If you lack experience in academic writing, writing essays can be daunting, especially if you have to complete them in practically all college classes. No wonder that many students who can’t boast of being good writers may even start thinking if it is possible to “pay someone to write my essay.” There are lots of online services where you can buy a cheap essay. However, everyone can learn to write good essays if they work hard and practice a lot. Here is a short how-to guide that will help you master the art of essay writing.
Types of Essays and Basic Essay Structure
Essays at a college or a university have to provide an answer to the question by developing a convincing argument that is based on relevant evidence or critical reasoning.
There are different types of essays that differ in their purposes, but all of them have the same basic structure no matter what. The first step to writing an essay is to decide what type of essay you are going to write:
- Narrative essay tells a story or present information about the subject in an orderly manner
- Descriptive essay describes the topic by creating a picture in the reader’s mind
- Expository essay presents an argument based on an investigation
- Comparative essay compares 2 or several different things
- Persuasive essay convinces readers about some fact
- Argumentative essay provides an argument on a certain topic by giving opinions from both sides
- Synthesis essay involves writing a summary by combining content from different sources
- Informative essay educates the audience on a specific topic
- Cause and effect essay makes an attempt to determine the cause and effect of different phenomena, actions or situations
- Analytical essay breaks a certain topic into several components and explains each component in detail
All essays must include certain elements:
- An introduction with a strong thesis statement that answers the question
- Body paragraphs that provide argument and include supporting evidence from scholarly sources
- A concluding paragraph (paragraphs) that restates the thesis and summaries the content
Steps in Writing Essay
The essay writing process consists of several essential steps that you should follow. Let’s discuss these steps in detail.
Choose a Topic
Sometimes, an essay topic may be assigned to you but, typically, you’ll need to select a topic to write about. So you should brainstorm essay topics ideas and choose a topic that interests you most of all. Then you’ll really enjoy doing research and writing on the topic. Your next step is to evaluate your topic and decide whether it is manageable – your essay topic should be neither too broad nor too narrow.
Do a Research
Now you have to find relevant primary and secondary sources and do some research to find information that you will use for your argument. You can search the internet and find some scholarly books or articles in the library. You should read your sources and make notes of some interesting facts and ideas that you can use in your essay.
Create a Thesis Statement and Make an Outline
Your thesis statement is the main point of your essay. It will guide your writing and will help you stay focused. It is the statement that you will argue in your essay and support with relevant evidence and examples.
A strong thesis statement typically consists of two parts: in the first part, you need to state your essay topic, and in the second part, you have to state the point of your essay. Or you can use another approach and just list 3 key points in the second part of your thesis statement. These are the points that you will discuss in your essay.
After that, you have to create a working outline for your essay. You can also organize your ideas in the form of mind map. If you devote your time to creating a detailed outline, it will be easier for you to write your essay and you will spend less time writing your draft. Besides, a detailed outline can help avoid the writer’s block because you will be able to start writing from any part of your essay.
Write an Essay
You should start your essay with an introduction. It’s important to attract the attention of your readers from the very first sentence so you should begin your essay with a hook. It can be a provocative question, statistics or an interesting fact. Then you should introduce your topic and write your thesis. Then you need to outline briefly the key ideas of your essay.
Write your body paragraphs. You should write as many body paragraphs as the key ideas in your essay. Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence. Then you should provide supporting points for your ideas and give some evidence or examples that prove your point. You can also end each paragraph with a summary sentence.
Write a conclusion. Don’t make it long. You need to sum up your points or give your readers a final perspective on your topic. You may simply review your main points or restate your thesis statement.
Edit and Proofread
When you finish your essay, you need to carefully read it and improve the content, the logic, and the flow. You should also revise for consistency, clarity, and the structure. Make sure you use transition words and phrases between your paragraphs. Check the word choice and make sure you use the most appropriate words.
When you are satisfied with the content and the logic, you should check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. The good idea is to use an online spell-checking tool. Finally, read your essay once again and fix minor errors and typos if there are any to ensure that your essay looks the best it can be.
Follow these easy tips and practice a lot and you are sure to succeed in writing good essays.
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