If you’re in high school, then you’re definitely going to be required to write essays. Whether you’re writing an English composition or a narrative, you’re going to have to develop your writing skills.
The thing is, not all essays are created equal. There’s a lot more you need to know when it comes to crafting an essay that’s both engaging and informative. Let’s take a look at what you should learn from writing essays. Don’t worry — this isn’t going to be difficult. It’s just going to be a bit of advice from someone who has been there.
Start With The Title
When you start any piece of writing, you should never, ever start with the premise that you’re just going to throw together some disconnected thoughts and hit publish. That’s exactly what you should avoid. Start with the title – grab the reader’s attention and make them want to continue reading your work. Don’t forget: your essay’s title is its hook. It’s what’s going to make your essay special. It’s also what’s going to determine the kind of thesis you’re going to present and the kind of analysis you’re going to perform. Before you start writing, take time to think of a unique and powerful title that will stick out in your reader’s mind. When it comes time to write your essay, the title will serve as a guide to help you structure your thoughts and ideas.
Don’t Forget The Body
Speaking of bodies, you should never, ever start writing an essay without a body. If you’ve ever written an article for publication, then you’ll know that once you’ve written the body of the article, you’re given the opportunity to go back and add more content, including a conclusion. This is where most writers go wrong. They think they’re finished once they’ve written the body of the article and just move on to the conclusion. That’s when they realize that they’ve actually failed to engage their audience because they never really started ‘nesting’ in the first place. An essay is a story that you’re telling with words, and it takes proper organization to make sure that the story you’re telling is both interesting and informative. The body of your essay is just the foundation of your structure; it’s where you lay out your arguments and evidence to support your claim. Once you’ve gotten that out of the way, you can move on to the conclusion and wrap things up nicely. Your body, as it were, is your scaffolding. You can build on it and add more depth and complexity as you see fit. Don’t forget about it!
Use Substantive And Specific Words
When you’re writing, you need to make sure that you’re using words that are both substantive and specific. It’s easy to fall into the trap of using big words and fancy phrases when you’re writing your essay. After all, who doesn’t love a good wordy sentence now and then? But unless you’re using these big words and fancy phrases in an informative way, you’re not going to have convinced your reader of anything. You need to find the right word for the right concept. For instance, the word ‘scared’ isn’t particularly strong when it comes to describing how you feel about a certain animal. ‘Anxious’ might be a better option. Similarly, when you’re writing about a famous person, make sure that you’re using words that they would actually say or have said in the past. Familiarize yourself with the idioms and expressions of people in your niche. Be a wordsmith!
Start With An Interesting Fact
An interesting fact can serve as the hook that’ll bring your essay to life. It’s usually something that happened in the past, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. It could be something about the the subject matter that you’re writing about. For example, if you’re writing about the dangers of drinking alcohol, then you might want to start with something like ‘Every year, millions of people around the world lose their lives to drunk driving accidents.’ This is an interesting fact that’ll hook your reader and make them want to know more about what you’re saying. Facts are incredibly important in any writing you do. They’re not just going to make your writing more interesting. They’re also going to serve as the backbone of your essay. Make sure that you know your stuff!
Organize Your Ideas & Evidence
Ideas, evidence, and logic all play an important role in any essay. You can’t just throw these three elements together willy-nilly and expect it to work. You need to lay out your ideas in a cohesive manner, so that they’re easy to follow and relevant to the topic at hand. Start by listing your ideas in the order that they occur to you. The sooner you can get these ideas on paper, the easier it’ll be to organize them. Once you’ve listed them, you can go back and add more details or examples to back up your claims. Make sure that your ideas are relevant to the topic and that you’ve given proper evidence to support your claims. Remember: this is not necessarily an easy task, and it takes some time to get right. But once you’ve gotten into the habit of doing it, you’ll find that it helps enormously.
Introduction
Your introduction should set the stage for the rest of your essay – it should give your reader a clear picture of what they’re in for. The introduction should tie your first sentence (or words) to the rest of your essay. Make sure that your introduction is both interesting and relevant to the topic. Check for spelling, tense, and spelling mistakes before you publish. Think of the introduction as your first impression – make sure it’s positive!
Body
The body of your essay is where you lay out your arguments and evidence to support your claim. Start by listing your points in the order that they occur to you. Just like the introduction, the body of your essay should set the stage for the rest of your work. Make sure that you’ve structured your essay and used an outline or diagram to help you follow the chronological order of your ideas. Make sure to keep your paragraphs short and sweet – you want your reader to get right to the good stuff as soon as possible!
Conclusion
Your conclusion should tie everything you’ve written in the previous parts of your essay to a larger idea or point. Remember: an essay is not a speech; it’s a piece of writing. Your conclusion should be short and sweet. Use your transition words frequently and make sure that your essay has a clear call to action at the end. You want your reader to take away an idea or conclusion and be able to use it when necessary.
Once you’ve mastered the basics of writing an essay, you can move on to more intricate types of writing like fiction and non-fiction. You can also find many sample essays and examples of professional writing online. Knowing how to write an essay can take you a long way toward being a successful writer!