How to Write an Essay? A Step-by-Step Guide for Students

Are you writing an academic essay? Does writing an essay seem like a puzzle you are unable to solve?

Writing an essay is strengthening your critical thinking muscles, and enables you to express your opinion on a certain topic.

It is a skill that you can master if you follow certain steps.

These steps will ensure that you can write a strong and coherent essay, covering every point of your topic.

So, let’s start with this guide.

Step-by-Step Guide to Write a Perfect Essay

1. Understanding the Topic

The first step is to understand the topic of your essay.

Academic essays focused on certain aspects of a concept so you should know which aspects you have to cover in your essay.

Your essay’s topic discusses what you need to do about the context. You need to see whether you have to compare or discuss something in your writing.

Take good time in understanding the topic of your essay before moving forward.

2. Brainstorm or Research

After understanding the topic, you need to brainstorm and jot down the points and facts you know.

If you are not in the exam situation, you can do background reading of your essay’s topic too.

Do intensive research to have some strong points of discussion.

You should write out points from your research and brainstorm so that you can remember them while writing your essay.

3. Write Your Argument Sentence

Argument sentences are the main part of your essay. It is a statement of your thoughts about the essay’s topic.

This argument sentence is the opening sentence of your writing which tells your readers what is your stance about the topic.

It doesn’t mean that your argument sentence should be the first line of your essay. It can be anywhere in the Introduction.

Just make sure that it stands out from other sentences and remains in the initial lines of the essay so that your audience can have an idea of what to expect in your piece of writing.

4. Create an Outline

It is best to create an outline of your essay before writing it.

In the outline, you can jot down the headings and subheadings you want to add.

You can also write the main points you want to discuss in each paragraph of your essay.

Do remember that every paragraph will discuss a certain point of your topic, so it is best to note down those aspects you want to discuss in different paragraphs of your essay.

Make a rough draft of your headings, and main points of each paragraph, and start writing.

5. Write a Coherent Essay

A coherent essay is one in which every part is related to each other.

For writing a strong and clear essay, you should divide it into three parts; introduction, body, and conclusion.

In the introduction, you should introduce points you are going to discuss in your essay.

In the body, you should introduce evidence. Back up your points of discussion with strong evidence.

Your body should be in the form of paragraphs and headings so that it is readable.

Make sure that you will not deviate from the main topic. Keep your points of discussion in mind so that you will stick to them.

In conclusion, you must explain how your evidence proves your points of discussion.

Keep these points in your mind while writing your essay.

6. Includes Evidence and Citations

To support your argument and convince your audience, you must add relevant citations and evidence.

Evidence includes statistics, illustrations, facts, examples, and quotations which can support your claim.

Citations include previous works of different scholars. You can cite the findings and work of previous essays and scholarly papers that have already done work on your topic.

These citations and evidence must be a part of your essay’s body as they will make your argument strong.

7. Write Conclusion

You have written your argument sentence in the introduction, shreds of evidence, and citations in the body, now what to write in the conclusion?

The conclusion is the summary of your essay so keep it brief and comprehensive.

You should never add anything new in your conclusion, just briefly discuss your essay’s points and how you prove them.

8. Proofread and Edit

After writing the whole essay, it is time to proofread it.

Proofreading it will ensure that all your points are discussed in the essay. It will also ensure that your whole essay is error-free.

You should take a break between writing and editing your essay. Leave your essay after writing, and turn back to it after a few hours to edit it.

In this way, you will be able to edit your essay with a fresh mind.

Conclusion

This is the eight-step method to write any type of essay in your life.

These steps will help you to organize a clear, concise, and strong essay for your audience.

So, next time when you will have to write an essay, remember these eight points.