Being a student, you are assigned different types of essays regardless of your academic level. You may regard it as a laborious process but this coursework enhances your knowledge and writing skills. The minor differences in different types of essays help in making your writing flexible and strengthen your grip on the further forms.
However, each type has the same goal i.e. to grasp the reader’s attention and generate their interest in the topic. The whole context is backed up with authentic references and informed arguments. Furthermore, the essay is compiled after fully understanding the study matter and requirements.
Not to forget the structure of an essay is divided into three sections i.e. introduction, the main body and lastly the conclusion.
The Process of Composing an Essay
For you, we have compiled this step-by-step method of writing an exceptional essay to help you score well.
1. Drafting
It is done before writing the essay content. For drafting, you brainstorm and jot down the ideas which you think are relevant for the topic. Here’s what you need to do for drafting:
Understanding the Topic
It is important to get hold of the task you are going to work on. Follow the below steps to understand the topic:
- Go through the academic essay requirements, ask questions and clear misunderstandings which might later become the source of trouble.
- Identify the time frame, the length required, purpose, submission method and deadline of the coursework.
- Write down the points you come across while understanding the topic.
Know Your Audience
After having a brief overview of the essay topic, the next step is to know your audience. For instance, if you are a student, your professor is going to read and check your essay. You have to make sure about the tone you are using, the vocabulary used and the correct structure followed throughout the document.
Also, if you are writing an essay for a magazine or journal, your audience will be some experts or journalists.
- For experts – Do not beat around the bush and come straight to the main point. The information included must be clear and precise with a factual background. Use appropriate terms to justify your arguments.
- For journalists – Include definitions wherever you feel is required. Be sure to use an assertive tone that is informative, simple and reflects a proper transitional flow. Avoid including complex details and write shorter sentences for clarity. Also, you can use examples to describe your key points.
Pick a topic
Whether you choose your title or select the one assigned by the professor, make sure you have an interest in the topic. If not, you may not take the task seriously, resulting in the details being unrelatable and boring. So, if you are still unsure about the subject study, watch videos, listen to inspirational people and hold onto the things that excite you.
To choose a topic, you must ensure if:
- You have an interest in the subject
- The topic is original
- It fulfills the task requirements
- You can conduct research easily
Remember that the topic must be creative and precise.
Perform background study
After choosing the title, start researching for relevant materials that you can add in your writing. Look out for research papers and interviews which can provide an overview of the entire subject. This will help you stay ahead of your study and structure the content you’d require.
Ensure that your ideas do not contradict prior studies. If they do, you must have valid points to support your claims. Ask yourself:
- If I can creatively mold this topic into something unique?
- If there are any relevant debates or researches that I can refer to in my essay?
- If the content I have added is up to the modern inventions?
Create an anchor sentence
Make a tagline. This will help you stay focused on the main objective of the essay.
Moreover, it provides a sense of guidance towards your end goal. Ensure the following:
- The phrase should be eye-catchy and creative
- It connects the content with the main idea
- Also, it establishes the purpose of the essay
2. Writing
You can easily start with the next step now that you have completed all the preparations. Begin with the introduction of the essay.
Introduction section
It is both important to hook the readers and present your ideas in a formal, logical and transitional way. This section is composed of 10-20% weightage of the entire content and helps in increasing the engagement rate.
Let’s explore a few tips to write an effective introduction:
Grab reader’s attention
Start with an exceptional quote, statistics or a fact that persuades the reader to read the whole essay. Whatever the topic is, it must be in the relevance of the topic.
Include a bit of background study
Introduce your topic by answering all the whys that an individual may have on the subject matter. Give clear, brief and captivating background information. It must cover the most relevant researches and work done before your study.
Define objectives
Clearly state what the topic is about and what will be achieved by the end of the academic essay. You must use an informative tone throughout the writing to reflect your grip on the objective.
Provide an overview
The introduction must be able to sketch a structure in the reader’s mind about what they can expect from the essay. So, that nothing comes to them as a surprise.
Body section
This is where you have to support your arguments and every claim that you have made. It can be statistics, infographics, facts or even a simple sentence backing up the actual theory.
Not only this but you also have to take care of:
Length of the body
The length of the body indeed depends upon the type of essay you are writing. However, every essay’s main section covers 75% of the entire weightage. If you are in high school, your professor expects you to submit an essay which has 5 parts. Introduction, 3 main body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Paragraph structure
It is important to use headings and write your content in a paragraph form. Doing this will organize your essay accordingly. Also, each paragraph must have transition words and topic sentences. This will help you deliver your message without any ambiguity.
Conclusion section
Similar to the introductory paragraph, the conclusion covers up to 15% of the essay. This is the last section that must conclude the entire topic. To write a strong conclusion, you must follow the below tips:
- Repeat the ideas stated in the introduction part
- Briefly state your own opinion about the essay topic
- Emphasize the future implications and its importance
- Lastly, shed light on the main objectives once again to ensure the link between all the paragraphs
Make sure that you don’t:
- Initialize a new argument
- Undermine your content
3. Revision and editing
Make a habit of proofreading and editing the academic essay as you write. This saves your time and also guarantees the right flow of words and ideas. You can look for anything which seems out of context and irrelevant to the subject.
- Check the document for grammatical errors, vocabulary and sentence formation
- Ask your friends or get Essay Help Online to proofread the essay for you to minimize the plagiarism percentage
- In the meantime, filter out redundancies and unnecessary details
- In the end, your essay meets all the objectives and your professor might be impressed with the thought you’ve put in writing it
Now that you know the tips and tricks to structure your essay, we hope this guide helps you write an impressive piece.