Essay writing assignments are common for high school students, and essays are important in the college application process. But they’re not the only ones who need to know how to write short, compelling essays: professionals taking examinations like the LSAT or IELTS also need to know how.
Essays and writing projects don’t have to terrify you if you don’t think of yourself as a wordsmith. Writing down your views on any topic will be simpler after you master the fundamental procedures and typical structures.
What Kinds of Essays Can You Write?
Essays can take on a variety of formats. The following types are among the most typical:
Writing a narrative essay allows you to communicate facts in the form of a story from a specific point of view.
Expository essays: These essays clarify, exemplify, or explain a subject. Step-by-step instructions and teaching materials are also included.
Descriptive Essays: Descriptive essays accomplish precisely what their name implies—they provide a thorough description of a certain event, occurrence, or other topic.
The purpose of a persuasive essay is to persuade the reader to adopt a particular viewpoint or opinion.
Essay Comparing and Contrasting: This style of writing identifies the similarities and differences between two or more items.
Problem-Solution Essay: This essay identifies a problem, makes the reader care about it, offers a fix, and addresses any potential objections.
How Should I Start My Essay?
Staring at a blank page is the most terrifying experience for a writer. You should therefore have a strategy in place before beginning your best website for essay writing.
1. Select the format and subject of your essay.
You may occasionally already have an assigned essay genre or topic, in which case you will save a step. You must come up with potential writing subjects if they weren’t given to you. Additionally, this will influence the kind of essay you will be composing.
To come up with a decent topic, try asking yourself the following questions:
- What do I feel particularly enthusiastic about?
- What is the one notion or thought I wish to convey?
- Is there a misunderstanding that I should clear up?
- What is the most effective approach to communicate this material (in terms of the many essay types)?
2. Think about and research the subject you’ve selected.
Once you’ve decided on a topic, come up with all the possible supporting points you can make. Start by outlining the fundamentals of your concept and posing what, where, who, when, why, and how questions.
To come up with connected ideas, you may either use the Mind Map technique or simply make a list of bullet points as you come across them while conducting your research.
If your subject warrants it and time permits, you might want to think about conducting brief interviews with subject-matter experts. These will act as the essay’s main sources.
3. Formulate a thesis statement.
Write out your thesis statement once you’ve done some research and brainstorming. A thesis statement is a paragraph or two that summarizes the main idea or point of your essay.
The thesis statement typically introduces your primary point while also outlining your point of view on it.
4. Produce an outline.
You can begin to create your outline once you have a thesis statement. Many people disregard the outline process because they believe it is time-consuming.
However, creating an outline can actually help you organize your thoughts before you begin writing and save you time because you won’t be wasting it by going around in circles or hopping from one concept to another without a clear plan.
The five-paragraph essay is a typical essay format that has the following paragraphs:
Introduction and central contention
First Main Point Second Main Point Third Conclusion
Despite having five paragraphs, this form can simply be converted into a five-part essay structure using the same concept. This means that while we will follow the pattern, each important argument can require more than one paragraph to fully develop.
Make sure each paragraph in your outline contains just one primary idea. If you make too many points in one paragraph, your reader can become lost. Ensure that each of your primary points relates to your thesis statement.
5. Commit to writing.
You can now start drafting your essay using your outline. Some authors prefer to start with the hook and write their paragraphs in order. The opening sentences of your essay are the hook, which will draw readers in.
Well and good if you can come up with the hook right away. If not, don’t panic; you can always revisit it after writing your essay’s body. Additional advice for crafting the body of your essay is provided below:
- Give each of your primary points at least one paragraph’s worth of explanation. Please feel free to write longer if any of your primary points demand more than one paragraph apiece.
- It is beneficial to have a brief opening paragraph for any issue that requires two paragraphs or more.
- Try to be as brief as you can.
- If it will help you make your point more apparent, use anecdotal examples.
- A formal academic essay should not contain first-person pronouns.
6. Be mindful of your reference citation style.
Utilizing other people’s ideas was regarded in ancient Greece as a sign of intelligence. But since plagiarism is now a serious crime, you must be cautious while citing other people’s work.
Make sure to paraphrase any ideas you find during your research rather than duplicating them verbatim in order to avoid plagiarism. Put them in quotations if you decide to use them verbatim.
Use the correct citations after that. Plagiarism involves more than just literal copying; if at all possible, the source of the idea should be cited. You can use either the APA or MLA citation styles for your in-text references, depending on your teacher’s preferences.
7. Check your writing.
After completing your initial draft, edit and check it to ensure that all grammatical and spelling errors have been eliminated. When doing this, you can use a program like Grammarly to have new “eyes” check your work, but don’t just rely on software; always review your work at least once yourself or have another (human) do it!
When editing, be mindful of the language you use. Get rid of any extraneous words, and practice substituting strong verbs for weak ones.
Additionally, make sure that the information in your essay is accurate, especially when you cite other sources.
Essay Writing Advice
If you follow these suggestions, writing essays will quickly become lot simpler for you, and you’ll start to notice improvements in all of your writing.
If you keep at it, you’ll discover that it’s lot simpler to put your ideas down on paper and make a cohesive argument for your audience.
