6 Tips to consider when writing an essay

An essay is defined as “a short piece of writing that expresses information as well as the writer’s opinion. Writing an essay is a daunting task for most students. For some, writing an essay is as simple as sitting down at their computer or desk and beginning to type or write. But, a lot more planning goes into writing an essay successfully. If you have never written an essay before, or if you struggle with writing and want to improve your skills, it is a good idea to follow a number of important steps in the essay writing process.

According to websites Student Life and Business Matters here are five steps to take into account when preparing an essay:

1. Brainstorm

You may have your topic assigned, or you may be given free reign to write on the subject of your choice.

Before you start writing, take a minute to organise your thoughts. Write down important points that you want to make in your essay. This will help keep your essay organised. 

2.Write a thesis

Now that you have chosen a topic and sorted your ideas into relevant categories, you must create a thesis statement.

A thesis is the main idea or argument that guides an essay. The thesis sets up what the reader can expect to learn from your essay. 

3. Write the body

The body of your essay argues, explains or describes your topic. Each main idea that you had in mind will become a separate section within the body of your essay. Each body paragraph will have the same basic structure. Begin by writing one of your main ideas as the introductory sentence. Next, write each of your supporting ideas in sentence format.

4. Write the introduction

Now that you have developed your thesis and the overall body of your essay, you must write an introduction. The introduction should attract the reader’s attention and show the focus of your essay. Begin with an attention grabber and make sure that it ties in with your thesis statement.

5. Write the conclusion

The conclusion brings closure of the topic and sums up your overall ideas while providing a final perspective on your topic. Your conclusion should consist of three to five strong sentences. Simply review your main points and provide reinforcement of your thesis.

6. Adding the finishing touches

After writing your conclusion, you might think that you have completed your essay. Wrong. Before you consider this a finished work, you must pay attention to all the small details. Check the order of your paragraphs. Your strongest points should be the first and last paragraphs within the body, with the others falling in the middle. Also, make sure that your paragraph order makes sense. 

Finally, proofread your essay to see if it makes sense. Make sure that sentence flow is smooth and add phrases to help connect thoughts or ideas. Make sure to check your essay for grammar and spelling mistakes.