For some people, writing essays is a simple task that involves them sitting down before the computer and starting to type right away. There is a lot that goes into planning and writing an essay to become successful. If you’ve never written any type of essay before or have trouble writing, and you want to revamp your skills, you need to follow specific tips to write an essay. Here is a complete how to write an essay guide.
Decide the type of essay to write
The first step to jotting an essay is to define the type of essay you want to write clearly. There are four categories into which they can get grouped, and they include:
- Narrative essay – tells a story or provides information about a subject in an orderly, straightforward manner.
- Persuasive essay – convince or persuade the reader about a particular perspective or point of view.
- Expository essay – it explains to the audience how to go about a process. It can involve step-by-step instructions on making a particular meal.
- Descriptive essay – it Focuses on the many details of something that is in motion or going on.
If you know the type of you say that she wants to write, it will help you decide on a given topic or structure that there is a will take.
Brainstorm the topic
There is no way you will start writing an essay without having an idea of what you will write. Brainstorming involves coming up with the paper’s topic, and all you need to do is sit and think of the ideas that may come up to you during that phase. You need to note everything down that you can think of, and you’ll narrow it down later. You can utilize mind-mapping or clustering, and it will involve you writing the idea or topic at the center of the paper and creating clusters of concepts related to it. After having a good case, you can choose the best one that will answer your question well.
Research on the topic
After brainstorming and choosing your favorite topic, you need to get down and conduct some research for you to come up with a good essay. You can visit the library or visit some online platforms to look for information on the topic. You may even need to hold interviews with people who might be the best in that field or subject. Ensure that you are always organized while conducting your research to make it easy for you always to refer. That will make it easy for you to cite all your sources whenever you write the last essay.
Choose your writing style
Your teacher will dictate the style that you will use to write your essay. There are three main writing styles that you may have come across already, and they include:
- Modern Language Association (MLA) is designed especially for language art and humanities essays. It utilizes the author-page number style of citation. It is one of the most common writing styles that college and high school students are subjected to.
- American Psychological Association (APA) is designed for psychology and Social Science Research papers. It also uses an author-date citation style, and it is among the most common types of writing in learning institutions.
Develop your thesis
The thesis statement is the central point of the essay. It is a sentence that carries the whole message of the paper.
Outline the essay
You need to outline or whatever you’re going to write, and it will help you make the paper logical and organized.
Write your essay
You need to write from your outline as you fill up the skeleton to develop a clear essay. You need to ensure that it sounds the exact way that you pictured it.
Check grammar and spelling
You need to re-read what you have put down and check for mistakes or typos. Revise to pull out any technical errors and also check the punctuation, grammar, and spelling mistakes.
