How to Write an Essay – A Step by Step Guide with Examples

Essay writing is a major part of formal education. From high school to college, students get to write different types of essays now and then.

Some students find essay writing fun and interesting, while others just fill the pages to get it over with. When you know how to write an essay and what to write in your essay, they become interesting.

In this guide, you’ll learn about the different types of essays and how to write them efficiently.

How to Write an Essay

Essay writing is very common in high school and college. Students have to write different types of essays throughout their academic careers. Essay writing is kind of a dreaded task for most students. But, if you know the basic steps, you can easily craft a perfect essay.

The essay writing process consists of three main steps, which are divided into several other steps:

1. Preparation
a. Decide The Type Of Essay
b. Define Your Topic
c. Conduct Research
d. Craft Essay Outline
2. Writing
a. Develop A Thesis Statement
b. Write The Introduction
c. Compose The Body Paragraphs
d. Write The Conclusion
3. Revision
a. Revise Your Essay

Below, each step is discussed in detail.

Decide the Type of Essay

Broadly speaking, there are more than 10 different types of essays. But the few common and cliché types are as follows:

• Argumentative Essay – It is a type of essay where you present an argument and support it with evidence. You present facts, reasons, logic, and statistics to prove your claim right.
  
• Narrative Essay – Consists of a story and real-life experiences. These essays are usually written in the first person.
  
• Compare and Contrast Essay – It includes 2 topics and makes comparisons or either contrast or both between the two.
  
• Persuasive Essay – They are written to persuade people. The tone is generally persuasive and convincing with the presence of emotions.
  
• Cause and Effect Essay – This essay looks into the reasons and causes and then talks about the results.
  
• Expository Essay – A type of essay tends to portray, illustrate, explain, and clarify something to the reader. These essays could be on an investigation, evaluation, or argument.

Define Your Topic

The topic is the soul of the essay. It is the very first thing that a reader sees, so IT HAS TO BE unique, interesting, and precise. In some cases, students are given the topic by their professors, and sometimes they let students choose their own topic.

When choosing your own topic, look at what interests you the most. And the topic you can relate to more and can make your readers relate too. This can be simple and tricky at the same time.

Conduct Research

Once you decide on the topic of the essay, now is the time to conduct preliminary research. Spare some time to do thorough research and collect enough information to write your essay. It is important to have enough updated information to craft an informative essay.

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Make sure that you can get maximum information about your essay topic. You have to be certain that the information is enough to support your argument.

Craft Essay Outline

An outline is a short plan that gives an idea of what you’re going to write. The outline is used to organize your research and what to add to the essay. Many professional writers write the outline before writing the essay to be sure of what to write in their essays.

The main idea is presented in a few structured paragraphs.

1. Introduction
a. Hook statement
b. Background
c. Thesis statement
2. Body
a. Topic sentence
b. Supporting evidence
c. Transition statement
3. Conclusion
a. Restate the thesis
b. Summarize the essay
c. Call to action

Write the Introduction

The introduction paragraph is like a trailer that tells what your essay is going to be about. It is supposed to be clear and perfectly written. The introduction decides whether the audience is going to stay or leave. So it should be catchy and interesting.

The introduction paragraph has three parts; hook sentence, background, and thesis statement.

• Hook Sentence
  A hook is an opening sentence in your essay and the first line of the introduction paragraph. The purpose of writing a hook is to get people’s attention.

It is the hook that decides whether a reader will go through the whole essay or not. There are different hooks that you use in your essays. These hooks include a rhetorical question, quotations, facts, and statistics, or any personal experience.

• Provide Background
  The background information is important to help the reader understand the topic. It is a good idea to add brief background information in the introduction to make it easily understandable.
• Develop A Thesis Statement
  A thesis statement explains to the reader about the main focus of your essay. It basically tells the purpose and claim of your essay.

Compose the Body Paragraphs

The body of the essay is followed by the introduction. The body paragraphs contain details and explanations of the essay topic.

Body paragraphs are usually 3 in number. They possess information that supports your thesis arguments. Each body paragraph is completed with three sections: topic sentence, supporting evidence, a transition sentence.

• Topic Sentence
  Each body paragraph should start with a topic sentence. It should be related to the thesis statement and should present the main idea of the essay. It should be focused on one single idea about the topic. It should be clear, precise, and informative.
• Supporting Evidence
  Present evidence that supports your topic sentence and the thesis statement. Facts, statistics, research, logic, and information all are present in the main body to prove the thesis statement.
• Transition Statement
  The transition statement makes a logical connection between paragraphs. It is used to connect one paragraph from the next one. There are several transition words that are used in transition statements, i.e., further, moreover, meanwhile, likewise, etc.

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Although it is always preferred to discuss a different idea in each paragraph, they should be related to each other. And, they should add up to the conclusion vividly and explicitly, giving support to your argument and topic.

Write the Conclusion

The conclusion is as important as the introduction. The result is presented in the conclusion paragraphs. An abrupt ending is a put-off for the readers.

People have been reading to know what happens and what the result is, and how would you conclude your debate? Never leave your readers in suspense and confusion. When writing a conclusion paragraph, make sure to include the following things:

• Restate the Thesis
  Restate the thesis statement to help the reader connect back to the essay’s claim. Convince and persuade your readers. Do not just copy-paste the thesis statement from the introduction but rephrase it.
• Summary
  Summarize your work and present a precise overview of the things discussed in the essay. Wrap up everything and present the crux of the essay. Do not introduce anything new here; just sum up what you have already discussed.
• Call to action
  In the end, provide a call to action for the reader and make them do a particular action. Always conclude your essay on a high note that leaves a good impression on the reader's mind.

Revise Your Essay

A well-written essay is the one with the proper format. The structure and format of your essay is equally important as the main argument of your essay. To write a good essay, it is important to keep all the components in mind.

Once you are done with the writing process, take a break from your essay to get things off of your mind. Get back to your essay with a fresh mind and do the proofreading. Check for the structure of the essay, whether you have followed the proper format or not.

Correct the spelling and grammar mistakes and make your essay a perfect piece of writing. Make sure you structure your essay in a very attractive and interesting manner. Get help from people around you. Write essays and give them to read; the feedback will be helpful.

Essay Examples

Go through the essay examples provided by the professionals. Mimic their style and pattern, and you will be able to produce your own good essay. Few examples of essays are given for your guide.

Essay Writing Tips

The following are tips and tricks to make your writing even better:

• Read – Reading gives you knowledge. It helps improve vocabulary and thought processes.
  
• Be Creative – Pick a unique style to address people and grab their attention.
  
• Grammar and syntax – Take special care of the grammar. You don't want to look stupid in front of your readers.
  
• Vocabulary – The correct use of good words adds meaning to your writing.
  
• Punctuations – Correct use of punctuation can result in good writing.
  
• Write short and interesting sentences. Long sentences are boring.
  
• Irrelevant information – Irrelevant information loses your readership. Stick to the point. Don't wander.
  
• Plagiarism – Copying other person's work is a crime. Present authentic work and avoid plagiarism.
  
• Practice makes the man perfect. To get command over a skill, you have to practice it. Writing is also a way of thinking that gets better with practice. Write and check for mistakes.

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