Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing

While the previous chapters offered a bird’s eye view of good writing, Trimble uses Chapters 4-6 to dive into to the nuts and bolts of the individual essay. According to Trimble, essays are broadly organized into three parts: the opener, the middle, and the closer. He begins with openers, which are the first few sentences or paragraph of a piece. Trimble writes that authors “will generally be given only four or five sentences to prove that you are worth hearing” (31). Openers are critical because if they’re written poorly or unclearly, then the author has lost their reader immediately. Just as humans judge each other based on first impressions, the same quick, discerning critique is applied to their writing.

A successful opener has two key goals: to state the essay’s topic and the author’s thesis statement about that topic. A good thesis is one that opens the door for debate: “If it’s debatable, and if you’ve been able to state it in one sentence, it’s a good thesis. Now, go ahead and prove it” (53). College essay writers often struggle with writing a thesis statement, erring on the side of writing down facts rather than opinions. Use Trimble’s “is it debatable?” rule to test if a thesis is stating an argument rather than a mere fact.

Strong openers are forthright, meaning they introduce the topic and argument quickly and concisely: “They march into their subject with bold directness,” Trimble writes, “obviously eager to share what they think about their subject” (31). Weak openers, by contrast, require paragraphs or pages to get to the heart of the essay’s topic and argument. By waffling, authors are wasting their reader’s time: “Idle chat,” Trimble argues, “is a confession of an empty brain” (35). By getting directly to the point within the first few sentences, an author proves to their reader that the remaining pages will be worth reading.

In Chapter 5, Trimble shifts from openers to middles, which he defines as the section of the essay that develops and proves the author’s thesis statement. In the middle paragraphs of an essay, authors are engaging in expository writing. Expository writing provides information, or an explanation, of the author’s thesis. The author seeks to persuade the reader that their argument is a strong, defendable idea. Trimble compares expository writing to a prosecuting attorney presenting evidence in the courtroom: “Think of your essay as a case, and think of your reader as a highly skeptical jury” (53). The attorney—or the author—will use evidence to prove why the defendant is guilty. In the essay writer’s case, that evidence includes facts, dates, quotes, or other types of data that Trimble suggests in Step 3 of “Getting Launched.”

Middles display the ability to fluidly link or signpost various ideas: “Good writers are sticklers for continuity,” Trimble observes, “They never allow themselves to write a sentence that is not manifestly connected to the ones immediately preceding and following it” (51). To increase continuity between sentences, paragraphs, and ideas, Trimble suggests using conjunctive adverbs or “transitional words.” He provides examples of conjunctive adverbs, including the following:

Above all                   In fact                      

Again                        Likewise

Consequently            Moreover

For example              Nonetheless

For instance              On the other hand

However                   Therefore (52).

In Chapter 6, “Closures,” Trimble again draws on the prosecutor analogy to describe its purpose in an essay: “The closer,” he writes, “is half-summary, half-conclusion, similar to a prosecutor’s closing appeal to the jury” (56). The closer, he explains, must do the following: first, succinctly state the essay’s main point, or the information covered in the opener and middle parts of the essay. Second, provide the reader with “at least one new idea” not already stated in the body of the essay (57). While the closer is generally meant to summarize the essay, it should also leave the reader thinking and wanting more. Do not, however, pose a new question at the end of an essay—all questions should come at the beginning. Third and finally, the closure should provide an emotional punch.

Trimble’s openers, middles, and closers lay out an essay’s primary objectives and organization. When in doubt or lost, refer to Trimble’s five points that every successful essay must have:

1. A well-defined thesis or position

2. A clear plan of attack

3. Solid evidence

4. Strong continuity of argument

5. A persuasive closing appeal (40).