Steps to Write an Essay

Many students need help writing an essay. If you don’t know how to write an essay, it can be a very difficult thing to do. Here is an approach to making writing an essay a more manageable task.

Getting started on your essay

Before you start writing an essay, you need to decide three things. What are you writing about? Who do you imagine will be reading your essay? What do you want to tell them? A popular kind of essay is to offer your reader an opinion or argument.

You can write a successful essay by starting off with a plan. The key to doing a successful essay is to break the writing down into short, simple steps.

Pre-writing for your essay

Begin by brainstorming. Brainstorming doesn't involve writing complete sentences or paragraphs. Brainstorming involves coming up with ideas in words or short phrases.

* Main idea for your essay
Write down the main idea of your essay. To express your main idea, write only a few words.

* Brainstorming “for” your main idea
Write a word or a phrase that relates to your main idea. This should be something about your main idea that you agree with.

Next, write another word or phrase relating to your main idea. This should also be something about your main idea that you agree with.

Now, write a third word or phrase relating to your main idea that you agree with.
* Brainstorming “against” your main idea
Write a word or a phrase that relates to your main idea. This should be something about your main idea that you disagree

Try writing a second or phrase relating to your main idea. This too should something about your main idea that you disagree with.

Now, write down a third word or phrase relating to your main idea that you disagree with.

Building an outline for your essay

Building an outline is like drawing a map of your essay. The job of an outline is to sum up each paragraph in your essay. Outlining doesn’t involve writing complete paragraphs. But outlining is a good time to write a few sentences. Think of these as your topic sentences.

* Introductory paragraph of your essay
Reread your main idea. Now, write a complete sentence about your main idea.

* First part of essay body
Reread your words or phrases that you agree with. Write a complete sentence using each.

* Second part of essay body
Reread your words or phrases that you disagree with. Write a complete sentence using each.

* Finally, reread your whole outline. Finish organizing your thoughts. Decide if you like the order of your topic sentences, or need to change the order a little.

Writing a draft of your essay

A lot of people get nervous when it’s time to write. Don’t worry. This is going to be your first draft. The important thing is to add more to your topic sentences.

* Introductory paragraph of your essay
Reread your introductory sentence. Add a one or two more sentences explaining your main idea. Remember that the job of your introductory paragraph is to get your reader’s attention.

* Essay body
Reread your topic sentences. Each topic sentence now becomes the first sentence of a new paragraph.

Add to the first sentence of each paragraph. Write two or three more sentences to each. Use these new sentences is to support and explain your ideas. You can do this by offering facts, details, or examples.

Remember that the job of your essay body is to share ideas with your reader. See if you can convince your reader to share your opinions.
* Conclusion
It’s time to write a final paragraph—your conclusion. A conclusion restates the main idea of your essay, and sums up what your essay is about. Do this in one or two sentences. Remember that the job of your conclusion is to leave your reader with something to think about.

Reviewing and revising to improve your writing

Are you happy? You’ve almost completed an essay. But you’re not done yet. You can always improve your writing. The way to complete a successful essay is by looking over your work.

Try reading your draft aloud. Ask yourself questions. Do you like the order of your essay? Do you need to add words so your sentences make better sense? Do you need to add any sentences so your paragraphs connect? Do you have ideas that you’d like to add more to?

Do you like your introduction? Your essay body? Your conclusion? Make at least three changes that could improve your essay. Remember that even professional writers make lots of changes!

Proofreading your essay to improve your writing

It’s time to check your work. Read your improved essay aloud slowly. Look at details of punctuation and grammar in your writing. Are your sentences complete? Do your verbs go with your nouns? Do you need to add any missing punctuation? How’s your spelling?

Remember that the job of proofreading is to catch and change anything that would stop your reader from enjoying your essay. Try catching and changing at least six mistakes.