. After serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English in Thailand and Western Samoa, he continued to ply that trade in China, Japan, and the United States. Christmas now lives in Thailand, surrounded by a sea of scrumptious food, dazzling smiles, and sundry joys of a succulent nature.