Essay as a type of academic work is widely popular nowadays because of its free style of narration. This assignment allows the students to fully express their thoughts, reflect personal considerations and views based on individual experiences or other people’s works.
An essay is a great way to show your intelligence, writing and analytical skills as there are no strict restrictions. You can use any expressions and all the colors of the language. There are no borders here!
However, such freedom causes certain confusion, especially for freshmen. Coming up with an original idea (sometimes based on traditional material) or a non-standard view of any problem may not be easy. That’s why a lot of them use services like https://essaypro.com/custom-essay.html. With their help, students can ease the burden of writing. Besides, having ordered one of two essays, one can get a general idea of good writing and learn a lot.
The information below will serve as a beginners’ guide to the essay writing basics. Let’s discover all the secrets of this academic assignment.
(source: https://unsplash.com/photos/s9CC2SKySJM)
Main Features
The term “essay” comes from the French language and means “trial, attempt, endeavor”. Depending on the topic of the paper, the author should express the following.
- Individual experiences;
- A personal view of the situation, impressions, and opinions;
- A comprehensive answer to the question;
- Examples to support the arguments.
Key Requirements to Consider
For a freshman to get a clear view of the essay writing process, it’s important to consider the basic requirements.
- Maximum of 1-2 pages;
- Clear and understandable idea, a single whole basis;
- Well-defined arguments;
- Concise writing;
- Logical and competent composition of the text;
- One question or thought per paragraph;
- Awareness of the topic, the proper sequence of the disclosure.
9 Steps to Excellent Essay
1. Conduct Your Research
Before starting to write, carefully study the problem that you want to cover in your paper. Become an expert in the field of a given topic – this will help you make up your own mind and offer unique arguments. Search for information on the internet, use databases, go to the library to expand your knowledge.
2. Brainstorm
Come up with questions about the subject of the essay and answer them yourself. Do not forget to write the answers down. Later, these statements will help you form the basis of your academic assignment.
Note that every thought or statement has to be supported by examples, statistics, and facts. The paper should show your competence and confidence.
3. Analyze
After studying the topic and collecting all the necessary information, it’s worth analyzing your arguments. Clearly state your thoughts and write down all the ideas that you will cover in the essay. Read other authors’ essays, noting their strengths and weaknesses. This will give you an understanding of how to write your own paper.
4. Make a Sketch
Highlight the most basic and bright idea, turning it to the thesis statement. Be honest with yourself. You shouldn’t take credit for other people’s thoughts. Write naturally, and your paper will only benefit from this.
Outline the content in general terms, making short sentences that reflect the main idea of each paragraph. Bulleted lists can help keep all statements well-structured.
5. Write an Introduction
Start writing your essay with an introduction. It should be catchy and attract the reader’s attention, awaking their interest. You job is to make them read the work to the end.
6. Go to the Main Body
Build paragraphs around the key problem. Start with the main sentence that reflects the essence of the paragraph, then state your thoughts, supported by arguments and examples. Write as if you addressed the reader personally. But keep in mind that the use of first and second person is only allowed in reflective pieces. You can also try saying the sentences out loud.
7. Make a Conclusion
The conclusion should contain a clear and meaningful answer. It has to reveal the essence of the thoughts that the author sought to convey.
8. Edit
Now you can start editing and formatting your work. If you borrowed any ideas or phrases during the writing process, reference properly to avoid plagiarism.
9. Polish
Finally, you can proofread your assignment and correct all grammatical and spelling errors. Double-check whether the thoughts are presented in the way you planned and the topic is tackled in sufficient depth. Leaving one spare day just for editing is always a good idea. After you’re done writing, take a rest and come back the next day. Chances are, you will rewrite a lot.
Conclusion
To learn how to write an essay correctly, you need to make a lot of effort and spend a great deal of time. But if someone thinks that it will be wasted, they are very mistaken.
The essay writing process offers one an opportunity to learn how to defend their view and express their thoughts accurately. The ability to write such academic assignments develops skills like structuring information, finding out connections, their causes and consequences, providing examples, and much more.
Practice now, and perhaps someday, you will discover a genius sleeping inside you. In the meantime, feel free to sit down for your first essay!