Many people think that writing an essay is a difficult task. Some even believe that they are not capable of writing one. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Anyone can write an essay, they just need to know how to do it. In this article, we will discuss some tips on how to learn how to write an essay. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you will believe that writing an essay is actually a very easy task and will have a clear concept of what one is supposed to do.
Start With A Modest Amount Of Experience
If you are just starting out as a writer, don’t worry too much about whether or not you can write essays. It is perfectly normal for someone to start their career as a writer with very little experience. After all, writing an essay requires a lot of research and practice. Therefore, it is advisable to start off writing small assignments for school or college, as these assignments will allow you to practice writing and also give you a taste of what it is like to research and write a formal piece of paper. Once you have finished your studies, you can move onto bigger and more challenging projects.
Understand What An Essay Is
An essay is defined as “a short prose composition used for expressing thoughts and ideas.” This description is fairly self-explanatory, however, it is not always easy to understand what an essay is. When someone writes an essay, they are usually writing about a particular topic and trying to provide as much information as possible on this topic. For instance, if you are writing about the causes of World War II, you would need to gather as much information as possible about this topic and then organize it into a formal, written piece. There are many different types of essays, and this article will discuss the basic format for a typical essay.
The Introduction
The introduction to your essay is the first part of the piece and is generally the longest. It should contain the following:
- A short biography of yourself (if you are not familiar with academic writing, this article will explain about biographies).
- A short explanation of the topic of your essay
- An outline of the rest of your essay (not necessary, but it will make your writing much easier to follow).
- A proposal for the solution to the problem (if you are not sure what the problem is, you cannot provide a solution).
- Three important points you would like to make (these will be the “leads” to your essay; they may not all fit in the first part, but they will all make sense in the context of your essay as a whole).
As you can see, the introduction to an essay is very similar to the outline for a novel. The only difference is that your essay does not need to be as long as a novel. In fact, sometimes it is preferred that your essay is shorter than your novel. Remember:
- The shorter, the better. Longer essays tend to be very tedious to read.
- Shorter essays may appear to be less comprehensive than longer ones. Consider that
- A longer essay typically requires more work to produce than a shorter one. Therefore, shorter essays are typically more efficient. This is why in academia, it is preferable to have a short essay written for you than a long one.
- If your essay is two or more pages, then it is probably too long. Most academic editors will delete one or two pages from your essay if they feel it is too long. So, it is better to have an essay that is just right than to have one that is too short and potentially incomplete.
- An essay is not a short story, memo, or diary entry. While all of these documents may contain some form of prose, the difference is that an essay is meant to be a cohesive unit that makes sense
- as a whole (i.e., the introduction, body, and conclusion make sense together).
- The goal of your introduction is to give the reader the
- basic orientation to your essay (what is it about?, who is it for?, why are you writing this article?).
- An introduction that does not accomplish this will make the rest of your essay incomprehensible. So, take your time with the introduction and make sure it is as good as you can.
- The body of your essay is where you discuss and elaborate on the issues you have raised in your introduction. The body of your essay is also where you provide the most evidence (referring to both your own opinion as well as to facts, figures, and other experts’ opinions) to support your thesis (/hypothesis).
- The conclusion is where you bring everything you have discussed in your essay up to date (include any relevant new information that was not covered in your essay).
As you can see, there are many similarities between a novel outline and an essay outline. This is because both are meant to be a
- guide to writing
- organizer of thoughts
- helpful brainstorming tool
- a starting point for ideas
- a framework to build upon
So, as you are starting off as a writer, it is important to understand the basic format for a formal essay. If you follow this format, you will have an easier time writing and editing your essay. Plus, you will sound more professional when presenting your work.
The Body
The body of your essay corresponds to the portion of the narrative that addresses the issue(s) you have raised in your introduction. It should contain the following:
- A detailed explanation of the topic (this will be your thesis).
- An organized arrangement of your data (referring to both opinion as well as hard facts).
- Three or four main arguments (support your thesis with evidence).
- Three to four brief details or illustrations (used to support your thesis).
- A review of the relevant literature (this literature review is usually the most important part of your essay because it will provide the evidence for your thesis; therefore, it must be accurate and comprehensive).
- A short conclusion (support your thesis with evidence).
As you can see, the body of a formal essay is very similar to the body of a novel. However, your body of work is much shorter than a novel because an essay usually only deals with one topic. The length of your body should depend on the complexity of your topic. If it is a simple topic, your body should not be very long because there is not much to discuss. Remember:
- Keep it short and sweet.
- More information does not always mean better information (if your topic is complex, then more information is usually necessary to properly understand and discuss it).
- A short body puts the focus on the content rather than the style.
- A longer body can make a reader lose interest in your essay.
- You should not make the mistake of writing a very long body simply because you have a long piece to discuss. Try to keep your bodies
- within a reasonable length
- (fewer than seven paragraphs usually works well).
- Remember:
- A long body can make a reader lose interest in your essay.
- A short body puts the focus on the content rather than the style.
- A longer body can make a reader lose interest in your essay.
- You should not make the mistake of writing a very long body simply because you have a long piece to discuss. Try to keep your bodies within a reasonable length (fewer than seven paragraphs usually works well)).