When you receive a task to write an essay, it could seem quite easy at first. Then you stand face to face with a problem and do not know, what to write, how to start etc. Therefore, you waste a lot of time for nothing.
This article will help you to learn not only how to write essays of high quality quickly and easy, but also how to enjoy the process of writing.
The whole act of creating an essay consists of separate parts, which together if they are done accurately, give the expected result. Each part of work is important for the quality of an essay so there are ten tips which advice how to write an essay and to improve the skills of the author.
1. Planning
Mostly people miss this first step of doing any work and then they have many problems during the process. An effective planning will help you to manage all the demands of an essay and to avoid the chaos while further working. When you need to write an essay, you should think attentively about the time of writing, the topic and the structure. It is easier to work with the confidence about your further steps.
2. Choosing a topic
There are two possible situations: you have a concrete topic as one of the demands of an essay or you are free to decide, what you want to write. Do not miss this tip if your topic is already given. In any case, you should think about the ways of giving an information, about the impressive and interesting facts to include in the essay and, if needed, about the aspect you want pay attention to. When you have no topic defined, it is at the same time harder and easier to write. Picking the topic is one more step that takes the time but when you make the right choice, the process of writing is not a task anymore, but the thing you WANT to spend time to. Therefore, when you pick the topic, think carefully about the aspects that disturb you or are interesting. Is there something you want to say or to share the information about? Then write about it!
3. Defining the purpose and structure
It is important to know, what the main purpose of the essay is because there follow different types of further work. If you need to persuade the reader, you should write passionately and if the task is to share the information, the accent on your subjective opinion will not be appropriate. If you are applying for a scholarship, your aim is to make people notice and remember you. So it completely differs from a university essay. So don’t forget to check how to write winning scholarship essay before sending it.
4. Preparing an outline
To systemize your thoughts on the topic is one of the most important things for preparing the essay. You should think properly, what the introduction and the conclusion could be. Then find main points for the body of your future essay. Remember that they should be concrete and different from each other. The strongest point always comes first to attract the reader. There are many ways of creating an outline: the list, the diagram or the mind map. Choose that one, which you are easier to imagine and to understand.
5. Choosing the thesis statement
This is the main idea of your essay so be careful when formulating it. The thesis statement is understood as the transition from the topic to the all the text. Therefore, there are two parts: claiming the topic and the main thought of an essay, which usually narrows the topic.
6. Writing the body
After writing the thesis statement, which is in general your introduction, you should give the proofs for it. Usually there are three main points that help to develop the main idea of an essay. Each point should be the separate paragraph. The best way to cope with the body is to write the idea as the first sentence of the paragraph and then widen it by giving the examples and explaining. Do not forget to link the paragraphs together because they are parts of one whole thing.
7. Improving the introduction
As it was said, the main part of the introduction is the thesis statement. At the same time, it is necessary to attract the reader from the first lines of your essay, so you need to find the original and persuasive words. It can be some fact, statistics or the quote, depending on the specifics of the chosen topic.
8. Summarizing
The last part of an essay is the conclusion. If you followed all the instructions above, then writing the conclusion is easy. You need to sum up all you have written and to give one memorable sentence, which brings the same idea that the thesis statement. There are two important rules: do not repeat the thesis statement and avoid of bringing something new. All the information must be in the body.
9. Adding the Markers
To make your essay interesting and attractive, you should use transitions between the parts. You can also emphasize the main points (one or two important words will be enough). The reader finds it easier to perceive the information that is given like that.
10. Revising
Many people are too lazy to revise what they have written and then their works look dirty and hard to read. Make sure you have no spelling and grammar mistakes, revise the style. Re-read your essay in two or three hours after finishing finding the mistakes and correcting them. Many online-services can help to edit your text. And when you copied some thoughts from the other sources, you can use PlagTracker. to have your essay re-written.
After reading all these tips writing an essay seems to be a piece of cake, does not it? Then if you need to write something, you should start right now, while you have that special inspiration.
Written by: Julie Petersen