[dropcap]E[/dropcap]ssay writing is a requirement in almost every level of higher education. As you climb up the educational ladder, you will be expected to write many more complicated and challenging essays. Your ability to gain admission, scholarships or even good grades will be dependent on the effectiveness and strength of your essays. Therefore, it is important to master the art of writing convincing essays that communicate your ideas to the professors who will be reading and scoring them.
In other to learn to write an effective essay, you have to break the huge process of essay writing into smaller manageable tasks. This will make it easier for you to draft a successful essay for a scholarship, a writing contest or a class assignment.
Writing an essay involves the communication of a particular idea, and backing the idea with proofs, evidence, declarations, analyses and explanations. Although most standard essays contain only five paragraphs, an essay can have as many paragraphs as possible. The most important aspect of essay writing involves ensuring that it contains the three main segments: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.
This is where most students get confused and discouraged. Sometimes, these students decide to throw in the towel after they have spent hours grappling with the jobs of writing the essay or the paper. A writing essays service is often the first place they turn to for help. This isn’t always a bad idea. Sometimes, their essays will serve as a guide or a source of research for the students.
For those who want to learn, below is a step-by-step guide to help you write an effective essay
1. Choose A Compelling Topic
If you haven’t been given a topic or theme to write on, then selecting a compelling topic will be the first step for you. Don’t forget that it is important to choose a topic you’re passionate about. You want to increase your chances of writing to the best of your abilities.
However, if you have been assigned a topic, think deeply about what kind of essay you would like to write. Do you want to compose a detailed analysis of the subject? Would you like to write a general synopsis of the topic? Whatever you choose, remember that it is always better to make your argument clear.
2. Organize Your Ideas
It is impossible to write an effective essay if your ideas aren’t organized and clearly expressed.
The easiest way to organize your ideas is to outline each on a sheet of paper on a board. This will make it easier for you to identify connections and links between ideas.
An outline is easy to draw. Once you have written the title on the first line of the page, you can start jotting down the different points you would like to make in your essay. You can also make sub-points underneath the main points. This way, you will be able to connect your ideas and form the foundation of a more organized essay.
3. Work Out The Point Of Your Essay
Academics call this writing the thesis statement. This means, going through your outline and writing out the main point of your essay from the ideas you have outlined.
In this part, your first job will be to state your topic in clear terms. Then the next part of the thesis statement will involve writing down the point of your essay.
The most important question to answer here is: what is the essay trying to say? What point is it trying to make?
4. Compose The Body Of The Essay
In the body of the essay, the writer makes an argument for or against a topic. Depending on the type of essay, the writer might give a detailed explanation or description of the topic. In this part, the writer makes every main idea in the outline a separate section (or paragraph) in the body of the essay.
Here is the easiest way to go about this: make your main idea the opening sentence and then proceed to write your supporting points. Remember to give examples to back up your supporting ideas. Relatable anecdotes help make the arguments more convincing. Make sure the arguments are connected and that they work towards making the idea of the thesis statement more convincing.
5. Write the introduction
Many essayists choose to write their introduction first. If that works for you, then you should do just that. But it is easier to write a gripping introduction that shows the point of your essay after the thesis statement and body of the essay has been developed.
The most important thing to do is to make sure that the opening paragraph grabs the reader’s attention. While some give shocking statistics or facts, others open with a compelling anecdote, an epithet, or a summary of the topic.
Make sure that your introduction flows effectively and that it can be linked with the closing sentence of your introductory paragraph.
6. Compose the conclusion
An effective essay must have a strong conclusion. This conclusion serves to sum up the general ideas expressed in the essay and to give a concluding opinion on the topic.
An effective conclusion is typically made up of three to five sentences. In rare cases, there are more sentences or less in the conclusion. Your job here is to further buttress the points in your essay.
-
Edit and Proofread.
Every accomplished essayist will tell you that an essay is never done until it has been sufficiently revised, edited and proofread. To have an effective essay, you must pay adequate attention to the tiny details such as the arrangement of the paragraphs. Read the essay repeatedly. Do the sentences flow? Also, ensure that you are your strongest points are placed in the first and last paragraphs of the body.
In conclusion, learning to write an essay will benefit every student greatly. Once you have chosen a topic, and written down the thesis statement, composing an introduction, body and conclusion will be easy.
Chioma Iwunze-Ibiam writes creative non-fiction and prose fiction. Her works have appeared in Romance Meets Life, Flash Fiction Press, MTLS, Saraba Magazine, Sentinel Magazine and others. Her first novel, Finding Love Again, was published by Ankara Press. She owns and manages Creative Writing News.
