According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a simple meaning of 'writing' is ‘the activity or work of writing books, poems, stories, etc.,' and the word ‘essay’ means ‘a short piece of writing that tells a person's thoughts or opinions about a subject.' If you add them together, 'essay writing' means ‘the activity of writing something that tells a person's thoughts or opinions about a subject.' This is important because writing about your thoughts has many advantages.

But nowadays, people sometimes say, ‘Why should we bother to write when the AI can write a flawless essay in 20 seconds?’ Well, there are many reasons why writing an essay is good, and here are some of my thoughts.

First, writing essays helps you organize your thoughts. You can write about your thoughts on paper, and this will help you think about what you want to say or what you want to be. For example, if you want to say something but don’t know exactly how to say it, you can organize what comes to your mind on a piece of paper. People might listen to you better if you told them about your thoughts in an organized manner than just saying it randomly. You can figure out what you think by writing and thinking about it.

Second, writing your thoughts on paper has a lasting effect. If you talk to people about your thoughts, only a few people around you will get to know. But if you write them on paper, many people could read them no matter when or where. For example, if you want to tell people in your apartment building not to smoke because the smell bothers you, you could tell your neighbors about it. However, simply telling people something might not be enough since they could easily forget or misunderstand your request. But if you write your thoughts on paper and post them on the notice board in your neighborhood for everyone to see, more people will read them and if they don’t understand, they can always reread them.

Lastly, as you express your opinions, you can also practice supporting them with reasons to persuade others. People around you can read your essay and give you advice on your writing, and you can improve your essay based on their advice. For example, while I was preparing for a report on helping the Earth, I looked up various sources to back up my arguments. And people around me helped by advising what I should add or fix. But that was possible because I decided to write something to help protect the Earth. How else can you get proper advice if you don’t put your thoughts and supporting reasons into writing? This is precisely why you need writing practice to learn how to persuade people.