Trouble Power with Your Pen: 5 Bold Strategies for Writing Essays That Matter
What does it take to write an essay that not only challenges power but refuses to look away? These five tips will help you craft a piece that is bold, grounded, and impossible to ignore.
1. Start with Obsession: Sit with the Topic Until It Speaks Back
Choose a theme that grips you, something that keeps you up at night or stirs something deeply personal or political. The strongest essays often come from a place of obsession. Spend time approaching your topic from multiple angles, historical, emotional, political, personal, legal, until you find a perspective that feels fresh and necessary. Troubling power requires courage; let your curiosity lead you to the edge of discomfort.
2. Ground the Abstract in the Real: Relevance Begins at Home
The competition values relevance to a situation in Southern Africa. That doesn’t mean you must write about ‘big’ events; sometimes, the most powerful essays are about seemingly small but overlooked incidents or patterns. Always ask: Where does this play out? Who does this impact, and how? Tie your analysis to a real context or lived experience that anchors your theory in truth.
3. Read Widely, Then Push Back
Set aside time to read deeply about your topic, scholarly articles, news reports, social media commentary, and even opposing viewpoints. Let the research shape your argument but not contain it. The goal is not to repeat what’s already been said but to respond to it. Look for gaps, silences, or inconsistencies. Your angle might be the thing others missed or refused to see.
4. Write to Reveal, Not to Impress
The best essays don’t just showcase knowledge; they reveal something. That could be a new insight, bold critique, ignored injustice, or reframing an old truth. Ask yourself: What do I want the reader to walk away knowing, feeling, or questioning? Your job is to bring light to something that needs to be seen. Be generous with your insights; don’t be afraid to challenge power directly.
5. Let Writing Be an Experience, Not Just a Task
Writing can be a political act and a form of healing or resistance. Don’t just write to meet the deadline; write to feel something and to mean something. This reinvigorates your ideas and allows your voice to come through more clearly. The most compelling essays often read like someone thinking aloud with conviction, not preaching but deeply engaged. That kind of writing moves people.