How to Write an Essay?: An essay refers to writing on a specific topic to express the author’s opinions. One needs to select their topic, research it up, have an outline for writing ready, and there you go, half of the work is already done. There are different approaches to writing an essay and millions of essay writing topics. One might get confused regarding the format of every type of essay.
There are essay writing PDF available that can help one determine the best topic for writing your essays and give you an idea regarding the different types of essays. In this article, we will discuss the format of essay writing and the kinds of essay writing and provide tips on writing a compelling yet beautiful essay.
How to Write an Essay in English?
- What is an essay?
- Types of an essay
- Process of writing an essay
- Format of an essay
- Tips on how to write a good essay
What is an essay?
An essay is a general term that refers to a piece of writing that provides the arguments and opinions of the author. It is commonly used interchangeably with a letter, a tale, an article, or a tale.
They are generally used as recollection, criticism, learned arguments, reflections of the author, and observations regarding daily lives. There are formal essays and informal essays.
The formal essays are lengthy, have a serious purpose and are weighty. On the other hand, informal essays talk about an individual’s taste, the author’s self-revelation. They are also full of humour and are written in a graceful style.
Types of an essay
The style or type of an essay is usually based on the author’s message through that essay. An article can be divided into four major categories, namely:
- Argumentative essays
- Narrative essays
- Expository essays
- Descriptive essays
Argumentative essays
An argumentative essay provides the readers with an argument on the given topic and convinces them to pick a particular side. The supplied argument is backed up with evidence and a strong thesis.
The writer needs to use their research abilities and express their perspective about the given topic. These essays are prevalent in school and college papers, so do your research carefully before writing this essay.
Narrative essays
It refers to a very personal piece of writing that clearly expresses the author’s perspective in front of the reader. These articles are usually written in the first person, and their main objective is to immerse and indulge the reader in the essay. Narrative essays must be authentic and should use unambiguous and precise language.
Expository essays
These essays provide the reader with a very balanced and well-analyzed examination of a particular subject. For writing an expository essay, one needs to have a good and clear idea regarding the topic or issue. They need to conduct research and dig into their subject matter.
This type of essay is widespread these days. They are written and based entirely on instances and facts and do not work with the writer’s emotions.
Descriptive essays
A descriptive essay is wholly based on the description that the writer provides regarding the given topic. It could be about a place, a specific memory, an event, or may maybe just be a simple object. These essays depend entirely on the way the writer describes the topic.
They need to be extremely vivid, clear, and precise. One needs to rely on all their senses for writing such an essay. If written precisely, then a descriptive essay can allow the reader to look into the current state of mind of the writer.
Process of writing an essay
Preparation
Before actually penning your thoughts down, you should always have a clear idea regarding your topic. One should prepare their ideas and thoughts in an organized manner and decide how they will present them. Specific essential steps can be followed for the preparation of an essay:
Thoroughly understand the subject matter or the topic
If you are allowed to choose a particular topic for your essay, then try to go for something exciting and engaging. Something about which you have proper knowledge because if you are passionate about it, you will automatically write well.
If you’re not allowed to choose your desired topic, then think carefully before writing about the given topic.
Take your time and research thoroughly about the given topic. Make sure to collect your thoughts and then proceed to write your essay.
Think about your readers
For different essays, there are different types of readers available. Teachers and professors will read the articles written for school or college purposes. Thousands of people will read the articles for social media; admission counsellors will read essays for admission purposes, etc.
The readers of your article will differ based on the type of your essay, and therefore one must be very thoughtful and careful before writing their essays. They must think about the style of writing, the article’s language, and whether it will be formal or casual.
Your essay influences affect or inspire your readers, and hence you must think about the type of readers you will address.
Collect your thoughts and conduct a research
It may happen that while writing, you may stray away from the actual topic, or it may also happen that you are having difficulty in penning down your true thoughts. To avoid these issues, one must sit with their topic and carefully organize their thoughts.
It would be best to gather all your ideas together and then conduct thorough research regarding your topic. Try to collect as many as information as possible and then organize them before writing them down.
Prepare the thesis
The thesis refers to the main point of your article. It would be best if you had a clear and robust thesis before writing your essay. It will also help you not stray away from the topic since you can always refer back to the thesis. The thesis should be very clear and precise since the entire article will be built on it.
Create an outline for your essay
Chalk out the rough structure of the essay you’re going to write. Place your ideas together and get a rough idea about how your essay will look. Since it’s just an outline, one can make necessary changes while writing the actual piece.
Writing
After completing all the preparations, you have to start writing the essay. Maintain the format of the essay and make sure to include all the points that you thought about. Try and incorporate famous quotes and lines to make it more interesting.
Do not forget about the type of essay you’re writing or the audience you will be addressing. Mould the essay according to the type and also according to your thoughts.
Revision and proofreading
After completing your essay, go through the entire thing for spelling, grammar, and the format. Check the style of your writing and include all the minor points that you missed. Please read it thoroughly and address all the subtleties. Please give it a final polish and finally submit your article.
Format of the essay
The structure or the format of an essay usually remains the same. It starts with an introduction, then moves over to the main body, and finally concludes. The thing that changes with each article is the matter that those three topics contain. The contents of each introduction, body, and conclusion differ with the topic and type of essay.
One must cover all three of these points to write a good and impressive essay.
Introduction
The introduction of an essay is essential. It creates the tone for the entire essay. It must include the essay’s thesis since the reader must be aware of what to expect from the essay by the time they finish the introduction.
A good introduction must arouse a sense of interest and curiosity in the reader’s mind as soon as they read it. It must create the background for the essay or provide an overview regarding the contents of the essay. Last but not least, an introduction must present the thesis of the essay and emphasize the subject.
Body
The middle part of an essay is the body. It contains most of the information, elaborates on the thesis, and provides evidence supporting it. The body is usually divided into multiple paragraphs, where each paragraph talks about an important point.
Arranging the paragraphs in the correct order is also very important. If they are not appropriately positioned, the meaning of the article may get affected. Firstly, introduce the idea more thoroughly, then present your views and points. Create connections between paragraphs and lead on from one section to another.
Present a counterpoint and then provide the pieces of evidence that are in favour of your point. Also, offer proofs that disapprove of the counterpoint. Write this part very carefully since the majority of the essay depends on it.
Conclusion
The conclusion of an essay usually wraps up the entire essay in just one or two paragraphs. It should be short, precise, and straightforward. The decision should not provide any new evidence and instead should summarize the entire article. You can end your conclusion on a positive note and write something that will influence your readers.
Tips on how to write a good essay
- Understand the topic: If you have the freedom to choose your topic, they choose something interesting, inspiring, and written about. The essay that you write can be as good as the topic that you select.
If the topic is or theme has already been selected in advance, then make sure that you understand the actual meaning of the topic. Think about it thoroughly and find out that what is exactly being asked of you.
- Plan: Brainstorming and gathering your thoughts together will help you in writing an essay very quickly. Plan your studies and research well regarding your topic. Think about the type of readers that will read your content and then decide on the writing style.
Planning out your entire essay will make your writing process much more manageable.
- Create an outline: Sketch out your outline before you write the actual essay. If you do this, you can arrange your thoughts and pen them down. Do not worry about language or grammar. Use this outline while composing the introduction, body, and conclusion of your essay.
- Compose a strong thesis: The thesis of an essay is the most critical part of the essay. It is very vital and since it is the core message of the essay. Make sure that your thesis is apparent and vital. Remember that if your idea is not strong enough, then your entire article can crumble down.
- Acknowledge your readers: Keep in mind the readers who will be reading your work. The content, language, and style of your work will vary along with the type of your reader. Engage your readers in your essay and influence them.
Form an idea regarding the interests of your audience and focus on those while writing the essay. The success of your essay will entirely depend on your readers.
- Try avoiding distractions and never give up: While writing an essay, try to focus on only writing and do not do anything else. Your train of thought may get affected if you try to do something else. It may get difficult doing two things together, and your essay may not come out the way you wanted.
Avoiding other distractions will help you to finish your work faster and much better.
Writing constantly may get tiring for you, and hence you may want to stop writing. Never do that. Take a break away from writing and do something you love. Writing constantly may be difficult, and hence there’s a chance of losing interest.
Don’t let that happen. Try to finish your essay as fast and as smoothly as possible to avoid such issues.
The ability to write an essay is a kind of art. It requires hard work, creativity, and patience. One must follow a lot of steps to write a perfect essay. After reading this article, one will get a good idea about how to write an essay. Following the tips will also help you write a fast, effective, influential, and informative article that will win the hearts of your readers.