Content

• Steps
• Advice

When well written, the essay can move and inspire your readers. It can cause them to become confused, uncertain and anxious. In order to effectively write an essay, you must first understand its structure. Next, you need to find ideas for your essay so you can be ready to sit down and draft.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Start with your essay

1. 

   Find perspective for your article. Your life may not be full of interesting or dramatic stories, but that's okay. Your essay can still appeal to the reader, as long as you find the right lens. Find for yourself a unique or interesting perspective on an experience or moment in your life. That can be a profound and meaningful topic for your essay.
   • For example, you can write about coming up from failure. That might be when you failed a surprise test at school. At that point, the test doesn't seem that important, but then you realize that it forces you to re-examine your goals and motivate you to strive and get better scores. . In a way, this small failure has given you the perseverance and determination needed.

2. 

   
   
   Write about a special moment. A good essay is one that can exploit your special experiences that create conflicts in your life. It's one way you can dig deep into why and how the experience hurts or challenges you. Use it as a place to discuss some important moments in your life and reflect on its impact on your life.
   • It may seem like a moment that doesn't seem worth mentioning but then has a huge impact on your life, such as the first time you know what anger is like being a baby or the expression on your mother's face. when she learns that you are gay. Try to dig into why you feel hurt or compelled to pass the test of that moment in your essay.
   • Don't forget that moments of intense emotion often attract readers. Reacting strongly to a particular moment allows you to write about it passionately and keep your readers interested in your essay.

3. 

   
   
   Write about the specific event that sparked your emotions. You can also tap into events that leave an indelible impression on you. Often an essay is your reflection on an event that happened and changed your life in some way. The more unusual the event is, the easier the essay will attract readers.
   • For example, it could be the day you find out that your dad betrayed your mother or the week you suffered from the death of a loved one. Think about the difficult experiences that made you who you are today.
   • You may also want to write about a happier topic or event, such as your first roller coaster ride or a yacht vacation with your loved one. Whatever your choice, it needs to evoke strong emotions in you, from anger to confusion and boundless joy.

4. 

   
   
   Think of someone who, to some extent, doesn't get along with you. You may want to exploit a tense relationship with your ex in your essay. It is the person you gradually become distant or unfamiliar with. Or it could be the person whose relationship between you and that person has always been difficult and complex: dive into the reasons for that difficulty and complexity in your essay.
   • For example, it may be the reason why you and your mother stopped talking years ago or why you are no longer close to your friend since childhood. You can also look back at past relationships and ask yourself why they failed or why the relationship with a teacher turned out to be so unpleasant.
   • You can also write about someone close to you. Such as challenging moments in your relationship with a best friend.

5. 

   Reacting to what's happening. Good essays are not only about special things, such as your experiences, but also look at general things like current affairs or bigger issues. You can focus on a certain current topic or topic that interests you, like abortion or refugee camp and look at them from your personal perspective.
   • Ask yourself questions about current events. How does the event, for example, relate to your personal experience? How can you exploit contemporary social events or problems with your personal thoughts, experiences and feelings?
   • Take the example of a Syrian refugee camp in Europe. In this case, you can focus on your own status as an immigrant in the United States and how that experience has shaped who you are now. This allows you to exploit contemporary events under a personal lens rather than just from a distance, from the perspective of a journalist.

6. 

   Outline. Essays are usually divided into sections, including the introduction, body, and conclusion. As follows:
   • The introduction or introduction should include a "decoy", the opening word used to attract the attention of the reader. It also needs a narrative thesis: the important facts in the article or topic connecting your experience with the larger idea usually start here.
   • The body of the essay includes supporting support for your narrative thesis and / or the main topics in your writing. Often they are written in terms of your experiences and how you feel about your own experiences. You should also incorporate time into the body so that the reader is aware of when and how certain events have played out.
   • Conclusion should include a conclusion to the events and experiences discussed in the article. You should also include lessons learned from your experiences or the ways in which they have changed your life.
   • In the past, the essay consisted of five paragraphs, one for the introduction, three for the body paragraph and one for the conclusion. You can, however, use more or less, as long as your essay is on the three-part structure mentioned above.
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Part 2 of 3: Writing essay

1. 

   Opening with a fascinating scene. Start your essay with a compelling and engaging introduction. The key characters as well as the central topic (s) of the essay should be introduced here. At the same time, the central question or issue should be presented.
   • Don't start by explaining exactly what you are trying to address, such as: “In this article, I will discuss a stressful relationship with mom.” Instead, entice the reader and still give you all the information you need with your opening sentence.
   • You can start with a specific scene with the main characters of the essay, the scene that allows you to discuss the central question or topic. As a result, you will immediately introduce to the reader the central characters and contradictions of the essay.
   • For example, if you write about a stressful relationship with your mother, you can focus on a specific memory where you both disagree or conflict. That could be the moment when your mom and you are loud over a seemingly minor issue about a family secret.
   • For your essay, use active instead of passive whenever possible.

2. 

   Write with your own perspective or voice. With your essay, you are still entitled to have your own style of view or voice. Like other types of writing, essay essays are often more successful when the writer uses a tone that is interesting and informative to the reader. This means that you should use words, structure and tone to create a compelling narrative in your essay.
   • The tone can be conversational, like the way you would talk with a close friend or a family member. Or, it can be more introverted and thoughtful, as you question your own assumptions and thoughts on the subject of the essay.
   • Many essays are written in the first person, using the benevolent pronoun "I". You can write in the present tense to make the story current. Or, you can use the past tense to represent more of certain events or moments.
   • You should use descriptions with many vivid senses to help readers connect with your own feelings. Using the touch, smell, image and sound of your description can help your readers convince your story and feel like you're there with you.

3. 

   Develop a detailed and comprehensive character line. Do not forget to describe the character through the appearance and inner content. Even if you are inspired by real experience, you should still consider storytelling elements such as storylines and characters. Using these elements in your essay will help keep your readers engaged and your writing smoother.
   • Based on memories of the event in question, you can also include the characters' lines in your essay. However, you should limit conversations to a few lines per page: too much dialogue can distract the essay and be more novel.

4. 

   Include the plot in your essay. You should also be aware of the plot in your essay: accordingly, the sequence of events or moments leads to perceptions or inconsistencies at the end of the article. In general, essay events should be presented in chronological order so that they can be easily followed.
   • You can use the plot outline to organize your writing. The main points in the plot will be the supporting arguments for your central question or problem.

5. 

   Focus on uncovering deeper truths. All in all, what profound meaning do your experiences have? Discuss your experiences honestly and curiously, trying to uncover the hidden truths or things that you will eventually find out. Often the best essays try to expose the facts that make the writer feel uncomfortable or difficult to mention.
   • Don't forget that, at first glance, a certain experience may seem to contain all the drama needed to be the material for a good essay, but sometimes it is all too familiar to the reader. Be wary of familiar, emotional experiences that readers may have enjoyed before.
   • For example, writing about the sudden death of a loved one may sound profound and important to you. But chances are readers already know what to expect from such an article or they may not feel the way you are because they don't know as much about the deceased as you are.
   • Instead, try to exploit the deeper fact of "I am sad that a loved one is dead". Think about what your ex means to you and how he or she has affected your life, both positively and negatively. As a result, you will probably open up deeper and have a better essay.
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Part 3 of 3: Complete your essay

1. 

   Try different literary patterns and tactics. You can liven up your writing by experimenting with new patterns and tactics, such as metaphor, iteration, and personification. When you use literary tactics and show your readers how well you can tell your story, your essay will be much better.
   • For example, you can use metaphors to express your feelings at the time of revealing your sex to your mother. You can use words like "a towering, impenetrable wall" to describe her face. Or you can use analogy, such as "she froze and froze, like lightning struck her ear."

2. 

   Read your essay aloud. When you have finished your first draft, you should reread what your lyrical sounded like. You can read by yourself or read to a sympathetic and shared audience.
   • When reading, you should highlight confusing or unclear sentences and sentences that seem out of place from the rest of the draft. You should also make sure the characters are well developed and that the essay is based on a certain structure or plot. Consider if you have touched the truths deep within and if not, what you can do to get there. That is the ultimate goal of editing.

3. 

   Read again, check for errors and correct. Once you have a good draft, now's the time to sit back, check for errors and correct. You can review the notes while reading the essay yourself as well as feedback from trusted readers.
   • When editing, you should consider whether the content is unique enough, whether you are writing on a topic that interests you and whether your readers understand your writing. Don't confuse the reader: it can make them not patient enough to read your work through.
   • You should also ensure that the focus and topic of your essay are clearly laid out. Your experience should focus on the central question, problem or topic. Thanks to that, get a good and concise essay.
   • Avoid relying on the spelling checking functionality of your editor software to detect all spelling and grammatical errors in your essay.
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Advice

• To better understand the essay type, you should read excellent examples. Some of the popular essays commonly taught in universities include "Notes of a Native Son" by James Baldwin, "The Death of a Moth" by Virginia Woolf, "Shipping Out" by David Foster Wallace, "The White. Album ”by Joan Didion, and“ We Do Abortions Here ”by Sallie Tisdale.
• During the reading process, ask yourself some questions, such as: How did the writer introduce the topic of the essay? How do they exploit the topic from a personal perspective? What are the main points of the essay? How did the writer connect the personal experience with the general topic or idea? How is humor and humor used? What is the lesson summarized here? Does the closing method leave you feeling satisfied, insecure, curious, or all of those feelings?