Starting new college assignments is always intimidating. If you are reading this, you are probably looking for good advice on writing your first essay. After you go through our practical guide, you will understand each stage of essay writing.
Beginner’s Guide To Writing An Essay
It would be much easier for you to speed up writing that is crucial for students, as sometimes you have to write an essay in one day. Moreover, the overall quality of your texts would become much higher, and your texts would be easy to read and understand. Proceed with reading to find out more.
What is an essay?
When you need to create something unfamiliar to you, it is better to start with the definition and terminology. An essay is an article that is usually written in terms of obtaining particular disciplines in educational establishments to expose authors’ thoughts, statements, and knowledge.
There are several types of essays:
- An argumentative essay aims to present an author’s vision on a stated subject, frequently sensitive topics. The audience must join the views of the author, act, or develop their ideas.
- The expository essay aims to explain the subject or a procedure precisely as it is in reality. Writing requires facts, evaluation, and valuable data exposure. For example, this guide can be an expository essay.
- A descriptive essay presents the qualities of a subject or person from various angles. The aim is to present the idea by describing it.
- A narrative essay’s purpose is to tell a story about a central idea, event, or motif that drives the main plot of this story.
- An admission essay is a type of paper that students write when they need to enrol in an educational establishment. It is similar to a personal statement that presents a person’s purposes and achievements.
Now let us proceed with a straightforward plan on how to write an essay. Read on to understand the process and find working hacks.
Instructions come first
Begin with making it straightforward for yourself what kind of essay you have to create. Usually, for beginners, teachers provide detailed instructions and rubrics with requirements. It would help if you defined length, type, topic, structure, sources to use, and other relevant data. If you are not sure there are enough details for you, you had better ask your teacher for more explanations to be sure that everything is clear. Some students choose to get some support in writing by applying to services where professionals assist them on their tasks. Read this review to find out more about such an option.
The topic matters a lot
An important task in the preparation stage of writing an essay is to select the appropriate topic. Consider the following criteria:
- The topic must be relevant to the type of essay and discipline.
- The topic must be exciting and stimulate the audience to think it over, forming their views.
- The topic must be exciting to you and force you to investigate it and dig deeper into sources.
When you are developing a topic for your essay, try various formulations and take time to select the best for you. Ensure the subject is not too broad, as essays usually are about 1,000 words long.
The research defines the outcome
Providing quality research is vital if you want to create a perfect essay that would impress your teacher. Consider various types of sources to get the whole picture and amount of information:
- Books
- Scientific magazines, thesis papers, abstracts
- Blogs, vlogs, podcasts
- Movies, poems, speeches
- Statistics, databases
Arrange the information clearly and go through it to form the main thesis of your future essay. Now you are ready to proceed with writing.
Plan the structure
A good outline for your forthcoming paper could result in a working draft that would sufficiently economize the time you spend on writing. In this guide, we will look over the standard structure for an effective essay: introduction, body, and conclusion.
Introduction
Briefly introduce the main thesis and underline why the topic is relevant and engaging. Add some unexpected hooks to interest readership and entice them to continue reading. The length must be at least 2-3 sentences. Make a cohesive transition leading to the next section of the essay.
Body
The body of an essay consists of at least three paragraphs bound logically to present the views and ideas of the author. Depending on the type of essay, these paragraphs could contain descriptions, characteristics of subjects, arguments, and counterarguments.
Conclusion
Underline the main thesis and the most important arguments and facts from the body. Do not include any surprising factors and plot twists. If the format is appropriate, recommend the topic for future papers.