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Discursive writing is one of the three extended response types in the HSC exam that students fear most but it’s not as intimidating as it seems. 

Think of a discursive response as taking the reader on a thoughtful walk. You start somewhere small – a moment, an object, a feeling – and follow the path of your curiosity. Along the way the terrain shifts: you notice contradictions, questions, memories, changes in perspective, and you share these with the reader. There’s no pressure to arrive at a grand destination; the appeal of discursive writing lies in the wandering itself.

In this guide, we’ll take one of those “walks” together and turn it into a clear, exam-friendly discursive response, step by step.

If you’re new to discursive writing, or need a simple refresher of what makes a strong discursive response, I’ve explained the essentials here:

• Explained Simply: What is a Discursive Response?
• Explained Simply: What Makes a Good Discursive Response?

Now let’s walk through how to actually write one, step by step.

Six Steps

Step One: Choose a Flexible But Intriguing Idea

A good discursive topic should be broad enough for you to wander through, but also contain tensions and contradictions. These create the possibility of surprises and unexpected revelations. Your topic could be a single word, person, place, object or a simple question. 

Today, our discursive response will focus on a single concept: Burnout. 

Why it works:

• relatable
• modern
• full of contradictions
• allows humour and seriousness
• easy to move between personal and social insights

General Tips for Choosing a Topic

• Avoid issues that force a “for/against” stance (that becomes persuasive writing).
• Choose something that invites questions, not answers.
• Good topics often involve tension

Step Two: Jot down your main moves

Now, we want to create a loose map of ideas and examples you might explore. Your examples could be personal, literary, historical or social. Here are what some of your notes might look like – keep in mind each bullet point would represent a ‘movement’ which could be a cluster of short paragraphs:

• Common sense says burnout should be avoided and yet it is the default setting of our culture
• Sometimes, burn out is a necessity – think of a brain surgeon performing life saving surgery for 30+ hours, a student cramming for exams, a small business owner trying to meet daily quotas 
• For others still, burn out is a badge of honour. Think of Sisyphus or a self sacrificing parent, exhausted but gratified 
• Society tells us to rest but rewards us for overworking 

Step Three: Write an Engaging Opening

Discursive openings should feel human, not mechanical. Start with a moment, image or observation. Today, let’s start with a simile. 

We’ve all felt this: days that begin like an extinguished cigarette. The embers throb with flashes of heat and light, but in mere moments it crumbles into ash. The day is over before it’s begun. Burnout. The importance of rest is regularly touted – not only by professionals but even by that obscure uncle you’ve met only once before – and yet, for some of us, burnout feels like a default setting.

Why this works

• Begins in a moment
• Uses metaphor without sounding try-hard
• Introduces tone (reflective and conversational)
• Frames the topic without defining it like an essay

General Tips for Openings

• Start small (a detail, an object, a habit).
• Avoid rigid definitions (“Burnout is when…”).
• Let the voice lead – you’re inviting the reader in, not lecturing them.

Step Four: Start Wandering

This is the part of your discursive response where you explore tensions, questions or perspectives on your chosen topic. A tension is simply an unresolved issue or contradiction within your topic.

Aim to write two or three short movements. Each movement is a small cluster of paragraphs exploring one angle or perspective on your topic. Every movement should take us somewhere new – even slightly new.

Here is an example of a movement:

Lately I’ve found myself thinking of Sisyphus at the base of his hill: eyes determined, muscles trembling beneath the weight of the boulder. He heaves it upward, feet scraping against the gravel, only to watch it tumble back down again. There’s a kind of tragic rhythm to it – effort, collapse, repeat – that feels unsettlingly familiar.

But burnout rarely looks so dramatic in real life. Most of the time, it’s me staring at a maths problem until the numbers blur together, willing myself to pick up the pencil while my body refuses the command. It looks embarrassingly ordinary: not an epic struggle on a mountain but a quiet one at a desk.

And yet, I can’t deny the strange camaraderie I feel with Sisyphus. There is something awe-inspiring in the resilience it takes to push a metaphorical boulder up a hill every day, even while risking permanent depletion. We talk about mental fortitude as if it’s heroic – a fire that refuses to be extinguished, no matter the conditions.

Or maybe that’s exactly the problem. Maybe it’s this kind of legend that romanticises burnout before we even know we’re caught in it. 

General Tips

Notice how the response starts by ‘zooming in’ to a particular example – in this case, the myth of Sisyphus – and then ‘zooms out’ to offer an insight about burnout. That zoom in/zoom out pattern is a useful way to structure a movement. Notice how the ‘wandering’ explored contradictions to add complexity and nuance – it helps. 

Here are some other tips:

• Let each movement make a shift – time, place, angle, tone.
• Use contradictions to add nuance.
• Keep paragraphs short and voice-driven.
• Avoid sounding like an essay body paragraph. Use personal pronouns and inclusive language. 
• Make personal connections through micro anecdotes (like the one about the math problem)
• Make social connections (to trends in society, current news, etc) 

Step Five: Land the Response

Discursive responses don’t need dramatic conclusions. Aim for an ending that circles back, opens a question or offers a quiet realisation.

If there’s one thing these seventeen years have taught me, it’s this: when the inner light begins to dim, when the embers glow softly and the crackle of sparks fades, we don’t need to panic. Burnout feels final but in reality, the fire just needs oxygen. What was once a tiny flame can return as a full-bodied light, rippling with power and warmth. 

Nothing stays extinguished forever. 

We can give ourselves room to breathe.

General Tips for Endings

• Return to an image or idea from the opening – we can see this in the motif of the fire which reemerges here. 
• Resist the urge to “sum up.” – the final paragraph shouldn’t be a list of all the ideas and perspectives you’ve explored. 
• Instead, end with a question, image or reflection – not a takeaway message.
• Aim to inspire feeling or emotion, present a call to action. 

Step Six: Quick Edits

Before you finish, ask yourself:

• Does my writing sound like me, or like a textbook?
  • Is there a clear voice (personal, conversational, reflective)?
• Does my opening hook the reader?
  • Does it begin with a moment, image, or observation?
• Have I included at least 2–3 shifts in idea or perspective?
  • (Different angles, contradictions, movements.)
• Did I use examples or images to offer relief from abstract reflection?
  • (Moments of concreteness: objects, details, micro anecdotes.)
• Does each section flow naturally into the next?
  • Or are the transitions abrupt?
• Have I added moments of specificity?
  • A detail, object, metaphor, or anecdote.
• Is there variety in my sentences?
  • A mix of short, long, fragmented, rhetorical.
• Have I used language techniques to add texture and interest?
  • (Metaphor, contrast, motif, zooming in/out.)
• Is everything linked to the central idea?
  • No rants, no tangents.
• Is my ending gentle and reflective, not moralising?
  • Does the final line invite thought rather than summarise?
• Have I read it out loud at least once?
  • You’ll hear clunky phrasing or missing words more easily than you’ll see them.
• Would someone genuinely want to keep reading this?
  • If not – where does it lose energy?

Next Steps: Explore the Discursive Writing Series

This guide is part of a seven-part series on discursive writing.

• Explained Simply: What Is Discursive Writing?
• Explained Simply: What Makes a Good Discursive Response?
• Sample Module C Discursive Response
• How to Write a Discursive Response (Step-by-Step Guide)
• Tips and Tricks for Module C Discursive Writing 
• A Complete Set of Discursive Practice Questions
• 38 Discursive Writing Topics (From Easy Starters to Exam-Level Prompts)