How to Write an Essay

Guide Note

Essay writing is one of the most useful tools you will develop as a student. They will appear throughout coursework from the time you begin learning how to write in elementary school until you finish your college education. If you've recently been asked to write an essay and don't know where to start, you've come to the right place. The following information will walk you through the essay writing process step-by-step.

Table of Contents

Essay Writing Tips
  1. Determine the type of essay you need to write.
  2. Choose a topic.
  3. Do your research.
  4. Write a thesis statement.
  5. Back up your thesis statement through body paragraphs.
  6. Wrap up your paper and revisit the thesis in conclusion.
  7. Don't be afraid to reorder sentences or even paragraphs.
  8. Proofread for grammar, structure and spelling.
  9. Type up your final draft.
  10. Cite any outside sources.

Introduction

  • One of the earliest forms of structured writing they teach elementary school students is the five paragraph essay. The essay is designed to help writer's put their thoughts into perspective so they can share opinions, provide instructions, compare differences or demonstrate their knowledge on a particular subject. While the very idea of writing an essay may intimidate many students, it is a skill you will call upon again and again throughout your academic career, and possibly even find useful in your field of employment.

Types of Essays

(Creative Commons photo by Fabio)
(Creative Commons photo by Fabio)
  • Essays are everywhere when you're a student. They turn up as assignments, on exams and are even required by many of the different types of applications you will need to fill out. Everything from college admissions to grant and scholarship applications will all require you to write some form of essay to demonstrate your communication skills and writing competency. Below are some of the more popular types of essays you are likely to encounter:
  1. Narrative Essays: Narrative essays are relative pieces of writing about personal experiences, thoughts or revelations we've had.1
    • Instructors begin teaching early writing skills using the five paragraph essay to teach young writers how to organize and present their ideas. Many, but not all, five paragraph essays will take on the narrative form.2
  2. Persuasive Essays: Persuasive essays give you the opportunity to argue for what you believe in in the hopes of swaying non-believers to your opinion.3
  3. How To Essays: How To essays are great way to teach other's how to do things you are knowledgeable in.4
  4. Comparative Essays: Comparative essays are used to explore the differences between two subjects.5
  5. Application Essays: The application essay, whether it is part of a college admissions form or a scholarship, is your opportunity to present yourself professionally and honestly to a committee or panel. This written presentation has the ability to determine their future dealings with you.6
  6. Exam Essays: Essays on exams will become more and more common the higher you climb on the education ladder. These on-the-fly essays require you to compile your knowledge quickly into focused, organized and well written responses.7

Step 1: Before You Start Writing

(Creative Commons photo by erloteiel)
(Creative Commons photo by erloteiel)
  • Once you've determined the type of essay you need to write, you will want to start planning for the writing process.

Choosing a Topic

  • Before you begin you will need to establish the topic for your essay. In some cases your instructor will have already assigned a central topic for you to write about. If your topic has chosen for you, make sure you understand exactly what is expected.8
  1. Is it a general overview of a subject?8
  2. Are you expected to do a specific analysis?8
  • If the topic hasn't been assigned then it's up to you.
  1. Brainstorm for ideas.9
  2. Don't just settle on the first topic that comes to mind. Give yourself some time to explore the options.10
  3. Choose wisely and within your means.
  4. Find a topic that interests you so you remain enthusiastic about the essay.
  5. Don't pick a topic that is too broad.
  6. Factor in research time.
  7. Take into consideration your present knowledge on a subject if you have to write a How To essay.8
  8. If you're being asked to persuade, make sure you're passionate about the topic.8

Researching Your Topic

  • After you've settled on a topic, you'll want to start doing research. Familiarize yourself with everything you can find on that topic, and make yourself an expert.
  1. Visit your local library to study up.
  2. Read up in both books and magazines for information.11
  3. Surf the web for reliable sources of information.10
  4. Take advantage of on-campus resources. For example if you're a university student writing an essay on the use of psychological warfare, visit the psychology department and do some research there.
  5. Take good notes so you have information to refer back to.10
  6. While writing down ideas, be sure to include your own thoughts as well.12

What's Your Point?

  • Once you've taken some time to research your topic, you'll be able to more easily narrow it down to a central focus. This central focus will be the thesis of your essay.13
  1. Be sure your thesis is strong enough to build an entire essay.
  2. Your thesis should be easy to establish in one sentence. This sentence is called the thesis sentence.13
  3. The focus of your entire essay must be contained within your thesis statement.13

Making Your Proposal

  • Some instructors will require you to turn in a proposal before you can start writing your essay. Your proposal should include:
  1. A fully fleshed-out summary of your thesis.14
  2. Points to back up your thesis.14
  3. A bibliography of your research.14

Step 2: The Outline

(Creative Commons photo by Wei Zhong Goh)
(Creative Commons photo by Wei Zhong Goh)
  • After you've gathered all of the information you need for a strong essay, you'll want to sit down and organize it. Once you have the information organized you can start formulating the outline for your essay.

Opening Paragraph and Thesis

  • Your introductory paragraph establishes the entire premise of your essay. Use your outline:
  1. Review and reread your ideas.15
  2. Confirm your thesis statement.
  3. Gather some facts you can use to introduce and strengthen your thesis.
  4. Write one sentence that summarizes the paragraph.15

The Body Paragraphs

  • Whether your essay will contain only three body paragraphs, as per the five paragraph essay, or numerous paragraphs, organization is key.
  1. Summarize each paragraph in one sentence.15
  2. Outline each point you plan to use to reinforce your thesis statement.
  3. Organize facts and notes you plan to use.16
  4. Go over the order you plan to present your facts in to make sure everything falls into place.17
    • If your essay is instructional make sure all the steps are in the right order.

Summary Paragraph

  • The summary paragraph is used to wrap it all up.
  1. Restate all the important facts from the body of your essay.17
  2. Revisit your thesis statement from the first paragraph to show how your idea or argument has come full circle.17

Step 3: Writing Your Essay

(Creative Commons photo by re_birf)
(Creative Commons photo by re_birf)
  • With a solid outline, the writing of your essay will be much simpler. The ideas have already been mapped out, your notes are organized and facts supported. Here are a few things to remember while writing out your first through final drafts.
  1. Give credit to all sources for ideas that are not 100% your own. Plagiarizing someone else's content is the fastest way to land yourself a failing grade and the disrespect of your peers and instructors.18
  2. Write fresh! Keep your audience in mind while writing at all times. The more fresh and natural the writing flows, the easier it will be on your audience.19
  3. Even if you're sharing your opinion, keep your essay strong by avoiding "opinion style" language.17
    • For example, instead of writing: "It would seem that Beverly only missed work on days she felt depressed."
    • write: "Beverly only missed work on days she felt depressed."
  4. Type your essay. The only exception to this unspoken rule is on the essay exam. All other types of essays should be typed.19
  5. Use proper grammar, syntax and spelling at all times.
  6. Most formal essays are not written in first person, so avoid interjecting "I" or "me" into the facts.5

Step 4: Proofreading and Revising

(Creative Commons photo by Chaparral)
(Creative Commons photo by Chaparral)
  • As with any type of writing, one of the most important steps is proofreading for errors.
  1. Read carefully and closely.20
  2. Leave it alone for a couple of hours and then come back to read it again.21
  3. Ask a trusted friend to look over it for you.
  4. Double check your thesis statement to make sure it's clear.22
  5. Don't rely on computer spell-check or grammar-check.
  6. Make sure your sentence structure is accurate, and all paragraphs have a topic sentence.22
  7. Don't be afraid to revise and rearrange sentences, and in some cases whole paragraphs, to make things flow more easily.5
  8. Remember that you're not done until everything reads exactly the way you want it to.

Conclusion

  • No matter what kind of essay you are writing, clear and concise writing coupled with a strong thesis backed by facts is the formula for a winning paper. Writing an essay is all about convincing your readers how exciting your topic is. Even if you find yourself assigned a topic you're not familiar with, get passionate about it, and make yourself an expert so that knowledge shines through in every sentence. Brushing up on your essay skills now is a great way to ensure that you're ready to write an essay anytime, and you'll have a leg up when your instructor surprises the class with an unexpected essay exam.

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References for How to Write an Essay

  1. ↑ Papyr.com: Narrative Essay
  2. ↑ About.com: How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay
  3. ↑ MidLakes.org: Persuasive Essays
  4. ↑ Angela Booth's Writing Blog: How to Write a How To Essay
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 wikiHow: Write a Comparative Essay
  6. ↑ Foothill.edu: application essay
  7. ↑ OWL: Writing Essay Exams
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Guide to Writing a Basic Essay: Choose a Topic
  9. ↑ How to Write an Essay: Pre-writing Your Essay
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 KimberlyChapman.com: How to Write an Essay: Research
  11. ↑ English at Birmingham: Collecting the Material
  12. ↑ WritingDEN: Prewriting Essays
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 WritingDEN: Introduction Paragraph
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 KimberlyChapman.com: How to Write an Essay: The Proposal
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 How to Write an Essay: Building an Outline for Your Essay
  16. ↑ Guide to Writing a Basic Essay: Organize Your Ideas
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 About.com: How to Write an Essay  WARNING: Pop-ups
  18. ↑ KimberlyChapman.com: How to Write an Essay: The Finished Product
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 English at Birmingham: Main Heading
  20. ↑ How to Write an Essay: Reviewing and Revising
  21. ↑ Guide to Writing a Basic Essay: Add the Finishing Touches
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 WritingDEN: Editing Essays

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