write an essay on social workers

Why I Want to Be a Social Worker, Essay Sample

Essay about my passion and purpose as a social worker.

It has been a long journey for me, but I have finally accepted that I want to be a social worker. After much deep reflection and consideration, I have realized that this career path best suits my values and passions. This essay, which I have written using a custom essay writing service , will explore why I want to become a social worker, what skills and qualities make me well-suited for the profession, and how I plan to use my knowledge in the service of others. 

Why I Want to Be a Social Worker 

First and foremost, my passion for helping those in need is why I want to become a social worker. From a young age, I’ve always been passionate about helping people. I have always had an insatiable curiosity about the world and its people. As I grew older, my passion for helping others turned into a desire to pursue a career as a social worker. It perfectly combines my love for people, my compassionate nature, and my dedication to social justice. 

Whether it’s providing financial assistance or offering emotional support – it all matters. By becoming a social worker, I will be able to use my experience and education to directly help people who are struggling with various issues such as poverty or mental health problems. 

What is Social Work? 

Social work is a profession that focuses on improving the welfare of individuals and communities by providing counseling, advocacy, education, and other services. Trained professionals known as social workers provide assistance to individuals from diverse backgrounds such as children, families, immigrants, elderly persons, victims of abuse or neglect, veterans, and homeless individuals, to help them achieve their goals and live fulfilling lives. They provide support services such as case management; counseling; referrals; crisis intervention; advocacy; community outreach; and education. 

Skills Which a Social Worker Should Possess

There are many different jobs within the field of social work, but they all require knowledge of the law, psychology, and sociology. Social workers must be compassionate, caring individuals who can put themselves in another person’s shoes. They must be able to understand what it feels like not having food or shelter, or even just having someone to talk to when things get tough.

I have witnessed firsthand the struggles that some people face in their lives, including poverty, homelessness, and mental health issues. Seeing the impact of these issues on people’s lives has made me want to help in any way I can.

A Social Worker Plays a Really Crucial Role in Society

Social workers are essential parts of any community. They are always there when people need them most, and they always do what they can to ensure they get the care they need. Social workers also make sure that people have access to all kinds of services, such as mental health care or substance abuse treatment services if needed. By working in this position, you can help improve many people’s lives in your community!

Exploring My Calling to Become a Social Worker 

I want to be a social worker because I believe everyone has the potential to lead fulfilling lives regardless of their circumstances. By working with vulnerable populations – such as marginalized groups or those facing poverty or displacement – I can help empower them to make positive changes in their lives and create better futures for themselves. 

By the way, I am committed to advocating for social justice initiatives that combat racism and unequal access to resources throughout our society. Through my training as a social worker, I will be able to gain the skills necessary to advocate for these causes effectively. 

Why I am Appropriate for This Job

In addition to my passion for helping people, I want to become a social worker because of the qualities that make me an ideal candidate for the job. As someone with strong interpersonal skills and an innate ability to understand people from different backgrounds and life experiences, I believe that these traits will serve me well when it comes time to interact with clients individually. 

Conclusion                 

All in all, becoming a social worker has been one of my life-long aspirations because it allows me to combine my love for people with my commitment to advocating for social justice initiatives. With this essay, I have attempted to explain why being a social worker is essential and why this career path resonates deeply with me – my passion for helping others and the satisfaction of impacting someone’s life. If you share these values, perhaps you should consider becoming a social worker too!

Tips and Tricks on Writing an Essay About a Social Worker 

Writing an essay about a social worker is both a rewarding and challenging task. It can be difficult to capture the complexity of the social work profession in one essay, but it is definitely possible. Here are some tips to help you write a personal statement essay that accurately portrays the work of a social worker. 

Research Carefully 

Before you start writing, it’s important to do your research. Look into what social workers do on a daily basis, their roles, and their responsibilities. Understanding these aspects will ensure that your essay accurately reflects the work of a social worker. 

Organize Your Ideas 

Once you have done your research, it’s time to organize your ideas into a cohesive structure. Start by creating an outline that clearly states the main points you want to cover in your essay and also includes any relevant facts or quotes that may be useful for supporting information. This will help ensure that your essay flows logically from one point to another and allows for easy reading for your audience.  

Be Clear & Concise 

When writing about social work, there is no need for lengthy explanations or unnecessarily complicated language – stick with straightforward sentences that get the point across without being too verbose or convoluted. Be sure to edit your work carefully, too; even small spelling errors can detract from the overall quality of your essay.

Why Someone Might Want to Become a Social Worker

Social work is a profession dedicated to helping individuals, families, and communities improve their well-being and quality of life. Social workers play a critical role in advocating for vulnerable populations and providing support and resources to those in need. Here are some of the key reasons why someone might want to become a social worker:

Note that these are just some of the reasons why someone might want to become a social worker. Social work is a challenging but deeply rewarding profession that requires a strong commitment to helping others and promoting social justice.

Related posts:

• The Great Gatsby (Analyze this Essay Online)
• Pollution Cause and Effect Essay Sample
• Essay Sample on What Does Leadership Mean to You
• The Power of Imaging: Why I am Passionate about Becoming a Sonographer

Improve your writing with our guides

Youth Culture Essay Prompt and Discussion

Why Should College Athletes Be Paid, Essay Sample

Reasons Why Minimum Wage Should Be Raised Essay: Benefits for Workers, Society, and The Economy

Get 15% off your first order with edusson.

Connect with a professional writer within minutes by placing your first order. No matter the subject, difficulty, academic level or document type, our writers have the skills to complete it.

100% privacy. No spam ever.

• Buy Our Toolkit!

September 1

10 Focuses to a First in Social Work Essays

0    comments

Introduction

Before you start, this is a long article. You might prefer the pdf version here .

So… You want to write a great social work essay?

It’s deceptively difficult, isn’t it?

I remember the time I got back my first assignment from university. I was so excited.

How high would I get?

Then I saw the mark.

Was it out of 50? No, it wasn’t. it was out of a 100. That’s when I realised that I had

Sitting at the edge of the pool, I felt like crying. I couldn’t believe it. I had come all the way from Singapore to England… to fail?

That’s when I realised I truly needed to bring up my game. If I was not going to be serious, the 35 would not be an isolated event, but a continual series.

This short article covers the series of steps I took to move from failure to first. I hope it helps you on your own journey in social work too.

In this short book, the first 3 focuses cover what happens before your coursework has been assigned. It covers the basics of class-going, reading, and creating the right study environment.

Focuses 4 to 7 cover the writing process, from understanding the essay- writing process, to planning deadlines, to the actual writing itself.

Focuses 8 and 9 share about how you can polish up the essay before submitting, before 10 suggests how you might use the returned coursework as a springboard to your next A.

Note: Please bear in mind, this bears relation to academic papers we must write as part of the social work course and not the performance on placement.

Focus 1: Understand what tutors want

If you don’t know what your tutors want, they will never give you what you want – a high grade. Therefore, it’s important that you and I turn up for our classes. I know, I know, it’s a travesty when universities force you to turn up for class at 9am.

But there’s no excuse if a first is what you want. Appearing at lectures is essential to see what tutors are focusing on when they teach you something. It also helps to see what tutors know, and more importantly, do not know, when they teach.

Why do I say that?

When you write an essay, the thing that differentiates an average essay from an A+ essay is the number of unique insights you give. Rehashing what your tutors have said is simply not going to get you a high grade.

Therefore, when you appear at their lectures, see what they have focused on, you can start giving your own insightful take on what they have said.

To put it more simply,

Basic arguments + Unique Insights = Mark attained

Secondly, when you turn up for your lectures and seminars, you build a treasure trove of insights that other students give when they are in class.

It’s no use to appear at the last lecture, hoping that the tutor is going to give you all the essential tips for scoring an A+. It doesn’t work that way.

Consistency is key.

Focus 2: Read right

When I see students lug their 6 pack Red-Bulls to the library, bring the blanket, and prepare for an overnight stay at the library, I empathise with them.

Why? Because just 5 years ago, whilst I was studying for my A Levels, I was like them. I thought that doing well meant that you had to sacrifice on your sleep, spend long hours at the library, and down litres of caffeine.

When my A-Level results were released, I was deeply disappointed. All those hours of suffering at the hands of caffeine, worrying about work…all that hadn’t worked? What had I done wrongly?

Many things.

But for one, I realised I had not focused on consistent work. Instead, I had focused on bursts. I had failed to realise that the assessment started the day lessons started . This was a crucial insight.

This meant that lessons were no longer a joke, a chance to play with my friends, or to laugh at the homework I hadn’t completed.

It was when the assessment started .

Putting in effort during classes is vital for reducing the amount of work you do for your final assessment. But it does not mean doing everything that the tutor asks you to do.

Nor does it mean reading everything the tutor tells you to read.

When I was at university, everyone used to joke about how they never had to do readings, and yet still managed to survive.

I know readings are long and boring.

But they are important to build your understanding of the topic. In social work, this is vital.

For example, understanding the method of practice is important to help you choose the right method to write about. One that engages you enough to spend weeks researching, writing and editing. You cannot write about something you are not interested in.

There’s an important caveat though – you don’t have to read everything. With readings being hundreds of pages, you would not have enough time physically to read all.

To help you determine what to read, Newport developed a useful heuristic.

Readings that make an argument > Readings that describe an event > Readings that provide context

For example, a reading that explains why we use the relationship-based approach is more important than one describing Gillian Ruch, who brought it into prominence, which is more important than an article describing BASW’s 2019 theme of relationship- based practice.

This is not an excuse to skip readings, but to read the ones that truly matter.

Focus 3: Create the right study environment

When the deadline is close, we often bring along packs of Red-Bull to the library, hoping that the wings Red-Bull gives is going to help us to sail through this assignment.

It works when you want to turn in a mediocre assignment, but for a first, it doesn’t work very well.

That’s because your brain is on a sugary high, and is focused on getting the job done. Rather than trying to draw unique insights from the readings, you are focused on getting the essay out of the door.

To create the right study environment where this cramming does not need to happen, there are 3 essential tips that helped me.

Firstly, study alone.

When you are studying in a group, the tendency is for you to chat from time to time, go out for breaks, laugh together, and end up with little work done. But I’m a social person! Sure, that’s important. But you can always be sociable after the work is done.

This way, you focus entirely on the work that is in front of you, rather than the friend that is beside you. You face little distractions that will take you away from developing a great essay.

Secondly, study in a quiet area.

This is as clear as it gets. studying whilst lying on the bed, with Netflix in front of you, and trying to type out a great essay is not a great idea.

Cal Newport, founder of the famous Study Hacks website, calls it ‘pseudo-working’. Sure, you can complain about the hours you spent on your essay, but how much of it was quality time, instead of quantity time?

When you want to write your essay, take yourself to a library with few distractions around you, and focus.

Lastly, study smart. We are human. Expecting yourself to focus for 2 consecutive hours is impossible.

Rather, it becomes more productive when you focus for 25 minutes, rest for 5 minutes, focus again for 25 minutes, before resting again for 10 minutes.

Called the Pomodoro technique, this breaks work down into more manageable chunks rather than an impossible mountain.

Focus 4: Understand the writing process

Rather than seeing an essay as a whole process of writing, breaking it down into its sequential parts will make the job much more organised, and much, much, more effective.

In the first step of research, determine the necessary sources for your arguments.

Find at least 2 references for each argument before moving on. Reference those arguments correctly, indicating the page number. This makes it easy to put everything together later.

Then, we move onto the writing section. In this section, before you even start writing, construct a proper topic level outline for your essay.

Discuss this outline with your tutor, and get their feedback. Most tutors can’t give direct feedback on written drafts, but they can give feedback on written outlines.

This is important to ensure that your essay is moving on the right track and not going into potential dead-ends. This process of consulting your tutor is explained in the next section.

Then, start writing!

Focus 5: Plan deadlines

After you get your assignment, the next step is to start planning!

It doesn’t matter where you are going if you don’t have a plan. If you don’t care about what grade you get, don’t bother planning! It will be a waste of your time.

But if you do, then plan. The point of planning is that it breaks up what you are doing so that you can know what exactly needs to be done to get to the end.

Here, I have developed a simple worksheet for you to keep track of your writing.

Write down the dates, and keep yourself accountable to them by showing them to a friend.

Focus 6: Consult your tribe

Whatever you are writing, I can guarantee that you will not do well if you keep your outline to yourself.

Why am I so sure?

As humans, we are subject to the confirmation bias.

Bestselling author Rolf Dobelli (2013:23) describes it as the:

‘mother of all misconceptions’, because it is the ‘tendency to interpret new information so that it becomes compatible with our existing theories, beliefs and convictions’. Rolf Dobelli, The Art of Thinking Clearly

This means that however bad the outline you plan is, it will look brilliant to you. Why? Because you are the one who planned it.

That’s why it’s important to give someone you trust, such as your tutor, another colleague, or even your placement supervisor, a quick read through to ensure that you are on the right track.

Tell them to be honest with you about the theories you are using, the arguments you are going to make, and if they have any suggestions for you. This way, you ensure that you are on the right track to success before spending too much time on it.

Even though it might look troublesome and embarrassing, consulting others is very is important.

During my last practice analysis, my mark dropped from a previous high of 85 to 65, simply because I was too arrogant to ask. Just because my first practice analysis had been an all-time high of 85, I thought this meant that I no longer needed any consultation.

Well, now I know.

It’s a little too late now, though.

But I hope that sharing this with you shows you the importance of sharing your outline with someone else, and having the humility to take their feedback into consideration when you craft your eventual essay.

Focus 7: Argue well

This is a distillation of the most useful tips I learnt from 24 years of arguing in school, as a debater, as a writer, and as a student. It is meant as a list of guidelines you should use as you write your essay.

Firstly, when writing your essay, you need to offer a roadmap to the marker. Don’t let them get lost. Where are you taking them on the journey through your essay? For me, it has been useful to write the introduction last , after I’ve been clear about the main arguments and conclusion I will make.

Secondly, always be clear about what your argument is.

Don’t assume that your marker is going to understand it without you stating it explicitly to them. I would suggest you state it within the first two sentences of your paragraph.

Use clear markers such as, ‘I would argue that…’, ‘This essay believes that…’.

Thirdly, connect the dots between each paragraph and your question. Remember to link your argument to the question with concluding words such as therefore, thus, in summary , to illustrate to your marker that you are drawing a link between what you have said to what the question has asked.

Fourthly, let your voice shine through.

During my last assignment, I made the mistake of referencing every other sentence I wrote. An example is shown below.

The social pedagogy approach guided how I related to A. The 3 key concepts involve ‘haltung, head-heart-hands, and the common third’ (Ruch et al. 2017:1016). ‘Haltung’ brings one’s whole self – ‘rational, emotional and practical’ to develop sincere relationships (Ruch et al. 2017:1016). With A, I brought the ‘haltung’ of authenticity. My practice analysis, 2018

Authenticity is not ‘hustling for acceptance and changing who we are to fit in’ (Brown 2018:25). It was embracing myself, and using my ‘self’ to influence A.

My marker commented that it felt quite turgid and stilted. She meant that it had felt unnatural. She had felt that whilst I had referenced well, my own voice had not come through. Therefore, whilst evidencing is good, I would argue that your own perspectives must first be explained before you start throwing in references. This brings me to my next point on referencing.

The best students understand how to question the evidence that is given to them, rather than copying the references wholly from the source. Thus, rather than using references in a descriptive manner, start using it in an analytical manner.

Descriptive

I used the relationship-based approach (Ruch et al. 2017) to work with X.

Ruch (et al. 2017) recommends bringing the authentic self into work with clients. However, with X, I found that this was not necessarily helpful as he tended to overstep boundaries, taking advantage of my kindness.

I hope these 5 tips help you to write better essays.

Focus 8: Work consistently

I like to think of essay-writing as something similar to chopping a tree. You can chop a tree in a day, but it’s difficult. Rather, taking small chops consistently ensures that you can give it a good ‘THWACK!’ each day, and come out alive.

I am aware that you might be reading this as another act of procrastination, telling yourself that you are going to go back to that essay after reading yet another article on how to write a good essay.

Well, it’s not going to work that way.

Working consistently helps. Period. If you like pulling all-nighters, rushing through your essay on the deadline, I cannot stop you. But I’m here to tell you that there is a better way.

To deal with procrastination, your mind needs to be assured that it is going to be able to rest. It hates the fact that you might put it through another all-nighter again, and it starts likening your early attempts to work to an all-nighter.

Thus, to start the ball rolling, building momentum, start with 5 minutes.

5 minutes is all it takes. If you can’t do 25 minutes of reading, just tell yourself, ‘I will do 5 minutes of studying today.’

Time yourself with a stopwatch. The probability is, after 5 minutes, your mind will start gathering momentum and will continue to work.

Use the Pomodoro technique described above to have regular work-rest cycles.

Here is another important tip.

When writing your essay, go offline. As we have discussed in Focus 3 – Understand the writing process , essay-writing is split into research, writing and editing. When you are researching, it’s fine to be online. But when you are writing, go offline.

This removes unnecessary distractions like email, social media, and notifications.

When you go offline, you find it much easier to go into the flow, rather than trying desperately to switch between your browser, your word processor, and your phone. It makes you less likely to procrastinate, because there is nothing to procrastinate on.

Rather than telling yourself that you are going to finish 3000 words on the final day, why not set yourself a more manageable goal of 300 words over the next 10 days? Consistency, not craziness is key to your excellence.

Focus 9: Review your paper

Someone once said, ‘it’s not about the plan, but about the planning.’ Similarly, in essay- writing, it’s not about the final essay, but it’s about the process of constantly reviewing what you have written. We have researched. We have written.

Finally, we come to the editing portion. In his book ‘How to be a Straight-A Student’, which I thoroughly recommend for every student, Cal Newport suggests three different edits.

• Read the paper carefully on the computer, ensuring clarity of argument.
• Fix obvious flaws.
• Rewrite when flow needs improving.
• Print out your essay and read it out loud.
• Highlight or mark any passages that seem unclear and edit it.
• Read over for the final time to fix any remaining flaws.

I don’t know about your tutors, but my tutors were very strict on things like referencing, naming of clients, and naming of organizations.

Editing ensures that these small chinks are ironed out, creating a beautifully crafted paper, ready for a first!

Focus 10: Ask for feedback

No matter how well or how badly you do, it’s vital to learn from it. Don’t simply let it go.

I would say that this is the most important factor in getting a first at social work. Reading the comments about your essay, and the markings on the essay are not particularly helpful in and of themselves. It’s only when you begin to have a conversation about them that it starts becoming helpful.

When you know the points you did well at, you can focus on including more of them in your next essay, so that you can get an even higher grade.

When you know the points you could even improve on, eliminating those pain points ensures that you make the marking process an easy one for your marker.

Arrange a call with your marker to review what you had done well or not so well over the course of your essay.

Many students forget that social work is a social science subject. This means that many of your assignments will be based on your writing capability, rather than your ability to write the CORRECT answer.

There is no correct answer in something subjective like social work. Instead, markers grade you on how well you argue your point, the unique insights you give, and the evidence you have combed through to get to your point.

Therefore, getting your tutor’s feedback on your writing ability, and the points you could improve on is helpful for your future essays. Look at it this way. your tutors do this for a living.

That means they have seen hundreds, if not thousands of essays. They have also probably written hundreds of essays themselves to get to where they are.

They know what qualifies as good writing. Teasing from them the principles of arguing was perhaps the most important lesson of my university experience.

Social work essays can be tough. But they are not that tough.

If you follow the steps here, I hope you find them a little easier.

• Appear at lectures and seminars.
• Ask questions.
• Store insights from classmates and tutors.
• Read right.

You don’t have to read everything!

• Study alone.
• Study in a quiet environment.
• Study smart.
• Have clear dates for significant milestones.
• We are guilty of the confirmation bias.
• Ask for feedback
• Offer a roadmap to the reader.
• Be clear about what your argument is.
• Link your paragraph to your question.
• Let your voice shine through.
• Analyse the evidence.
• 300 words everyday is better than 3000 words on the last day.
• Argument adjustment pass
• Out loud pass
• Sanity pass
• Ask for feedback.
• Ask your tutors: What have I done well? What can I do better?

I hope you enjoyed this short article that distils the essence of how I turned from failure to first in social work.

What helps you get your A? Add a comment below.

Cheers to your next A,

Useful resources

These are a list of resources that transformed my study habits. If you have the chance, read them, and you will see why.

Dobelli, R. (2013) The Art of Thinking Clearly . London: Sceptre Books Newport, C. (2007) How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less New York: Three Rivers Press.

Wong, D. (2012) The Happy Student. Singapore: Write Editions.

You may also like

Should you take a fsc social worker job, 9 social work topics for supervision, leave a reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email * * *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Subscribe to our newsletter now!

Session expired

Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.

Want to get an A for your  essay?

I failed my first essay, and yet got an average of 72 for the next 2 years. How? Here's how. 

Writing Guide

Professional social workers create a variety of documents, including proposals, case reports, and treatment itineraries. Social work programs prepare students for these tasks through writing assignments such as research papers and essays. To prepare for these writing assignments, students should have a basic understanding of grammar, punctuation, citation styles, and essay formats before entering a social work program.

Professional social workers create a variety of documents, including proposals, case reports, and treatment itineraries.

Social workers handle vital information, which makes the ability to communicate clearly in writing a crucial skill. For example, a child welfare worker gathers information concerning the wellbeing of a child. If the phrasing in the related case report is too complicated, the professional may overlook safety details, which could endanger the child. Additionally, concise wording is important. Wordy documents can take excessive amounts of time to read, which could prevent social workers from considering other cases on a suitable schedule. To master the social work writing style, students should learn to provide necessary information succinctly.

Social work programs may begin assessing writing abilities during the application process through personal statements, so applicants should polish their writing skills before applying.

Featured Programs in Social Work

Types of writing social workers will do in school, personal statements.

Many applications require a personal statement that provides in-depth information highlighting the candidate’s qualifications and positive traits. Whereas a resume may briefly reference a volunteer opportunity at an organization, a personal statement could describe lessons learned while volunteering or elaborate on personal contributions that benefited the organization.

Schools examine these qualifications while reviewing statements, but they also consider the statements as social work writing samples and evaluate each applicant’s writing skills. For this reason, candidates should proofread these documents and include the standard introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. By following these practices, applicants demonstrate their understanding of college-level writing concepts.

Applicants should focus on strengths and experiences related to social work and avoid vague statements and cliches. Instead of noting their lifelong passion for the field, a student could address a single incident that sparked interest in social work. The school may provide a prompt on which applicants should base their statements. These prompts may involve career goals or ambitions in the social work field.

If the school lists personal statements as optional, applicants should consider submitting a statement to demonstrate their work ethic. However, if the school makes no mention of personal statements, students should refrain from submitting one, given the amount of application materials each school must review each year.

Social work courses may include essay examinations during which learners must answer questions in a limited time frame. Students rarely see the questions in advance. To prepare, students should become familiar with all major course components by attending classes, taking clear notes, and keeping up with readings and assignments. Study groups may also be beneficial.

To prepare, students should become familiar with all major course components by attending classes, taking clear notes, and keeping up with readings and assignments.

During the exam, students should begin by outlining the thesis and supporting evidence. This outline guides the student through the writing process and ensures the response remains on-track. These assessments often require three main supporting points, so students may include five paragraphs within these outlines: the introduction, three body paragraphs, and the conclusion.

Learners should also use time-management techniques during these assessments. Students may allot a certain amount of time for each paragraph, plus time to proofread. Using this strategy, students can write and polish each paragraph.

Candidates should carefully answer the assigned question, ensuring they read the question correctly. A single word can alter the prompt’s meaning. For example, an essay explaining how an event happened is different than one detailing why the event happened.

Research Papers

Whereas an essay may include personal opinions, a research paper focuses on facts. For example, an essay discussing a novel could include the student’s thoughts about the work. A research paper would use scholarly evidence to examine aspects of the novel, such as themes, characters, and historical significance.

Essays and research papers also differ in length. An essay may require only five paragraphs. A research paper, however, may be 10 pages or longer.

Students in social work courses can research topics such as drug or alcohol issues, government policies, child welfare, community involvement, and mental wellness. Social work research papers often include sections for methodology, literature, and research results, as well as an abstract and a reference list that fulfills APA requirements.

Students should use a variety of primary and secondary sources when writing research papers. Citing multiple sources reinforces the student’s claims. However, students should refrain from relying too heavily on quoted material; excessive quotations implies the writer does not understand the topic well enough to paraphrase the source information.

Learners may also submit papers to tutoring services before submitting to reduce the chances of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

How Do You Write an Essay?

Social work programs may require various writing assignments to prepare students to complete professional writing for social work practice. Each form of academic writing serves a distinct purpose, and an understanding of various writing styles provides a foundation to help students during these assignments.

Narrative papers often depict personal experiences, such as memorable vacations or first attempts at hobbies. Narrative works also include opinion pieces, such as book reports. When writing a narrative essay, students should have a clear focus.

Expository writing explores a specific topic and requires the writer to carefully examine the topic. The facts presented in an expository piece can come from research or, if the assignment’s structure limits research time, through means such as logic or an example. Cause and effect pieces, compare and contrast works, and process descriptions may all qualify as expository writing if they are meant to present information. All expository pieces should include a thesis and logical transitions.

Persuasive writing requires students to take a stance on a topic and to support that stance with evidence. Research is crucial to persuasive writing, and students should incorporate multiple sources to support their thesis. Additionally, writers should present countering opinions and prove the instability of opposing viewpoints through facts, logic, and examples. Ultimately, persuasive writing should convince readers that the writer’s position is the accurate stance on the topic.

Comparative

These assignments require students to compare two or more similar concepts, such as political positions, marketing plans, or fictional themes. Professors may assign topics or allow students to select their own. Before writing, learners should brainstorm similarities and organize them into body paragraphs. For instance, a student comparing two artistic pieces may construct paragraphs about color, medium, and setting.

Cause and Effect

This type of paper explains a presumed cause for a specific occurrence. For example, a student may claim that limited health insurance options lead to untreated illnesses in the United States. With this topic, the student could divide supporting evidence into separate paragraphs, such as the cost of health insurance, the benefits of health insurance, and the process of finding insurance information. Using this strategy, the writer covers various health insurance problems to verify the paper’s main point.

Citations Guide for Social Work Students

Using source information without proper citation leads to plagiarism, the act of claiming a source’s ideas without giving the source due credit. Consequences for plagiarism can include failing assignments, failing courses, being expelled from school, and enduring a lawsuit. Since departments require different citation styles, degree candidates should ensure they use the proper citation format for each assignment.

American Psychological Association (APA) Style

APA format was established in 1929 to create a common format for writing. These guidelines allowed writers to more easily interpret one another’s findings. Professionals in fields including psychology, criminology, and business use APA style.

APA format requires specific headers, page numbers, a cover page, an abstract, divided sections, and a reference list. APA in-text citations specify the author’s last name, the year of publication, and the page number. Students may substitute these details for the work’s title, “n.d.” (“no date”), and a paragraph number or section title, respectively, if the primary information is not available.

The company decided that the new marketing policy was “their best idea in 20 years” (Simmons & Hatfield, 2016, p. 23).

Chicago Manual of Style (CMS)

In 1906, the Chicago University Press established this citation style, which professionals in fields including history and philosophy employ today. Students following Chicago style may use in-text citations but often use footnotes or endnotes instead. Chicago style also requires a specifically structured cover page, page numbers, and a bibliography.

Footnotes and endnotes resemble bibliography entries but have different punctuation. In a bibliography, students use periods to separate a book’s publisher, publication place, and publication year. In footnotes and endnotes, this information is in parentheses. Additionally, endnotes and footnotes should include page numbers.

The company decided that the new marketing policy was “their best idea in 20 years” (Simmons and Hatfield 2016, 23).

Modern Language Association (MLA) Format

Established in 1883, the Modern Language Association supplies guidelines that many English, literature, and communication departments adopt.

MLA format includes a works cited page at the end of the document and specific page headers and numbers in the upper right-hand corner of each page. Basic assignment information, such as the student’s name, the date, and the course title, appears in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. MLA does not require a cover page, which separates this format from other styles. MLA in-text citations include the author’s last name and the page number.

The company decided that the new marketing policy was “their best idea in 20 years” (Simmons and Hatfield 23).

Associated Press (AP) Style

This style, established in 1977, covers wording, organization, and source documentation. Journalists and news reporters often use this format.

AP style uses brief paragraphs and concise sentences to quicken the pace of the writing. The style requires writers to abbreviate certain words, use a person’s first name only on the initial mention, and eliminate titles. Writers should also replace vague words with more specific options.

Instead of using parenthetical citations, writers can reference the sources in dialogue format. This detail and the lack of reference list are AP style’s distinct elements.

The company decided that the new marketing policy was “their best idea in 20 years,” according to Simmons and Hatfield.

The Best Writing Style for Social Work Majors

Most types of writing in social work require learners and professionals to use APA format. This style is ideal for social work professionals, who often work with documents containing vital information. When dealing with these types of documents, clear details and concise wording are essential. The rigidness of APA style helps writers provide an organized overview of the document’s topic.

Common Writing Mistakes Students Make

Active vs. passive voice.

When writing in active voice, writers state the doer of the action before the sentence’s verb. An example of an active construction would be, “He wrote the book.” Passive voice places the object of the action prior to the verb: “The book was written by him.” Though the information remains the same, active voice states the message more concisely.

Passive voice is a style error, not a grammar issue, and can even be useful in certain situations. Writers may use passive voice when the noun or pronoun undergoing the action supplies the sentence’s emphasis, such as in the following sentence: “The U.S. was founded in 1776.” Because passive voice serves certain purposes and has no technical grammar flaws, using unnecessary passive constructions is a common error.

In most cases, students should choose active voice for concision and clarity. Consider the sentence, “The food was enjoyed.” The reader cannot tell who enjoyed the food, whereas an active sentence with an equal number of words answers this question: “Jane enjoyed the food.”

Punctuation

Punctuation marks include periods, commas, semicolons, dashes, and quotation marks, and confusing their purposes may lead to flawed sentence structures. For example, a semicolon joins two independent clauses, or phrases that can stand alone: “The dog barked; it was loud.” Using a comma in this situation constitutes a grammatical error called a comma splice: “The dog barked, it was loud.”

Punctuation missteps can also alter meaning. In the sentence, “Please stop, David,” the comma before the name directs David to stop. “Please stop David,” on the other hand, would instruct an unknown person to stop David from performing a task.

Writers may confuse colons and semicolons. Colons indicate a pause before an emphasized idea, such as in the sentence,”She knew where to drive: Montana.” The colon places importance on the destination, Montana. Semicolons, on the other hand, may separate nested lists, as in the following sentence.

“The attendants choose between hiking, swimming, and basketball; running, yoga, and tennis; or weightlifting, bicycling, and baseball.”

Writers should become familiar with punctuation rules to craft accurate and clear sentences.

Grammar refers to language rules for phrasing and wording, including concepts such as verb tense and noun-pronoun agreement. Students may struggle with grammatical details, since the language includes irregularities that alter guidelines. For example, constructing past tense verbs often involves adding “d” or “ed.” However, irregular verbs use different formats; the past tense of “eat” is “ate,” and the past tense of “go” is “went.”

Writers may also struggle with homophones, which sound similar but have distinct meanings. Commonly confused homophones are “there,” “their,” and “they’re,” which indicates a place, shows possession, and is a contraction for “they are,” respectively. To avoid grammatical mistakes, learners should thoroughly study the language’s structure.

Writing Resources for Social Work Students

• Paradigm Online Writing Assistant This website guides learners through various stages of the writing process, including topic selection, revisions, and idea organization. Additionally, students may find information on different types of writing, such as argumentative works and informal pieces.
• Write Content Solutions This website provides tips on grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure and assists students with researching and citing sources. Students can improve their writing skills using practice worksheets available through the website.
• Purdue Online Writing Lab The Purdue OWL offers information on the writing process and assists applicants to undergraduate and graduate programs. Students can explore MLA, APA, AP, and Chicago formats through the writing lab.
• Writer’s Digest This website provides articles on creating pieces in specific genres, for individuals with particular levels of writing expertise. Topics include homophones and time management. The website also provides information about writing conferences and publications.
• TutorMe This website assists students struggling with essay structure or citation format. Tutors may help learners polish their writing through grammar and punctuation checks and general proofreading.

Take the next step toward your future in social work.

Explore schools offering programs and courses tailored to your interests, and start your learning journey today.

Social Work Practice Reflective Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Social work is a professional area of practice which applies knowledge, skills, research techniques and social theory to improve the lives of individuals, communities and groups.

Social work is considered as a helping profession because it is majorly concerned with the plight of people who are in difficult situations with an aim of helping them overcome those difficulties.

Social workers work in diverse fields both in the private and public sectors such as in rehabilitation centers, child welfare institutions, humanitarian organizations, borstal institutions and homes of the elderly among others (Hare, 2004).

Social workers go through the formal education system with a special bias in the social, biological and behavioral sciences.

During training, they are exposed to field practicum in which they get an opportunity to work with various organizations where they merge theory with practice (Healy, 2008).

Just like other professions such as law or medicine, social work is guided by values, ethics and codes of conduct. Some of the values include competence, integrity, professionalism, social justice and value for human dignity.

Some of the core principles include confidentiality, controlled emotional involvement and client self determination among others. Some of the skills include self awareness, observation and critical thinking (Healy, 2007).

In this paper, I will explore social work practice by looking at oppression of women by men. I will also look into the knowledge, values and skills which are associated with culturally sensitive practice with diverse populations.

Eventually I will engage in a self-awareness exercise by self-administering a value-based assessment and cultural competency inventory; and finally engage in a thoughtful analysis and discussion of my strengths and weaknesses as they pertain to my cultural competency and how I plan to improve on the weaknesses.

Gender and oppression of women

Gender refers to the roles associated with a particular sex, either male or female. Males and females are born with physical and biological differences. Some physical differences include height, appearance, weight and physical strength.

Biological differences may include sexual reproduction organs and hormonal processes. These differences between males and females have been misused to oppress women in several aspects of life like in education, career, power, leadership, employment and management (Connel, 2009).

In the field of management for example, women have been oppressed by men through various ways. For example, the issues of masculinity and femininity have played a role in gendering the field of management (Crosby, Stockdale, & Ropp, 2007).

Many organizations are guided by the principles of masculinity which do not have respect for women. In these organizations, the authority of women managers is not respected as the authority of men managers.

This leads to a situation whereby the leadership or management by a woman may not be as effective as that of a man because the employees in those organizations do not recognize women as a source of authority and therefore, any guidelines, instructions or regulations given by a woman manager may not be taken seriously by the employees (Hartl, 2003).

In many organizations, women do light jobs such as secretarial work or marketing. The central roles are dominated by men who are responsible for planning, policy making and moving the organizations towards the realization of their mission and vision (Rivas, 2013).

Many professional women or the “working mothers” are faced with role multiplicity. At home, they are supposed to be good mothers and wives. They are supposed to ensure that the children are well fed, are healthy and clean (Gregory, 2003).

They are also supposed to take good care of their husbands. At the work place, they are supposed to produce good results either as managers or as normal employees. This makes them fall short of what is expected of them at the work place.

The men on the other hand have very few roles to play at home which leaves them with a lot of time to concentrate on their roles in the work place. Due to this, they are able to meet the set targets or expectations of the organizations (Mason, 2002).

For the women, reproduction is part of labor which they are not compensated for yet if they do not reproduce children, there would be no human resources to work in the organizations.

Women have also been oppressed through promotions in organizations. Some women have to engage in sex with male directors so as to get promoted to the positions of managers.

In the work place, women may be sexually or physically abused by their bosses due to the fact that they are perceived as being inferior and not able to resist the harassment or abuse (Coin & Budapest, 2010).

In some communities especially in the African continent, girls are denied the opportunity to gain education with the belief that women’s role in the society is to give birth to as many children as possible and also entertain the men with sex.

In Kenya for example, the enrollment rates for girls in some communities like the Turkana is less than 10%, meaning that in every 100 girls of school going age, only 10 go to school.

The others are betrothed to elderly men as wives after undergoing female genital cut. This has made women lack leadership, political and technological skills (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2011).

In the developing countries mostly in Africa and Asia, poverty is very rampant. The economies are poorly managed and therefore there are few job opportunities. Many people depend on rain fed agriculture which is not sustainable due to lack of rainfall.

In these countries, most men flee their homes to search for jobs and leave their wives at home with young children. These women are not able to take care of the welfare of the children and they strain a lot to ensure that the children are fed, clothed and schooled.

Some women are forced to engage in prostitution as a source of income for their families. The women in these countries suffer silently because there are very few women in positions of power and leadership who can advocate for their rights.

Women have also been oppressed through being denied the opportunity to inherit property. In the developing countries especially in Africa, women are not supposed to inherit any property from their parents.

Among the Turkana of Kenya for example, if a wife does not give birth to a male child, the husband marries another wife who will give birth to a male child. It is this male child who will inherit all the properties of the parents when they die or when they grow old.

The reasoning behind this is that women are not supposed to own any property but are instead supposed to be owned as property by men.

Since 1974, some improvement has been realized in increasing the number of women in management positions. In the UK for example, the percentage of women who held management positions in 1974 was only 2%. In 2008, the percentage rose to 34.5% (Meulders, 2010).

In other parts of the world, women are almost at par with men in various aspects such as leadership, education and technical know how.

This is not however to say that oppression of women does not exist but what it means is that many people are slowly realizing that women are just like men and what men can do, women can also do it provided that the playing field is leveled.

Effects of women oppression

One of the effects of women oppression in the work place is that it leads to role conflict which eventually leads to stress.

Role conflict refers to a form of disagreement among the roles held by one individual; that is, roles which correspond to various statuses of the same individual. Role conflict pulls an individual in different directions at the same time. It may be short lived or long lived.

A good example to illustrate role conflict is by a working mother. As explained earlier, the mother is expected to deliver good results at the work place and also be a good wife at home through taking care of the children, husband and doing other domestic chores.

At the family level, women are oppressed through various ways such as wife battering, marital rape, female genital cut, being denied opportunity to gain education and inherit property, men running away from home among others.

Domestic violence is the most common form of women oppression at the family level especially in the developing countries. Domestic violence has traumatizing effects on women. Such women need advocacy, empowerment and counseling for them to heal.

There is also need for social workers to agitate for policy change to enable women get education and inherit property. Social workers should also educate the communities to avoid cultural practices which have been used to oppress women.

Social work knowledge

Social workers working with culturally sensitive and diverse populations need to have social work knowledge in specific areas. One of the areas of social work knowledge is the knowledge of human behavior.

Having knowledge of human behavior helps the social workers understand the cultures, values and norms of specific communities.

This in turn helps the social workers package their intervention in such a manner that it does not conflict with the cultural practices, beliefs and norms of the particular communities.

Such knowledge also helps the social workers to understand the cultural prejudices in various communities. This understanding of the cultural prejudices enables the social workers to help the people differentiate the facts and fictions in regard to certain prejudices.

For example, in a community which believes that women are not allowed to go to school, the social workers can help the people understand that women in other parts of the world are allowed to attain eduction and challenge them to change that kind of perception.

Another social work knowledge which is useful for social workers working with culturally sensitive and diverse populations is the knowledge of social justice. Social workers need to have an understanding of social justice so as to help people in communities who suffer social injustice.

The social workers should also educate the people about the concept and show them the importance of embracing social justice.

Social workers working with culturally sensitive and diverse populations also need social work knowledge about the code of conduct for social workers and the ethics which govern the profession of social work.

This knowledge can help the social workers avoid unprofessional conduct which might conflict with certain values, norms and practices of particular groups.

Social workers working with such populations also need an understanding of human rights.

For example, they need to understand the various international laws, treaties and conventions which stipulate various human rights for different categories of people such as employees, children and women among others.

This understanding can help the social workers educate the populations for them to know when their rights are violated and what they are supposed to do. However, the social workers must do it in a professional manner so that they are not accused of incitement.

Social work values

One of the values for social workers working with culturally sensitive and diverse communities is the value of service to humanity.

This value is very important for the social workers because it enables them to serve the populations irrespective of their cultural, religious, economic and historical orientations.

Social workers without this value may have difficult time and in some cases, they may find it almost impossible to work with some cultural groups.

The value of service to humanity also enables the social workers to appreciate and empathize with the populations without necessarily sympathizing with them.

Another value which is important for social workers working with culturally sensitive and diverse populations is the value of human dignity. Social workers must understand that they have an obligation of respecting the clients and their cultural practices.

They have to put aside their personal biases against a certain group for them to help the clients. Some times social workers may consider some practices as weird.

However, with the value of human dignity, they are able to acknowledge the fact that clients have a right of self determination. When they understand this, they are able to assist the clients without any obstacles.

Social workers also need to have the value of competence and integrity. They need to apply their knowledge, skills and techniques in a professional manner when dealing with clients.

The essence of this is that competence and integrity enable the social workers to avoid any questionable behavior or practice. It also enhances the trust and confidence of the clients in the social workers.

This also enables the clients to open up to the social workers and give as much information as possible. With the information and cooperation from the clients, the social workers are able to solve the problems affecting the clients or refer those which they cannot handle.

This enhances the acceptance of the social workers by the communities (Morreau & Benson, 2012).

Social work skills

One important skill which social workers working with culturally sensitive and diverse populations should have is the skill of observation. Observation has to do with going beyond what people say and focusing on their body language and reaction to some social situations.

The skill also has to do with doing more listening than talking. This is because the social workers are supposed to treat the clients as the best teachers of their own problems.

If the social workers do more listening and observing than talking, they are able to gather as much information as possible which is very crucial for the interventions.

Another skill for dealing with culturally sensitive and diverse populations is the skill of critical thinking. This has to do with how social workers interpret the information they gather from clients either through interviewing, listening, observing or reading.

The social workers should apply critical thinking in order to interpret the information correctly. Lack of critical thinking may lead to wrong diagnosis, treatment and intervention. The social workers should therefore understand the information correctly without any personal biases

Another skill which is important when working with culturally sensitive and diverse populations is the skill of self awareness. Social workers need to understand how their background, perceptions, biases, motivations and prejudices may affect their relationship with clients.

If social workers have low levels of self awareness, chances of acting improperly are increased. It is therefore very important that the social workers put aside any subjective reasoning and replace it with objectivity for them to be able to effectively assist the clients.

The skill of self awareness also helps the social workers to identify transference in clients. Transference is a situation in which clients associate their fate with the social workers.

For example, a female client whose husband is violent may easily confuse a male social worker for her husband; she may do this through making statements such as ‘you men are really bad’.

In such a situation, the social worker is supposed to counter the transference by helping the client understand that his role is to help her out of the problem and not to take the blame of others (Tsui, 2010).

Social workers working with culturally sensitive and diverse populations also need to have excellent verbal communication skills. This is because communication is the only way that the social workers can use to understand the clients and for the clients to understand the social workers.

They must be able to understand how to communicate with different groups at different times. For example, the way a social worker is supposed to talk to an elderly refugee woman is not the same way he or she can talk to a young child who is a school drop out.

Verbal communication is an important asset for social workers working with culturally sensitive and diverse populations because it enables them to effectively advocate for the clients especially those who are oppressed or marginalized.

The skill can enable social workers to influence policy change or development for the improvement of people’s welfare. Apart from verbal communication, social workers need to have the skill of documentation.

Proper documentation enables social workers to keep track of every aspect of their interventions and this becomes an asset for them when they want to influence the development or change of a certain social policy.

Cultural competency inventory

My total score for the value based assessment and cultural competency inventory is 75. What this means is that I am headed in the right direction as far as embracing cultural diversity is concerned.

I would have wished to score 80 and above but this is not the case, probably because I am yet to cover some topics in therapeutic approaches and the relationship between myself as a therapist and clients.

My strengths and weaknesses in cultural competency

Based on my value based assessment and cultural competency, there are the areas which I scored poorly and others which I scored well. Those which I scored well are my areas of strength while those which I scored poorly are my areas of weakness.

One of my strengths in cultural competency is that I like meeting new people especially those who are different from me in terms of race, gender and culture. Being a Russian lady for instance, I like associating myself with African or Asian men.

I also love and embrace the culture of non whites such as the African Americans and Asian Americans. Another area of strength is the fact that I understand that I am independent and do appreciate the views of other people even if those views are in contrary to my own views.

I am able to control my personal biases when interpreting the actions of those who are different from me. I also appreciate various communication methods used by various groups of people.

Similarly, I am able to understand that other people may stereotype against me and therefore I am able to work against those stereotypes in order to interact with such people in a harmonious manner.

I am also good in sorting out my values to know which one to compromise in order to communicate with others without losing my integrity as a social worker. I am also able to seek clarifications from people in regards to what they are saying so as to get the correct meaning of what they say.

I like and accept others they way they are and avoid any remarks which may hurt certain groups in the community such as women, the people of color or those who are less fortunate in the society.

One of my main weaknesses is that I do more talking than listening. This is because sometimes I listen as I talk. This is not good because I may not be able to capture what the other person is saying. I may also not be in a position to observe the body language of others which is also part of listening.

Sometimes I also use my cultural jargon or slag when talking to people from other cultural backgrounds. This is a weakness because others may mistaken my language jargon as lack of respect for them.

I am also weak in judging people based on the fluency of their languages. This is a weakness because it amounts to biases which may lead to wrong interpretation of messages by those who are from other cultural backgrounds.

Sometimes I use some ethnic jokes when referring to some groups of people who are from different ethnic backgrounds but I get offended when others use the same language on me. This is a weakness because some ethnic jokes may hurt or provoke some people.

I plan to improve my areas of weakness by doing further reading on the area of human behavior. I also plan to gain more knowledge in interpersonal skills and how to gain and apply them in various cultural settings.

Also in my plan is to learn how to appreciate others and how to avoid judgmental attitudes towards particular populations. I also need to check on my listening skills by learning the art of doing more listening than talking.

This is because doing so would boost by ability to get as much information as possible from others and especially from clients.

My conceptual framework for practice

My future conceptual framework as a social worker is the strength based perspective of social work practice. This perspective has to do with using people’s strengths as a basis of therapy.

The perspective aims to capitalize on the strengths of clients (individuals and groups) to form a strong foundation for therapy.

It is based on the belief that despite the fact that people have problems, there is something which they are good at or they have some useful information, history or practices which can be used to overcome the problems which they are faced with.

It is also based on the belief that empowering people with information is useful for successful therapy (Rapp, 2007).

Implications of the perspective to practice

One of the implications of the strengths based perspective to practice is that it has reversed roles between the therapists and the clients. What this means is that the therapists must restrain their expertise and make the clients be the experts in solving their problems.

The therapists are supposed to play the role of empowering the people to become experts in addressing the problems which face them.

In other words, the therapists’ role is to create a sustainable intervention such that the clients are able to handle their problems even without the assistance of the therapists.

Social workers using this perspective must therefore refrain from using stigmatizing language, having negative perceptions and labeling when dealing with clients.

This is because such negative language or perceptions interferes with the ability of the social workers to effectively capacity build and empower the clients (Rapp, 2007).

When capacity building and empowering clients, social workers must be realistic; that is, they must ensure that the clients actually have those strengths which can be used as a starting point for a sustainable intervention.

They must also consider the magnitude of the problem affecting the clients and evaluate the clients’ ability to effectively handle the problem when empowered (Rapp, 2007).

Oppressed women usually suffer from stigma and feelings of inadequacy. They also undergo through emotional, psychological and social distress due to oppression.

As a social worker working with oppressed women, I will apply the strengths based perspective to empower such women with information so as to resist oppression by men. For instance, I will educate them about their rights to education, employment and fair treatment.

I will also highlight their areas of strength when dealing with men. For example, the fact that women are very good in negotiations, have patience and do not easily lose their temper can be used by a woman who is a victim of domestic violence to talk to the husband to avoid such violence.

I will also empower the oppressed women with information, skills and tactics of resisting male oppression both at the family setting and at the work place.

For example, I will inform them of the relevant agencies where they can report any form of oppression without the fear of victimization. Through this perspective, I will go a long way in fighting the vice of women oppression.

Connel, R. (2009). Gender.( 2 nd ed).Washington DC: Polity Press.

Coin & Budapest.(2010). COIN 2009 international workshops: revised selected papers. Volume 5 of Coordination, organizations, institutions, and norms in agent systems . Secaucus, NJ: Springer.

Crosby, F.J, Stockdale, M.S. & Ropp, S.A. (2007 ). Sex Discrimination in the Workplace: Multidisciplinary Perspectives . Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Gregory, R.F. (2003). Women and workplace discrimination: overcoming barriers to gender equality. New York: Rutgers University Press.

Hare, I. (2004). Defining Social Work for the 21st Century: The International Federation of Social Workers’ Revised Definition of Social Work. International Social Work , 47: 407-424.

Hartl, K. (2003). Expatriate women managers: gender, culture, and career. Volume 12 of Schriftenreihe Organisation & Personal . 10117 Berlin: Rainer Hampp Verlag.

Healy, L.M. (2007). Uni-versalism and cultural relativism in social work ethics. International Social Work , 50: 11-26.

Healy, L.M. (2008). Exploring the history of social work as a human rights profession. International Social Work ,51: 735-748.

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Population and Housing Census. Web.

Mason,L. (2002). The Working Mother’s Guide to Life: Strategies, Secrets, and Solutions. New York: Three Rivers Press.

Meulders, D. (2010). Meta-Analysis of Gender and Science Research . Web.

Morreau, W., & Benson, K. (2012). Human trafficking: Improving victim identification and service provision. International Social Work, 55: 488-503.

Rapp, R.C. (2007). The Strengths Perspective: Proving “My Strengths” and “It Works” Soc Work , 52(2): 185–186.

Rivas, F.S. (2013). Burnout, workplace support, job satisfaction and life satisfaction among social workers in Spain: A structural equation model International Social Work, 56: 228-246.

Tsui , M. (2010). From resilience to resistance: A reconstruction of the strengths perspective in social work practice. International Social Work , 53: 233-245.

• A Major Challenge to Counseling the Culturally Diverse
• Veterans’ Reintegration and Culturally Sensitive Nursing
• Culturally Sensitive Care for Hawaiians
• Affirmative Psychotherapy for American Jews
• Marriage as Depicted in Soloveitchik's Typology of Human Nature
• Anti-Smoking Campaign in Canada
• Social Analysis of Magda
• Propaganda Forms and Techniques
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, July 8). Social Work Practice. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-work-practice/

"Social Work Practice." IvyPanda , 8 July 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/social-work-practice/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Social Work Practice'. 8 July.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Social Work Practice." July 8, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-work-practice/.

1. IvyPanda . "Social Work Practice." July 8, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-work-practice/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Social Work Practice." July 8, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-work-practice/.

• Employer Profiles
• Workforce Insights
• Careers Zone
• Community Care Inform Adults
• Community Care Inform Children
• Mental Capacity Masterclass
• Community Care Live
• E-newsletters
• Choose Social Work
• Social work leaders
• Write for Community Care
• The Social Work Community
• Email sign up

Writing a social work essay: four steps to success

Writing a social work essay: four steps to success by liz davies, senior lecturer, children and families social work, london metropolitan university..

by Liz Davies, senior lecturer, children and families social work, London Metropolitan University .   Make your argument clear from the beginning Students often launch straight into the essay topic without introducing their approach to the essay. It is really important for the marker to understand the student’s rationale in responding to the essay title and to be guided as to how the student intends to address the question. Students often begin an essay with long definitions or historical information without relating these to the essay title. Equally important is a conclusion which relates back to the aims set out in the introduction and demonstrates a progression in thinking achieved through the process of writing the essay. Identify references clearly The marker must be able to identify exactly the source of a reference. Students often include a website without stating the exact webpage. A marker cannot locate a reference on complex websites such as the Department for Education without the detail of the exact page being provided. Similarly, quotations must include the page number so that the marker can find the exact source material. This is particularly important because of the extent of plagiarism and the need for academics to check exactly where the student has gained the information from. Also, students probably do not realise that as lecturers we often like to check a reference for our own interest to develop our knowledge of the subject. Use professional, not colloquial, language Students often use language which is colloquial and as they would speak rather than more professional language – for example, “I got a case of…” rather than “I was allocated the case of…”. Or “I did an interview” rather than “I conducted an interview”. It is important to recognise the distinction between how to communicate verbally and how to write a coherent and professional essay. Provide evidence that you understand social work principles Students often list principles of social work practice without evidencing their understanding of them. For example, they state that social workers must be anti-oppressive and non-judgemental but often give no evidence that they understand the concept or know how to apply it in practice. Lists of principles and standards should be avoided. The marker needs to know that the student has made sense of these concepts and can demonstrate their application. Do you have questions about essays? Get advice from fellow students on CareSpace . Keep up to date with the latest developments in social care Sign up to our daily and weekly emails .

More from Community Care

Related articles:, comments are closed., latest stories.

The networking platform for social workers

The latest job opportunities within the social work sector

The largest free to attend event for the social work sector

The online learning and practice resource for social workers

Connect with us

• Social work leadership

More information

• Accessibility
• Advertise with us
• Terms & conditions

Social Work Haven

Social Worker Personal Statement | A Winning Example

Sharing is caring.

In the realm of social work, where individuals dedicate their lives to making a real difference in people’s lives, the journey often begins with personal experiences that ignite a passion for change.

As a prospective social work student, I recognised that my own life experiences, both personal and professional, could pave the way for a career devoted to addressing social problems, advocating for vulnerable people, and tackling issues of social injustice.

This example personal statement will inspire you to write your own unique social work, personal statement to support your application to the University of your choice.

Social Worker Personal Statement 

My inspiration to study to become a social worker stemmed from my desire to make a positive impact in people’s lives.

I have always been passionate about the wellbeing of people I come into contact with.

Social work is a course I believe would enable me actualise this passion.

Within my current role as a care assistant, I have gained vast experience in working with vulnerable people where I have supported them with their day-to-day activities and ensured that their wellbeing is paramount in the support given.

I support the service users with personal care, dressing, preparing their meals, shopping, medication management and accessing the community. I feel that within this role; I have gained a lot of skills and knowledge which can be applied in social work practice.

My experience will guide me in understanding the different interventions used by social workers and enhance my knowledge of social work theories and methods.

I have a fair understanding around the Children Act 1989/2004, Human Rights Act and the Care Act 2014.

I have worked closely with social workers in the past. This experience has given me a great insight into the role of social work.  I now have a good understanding around the role of the social worker, and how they can affect the lives of individuals positively in the society. 

As a care assistant, I have gained experience working and supporting adults with dementia and have experienced its adverse effects on individuals, especially their families.

If given the opportunity to enrol on the social work course, I will really want to expand my knowledge around the challenges that dementia patients face daily and how social work practice can enhance their lives.

In my role as a care assistant, I was able to encourage a woman who had almost given up on the husband. She found it difficult to cope with the memory loss and confusion experienced by her husband, his constant referral of her as his mum instead of the wife challenged her emotionally. 

As a care professional, I recognised the need for further support for the wife and found charities that could help her come to terms with the changes her husband was experiencing.

Support groups such as “dementia friends” encouraged her and gave her the support she needed to face the changes.

This experience really encouraged me to research more into dementia.

The knowledge gained on the research and the training I had from my work as a care assistant gave me a better understanding of the disease and how to support people effectively.

With my role as a care assistant, I have become open-minded, patient, and non-judgemental when working with people. I believe these are essential skills and traits for social workers.

Effective communication skills and teamwork are some skills I have learned which would be very useful in my pursuit to become a social worker.

To be a good carer, you must always have the wellbeing of clients at the heart of decision-making process. This is a quality I have and exhibited in my working practice, and I believe these are transferable skills I could bring to social work.

In preparation towards enrolment onto social work course, I have attended university open days to enable me to get some firsthand information about the course.

As a person who enjoys gaining more knowledge, I have read David Howe’s Book “A Brief Introduction to Social Work Theory ” to enhance my understanding around the social work course I wish to pursue.

I feel my background, skills and ambition will allow me to be a valuable asset to your social work training programme.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

PIN IT FOR LATER

Socialworkhaven.com Useful Resources

• Social Work To-Do List

Social Work To – Do List: What To Include: We sometimes struggle with managing our daily tasks as social workers. This is not because we do not have the skills. The work load, crisis and challenges we face can be overwhelming. That is why a social work to-do list may help us manage better.

• Recommended Books

Best Social Work Books Every Student Must Read is a great article full of highly recommended and engaging books. Helping student social workers to equip themselves with knowledge and skills. It is a great way to empower yourself and encourage you to read more.

• Social Work Registration

Social Work Registration: Get it done – is a useful article that walks you through the social work registration process.

• Social Work Burnout

51 Effective Ways to Fight Social Work Burnout helps practitioners explore 51 effective ways to fight Social Work Burnout. Social work burnout can affect the way we execute our role. It can cause social work stress, and a stressed social worker cannot perform their role effectively.

• Active Listening in Social Work

Why You Should Actively Listen as a Social Worker raises awareness of active listening in social work. Social work active listening involves the listener paying close attention to the speaker, making sure not to interrupt, and reflecting on what they have heard. This helps the speaker feel heard and validated, and it can also help them clarify their thoughts and feelings.

• Social Work Humour

Social Work Humour for the End of a Long Day This article explains when social work humour is important. Essential social work skills include empathy, authenticity, resilience and respect. These skills help us cope with situations and meet the needs of service users or clients. However, the best coping mechanism in social work is definitely humour.

• Social Work CV Writing

Social Work CV Writing This article is a must read – whether you are a student, newly qualified, or an experienced social worker, and looking for a new company to work for, you will find these 13 fundamental tips useful if you want to create the perfect Social Work CV/resume that will make you outshine others and get noticed.

• Social Work Values & Respect in Social Work

Social Work Values & Respect in Social Work Social work values include respect, dignity and worth of individuals, pursuit of social justice, integrity and competence. This article explores what ‘respect’ means in social work. Social work values are the beliefs and principles of social workers, which guide their practice and help them to determine the right course of action when making decisions.

• Generalist Intervention Model: Complete Guide

Generalist Intervention Model: Complete Guide The Generalist Intervention Model (GIM) is an approach to working with individuals, families, and communities that is based on a recognition of the interconnections of human systems. It emphasises building partnerships with clients and utilising their strengths to address problems and create solutions.

The model uses an ecological perspective to identify multiple levels of influence in client’s lives, including but not limited to: family, peers, school/work, community, and policy.

• Social Work Quotes

Social Work Quotes Social work quotes are an important part of understanding the complexities of social work. They can provide insights into how we think about and approach specific problems or situations. Quotes from famous authors, educational institutions , theorists, and practitioners have been used for centuries to help articulate ideas, promote critical thinking, help with social work interventions and offer inspiration.

Professionalism in Social Work

The Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) sets capability statements of what is to be expected for all stages of a social worker’s career, from entry into training to the most advanced level of a social work practitioner. Professionalism is a key capability under the PCF and it requires upcoming, newly qualified and existing social workers to identify and behave as professional social workers committed to professional development.

45 Motivational Quotes You Need After a Bad Day

Motivational quotes for social workers highlight the need for social workers to believe in themselves, help one person at a time, and pursue their own goals and aspirations.

Most Empowering Mental Health Quotes

Social work involves working with people who may feel low because of sudden changes in their lives. In addition, the social work role has been associated with burnout, depression, job related stress, poor work life balance resulting in a high turnover in the field.

Inspirational Mental Health Quotes

We all have times when we feel low and scared. But sometimes these feelings can subside when we read some positive quotes or inspirational mental health quotes.

• Mental Health Hashtags

Mental Health Hashtags You may be a blogger, or perhaps you provide content in one of these areas will find this article useful. As a mental health blogger, I have realised that using hashtags can encourage social media users to explore content that catches their eye.

• Good Morning Saturday Quotes

Good Morning Saturday Quotes – As a social worker, the week is usually very busy and full on. I look forward to my weekend, especially Saturdays, to help me unwind and catch up with some self care! I kick off the weekend with some Saturday good morning inspirational quotes to inspire, motivate me and kick-start my day in the right direction.

• Anger management for autistic children

Anger management for autistic children – Social work aims to enhance the mental and emotional health of individuals and families by offering psychological services.

Learning basic anger management strategies for children with autism can be useful for both professionals and families to help address and manage instances of anger outbursts.

• SMART Goals and Social Work

SMART Goals and Social Work How many times have you made a list of all the things you wanted to achieve before the year ended, and by the end of the year, you went back to read that list and laughed out loud because you achieved one goal out of the ten goals you wrote?

• Sample Letter of Recommendation for Social Worker

Sample Letter of Recommendation for Social Worker Why do you need a sample letter of recommendation for a social worker?. Well, writing a letter of recommendation can be a powerful tool in helping social workers advance in their careers, prepare for their interviews, secure job opportunities, or pursue educational endeavors.

• Benefits of Being of Social Worker

Benefits of Being a Social Worker Social work is a profession dedicated to improving the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. It is a field that requires social work practice skills and offers a unique opportunity to make a real and lasting impact on people’s lives. While the challenges can be significant, the benefits of being a social worker far outweigh them.

• Psychologist Vs Social Worker

Psychologist vs Social Worker Practitioners who understand both disciplines are better prepared to create a comprehensive plan of care for their clients. Additionally , psychology and social work can be used together to address both the psycho-social aspect of a person’s life.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Writing Guide for Social Workers

Social workers serve as a link between clients and community resources, providing vital human services that assist underserved populations. Writing is a key part of the job; social workers frequently write documents such as assessment reports, case notes, letters, emails, and support plans. Often, social workers are responsible for procuring and providing services for clients, and their writing skills must be strong to enable the best support possible. The social work field has a reputation for bureaucratic red tape and paperwork, but it’s up to skilled social workers to navigate these systems and secure the most useful resources and social services for their clients.

This guide examines the ins and outs of professional writing for social work practice, exploring the main types of writing you’ll likely encounter while studying social work in college. Along with a breakdown of common types of writing, you’ll also find information on style and citation formats relevant to academic writing. Additionally, this guide includes common writing mistakes to avoid, resources to help you improve your general writing skills, and writing resources specifically for social workers.

Types of Writing Social Workers Will Do in School

Personal statements.

The personal statement is a written representation of your interests and abilities, giving colleges a sense of who you are and why you’re interested in social work. Specific topic requirements vary between schools, but the statement of purpose typically calls for you to describe your personal and professional experiences and relate them to the goals of a specific social work program. Schools also use the statement as a social work writing sample, gauging your career motives as well as your creativity, self-awareness, critical thinking skills, and overall writing ability. Common prompts may include describing your background, the development of your interest in social work, your experience with diversity, or your work experience in the field.

A strong personal statement answers all required prompts in a cohesive narrative. The essay should explain your experiences and how they relate to your aspirations while avoiding clichés and overly generalized statements. Almost everyone who goes into social work wants to help people; distinguish yourself from other applicants by explaining precisely why and how you want to help, and what makes this desire unique. Some schools don’t require the statement of purpose, but you should always complete one if you have the option, as it gives the admissions committee a clearer sense of who you are as a student and a social worker.

In many social work programs, exams take the form of essays completed during class. Professors rarely announce the essay topics in advance, but you can prepare by examining the syllabus and determining major course ideas and themes. You may also be able to anticipate potential essay topics by examining previous course materials and looking for patterns in the type of questions the professor assigns. A study group can also help you prepare for essay exams by reviewing the course curriculum and devising possible essay topics with other students.

Before you begin writing an essay, you should first determine exactly what the prompt asks, which ensures that you’re fully prepared to answer the question. Next, compose an outline with a thesis and at least three main points that support your idea. Ideally, you should spend 10-20% of your allotted time devising your main ideas and drawing up an outline. Essay exams must follow the same logical progression of ideas that characterizes conventional expository writing, so be sure to organize your supporting paragraphs properly. While writing the essay should occupy most of your exam time, try to give yourself a few minutes at the end of the exam to proofread your work and make minor revisions.

Research Papers

Of all social work writing, the research paper ranks among the most common. You’ll likely complete several extensive research papers throughout the course of your studies, requiring you to examine and synthesize many information sources on a specific topic. While a research paper is similar to an essay, several key factors distinguish the two forms: an essay typically expresses your own perspective, while a research paper uses the work of others to draw new conclusions on a topic. Research papers are typically longer than essays and require a greater depth of knowledge on a topic. Potential topics for social work research papers vary as much as the field itself and may cover subjects like substance abuse, child and family services, community organizing, or education.

Most research papers either make an argument on a topic or explore overall perspectives on a topic, and some do both. Like other forms of writing, a research paper needs a thesis and supporting information, though the thesis often changes as further research occurs. Since research papers call for substantial information gathering and presentation, outlining and organization are particularly important, and a topic must be complex enough to sustain significant research.

How Do You Write an Essay?

Regardless of your area of study, you’ll likely complete several types of writing throughout the course of your degree. Different essay styles call for different approaches, and the following section outlines the most common essay forms you’re likely to encounter, along with tips for writing them.

• Narrative : A narrative essay allows you to tell a personal story, typically with more freedom than most forms of writing. However, the narrative essay must fulfill certain requirements, such as telling a cohesive, interesting story with a beginning, middle, and end. A narrative essay must also serve a purpose; readers need to understand why you’re telling your story and come away with a message or lesson.
• Expository : The expository essay requires you to explore a topic and make a compelling argument based on your research. An expository essay begins with a clear thesis statement, moves into body paragraphs that support your argument, and ends with a conclusion that sums up your main ideas. Expository writing encompasses many styles, including comparative writing and cause-and-effect writing.
• Persuasive : Similar to the expository essay, the persuasive essay requires you to research a topic and make an argument based on your assessment. However, persuasive essays differ in that they require more extensive research and often entail more writing. Expository essays may occur as in-class assignments or as parts of exams, while persuasive essays often function as final assignments with more time to complete. A persuasive essay still requires a strong, evidence-based thesis and extensive supporting details in its body paragraphs.
• Comparative : A comparative essay examines the similarities and differences between two or more items, which could be anything from political systems to literary texts. After analyzing these items, you must develop a thesis that makes an argument about their similarities or differences. Some comparative essays focus more on similarities to develop a thesis, while others focus on differences. Like other essay forms, the comparative essay needs well-organized points that support a thesis.
• Cause and Effect : This essay type examines a certain event or pattern and attempts to analyze the factors that caused it, making an argument about why the event occurred in such a way. For example, an essay on the Great Depression and the stock market crash of 1929 might examine the various economic and social factors that led to the depression, making an argument about how these factors functioned together to create the situation.

Featured Online Programs

Citations guide for social work students.

Citation plays an important role in all forms of academic writing, as it ensures that writers properly attribute their research sources and avoid plagiarism. Failure to cite your sources properly can cause major problems in your academic career, and even unintentional plagiarism can result in heavy penalties in the academic world, particularly at higher levels of study. This section outlines the major citation styles used for academic writing, highlighting key differences and presenting examples of each style’s citation format.

American Psychological Association Style

APA style is the citation method of choice in most social science courses, and this format generally serves as the default social work writing style. Since research in the social sciences constantly changes, APA emphasizes the dates of sources to help readers determine their recency and relevance. For in-text citations, APA style uses the author’s name, the date of publication, and the page number. Book citations used in a reference list typically include the author’s name, year of publication, book title, city of publication, and the publisher.

“If the manner of a man’s dying seems arbitrary, his morality is inescapable” (Anderson, 1983, p. 10).

Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities. New York, New York: Verso.

Chicago Manual of Style

The Chicago style ranks among the most comprehensive and complex of formatting choices, and it often serves the needs of high-level academic writing, particularly in the field of history. Unlike most other styles, Chicago calls for the use of either footnotes or endnotes for in-text citations. Numbered in-text citations correspond to notes that indicate the author’s name, book title, publisher information, publication date, and page number. Chicago style formatting also typically includes a formal bibliography at the end of the text.

“If the manner of a man’s dying seems arbitrary, his morality is inescapable.”[1] [1] Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities (New York: Verso, 1983), 10.

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. New York: Verso, 1983.

Modern Language Association Format

MLA formatting most commonly occurs in humanities and liberal arts writing, such as English and philosophy. This format emphasizes authorship, with in-text citations that indicate the author’s name and page number at the end of each quotation. For reference lists, MLA format calls for writers to include the author’s name, the title of the work, the publisher, and the year of publication.

“If the manner of a man’s dying seems arbitrary, his morality is inescapable” (Anderson 10).

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. Verso, 1983.

Associated Press Style

AP style isn’t commonly used for academic writing, but you may find yourself using this style if you’re writing a more journalistic piece. Created for newspapers and other forms of mass media, the AP style emphasizes consistency, clarity, accuracy, and brevity. Since it’s not academic, there aren’t concrete rules for citing particular types of texts, but generally the style calls for the citation of a source directly before or after a quote, often using the words “said” or “stated.”

“If the manner of a man’s dying seems arbitrary, his morality is inescapable,” said Anderson.

The Best Writing Style for Social Work Majors

Social work combines many academic disciplines, but typically, social work courses call for assignments to be formatted in APA style, though this may vary between schools, programs, and individual professors. Your faculty will likely indicate which format they prefer in the course syllabus, but it never hurts to ask. Always be sure to follow formatting instructions exactly, as professors may penalize you for disregarding specific formatting requests.

Common Writing Mistakes Students Make

Active vs. passive voice.

One of the most common mistakes among developing writers is the use of passive voice, which makes sentences wordier, less immediate, and less clear. In the active voice, the sentence’s subject performs the action. Using passive voice, the subject receives the action. Passive construction occurs everywhere in writing, but there are easy strategies to help you locate it and convert your sentences to active voice.

Certain keywords and phrases, such as “by,” “was,” and “it was” often indicate the use of the passive voice. When revising your writing, look for these words and determine if they form part of a passive sentence. For example, if you notice the word “by” connected to the subject of the sentence, see if you can alter the construction so the subject occurs closer to the beginning of the sentence.

Punctuation

Improper comma usage often leads to confusion in writing. One of the most common errors is the comma splice, which occurs when a writer connects two independent clauses using only a comma. For example: “I don’t like accounting class, it’s too difficult.” Both “I don’t like accounting class” and “it’s too difficult” are independent clauses, meaning they can stand as separate sentences. To link these clauses correctly, a comma isn’t enough; you can often correct a comma splice by either creating two separate sentences, using a semicolon to link the two clauses together, or using a coordinating conjunction like “because.”

Incorrect semicolon and colon usage also causes problems for many writers. While they function similarly, these two punctuation marks serve different purposes. A semicolon links two separate, but related, thoughts: “I’m glad I’m going to Europe; I really need a vacation.” A colon typically sets off a list or an example: “I always bring three things on vacation: my camera, my suitcase, and my sunglasses.”

Grammar mistakes hinder writers of all skill levels. In an abstract sense, grammar forms the entire structure of a language and its usage, but in practice, many simple rules exist to help you keep track of and avoid common mistakes. For example, many writers struggle with the use of there, their, and they’re, but the differences in the words are quite pronounced. There indicates a location. Their is the possessive form of they. Finally, they’re is a contraction of “they” and “are.”

Another common grammatical mistake hinges on the confusion between its and it’s. The word its is a possessive that indicates ownership. On the other hand, it’s is a contraction of “it” and “is.”

Writing Resources for Social Work Students

• Purdue OWL : Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab offers support for all types of writing, with a wealth of instructional material that covers general writing strategies and the specific facets of academic writing.
• WiSP : Writing in Social Work Practice seeks to examine the role of writing in the field of social work, with the goal of improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness in social work writing practices.
• Foundation Center : Grant writing plays a major role in social work, and the Foundation Center offers resources to connect social workers with philanthropic organizations and improve grant writing skills.
• Grammar Girl : Casual and conversational, Grammar Girl offers general writing tips for all types of writers. Most articles highlight common writing mistakes and offer strategies for recognizing and fixing them.
• Council on Foundations : Another major resource for grant writers, the Council on Foundations offers online learning and mentorship services that help social workers develop their grant writing and public policy knowledge.

Take the next step toward your future with online learning.

Discover schools with the programs and courses you’re interested in, and start learning today.

• Newsletters
• Account Activating this button will toggle the display of additional content Account Sign out

The Donald Trump I Saw on The Apprentice

For 20 years, i couldn’t say what i watched the former president do on the set of the show that changed everything. now i can..

On Jan. 8, 2004, just more than 20 years ago, the first episode of The Apprentice aired. It was called “Meet the Billionaire,” and 18 million people watched. The episodes that followed climbed to roughly 20 million each week. A staggering 28 million viewers tuned in to watch the first season finale. The series won an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, and the Television Critics Association called it one of the best TV shows of the year, alongside The Sopranos and Arrested Development . The series—alongside its bawdy sibling, The Celebrity Apprentice —appeared on NBC in coveted prime-time slots for more than a decade.

The Apprentice was an instant success in another way too. It elevated Donald J. Trump from sleazy New York tabloid hustler to respectable household name. In the show, he appeared to demonstrate impeccable business instincts and unparalleled wealth, even though his businesses had barely survived multiple bankruptcies and faced yet another when he was cast. By carefully misleading viewers about Trump—his wealth, his stature, his character, and his intent—the competition reality show set about an American fraud that would balloon beyond its creators’ wildest imaginations.

I should know. I was one of four producers involved in the first two seasons. During that time, I signed an expansive nondisclosure agreement that promised a fine of $5 million and even jail time if I were to ever divulge what actually happened. It expired this year.

No one involved in The Apprentice —from the production company or the network, to the cast and crew—was involved in a con with malicious intent. It was a TV show , and it was made for entertainment . I still believe that. But we played fast and loose with the facts, particularly regarding Trump, and if you were one of the 28 million who tuned in, chances are you were conned.

As Trump answers for another of his alleged deception schemes in New York and gears up to try to persuade Americans to elect him again, in part thanks to the myth we created, I can finally tell you what making Trump into what he is today looked like from my side. Most days were revealing. Some still haunt me, two decades later.

Nearly everything I ever learned about deception I learned from my friend Apollo Robbins. He’s been called a professional pickpocket, but he’s actually a “perceptions expert.” Apollo has spent his life studying the psychology of how we distort other people’s perceptions of reality and has done so by picking pockets onstage for the entertainment of others. He is a master of deception, a skill that made him, back in the day, the so-called best-kept secret in Las Vegas. After “fanning” his marks with casual, unobtrusive touch designed to make them feel safe or at ease, Apollo determines where the items reside—the wallet inside a breast pocket, the Rolex fastened to a wrist—and he removes these items without detection. He’ll even tell you what he intends to steal before he does it. He does this not to hurt people or bewilder them with a puzzle but to challenge their maps of reality. The results are marvelous. A lot of magic is designed to appeal to people visually, but what he’s trying to affect is your mind, your moods, your perceptions.

As a producer working in unscripted, or “reality,” television, I have the same goal. Like Apollo, I want to entertain, make people joyful, maybe even challenge their ways of thinking. But because I often lack the cinematic power of a movie, with its visual pyrotechnics or rehearsed dialogue, I rely on shaping the perceptions of viewers, manipulating their maps of reality toward something I want them to think or feel.

The presumption is that reality TV is scripted. What actually happens is the illusion of reality by staging situations against an authentic backdrop. The more authentic it is to, say, have a 40-foot wave bearing down on a crab boat in the Bering Sea for Deadliest Catch , the more we can trick you into thinking a malevolent Russian trawler is out there messing with the crabber’s bait. There is a trick to it, and when it works, you feel as if you’re watching a scripted show. Although very few programs are out-and-out fake, there is deception at play in every single reality program. The producers and editors are ostensibly con artists, distracting you with grand notions while we steal from you your precious time.

But the real con that drove The Apprentice is far older than television. The “pig in the poke” comes from an idiom dating to 1555: “I’ll never buy a pig in a poke / There’s many a foul pig in a fair cloak.” It refers to the time-honored scam of selling a suckling pig at market but handing over a bag (the poke) to the purchaser, who never looks inside it. Eventually, he discovers he’s purchased something quite different.

Our show became a 21 st -century version. It’s a long con played out over a decade of watching Trump dominate prime time by shouting orders, appearing to lead, and confidently firing some of the most capable people on television, all before awarding one eligible person a job. Audiences responded to Trump’s arrogance, his perceived abilities and prescience, but mostly his confidence . The centerpiece to any confidence game is precisely that— confidence .

As I walk into my interview for The Apprentice , I inadvertently learn how important it is for every one of us involved to demonstrate confidence above all else.

I sit down with Jay Bienstock, the showrunner, who has one last producer position to fill and needs somebody capable and hardworking. His office is sparse, and the desk is strategically placed directly across from the couch, with a noticeable angle downward from his desk to whomever is seated across from him. (I’m recalling all of the quoted conversations here to the best of my ability; they are not verbatim.)

He is smiling and even laughing throughout the interview, but from the steep angle at which he gazes down on me, there is no mistaking who is in charge. He seems to like what he hears and offers to follow up with my agent. “But I have to check your references before I can hire you,” he says. “You’d be crazy not to,” I reply. He laughs, claps his hands together, and grins. “ THAT’S what I’m talking about,” he says. “That’s the confidence this show needs!”

I sit there, several inches below eyeline, and ponder what just happened. What, I wonder, is so “confident” about suggesting he’d be crazy to not check my references? Then it dawns on me. He thinks I meant “You’d be crazy not to hire me.” The signal to noise begins.

Listen to Bill Pruitt discuss this story on What Next , Slate’s daily news podcast:

Before I leave, I have to ask: Why Trump? Bienstock discovers that we both lived in New York for a time. Knowing what we know about Trump, selling the idea that intelligent people would compete to land a job working for him will be a challenge.

“The idea is to have a new and different billionaire every season—just like there’s a new and different island on Survivor . We reached out to Spielberg, Katzenberg, Geffen, among others,” he says. “Trump is the only one who agreed to sign on.” (Bienstock didn’t respond to a request for comment.)

“We’ll make it work,” Bienstock says confidently. I rise, shake his hand, and leave, and head over to Dutton’s bookstore to pick up a used copy of Trump’s The Art of the Deal . It is filled with takeaways about branding and strategizing but conveniently omits Trump bluffing his way through meetings with contractors, stiffing them when it is convenient to do so, and betraying his most trusted colleagues to get what he wants. (The book’s ghostwriter, Tony Schwartz, has since tried to get the bestseller recategorized in the Library of Congress as a work of fiction.)

Another show of confidence is the budget the series commands. It’s not as expensive as a scripted series, but for a reality show, the price is high. Never have I worked on a series with this level of funding, but the cost is justified. This needs to feel real.

New York City is the perfect—though expensive—backdrop. Trump’s actual offices are, however, less than telegenic. They are cramped, and a lot of the wood furniture is chipped or peeling. None of it is suitable to appear on camera. We need what grifters call the Big Store: a fake but authentic-looking establishment in which the con goes down. Trump Tower, at the time, is mostly condos and some offices situated in the high-rise. The mezzanine comprises vacant and overpriced retail space, all of it unfinished. Trump offers the space to the production—at a premium, naturally—and it is inside this location that we create our own “reception area” with doors leading to a fake, dimly lit, and appropriately ominous-feeling “boardroom.”

Next door, there’s the “suite” where the contestants will live, which is made to look like a trendy loft-style apartment they all share. The lodgings are made up of partitions surrounding tiny, hard bunks upon which the candidates sleep; the illusion comes from elegantly appointed common areas, where most of the interplay will go down.

During a tour of the set, I have my first encounter with Trump. I leave the suite and enter the gear room, the only vacant retail space that will remain unfinished. It is filled with equipment and crew members milling about. In walks a trio of men. In the middle is Trump, in a navy blue suit and scarlet tie. He’s surprisingly tall, and not just because of the hair. He is flanked by two even taller men. Bienstock makes introductions, and I watch as Trump shakes hands with everyone. I’d been told he would never do this, something about fearing unwanted germs. When it is my turn, I decide on the convivial two-hander and place my right hand into his and my left onto his wrist as we shake. His eye contact is limited but thorough. He is sizing me up. He looks like a wolf about to rip my throat out before turning away, offering me my first glimpse at the superstructure—his hairstyle—buttressed atop his head with what must be gallons of Aqua Net.

I watch as Trump saunters around the room, snatches up a fistful of M&Ms from the craft service table set aside for the crew, and shoves them into his mouth. Then he is gone, ushered away toward some important meeting he must attend, as if to say, to one and all present, This is unimportant .

Eventually, it’s time to roll cameras. When Trump is called to perform, we are filming the first scene of the first episode on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and he is about to deliver the first task. Filming inside this beacon of capitalism and wealth gives the series the legitimacy it needs. A con artist would call staging the scam inside a legitimate institution “playing a man against the wall.”

From the balcony overlooking the famed trading room floor, Trump will set up the entire premise of the show on camera and engage in a little banter with the other participants. This includes introducing his advisers, George Ross, an older, grouchy attorney devoted to Trump’s legal affairs, and Carolyn Kepcher, a perpetual skeptic who runs his hospitality units and one of his golf clubs. (They might be called “the shills,” others in on the con who will act as Trump’s eyes and ears.)

The contestants are there, lined up and zeroed in on by camera operators getting reaction shots to whatever it is Trump says. Although they mostly just stand and wait, they patiently go along with the proceedings. They are not in on the con. They act as “the little blind mice,” who, in fraudster terms, convey a sense of authenticity by reacting to the goings-on, like lab rats caught in a maze.

Nothing is scripted—except for what Trump needs to say. Cue cards are present, but mostly it is Bienstock running up, coaching Trump, tossing out suggestions from the script he has written for the man. The feeling is that while doing a fair job of repeating the necessary words verbatim, Trump also appears to be inadvertently shouting at the contestants. His hands shuttle back and forth as if holding an invisible accordion, a gesture now famous in memes .

Each episode is filmed over three days. For the first episode, the two teams of contestants, divided by gender, take to the streets to carry out the initial task of trying to sell lemonade for the most money. The women pulverize the men.

Having won, the women are invited upstairs for a direct look at Trump’s very own apartment in Trump Tower, a reward designed specifically to introduce viewers to the gaudy but elevated world of Donald Trump at home. The men, who lost, go back to the loft to await their fate at the hands of Trump. He will be sending one of them home.

Inside the now-empty boardroom set, a meeting with the producers is called for the first briefing of Trump before the anticipated firing. With Trump are his cronies, Ross and Kepcher. Trump is “too busy,” so they have each observed both teams in the field and make an assessment of who prevailed and who fell behind.

Now, this is important. The Apprentice is a game show regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. In the 1950s, scandals arose when producers of quiz shows fed answers to likable, ratings-generating contestants while withholding those answers from unlikable but truly knowledgeable players. Any of us involved in The Apprentice swinging the outcome of prize money by telling Trump whom to fire is forbidden.

Considering this, Bienstock wisely chooses to record these off-camera briefings in case the FCC ever rolls up on us. Rather than blurt out who they think should get canned, the two producers of that week’s episode—each following one team—are coached to equitably share with Trump the virtues and deficiencies of each member of the losing team. This renders a balanced depiction of how and why they lost. There are obvious choices of whom to fire, but we want it to be something of a horse race, to sustain the drama and keep people watching.

Satisfied he has what he needs, Trump dismisses the prefiring discussion with the wave of a hand, claiming he has places to be, let’s get on with it, etc. We proceed to set up for what will be our first boardroom.

The producers retreat to the adjacent control room to watch the event unfold. Per the show’s format, the losing team is summoned in anticipation of one of its members being sent home. Leaving their luggage in the reception area, the men walk into the boardroom, where Trump is flanked by Ross and Kepcher, waiting for them solemnly. Trump just frowns from a gigantic red leather chair, his eyeline noticeably well above those sitting across from him.

The men proceed to verbally go after one another like gladiators jousting before the emperor. Trump takes the conversation into potentially dangerous terrain, asking one contestant, who is Jewish, whether he believes in “the genetic pool.” The contestant’s retort is swift and resolute: He tells Trump that he does, in fact, have the genes, “just like you got from your father, Fred Trump, and your mother, Mary Trump.” It pours out of him. It is dramatic. It is good reality TV.

The project manager must then choose two of the men to come back to the boardroom with him while everyone else is dismissed. An off-camera prefiring consultation with Trump takes place (and is recorded), right before the three men are brought back for the eventual firing. We film Trump, Ross, and Kepcher deliberating and giving the pluses and minuses of each, remarking on how risky it was for one of the contestants to stand up for himself the way that he did. Trump turns back and forth to each, listening. His cronies stick to their stories and give added deferential treatment toward Trump, with Ross strategically reminding him, “You’ve been taking risks your entire life.”

Trump summons the three men back into the boardroom for final judging. Trump grills one and says, “I will let you stay.” ( Wow! we think. A benevolent leader. ) When he turns his attention to the other man—the one he asked about genetics—it looks clear. He is doomed. So much so that the man stands when Trump tells him, “It seems unanimous.” Trump then offhandedly tells him to sit down, calling him “a wild card,” echoing Ross’ earlier observation of the boss, Trump.

After this comes an unwieldy moment when, at the behest of Bienstock, Trump fumbles through a given line. “We have an elevator,” he says to the remaining contestant, named David, “that goes up to the suite and an elevator that goes down”—he pauses to recall the exact wording—“to the street. And, David, I’m going to ask you to take the down elevator.”

The men react and awkwardly rise. It is an unsatisfactory conclusion, given all the preceding drama.

From the control room, we all watch as the three men depart the boardroom. A quick huddle takes place between the producers and the executive from NBC. We bolt from the control room out into the boardroom and confer with Trump, telling him we will need him to say something more direct to conclude the moment when David is let go.

“Well, I’d probably just fire him,” Trump says. “Why not just say that?” Bienstock asks. “Fine,” Trump says.

We return to the control room. The three men from the losing team are brought back into the boardroom, and Trump repeats his line about the elevator, then turns to David, who already knows his fate, and adds, “David, you’re fired.”

The line insertion happened in a perilously scripted way, but it is deemed satisfactory. “You’re fired” becomes the expression we will stick with. It works. Trump comes off as decisive and to the point.

Later, Trump will try to trademark “You’re fired.” He is not successful.

Trump’s appearances make up so little of our shooting schedule that whenever he shows up to film, it isn’t just the wild-card on-camera moments we both hope for and are terrified of that put everyone on edge. It is the way he, the star (and half owner) of the show, targets people on the crew with the gaze of a hungry lion.

While leering at a female camera assistant or assessing the physical attributes of a female contestant for whoever is listening, he orders a female camera operator off an elevator on which she is about to film him. “She’s too heavy,” I hear him say.

Another female camera operator, who happens to have blond hair and blue eyes, draws from Trump comparisons to his own Ivanka Trump. “There’s a beautiful woman behind that camera,” he says toward a line of 10 different operators set up in the foyer of Trump Tower one day. “That’s all I want to look at.”

Trump corners a female producer and asks her whom he should fire. She demurs, saying something about how one of the contestants blamed another for their team losing. Trump then raises his hands, cupping them to his chest: “You mean the one with the …?” He doesn’t know the contestant’s name. Trump eventually fires her.

(In response to detailed questions about this and other incidents reported in this article, Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump 2024 campaign, wrote, “This is a completely fabricated and bullshit story that was already peddled in 2016.” He said that it is surfacing now because Democrats are “desperate.”)

Trump goes about knocking off every one of the contestants in the boardroom until only two remain. The finalists are Kwame Jackson, a Black broker from Goldman Sachs, and Bill Rancic, a white entrepreneur from Chicago who runs his own cigar business. Trump assigns them each a task devoted to one of his crown-jewel properties. Jackson will oversee a Jessica Simpson benefit concert at Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, while Rancic will oversee a celebrity golf tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, New York.

Viewers need to believe that whatever Trump touches turns to gold. These properties that bear his name are supposed to glitter and gleam. All thanks to him.

Reality is another matter altogether. The lights in the casino’s sign are out. Hong Kong investors actually own the place—Trump merely lends his name. The carpet stinks, and the surroundings for Simpson’s concert are ramshackle at best. We shoot around all that.

Both Rancic and Jackson do a round-robin recruitment of former contestants, and Jackson makes the fateful decision to team up with the notorious Omarosa, among others, to help him carry out his final challenge.

With her tenure on the series nearly over, Omarosa launches several simultaneous attacks on her fellow teammates in support of her “brother” Kwame. For the fame-seeking beauty queen, it is a do-or-die play for some much-coveted screen time. As on previous tasks, Ross and Kepcher will observe both events.

Over at Trump National Golf Club, where I am stationed, it is sunny and bright, set against luscious fall colors. I am driven up to the golf club from Manhattan to scout. With me are the other producers, all of whom are men. We meet Trump at one of the homes he keeps for himself on the grounds of the club.

“Melania doesn’t even know about this place,” he says out loud to us, snickering, implying that the home’s function is as his personal lair for his sexual exploits, all of which are unknown to his then-fiancée Melania Knauss.

We are taken around the rest of the club’s property and told what to feature on camera and what to stay away from. The clubhouse is a particularly necessary inclusion, and it is inside these luxurious confines where I have the privilege of meeting the architect. Finding myself alone with him, I make a point of commending him for what I feel is a remarkable building. The place is genuinely spectacular. He thanks me.

“It’s bittersweet,” he tells me. “I’m very proud of this place, but …” He hesitates. “I wasn’t paid what was promised,” he says. I just listen. “Trump pays half upfront,” he says, “but he’ll stiff you for the rest once the project is completed.”

“He stiffed you?”

“If I tried to sue, the legal bills would be more than what I was owed. He knew that. He basically said Take what I’m offering ,” and I see how heavy this is for the man, all these years later. “So, we sent the invoice. He didn’t even pay that,” he says. None of this will be in the show. Not Trump’s suggested infidelities, nor his aversion toward paying those who work for him.

When the tasks are over, we are back in the boardroom, having our conference with Trump about how the two finalists compare—a conversation that I know to be recorded. We huddle around him and set up the last moments of the candidates, Jackson and Rancic.

Trump will make his decision live on camera months later, so what we are about to film is the setup to that reveal. The race between Jackson and Rancic should seem close, and that’s how we’ll edit the footage. Since we don’t know who’ll be chosen, it must appear close, even if it’s not.

We lay out the virtues and deficiencies of each finalist to Trump in a fair and balanced way, but sensing the moment at hand, Kepcher sort of comes out of herself. She expresses how she observed Jackson at the casino overcoming more obstacles than Rancic, particularly with the way he managed the troublesome Omarosa. Jackson, Kepcher maintains, handled the calamity with grace.

“I think Kwame would be a great addition to the organization,” Kepcher says to Trump, who winces while his head bobs around in reaction to what he is hearing and clearly resisting.

“Why didn’t he just fire her?” Trump asks, referring to Omarosa. It’s a reasonable question. Given that this the first time we’ve ever been in this situation, none of this is something we expected.

“That’s not his job,” Bienstock says to Trump. “That’s yours.” Trump’s head continues to bob.

“I don’t think he knew he had the ability to do that,” Kepcher says. Trump winces again.

“Yeah,” he says to no one in particular, “but, I mean, would America buy a n— winning?”

Kepcher’s pale skin goes bright red. I turn my gaze toward Trump. He continues to wince. He is serious, and he is adamant about not hiring Jackson.

Bienstock does a half cough, half laugh, and swiftly changes the topic or throws to Ross for his assessment. What happens next I don’t entirely recall. I am still processing what I have just heard. We all are. Only Bienstock knows well enough to keep the train moving. None of us thinks to walk out the door and never return. I still wish I had. (Bienstock and Kepcher didn’t respond to requests for comment.)

Afterward, we film the final meeting in the boardroom, where Jackson and Rancic are scrutinized by Trump, who, we already know, favors Rancic. Then we wrap production, pack up, and head home. There is no discussion about what Trump said in the boardroom, about how the damning evidence was caught on tape. Nothing happens.

We go home and face the next phase of our assignment, the editing. In stitching the footage together, the swindle we are now involved in ascends to new levels.

Editing in a reality TV show is what script writing is to a narrative series. A lot of effort goes into the storytelling because, basically, in every single unscripted series—whether it’s a daytime talk show, an adventure documentary, or a shiny floor dance-off—there are three versions: There’s what happens, there’s what gets filmed, and there’s what gets cut down into 43 minutes squeezed between commercial breaks. Especially for a competition series, it’s important that the third version represent the first as much as possible. A defeated contestant could show up in the press and cry foul if they’re misrepresented. Best to let people fail of their own accord. That said, we look after our prized possessions in how we edit the series, and some people fare better than others.

We attend to our thesis that only the best and brightest deserve a job working for Donald Trump. Luckily, the winner, Bill Rancic, and his rival, Kwame Jackson, come off as capable and confident throughout the season. If for some reason they had not, we would have conveniently left their shortcomings on the cutting room floor. In actuality, both men did deserve to win.

Without a doubt, the hardest decisions we faced in postproduction were how to edit together sequences involving Trump. We needed him to sound sharp, dignified, and clear on what he was looking for and not as if he was yelling at people. You see him today: When he reads from a teleprompter, he comes off as loud and stoic. Go to one of his rallies and he’s the off-the-cuff rambler rousing his followers into a frenzy. While filming, he struggled to convey even the most basic items. But as he became more comfortable with filming, Trump made raucous comments he found funny or amusing—some of them misogynistic as well as racist. We cut those comments. Go to one of his rallies today and you can hear many of them.

If you listen carefully, especially to that first episode, you will notice clearly altered dialogue from Trump in both the task delivery and the boardroom. Trump was overwhelmed with remembering the contestants’ names, the way they would ride the elevator back upstairs or down to the street, the mechanics of what he needed to convey. Bienstock instigated additional dialogue recording that came late in the edit phase. We set Trump up in the soundproof boardroom set and fed him lines he would read into a microphone with Bienstock on the phone, directing from L.A. And suddenly Trump knows the names of every one of the contestants and says them while the camera cuts to each of their faces. Wow , you think, how does he remember everyone’s name? While on location, he could barely put a sentence together regarding how a task would work. Listen now, and he speaks directly to what needs to happen while the camera conveniently cuts away to the contestants, who are listening and nodding. He sounds articulate and concise through some editing sleight of hand.

Then comes the note from NBC about the fact that after Trump delivers the task assignment to the contestants, he disappears from the episode after the first act and doesn’t show up again until the next-to-last. That’s too long for the (high-priced) star of the show to be absent.

There is a convenient solution. At the top of the second act, right after the task has been assigned but right before the teams embark on their assignment, we insert a sequence with Trump, seated inside his gilded apartment, dispensing a carefully crafted bit of wisdom. He speaks to whatever the theme of each episode is—why someone gets fired or what would lead to a win. The net effect is not only that Trump appears once more in each episode but that he also now seems prophetic in how he just knows the way things will go right or wrong with each individual task. He comes off as all-seeing and all-knowing. We are led to believe that Donald Trump is a natural-born leader.

Through the editorial nudge we provide him, Trump prevails. So much so that NBC asks for more time in the boardroom to appear at the end of all the remaining episodes. (NBC declined to comment for this article.)

When it comes to the long con, the cherry on top is the prologue to the premiere. It’s a five-minute-long soliloquy delivered by Trump at the beginning of the first episode, the one titled “Meet the Billionaire.” Over a rousing score, it features Trump pulling out all the stops, calling New York “ my city” and confessing to crawling out from under “billions of dollars in debt.” There’s Trump in the back of limousines. Trump arriving before throngs of cheering crowds outside Trump Tower. Trump in his very own helicopter as it banks over midtown—the same helicopter with the Trump logo that, just like the airplane, is actually for sale to the highest bidder. The truth is, almost nothing was how we made it seem.

So, we scammed. We swindled. Nobody heard the racist and misogynistic comments or saw the alleged cheating, the bluffing, or his hair taking off in the wind. Those tapes, I’ve come to believe, will never be found.

No one lost their retirement fund or fell on hard times from watching The Apprentice . But Trump rose in stature to the point where he could finally eye a run for the White House, something he had intended to do all the way back in 1998. Along the way, he could now feed his appetite for defrauding the public with various shady practices.

In 2005 thousands of students enrolled in what was called Trump University, hoping to gain insight from the Donald and his “handpicked” professors. Each paid as much as $35,000 to listen to some huckster trade on Trump’s name. In a sworn affidavit, salesman Ronald Schnackenberg testified that Trump University was “fraudulent.” The scam swiftly went from online videoconferencing courses to live events held by high-pressure sales professionals whose only job was to persuade attendees to sign up for the course. The sales were for the course “tuition” and had nothing whatsoever to do with real estate investments. A class action suit was filed against Trump.

That same year, Trump was caught bragging to Access Hollywood co-host Billy Bush that he likes to grab married women “by the pussy,” adding, “When you’re a star, they let you do it.” He later tried to recruit porn actor Stormy Daniels for The Apprentice despite her profession and, according to Daniels, had sex with her right after his last son was born. (His alleged attempt to pay off Daniels is, of course, the subject of his recent trial.)

In October 2016—a month before the election—the Access Hollywood tapes were released and written off as “locker room banter.” Trump paid Daniels to keep silent about their alleged affair. He paid $25 million to settle the Trump University lawsuit and make it go away.

He went on to become the first elected president to possess neither public service nor military experience. And although he lost the popular vote, Trump beat out Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College, winning in the Rust Belt by just 80,000 votes.

Trump has been called the “reality TV president,” and not just because of The Apprentice . The Situation Room, where top advisers gathered, became a place for photo-ops, a bigger, better boardroom. Trump swaggered and cajoled, just as he had on the show. Whom would he listen to? Whom would he fire? Stay tuned. Trump even has his own spinoff, called the House of Representatives, where women hurl racist taunts and body-shame one another with impunity. The State of the Union is basically a cage fight. The demands of public office now include blowhard buffoonery.

I reached out to Apollo, the Vegas perceptions expert, to discuss all of this. He reminded me how if a person wants to manipulate the signal, they simply turn up the noise. “In a world that is so uncertain,” he said, “a confidence man comes along and fills in the blanks. The more confident they are, the more we’re inclined to go along with what they suggest.”

A reality TV show gave rise to an avaricious hustler, and a deal was made: Subvert the facts, look past the deficiencies, deceive where necessary, and prevail in the name of television ratings and good, clean fun.

Trump is making another run at the White House and is leading in certain polls. People I know enthusiastically support him and expect he’ll return to office. It’s not just hats, sneakers, a fragrance, or Bibles. Donald Trump is selling his vision of the world, and people are buying it.

Knowing all they know, how could these people still think he’s capable of being president of the United States?

Perhaps they watched our show and were conned by the pig in the poke.

Jump to navigation Skip to content

Search form

• P&W on Facebook
• P&W on Twitter
• P&W on Instagram

Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.

Find a home for your poems, stories, essays, and reviews by researching the publications vetted by our editorial staff. In the Literary Magazines database you’ll find editorial policies, submission guidelines, contact information—everything you need to know before submitting your work to the publications that share your vision for your work.

Whether you’re pursuing the publication of your first book or your fifth, use the Small Presses database to research potential publishers, including submission guidelines, tips from the editors, contact information, and more.

Research more than one hundred agents who represent poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers, plus details about the kinds of books they’re interested in representing, their clients, and the best way to contact them.

Every week a new publishing professional shares advice, anecdotes, insights, and new ways of thinking about writing and the business of books.

Find publishers ready to read your work now with our Open Reading Periods page, a continually updated resource listing all the literary magazines and small presses currently open for submissions.

Since our founding in 1970, Poets & Writers has served as an information clearinghouse of all matters related to writing. While the range of inquiries has been broad, common themes have emerged over time. Our Top Topics for Writers addresses the most popular and pressing issues, including literary agents, copyright, MFA programs, and self-publishing.

Our series of subject-based handbooks (PDF format; $4.99 each) provide information and advice from authors, literary agents, editors, and publishers. Now available: The Poets & Writers Guide to Publicity and Promotion, The Poets & Writers Guide to the Book Deal, The Poets & Writers Guide to Literary Agents, The Poets & Writers Guide to MFA Programs, and The Poets & Writers Guide to Writing Contests.

Find a home for your work by consulting our searchable databases of writing contests, literary magazines, small presses, literary agents, and more.

Poets & Writers lists readings, workshops, and other literary events held in cities across the country. Whether you are an author on book tour or the curator of a reading series, the Literary Events Calendar can help you find your audience.

Get the Word Out is a new publicity incubator for debut fiction writers and poets.

Research newspapers, magazines, websites, and other publications that consistently publish book reviews using the Review Outlets database, which includes information about publishing schedules, submission guidelines, fees, and more.

Well over ten thousand poets and writers maintain listings in this essential resource for writers interested in connecting with their peers, as well as editors, agents, and reading series coordinators looking for authors. Apply today to join the growing community of writers who stay in touch and informed using the Poets & Writers Directory.

Let the world know about your work by posting your events on our literary events calendar, apply to be included in our directory of writers, and more.

Find a writers group to join or create your own with Poets & Writers Groups. Everything you need to connect, communicate, and collaborate with other poets and writers—all in one place.

Find information about more than two hundred full- and low-residency programs in creative writing in our MFA Programs database, which includes details about deadlines, funding, class size, core faculty, and more. Also included is information about more than fifty MA and PhD programs.

Whether you are looking to meet up with fellow writers, agents, and editors, or trying to find the perfect environment to fuel your writing practice, the Conferences & Residencies is the essential resource for information about well over three hundred writing conferences, writers residencies, and literary festivals around the world.

Discover historical sites, independent bookstores, literary archives, writing centers, and writers spaces in cities across the country using the Literary Places database—the best starting point for any literary journey, whether it’s for research or inspiration.

Search for jobs in education, publishing, the arts, and more within our free, frequently updated job listings for writers and poets.

Establish new connections and enjoy the company of your peers using our searchable databases of MFA programs and writers retreats, apply to be included in our directory of writers, and more.

• Register for Classes

Each year the Readings & Workshops program provides support to hundreds of writers participating in literary readings and conducting writing workshops. Learn more about this program, our special events, projects, and supporters, and how to contact us.

The Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award introduces emerging writers to the New York City literary community, providing them with a network for professional advancement.

Find information about how Poets & Writers provides support to hundreds of writers participating in literary readings and conducting writing workshops.

Bring the literary world to your door—at half the newsstand price. Available in print and digital editions, Poets & Writers Magazine is a must-have for writers who are serious about their craft.

View the contents and read select essays, articles, interviews, and profiles from the current issue of the award-winning Poets & Writers Magazine .

Read essays, articles, interviews, profiles, and other select content from Poets & Writers Magazine as well as Online Exclusives.

View the covers and contents of every issue of Poets & Writers Magazine , from the current edition all the way back to the first black-and-white issue in 1987.

Every day the editors of Poets & Writers Magazine scan the headlines—publishing reports, literary dispatches, academic announcements, and more—for all the news that creative writers need to know.

In our weekly series of craft essays, some of the best and brightest minds in contemporary literature explore their craft in compact form, articulating their thoughts about creative obsessions and curiosities in a working notebook of lessons about the art of writing.

The Time Is Now offers weekly writing prompts in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction to help you stay committed to your writing practice throughout the year. Sign up to get The Time Is Now, as well as a weekly book recommendation for guidance and inspiration, delivered to your inbox.

Every week a new author shares books, art, music, writing prompts, films—anything and everything—that has inspired and shaped the creative process.

Listen to original audio recordings of authors featured in Poets & Writers Magazine . Browse the archive of more than 400 author readings.

Ads in Poets & Writers Magazine and on pw.org are the best ways to reach a readership of serious poets and literary prose writers. Our audience trusts our editorial content and looks to it, and to relevant advertising, for information and guidance.

Start, renew, or give a subscription to Poets & Writers Magazine ; change your address; check your account; pay your bill; report a missed issue; contact us.

Peruse paid listings of writing contests, conferences, workshops, editing services, calls for submissions, and more.

Poets & Writers is pleased to provide free subscriptions to Poets & Writers Magazine to award-winning young writers and to high school creative writing teachers for use in their classrooms.

Read select articles from the award-winning magazine and consult the most comprehensive listing of literary grants and awards, deadlines, and prizewinners available in print.

• Subscribe Now

Writing Prompts & Exercises

The time is now.

The Time Is Now offers three new and original writing prompts each week to help you stay committed to your writing practice throughout the year. We also curate a list of essential books on writing —both the newly published and the classics—that we recommend for guidance and inspiration. Whether you’re struggling with writer’s block, looking for a fresh topic, or just starting to write, our archive of writing prompts has what you need. Need a starter pack? Check out our Writing Prompts for Beginners.

Tuesdays: Poetry prompts Wednesdays: Fiction prompts Thursdays: Creative nonfiction prompts

Get immediate access to more than 2,000 writing prompts with the tool below:

Attentiveness

• Printable Version
• Log in to Send
• Log in to Save

Nearly fifty years ago, the writer George Perec spent three days sitting behind a café window in Place Saint-Sulpice in Paris recording everything he saw. In his short book, An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris , his observations of mundane occurrences and objects often considered unnoteworthy—passersby, cars, buses, pigeons, signs, and slogans—are documented. This week situate yourself in one spot, perhaps in your home or workplace, or in a public space like a park, busy crossroad, commercial area, library, or café. Then, jot down the objects and behavior you see, and the snippets of conversation you hear. Write a lyric essay composed of these notes, trying to avoid interpretations or analysis. Taken together, how do your observations create a portrayal of a specific time or place? Pay particular attention to how one observation might lead to another, and to potential rhythms and repetitions.

Power Couple

The 2023 thriller film Fair Play , written and directed by Chloe Domont, follows the lives of a young, newly engaged couple, Luke and Emily, who are colleagues working as analysts in the cutthroat world of high finance in New York. The film focuses on the progression of their relationship, which has been kept hidden from their hedge fund office, and the bitter disintegration of their happiness after a promotion that was initially rumored to go to Luke is unexpectedly bestowed upon Emily, which situates him as a subordinate to his wife within a misogynistic workplace. Write a short story that revolves around an occurrence that catalyzes a shift in the power dynamic between two main characters who have a close relationship. What are the initial responses, and does the transformation happen suddenly or gradually? Are there gender, generational, or other cultural issues that play a role?

Organic Insinuations

“All too often, on a ‘poetry scene,’ people prioritise ‘subject matter,’” says John Burnside in a 2023 interview about his writing process by Jesse Nathan published on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. “I am sure that, as I am working, environmental concerns insinuate their way into the content of a poem organically, as other concerns will—but I would never start from there.” Inspired by the late Scottish poet, who died at the age of sixty-nine on May 29, write a poem that springs not from a predetermined topic or subject matter, but instead allows you to “trust in the sounds, the rhythms that come out of the day-to-day, the sheer immediacy and truth of the quotidian…and the images that lead, sometimes via fairly roundabout paths, to metaphor.” Later, as you reread and revise, what do you discover is the subject of your poem? What might have organically insinuated itself into your poem?

The maintenance or restoration of native plant and animal species has long been at the heart of many ecological and conservation projects, and has historically been a focus of land and environmental stewardship principles held by native and first peoples all over the world. But what if a beloved plant or animal is considered invasive, like the palm trees of Los Angeles or the cattle of Texas? What are the effects or consequences of centuries of existence with this invasive species in a particular locale? This week reflect on the notion of belonging—what are various places and times when you have felt a strong sense of belonging, and situations when you did not feel you belonged? Consider your own perspectives and responses when you encounter someone or something else that seems invasive or does not belong.

In Stephen King’s 1983 novel, Pet Sematary , a doctor moves into a remote house in Maine with his wife, two young children, and their pet cat, and learns from a neighbor about an ancient burial ground nearby cursed by a malevolent spirit which gave it power to reanimate those buried there. This is put to the test first by the family cat, and then by members of the family who die throughout the course of King’s horror story. While each formerly dead being is returned to the land of the living, they don’t come back quite the same. Write a story in which a creature or person returns from the dead, either in actuality or under circumstances in which their reappearance feels as if they are “back from the dead.” What familiar traits remain the same and what is disconcertingly different? Is their return ultimately for the better or the worse?

“I told a friend about a spill at the grocery store, which—the words ‘conveyor belt’ vanishing midsentence—took place on a ‘supermarket treadmill,’” writes Madeleine Schwartz in a recent essay published by New York Times Magazine about her experience of negotiating with and toggling between the French and English languages after moving from New York to Paris. In the piece, Schwartz notes that as she became more comfortable with living and thinking in French, she noticed a blurring of her linguistic capabilities, including a muddling of her articulative abilities in English. Think about a time or situation when words have failed you, or you’ve drawn a blank as to the mot juste. Write a poem that traces or enacts a loss of language, perhaps using invented words, phrases, and spellings or experimenting with font sizes, line breaks, and spacing.

Edible Memories

Many foods, flavors, and dishes hold a wellspring of emotional associations because they remind us of loved ones, habits and traditions, specific locales, and a different time of our lives when we were different people. Write a series of flash nonfiction pieces this week with each segment focusing on an edible item that evokes particularly resonant memories for you. You might begin by jotting down lists of foods you ate regularly growing up—breakfasts, school lunches, vending machine go-tos, favorite fast-food joints, diners, late night spots, home-cooked specialties—as well as a few momentous meals. Who are the people you associate with each one? Aside from taste and smell, consider the surrounding environment, atmospheric sounds, time of year, and who you were at that point in your life.

Wheels and Nails

While the American proverb “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” may be one you’ve heard time and again, often in reference to the idea that whoever raises or vocalizes a criticism the loudest will be appeased, there is a Japanese saying that translates to “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down,” which points to the positives of conformity in order to maintain a productive and humble society. It can also refer to putting someone who has become too successful back down in their place. Write a story in which your main character diverges from a group of people, and sticks their neck out, so to speak. Perhaps they vocalize a contrary perspective, protest something they feel is unjust, or simply present themselves in an unconventional manner. What are the consequences? Does your story lean toward one proverbial lesson or the other, or does the conclusion demonstrate more ambiguity?

Night at the Museum

If you could spend a night at any museum, which would you choose, and why? The French publisher Editions Stock has a series of books that begins with this premise—each author selects a museum, arrangements are made for an overnight stay, and a book is written about the experience. In Jakuta Alikavazovic’s Like a Sky Inside , translated from the French by Daniel Levin Becker, she spends a night at the Louvre in Paris, where childhood memories of visits with her father are vividly recalled. “From March 7 to 8, 2020, I spent the night in the Louvre, alone. Alone and at the same time anything but,” writes Alikavazovic. Write a poem that imagines a night at a museum of your choosing, anywhere in the world. What memories will you excavate from this imagined, solitary experience?

Chosen Family

Although the origin of the term is unknown and can be defined in many ways, a chosen family is made up of a group of people who choose to embrace, nurture, and support each other despite conventional understandings of biological or marital relationships. Oftentimes a chosen family is formed to take the place of a biological family, however, in some cases, these relationships are formed to expand a family. Write a personal essay about a relationship you have with a chosen family member. How did you first meet? Was there a particular incident that catalyzed what would become an inextricable bond? Has your commitment to each other been tested in ways big or small? Reflect on past memories and experiences you have had with this special person and how your relationship has evolved over the years.

Kingdom of the Planet

In the 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes , which is based on French author Pierre Boulle’s 1963 novel and has spawned several sequels and a recent reboot, a crew of astronauts crash-lands on a planet ruled by apes who have developed an advanced and hierarchical civilization, complete with systems of governance, labor, scientific research, and a military force. In this far-off place, humans have been reduced to mute primitive beings who are subjugated and kept captive as workers for the primates. Write a speculative story that takes place in another universe with a premise revolving around a role reversal. What are the rules and governing structures of the society that you invent? You might decide to approach your narrative with a tone of horror, satire, or comedy to emphasize your perspective on stereotypical assumptions and social expectations.

Another Country

“I love these raw moist dawns with / a thousand birds you hear but can’t / quite see in the mist. / My old alien body is a foreigner / struggling to get into another country. / The loon call makes me shiver. / Back at the cabin I see a book / and am not quite sure what that is.” In these eight lines that comprise Jim Harrison’s poem “Another Country,” which appears in his final collection, Dead Man’s Float (Copper Canyon Press, 2016), the late poet moves between observations about a natural outdoor setting and the speaker’s own bodily presence, arriving in the final two lines at a sentiment that expresses a feeling of defamiliarization at the seemingly mundane sight of a book. This week write a poem that explores the concept of being so absorbed in one environment or circumstance that to behold a different scene is like traveling to a strange and unknown realm.

Self-Healing

A recent study in Scientific Reports journal revealed that, for possibly the first time, a nonhuman wild animal was seen using plant medicine to heal an active wound. In a rainforest in Indonesia, a Sumatran orangutan was observed ripping off leaves from a climbing vine plant, chewing them, and applying the plant sap to treat a wound on his face, which then healed after a few days. Write a personal essay on the theme of self-healing. Think about experiences when you’ve witnessed another person perform this task, or particularly resonant memories that pertain to your own past behavior. What are the primary emotions present throughout this process? What instances of self-treatment or self-medication in film, art, or literature created an impression on you?

Campus Story

Take inspiration from the concept of a campus novel—which takes place in and around the campus of a university and often involves the intertwined dynamics of students, professors, and conventions about learning and power—and write a story that engages with a school setting, whether prominently situated in the context of the plot or used for a particular scene. Some recent additions to the campus novel canon include Elif Batuman’s The Idiot (Penguin Press, 2017), Xochitl Gonzalez’s Anita de Monte Laughs Last (Flatiron Books, 2024), Kiley Reid’s Come and Get It (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2024), and Brandon Taylor’s Real Life (Riverhead Books, 2020). Will you include a character who is a student, teacher, administrative staff member, custodial worker or caretaker, or possibly an alumni revisiting the past? Consider the multitude of ways the incorporation of an educational environment might permeate the atmosphere of the narrative.

The Last Friend

“The day the last friend / dies / we sit alone. / A visitor / from outer space / tries hard / to summon us. / Someone says / EAT DEATH. / I fish around for answers / but the questions / still won’t come,” writes Jerome Rothenberg, who passed away in April, in his poem “The Last Friend.” Included in his collection of one hundred poems, A Book of Witness: Spells & Gris-Gris (New Directions, 2022), the poem presents a list of statements and observations, many of which refer to death or dying in some personal way, though the connections are enigmatic and the logical progression is oblique. Try your hand at writing a poem that mentions its subject directly, but which also deliberately obfuscates or remains ambiguous in its intentions. How might using the “I” as a witness include the reader into your point of view?

Mind Your Manners

The New York City culture and news website Gothamist recently asked New Yorkers about their thoughts on sidewalk etiquette in the crowded, bustling streets of their beloved city. What are the rules, who has the right-of-way, and who should yield? Respondents focused on always walking to the right of the sidewalk and to “move quickly and never stop.” One thoughtful respondent considered the cultural differences of sidewalks used for recreational strolls versus commuting. But the overall consensus was that among nine-to-fivers, tourists, parents with kids, dogwalkers, bicyclists, and groups, seniors deserve the right-of-way. Write an essay about the unwritten rules or etiquette you have observed in your daily surroundings. How have these common practices adapted to fit the needs of different people? Do they evolve over time as social norms change? Consider some of your own experiences with how public etiquette has helped or hindered harmonious community life.

The term sub rosa means “under the rose” in Latin and refers to something said or done in private. The rose has been associated with secrecy since ancient times, a decorative symbol often carved and painted in places like meeting rooms, banquet halls, and confessionals as reminders of confidentiality. This week write a short story that revolves around a conversation or discussion that occurs sub rosa in an enclosed space. Does a certain detail get leaked out or overheard? How might the secretive nature place a burden on your characters? Consider the ways in which the atmosphere and tone of your story feel distinctive in the time and space of your sub-rosa conversation versus the scenes that take place before or after the talk.

Wisdom in Translation

In the anthology Another Room to Live In: 15 Contemporary Arab Poets (Litmus Press, 2024) edited by Omar Berrada and Sarah Riggs, multinational and multilingual poet-translators challenge foundational narratives and rework mythologies through poetic expression. Yasmine Seale’s poem “Conventional Wisdom (Arabic Saying Translated Twenty Ways)” is composed of translations of an ancient aphorism expressing the inextricable place of poetry within Arab cultural heritage. Each line presents a variation on the truism: “Poetry is the record of the Arabs / The art of poetry is Arabs, collected / Good poetry is a list of Arabs / To speak in verse is to remain in Arab memory / To surpass another poet is the Arab odyssey.” Write a poem inspired by this idea of translating a proverb or maxim—either from another language or from English into English. How might you creatively interpolate different “translations” of the saying by incorporating connotations and riffing on free associations and personal experiences?

In Response

In a recent interview with Aria Aber for the Yale Review , when asked his thoughts on the responsibility of the poet, Jackson Prize–winning poet Fady Joudah says, “I often think that the responsibility of the poet is to strive to become the memory that people may possess in the future about what it means to be human: an ever-changing constant. In poetry, the range of metaphors and topics is limited, predictable, but the styles are innumerable. Think how we read poetry from centuries ago and are no longer bothered by its outdated diction. All that remains of old poetry is the music of what it means to be human.” Write a creative nonfiction piece that presents your personal theory of the responsibility of a writer or an artist. To construct an expansive approach, you might use observations about how different creative disciplines overlap in their goals, or consider what has remained resonant as the arts make their mark throughout various eras.

Earth to You

In honor of Earth Week, write a scene that revolves around a character who experiences an unexpected moment in a natural environment that produces a sensation of wonder, perhaps an unusual encounter with wild flora or fauna. You might contrast the elements of this scene with others in your story in which the character is interacting solely with humans or only attuned to the sounds, rhythms, and sights of city life and densely packed civilization. Is the occurrence mind-bogglingly quick and then reflected upon in hindsight, or does time slow down in the scene? How do you manage or manipulate the pacing and rhythm of your prose to draw attention to the emotional and psychological response of the character?

From Dirt Level

In Sharon Olds’s poem “May 1968,” the speaker recounts the memory of spending the night with other protesting students, who lay down their bodies on a New York City street at a university’s campus gates in order to obstruct the mounted police force that had been called in. While “spine-down on the cobbles,” she observes the city and surrounding scenery—the soaring buildings and the police and horses’ bodies—as she gazes upward, thinking about the state of her pregnant body. Write a poem this week from the vantage point of lying face-up, “from dirt level.” What circumstances bring you into this position? How does this upward point of view transform what you see, and how you feel about your own body?

More, please? Or, no more, please? In The Fast: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Promise of Doing Without (Avid Reader Press, 2024), John Oakes recounts his personal experience conducting a weeklong fast and examines the practice’s history and place within a wide range of religions and philosophies. The book also explores the act of self-deprivation and the potential transformative benefits of subtracting rather than adding to one’s life. “The act of fasting…won’t stop routine, but impedes it for a bit, signifying a shift and a determined unwillingness to follow standard operating procedure,” writes Oakes. Use this idea to consider your personal relationship with consumption—of food, conversation, media, clothes, space—and write a personal essay that reflects on what you might otherwise take for granted.

All in Your Head

In “Table for One,” a short story from Korean author Yun Ko-eun’s new collection of the same name, translated by Lizzie Buehler and published by Columbia University Press in April, a surreal quality seeps into the tale of a lonely office worker who enrolls in a course to make solitary dining easier. Tips from the course include: “Target corner tables rather than those in the middle. Seats at the bar are also good. Hang your coat or bag on the chair facing you and take advantage of tools like a book, earphones, a cell phone, or a newspaper.” The fantastic element of the story lies less in the oddity of the premise than in the narrator’s meticulously recounted neuroses and detailed rendering of processes that become seemingly cyclical. Write a scene that focuses on your character’s minute observations as they attempt to overcome something debilitating. Does the situation lend itself to a quirky or dark sense of humor?

Neither Questions nor Answers

“Where is the homeland / to lay a cradle for the dead / Where is the other shore / for poetry to step across the end point / Where is the peace / that lets the days distribute blue sky...” In Sidetracks , forthcoming in May from New Directions, the Chinese poet Bei Dao begins his book-length poem with a list of twenty-five enigmatic questions that dance around mythological, philosophical, and existential subjects. In Jeffrey Yang’s translation, the speaker’s questions lack the end punctuation of the original text, with question marks omitted. Through these unanswered questions, the poet conjures loss and nostalgia. Loosely following this structure, write a prologue to a poem that poses a series of questions gesturing toward your most pressing uncertainties. While Bei Dao’s lines are mysterious and mystical, allow your poem the tone and allusions that feel instinctive to you.

With Certainty

In a 1789 letter, Benjamin Franklin wrote the phrase, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Franklin was reflecting on the establishment of the U.S. Constitution, which he said promised to be durable, as well as his own ailing health and mortality. This week write a personal essay that riffs off this proverb, reflecting on your own worldview about what can be certain. You might start off with the prompt: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and ______.” Tell the story of how you arrived at your own ideas about what you can always count on, whether good or bad. What past experiences, encounters, or memories seem to reinforce your belief?

About Our Writing Prompts

What is a writing prompt and how do you use one? Whether you find yourself in front of a blank page or stuck in a work-in-progress, writing prompts can offer a spark that ignites your creative thinking and can lead to new writing. Prompts offer guidance, fresh ideas, and direction for writers of all levels of experience. First, choose a prompt for the genre in which you’d like to write, then carefully read it and consider what it is asking you to think about. It could be a specific setting, a writing technique, or an element of an imagined character; a specific poem, story, essay, song, book, or film from which you might take inspiration; or a current event or a topical theme. A writing prompt is filled with endless possibilities—and there is no wrong way to use one to generate new writing!

What makes our writing prompts unique? We have an archive of over 2,000 prompts, all original and offered here and in our weekly newsletter . You’ll find a variety of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction prompts—some inspired by recent and classic literature and other forms of art, current events, and writing practices, and others that offer guidance for a particular form, including sonnets, erasure poetry, flash fiction, lyric essays, and more. For more than fifty years, Poets & Writers has supported creative writers with trustworthy information and inspiration, and our weekly prompts provide a regular dose of encouragement and motivation.

What are the benefits of using writing prompts? Writing prompts can help you get unstuck if you’re in a rut and the ideas aren’t flowing. But even if you’re not experiencing writer’s block, writing prompts can offer a fresh take or a new approach to a work-in-progress. Writing prompts can also provide the motivation to experiment with a new form, try out a new genre, or learn about other writing techniques. And writing prompts are an invaluable tool for teachers who want to encourage and inspire their writing students.

What is this list of Best Books? Best Books for Writers is a list of essential books for creative writers that we curate to support your writing practice. Every week, we add a book (whether new or a classic) with a synopsis and highlights. Included are books on the writing life, anthologies of craft essays, collections of lectures, practical guides with writing exercises, and more.

Poetry writing prompts Every Tuesday we post a new poetry prompt to guide you in your practice. Get to know the work of contemporary and classic poets, as well as a variety of poetic forms.

Fiction writing prompts Every Wednesday we post a new fiction prompt to spark your imagination. Take inspiration from recently published short stories and novels, and of course, the classics.

Creative nonfiction writing prompts Every Thursday we post a new creative nonfiction prompt to help your exploration of this ever-changing genre. These prompts include information and inspiration for a variety of essays as well as memoirs. Discover new writers and their craft, and fresh ways to generate writing inspired by your life.

Need a starter pack? Check out our Writing Prompts for Beginners .

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base

Methodology

• How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

• Search for relevant literature
• Evaluate sources
• Identify themes, debates, and gaps
• Outline the structure
• Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes , and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

• Quick Run-through
• Step 1 & 2

When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

• Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
• Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
• Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
• Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
• Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate school or pursue a career in research. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

• Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
• Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
• Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
• Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

You can also check out our templates with literature review examples and sample outlines at the links below.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic .

If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions .

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature search.

• Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
• Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
• Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for journals and articles include:

• Your university’s library catalogue
• Google Scholar
• Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
• Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)
• EconLit (economics)
• Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

• What question or problem is the author addressing?
• What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
• What are the key theories, models, and methods?
• Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
• What are the results and conclusions of the study?
• How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible , and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.

You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using. Click on either button below to download.

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.

It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography , where you compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember what you read and saves time later in the process.

Don't submit your assignments before you do this

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students. Free citation check included.

Try for free

To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

• Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
• Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
• Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
• Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
• Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

• Most research has focused on young women.
• There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
• But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

• Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
• Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
• Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Depending on the length of your literature review, you might want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time period, or methodological approach.

As you write, you can follow these tips:

• Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
• Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers — add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
• Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
• Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Not a language expert? Check out Scribbr’s professional proofreading services !

This article has been adapted into lecture slides that you can use to teach your students about writing a literature review.

Scribbr slides are free to use, customize, and distribute for educational purposes.

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Sampling methods
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling
• Likert scales
• Reproducibility

 Statistics

• Null hypothesis
• Statistical power
• Probability distribution
• Effect size
• Poisson distribution

Research bias

• Optimism bias
• Cognitive bias
• Implicit bias
• Hawthorne effect
• Anchoring bias
• Explicit bias

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

• To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic
• To ensure that you’re not just repeating what others have already done
• To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address
• To develop your theoretical framework and methodology
• To provide an overview of the key findings and debates on the topic

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other  academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An  annotated bibliography is a list of  source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a  paper .  

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, September 11). How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved June 7, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/literature-review/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, what is a theoretical framework | guide to organizing, what is a research methodology | steps & tips, how to write a research proposal | examples & templates, what is your plagiarism score.

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

A Message From the Assistant Director of Content Development 

The Purdue OWL® is committed to supporting  students, instructors, and writers by offering a wide range of resources that are developed and revised with them in mind. To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time.

Please don't hesitate to contact us via our contact page  if you have any questions or comments.

All the best,

Social Media

Facebook twitter.

Pick your pro from 300+ essay writers

Explore essay writers ready to assist. Get in-depth research or a captivating presentation. Choose your pro, enjoy essay help, and get hours of your life back.

Ace every assignment with a pro writing service

Curious about a specific paper writer? Check their profile's ratings and reviews. Once you've made your choice they'll write paper on your deadline.

Working with a professional essay writer from our essay writing services can really make your school life easier. Imagine having more time on your hands and less stress about deadlines. Our experts know their way around any topic and are wizards with different formatting styles. Whether you’re stuck or just need a helping hand, they’ve got you covered.

We’re picky about who we team up with. Every expert is put through a rigorous testing process to make sure they're up to the task of writing top-notch papers. We only choose professionals who have earned higher education degrees and have a solid track record in their fields. This means they can dive deep into any subject you throw at them, no matter how complex.

Once you place your "write essay for me" order, you get to see who might be handling your paper. You can check out their ratings, read feedback from other students, and see what subjects they specialize in. This helps you pick the perfect essay helper for your project. You can even chat with them before you decide, so you know you’re making the right choice. With this level of customization, you’re not just getting an expert, you’re getting the right expert for your specific needs.

Why students choose our essay writing service

High-quality essays

Plagiarism & non-AI reports

Printable sources

Title page & formatting

1-Page abstract

Add graphics & tables

Detailed outline

Early draft

Refund policy

24/7 support, unlimited edits, data security, essay service trusted by thousands of students.

For over a decade, our paper writer service has been addressing the essay writing needs of students just like you. This extensive experience not only deepens our understanding of academic requirements but also cements the trust our customers place in us. We're here because we know what works for you.

Real people, real skills, real results — that's the commitment of our essay writing service. Every professional essay writer we partner with is rigorously tested to ensure they can craft original, high-quality content without relying on AI. We believe in the power of human creativity and expertise to deliver essays that truly stand out.

When it comes to "write my papers," it's all about precision. Each assignment is highly original, handwritten, and tailored to your instructions. No matter the complexity of your paper, our service is equipped to handle it. Our commitment to quality ensures that every paper leaves a mark.

Find your essay writer online

Track your essay writing orders.

Get essay writing help for any assignment in one place. Quickly check the statuses of your "write my essay" orders and stay updated on their progress. This ensures you never lose track of where your essay is in the writing process.

Guide your essay writer online

Provide detailed instructions and any necessary information to your paper writer. The clearer your instructions, the more precisely they can write paper for you. Effective communication enhances the quality of your final paper.

Quick paper writing form

Fill in our straightforward 10-minute order form before you pay for essay. This form captures all essential details needed for your writer to begin working effectively using the instructions you provided. It’s designed to save you time and streamline your ordering process.

Make an informed choice

Connect with a professional writer who best fits your academic needs through our user-friendly essay writing website. Review their ratings, specialties, and feedback, and even chat with them before making your choice. This ensures you find the perfect match for your essay requirements.

Track orders anywhere from our mobile app

How our paper writing service helps you

Our expert essay writers can handle any type of work you need, from essays to research papers. Just pick the paper writer who specializes in your topic.

Master any academic challenge with our expert help on essays, research papers, and more.

We’re here to support you in tackling and understanding complex subjects to enhance your learning experience.

Request presentations, speeches, and miscellaneous projects with our expert, tailored assistance.

Check samples to confirm the quality of our essay service

Strategies and Effects of Motivation in the Workplace

How Does the Concept of Self Influence Communication?

An Analysis of Bill Gates as a Transformational Leader

The Role of Telemedicine in Improving Accessibility to Healthcare

The Role of Nurse Practitioners in Expanding Access to Primary Healthcare Services

Before you decide to "pay someone to write my essay", you probably want to verify the quality you're paying for. Take a look at our essay samples to see the kind of work we do. This way, you know the level of quality to expect from our paper writer service.

Why customers trust our paper writing service

Talk to your writer directly on our platform without sharing your personal contact details. Our writing service protects your information with bank-level security measures.

Steven Bershow

Get highly original and tailored essay writing crafted by carefully chosen writers. We keep a close eye on their work every day to ensure you receive the most authentic work.

Johnathan Diaz

Essay writing service FAQs

Will my essay writer follow the guidelines i specified in my order, can my paper writer make changes to the final version, how do i pick an essay writer who's the best match for me, can you write my essay asap, how do i pay for your paper writing service, when do i have to pay for paper, are there any free features available for your paper writing service, in what formatting style can you write an essay for me, does your paper writing service allow me to add extra details after placing an order, what free features do i get at your essay writing service, how do i get my paper from your essay writing service, can you give me a report of uniqueness after you write my essay, can your experts write my essay online, how do i hire professional essay writers, does your paper writing service have a refund policy, can i add more money for an order after hiring a paper writer and making a deposit, experience a different essay service, the essay writing service with years of experience.

EssayPro has been providing top-quality essay writing services for over a decade. This means managing our customers’ assignments and helping them reduce their workloads. So, why do clients keep choosing our services?

We carefully handpick all our paper writers to ensure that each of them demonstrates the highest level of professionalism, expertise, and dedication. This approach allows us to deliver authentic and highly original papers for everyone who turns to us with a "write my essays" request.

Our experienced essay help team specializes in crafting a variety of paper types at varying levels of complexity. From a simple one-page essay to a thorough and complex dissertation - EssayPro has you covered.

Thanks to our vast experience, we create papers tailored to every customer’s unique needs. And we’re ready to handle any learning challenges you are facing. When you turn to us for help, you will receive the best quality of service within your specified timeframe!

How can hiring an expert essay writer help me?

You're probably contending with a number of different challenges, such as combining studies with sports and other extracurriculars. On top of that, maybe you have a side hustle or even a full-time job to cover your expenses. So, if your life is intense and fast-paced, having a trusted assistant by your side can't hurt. And that’s why EssayPro is here!

By hiring professional essay writers, you're allowing us to take some of the load off your shoulders. When you are busy with a job, sports, family commitments, or anything else, all it takes is to say, “please write my essays for me,” and we will help you get your papers done right and without hassle.

We offer different services and features to ensure your "write my paper" request is completed exactly how you need. Whether you need an essay or any other paper - we’ll take up the challenge. When your papers are due in a week or in just 3 hours - we’ll deliver them on time, or you will receive a refund in accordance with our Refund Policy. And, if you have other things to do or simply want to rest from your struggles - try our essay writer help to regain control of your life!

The fastest way to "write my essay for me"

Our paper writing service team knows that a learner’s life often involves juggling lots of responsibilities and pursuing several important goals at once. But what if you’re constantly drained? You might feel overwhelmed trying to manage your workload, even though you're doing your best.

We’ve been there - it’s not your fault. The thing is, there almost always isn't enough time to handle all your assignments properly. This can put a lot of pressure on you, causing you to be too hard on yourself just to tick all the boxes on your list. Pushing yourself to achieve unrealistic goals makes matters worse, introducing the likelihood of burnout and even depression.

Our "write my paper for me" service was created to help you avoid this. With our essay writing help, every learner can delegate their tasks to professionals who will complete them right on time while following the requirements you provided. Starting from just $11 per page, we give you an opportunity to save your energy for things that matter. And that’s not all!

We realize that you can be in a tight spot when there is no time to complete a paper due in just a few days. The good news is that you can hire an essay writer to deal with this challenge for you. Even if you’re in a rush, we can deliver your paper ASAP without compromising on quality!

Say “write my paper” and get help from top-rated writers

Whether you have a last-minute essay or some extensive research work that you are dealing with, you shouldn’t worry about it when there’s EssayPro by your side. Our essay writing service is always here to give you a helping hand, with top-level professionalism guaranteed.

Our service collaborates with the best paper writers. Our experts hold Bachelor’s, Master’s, and even Ph.D. degrees, and each of them has vast experience crafting papers in their respective fields.

Before we let a new partner work on your "write essay for me" orders, we put them through several rounds of verification and tests to ensure their qualifications are high enough to deliver results at an academic standard. And we require them to study and follow our thorough quality control procedures for the best results.

What else allows us to reach almost 100% satisfaction? Apart from selecting the best authors, we also work with seasoned managers who will supervise their work. We believe that effective supervision is the key to ensuring consistently high quality for every paper we deliver. So, when you pay for essay with us, you always have a quality guarantee.

To reap these benefits, just start an order with our service and pick your perfect expert. Our service operates 24/7, so you can reach us whenever you need.

Once your order is placed and assigned to an expert, they will complete it per your instructions. Our experienced authors will tailor every paper to your unique requirements. And, once the order is ready, you can always download and check it before releasing payment.

Lastly, we give every client 14 or 30 days after an order's completion to request amendments for free.

All these factors make us one of the best writing service providers for you. So, don’t waste any time and get your professional assistance now!

A professional paper writing service you can afford

Whether requesting an essay, or any other type of assistance, with EssayPro, you can afford it! When you place your "write my essay online" order with us, you get:

• User-friendly interface and seamless ordering process
• The best paper writers for hire
• Professional assistance with a variety of paper types
• Customer-centered approach
• Round-the-clock support
• On-time delivery
• Amendments until you consider your paper flawless
• And we make all of it affordable for every learner!

The price for our "write paper for me" services starts from as low as $11 per page. What’s more, we always provide generous discounts while putting those precious hours back into your life. For instance, the further your completion date - the lower the price.

Also, the more pages you order, the more cost-effective our service is.

EssayPro is the perfect balance of accessibility and professionalism. With us, everyone can afford to hire an expert essay writer. It's an investment in the future that results in better performance with less stress. So, don’t miss this chance!

Pick the paper writer you like most

At our essay writing help service, you will find a large pool of qualified essay writers ready to lend you a helping hand. What’s more, when you pay for essays with us, you have the opportunity to select the author that best suits your needs.

Choosing your perfect expert is simple. You can browse specialists by their field of expertise and experience. You will also be able to see their bios, rate of success, customer reviews, and overall ratings, so it’ll be much easier to make the right choice. In addition, you’ll be able to chat with professionals bidding on your order. This way, you can find out even more information about the person who’ll work on your paper.

Need extra help? Don’t worry! Our friendly support team is there for you 24/7. Just drop them a line saying, “I want to pay someone to write my paper,” and they will tell you how to order and pick the most suitable author.

Exceptional "write my essay" experience

We want every customer to have the best experience when they hire an online paper writer. Our paper writing service team does everything possible to deliver a positive client experience. To make good on this commitment, we made our service's interface extremely user-friendly. It is easy to navigate and intuitive, so even new customers can quickly place their "do my essay" orders in minutes.

Apart from this, our support team operates 24/7. This allows customers to ask their questions, receive prompt assistance, and place their “write a paper for me” orders at any time.

We provide high-quality guarantees, collaborate with the best authors, and offer a wide range of other benefits. So, if you are looking to pay someone to write your essay, there is no better place than EssayPro!

What if I’m not satisfied with my "write my essay for me" order?

Although dissatisfaction is rare with our professional essay writers, as we always strive to follow all your instuctions, there may be additional adjustments that you want to make in your paper. And that’s okay!

Sometimes, especially when your "write my paper" order is complex and comes with a broad set of requirements, you may have the need for extra edits. Our team is always open to this. After your order's delivery, you can request unlimited amendments free of charge. So, if it turns out that the final draft of your paper doesn’t align with your initial instructions, don’t hesitate to ask for corrections.

To request edits, you only need to contact the author who completed your paper and explain your concerns. Then, along with our expert QA team, the author will make all the necessary edits to ensure everything meets your requirements from our essay writing service online.

If it turns out that you are completely dissatisfied with the work, which is rare, refunds are possible according to our Refund Policy. If you pay for an essay and are not happy with its quality, you can request a refund within 14 or 30 days upon the completion of your order, depending on your order type.

Do my essay perfectly!

Ready to get top-quality "write a paper for me" assistance? With EssayPro, you are in good hands! All you need to do is say, “please, write my paper for me,” and we will do everything possible to support you!

To ensure that learners can delegate any type of assignment to us, we partner with qualified paper writers with experience in different fields of study. We can easily handle any order regarding business, literature, chemistry, marketing, etc.

Choosing your ideal essay writer online is also easy. We keep our experts’ profiles and ratings publicly visible. So, it never takes too long to find the right professional for your order.

Regardless of the type of help you need and the author you select, with our essay service, you can always expect the best results. All our experts are native English speakers and each of them is capable of:

• Performing in-depth research and finding credible sources
• Completing even the most complex assignments on time
• Meeting the client halfway
• Keeping customer requirements and comments in mind
• Coping with any paper's topic within their area of proficiency

Get help from an online essay writer now

Want to request professional essay writer help and get it right this moment? We have you covered! Just reach out to us and say, “write my paper,” and we will do it for you, regardless of whether it’s due in a week or a day.

Here is how you can make the most of our essay writing service.

Create a personal account

To join EssayPro as a customer, simply provide us with your name and email address or phone number. Then, come up with a password for your account and verify your email.

Give us your requirements

When your personal account is ready, place your "do my essay" order right from the dashboard. It only takes a few moments to fill out the order form and tell us about your assignment.

Assign a suitable author

Check our database of professionals and choose one based on their field of expertise, rating, success rate, and customer feedback. Or just drop a line saying, “I want to pay someone to write my essay” to our customer support and let us find the right expert for you.

Communicate your last-minute requirements

Forgot to mention something important in your "write an essay for me" order? No problem! Use the direct chat feature to contact your author and pass on any last-minute requirements that you have for your paper. Our experts keep your comments in mind when working on your assignment.

Stay in touch

Keep in contact with your assigned expert at every stage of the order process. Use the direct chat feature to monitor your paper's progress, provide additional requirements, or ask any questions that pop up along the way.

Get your tailored paper

When your order is done, you will find a notification in your mailbox. You will be able to download the final draft and ensure that the author has followed all your instructions. If you are happy with the result, pay for your order. And if there is anything that needs to be fixed or changed, feel free to ask for amendments.

That’s how easily you can get help from us!

Get more done with an expert essay writer by your side

Are you completely overwhelmed with work? Struggling to handle daily work and other responsibilities? You've come to the right place as we're set up to alleviate your worries. Make a "write my paper" request and we will make hundreds of qualified and experienced writers available to you. Pick a writer, send them your requirements, and use the opportunity to catch up with your work or other duties, safe in the knowledge that you are getting a tailored paper before your due date.

When you leave us your "do my essay" request, you are assured of highly original work based on the requirements you provided to our essay writing service. We put all our papers through the most commonly used originality software. You can request this report upon order completion to confirm your work's authenticity.

The choice is simple. Get an expert to do your paper writing and give yourself room to breathe. Rest assured, your comfort and confidence in our services remain our top priority. So if you want to "pay someone to write my essay," you've come to the best place. The final result is tailored, highly original writing that is affordable and will help you save time and avoid headaches!

Essay writing service that keeps your data safe

Getting paper writing help is not a shameful practice, yet we understand the wishes of our customers to keep their personal information safe. That's why we only partner with world-renowned payment gateways, which implement the highest levels of encryption, ensuring that both your personal data and card information are in safe hands.

Say "help write my essay" knowing that you won't be exposed and that your data is protected using bank-level security standards. Hire essay writers and work with real pros. Gain access to a unique set of bonuses and enjoy more free time for what you love!