How to Write an Essay
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Essay writing can be elevated to art or an incredible chore. An essay needs to get its points across clearly and succinctly, but not be so dry that your audience is bored to tears. Really, an essay isn t that much different than a short story--it should be well-organized, well-written and engaging.
Difficulty:
Moderate
Instructions
Things You ll Need
- Internet access (for research)
- Library card
- Word processor
- A topic
1. Determine the topic. If this is not a direct assignment (for class, publication, etc.) find a topic that interests you. Also, try and offer a fresh perspective on a topic. Decide if the essay needs to be a general overview of a particular subject or a very detailed and specific account.
2- Determine if you want to persuade people about a certain argument or want to write an informational, non-biased essay.
3- Write a thesis statement. This will help determine the overall theme for the essay.
4 - Outline. This includes both a structural and thematic outline. What are the major themes you want to cover? Once this is determined, create a structural outline--how each paragraph builds on information in the previous paragraph. An outline is useful for a page-long essay or an entire thesis. Outlining means writing the main topic header for a paragraph, and a number of sub-headings, using Roman numerals for main topics, and a,b,c for sub-headings.
5 -Research. If you re just starting as an essayist, choose a topic you know something about--or, at the very least, something you want to learn about. If you re a practiced essayist choose a topic that can be easily researched. The Internet has made essay research a lot easier because you have virtual library s worth of information on your desktop. Take notes on research materials and see how the information works into the outline from Step 4.
6 -Begin writing: Taking into account your thesis, theme, research and outline. Start with an introductory paragraph. This should give a sense of what is going to be covered in the essay, without giving too much away. It will also set up the tone of the essay; either informational, conversational, or persuasive. After the intro, each paragraph should have a topic sentence and information to support that topic sentence--this information should be part of your outline. The conclusion should sum up what was covered by the essay, without being overly repetitive.
Tips & Warnings
· Use personal anecdotes, dialog, unique information and even humor to help keep the essay from being overly dry.
· Don t expect the essay to be perfect right out of the starting gate. Much can be fixed in revision. You should seriously consider doing a number of drafts, not just one or two. In the first draft, try to get the basic framework down with the main ideas and research. You can perfect the language in later drafts.