Writing - Essay Writing
How to Write an Essay in 8 Simple Steps

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WRITING - ESSAY WRITING

HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY IN 8 SIMPLE STEPS

The Essay - Structure and Format of an Essay

Essay writing is something that all students should know when it comes to their studies. It is a way that they can be evaluated in tests and examinations or a way to express their opinions. An essay has several factors involved in the structure though.

First and foremost is the introduction of the entire piece of writing. The introduction is a brief summary of what the essay is about, the essay’s purpose, and what the ultimate message is. This first paragraph often has a thesis statement of the topic, or the overall idea of the essay. It is also the part that will entice the reader to keep on reading. When a reader finishes reading the introduction he or she will know what the whole essay is about. Now, all you have to do is deliver what your introduction has promised in the body.

Next is the body of the essay. This is where the explanations and arguments take place to form justifications of the topic mentioned. The main points are placed in the sections which make up the body. Each section of the body should support the thesis statement of the essay (purpose statement).

The body is where ideas are described and elaborated on to make the topic clearer. The body of the essay can be separated by each different idea. There should be no more than one idea per paragraph.

Last is the conclusion of essay which sums up everything that the essay is about. A few main points are illustrated here and the main message is reiterated with a finality of what has been delivered in the essay. This last paragraph closes the entire essay so that readers won't be left hanging.

With this format in mind, it is very easy to write an essay about anything at all. It only takes the introduction, body, and conclusion to form a complete and cohesive essay for readers. Using the points above in essay writing will provide readers with the impression that your writing skill is organized and top-notch.

Essay Pre-Writing Stage – Topic – Research - Outline

Before you write an essay there are two things you need to do, plan, and plan. Planning your essay is quite simple and easy. If done right, the planning stage will be the longest part of the essay writing because after you have planned the essay writing will be very swift and smooth.

Topic Generation

Maybe you have a topic already, if not, here is what you can do to get one. First, are there any guidelines you must follow? Or, is the topic completely open? If open, you can choose your own theme. For example “Summer”.

Now, write the word summer in the middle of a piece of paper, and circle it. Now you can start brainstorming about summer. To do this, just write down anything that comes to your mind when you think of the theme “summer”.

Example: Summer = warm, August, July, nice, fun, swimming, hot, air conditioner, vacation, beach, soccer, green grass, outside, camping, butterflies

When you do this, feel free to take longer, maybe 10 or 15 minutes, but even 3 to 5 minutes should be plenty.

After you have a lot of brainstorming finished, now you can move on to the next stage which is to narrow your idea or topic. A good way to do this is by what interests you. For example I love the beach, so, as one of the brainstorming words which came up was “beach, I will write about a beach in the summer as my topic.

I am still not specific enough, so I will have to come up with an essay purpose, or thesis statement. To do this, I have to think of what problem, or unique feature exists about a beach in the summer. This stage can be called the stage where you will “focus your topic”.

While I am thinking about a beach in the summer, my problem is that I can’t choose which beach I will write about. This actually gives me a great idea. I can write about several beaches in the summer. My topic can be the 5 best beaches in central Nova Scotia (a province in Canada). I will rate the beaches based on a few factors. I can rate them based on distance from Halifax (the capital city of Nova Scotia), warmth of water, overall quality of beach – busy, clean, facilities such as washrooms, change rooms, and special features).

There! I did it, I have chosen and narrowed a topic. I will now choose the title of the essay. “The absolute 5 best beaches in Nova Scotia.” Now I am ready for the next pre-writing stage which is the researching stage.

Research

Research can be quite easy with the internet. However, make sure you don’t plagiarize someone else’s words. To plagiarize means to use someone else’s words and not give them credit. It is the same as stealing. To avoid plagiarizing, make sure if you quote someone, or use an idea someone else came up with you will give them credit by telling your reader where you got the information.

With that said, you can now begin your research by using sites such as Google, or Wikipedia as starting points. In the sample topic above I would probably first start by Googling where the beaches are close to Halifax. I would come up with a list of 5 major beaches and then begin to research each one of them to see what I come up with.

At this stage you may decide to modify (change) some of your earlier plan as you learn more about the topic from researching. This is perfectly fine, you are in charge, you are the one writing so do what pleases you. The more you care about the topic, the more energy you will put into it and the more interesting it will be.

Remember, as you research, make notes of the points you want to remember. This will make the outlining and writing stages much easier.

Outline

Now, perhaps the most important part of an essay is the outline. When you prepare to write an essay, it is important that you write an outline of what the essay will look like. If you outline your essay properly, the writing will much easier, smoother and be completed a lot faster than if you don’t. The reader will also enjoy reading a well prepared essay much more.

To outline, follow this simple example:

• Essay Title
• Introduction
• What do you want to say in the introduction? Make sure you state the purpose of the essay
• Body
• Idea 1
• Idea 2
• Idea 3
• Conclusion

You can start to fill in the outline in point form from your research notes you made. Make

Write

This is now the easiest part and should go smooth. The important thing at this stage is to write a complete draft of the whole essay based on your outline. This is called your first draft.

Once you completed your first draft, you should proof-read it. While you proofread, you can check your spelling, grammar, accuracy and ideas. You will probably make some changes as you proofread. It is a good idea to ask someone to help you proofread for you.

Once you finished proofreading, you can rewrite. This will be your second draft. You can continue to repeat the proofreading and rewriting until you have a final product that you are satisfied with.

Now you know how to write an essay. Happy writing!

Summary – How to write an essay in 8 simple steps

• Choose a theme (can be anything)
• Write the theme on a piece of paper and start brainstorming
• Narrow and choose a topic
• Focus topic – the title of the essay
• Research
• Modify topic as needed, if you prefer
• Outline
• Write, proofread and write again