Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Before writing
• Part 2 of 3: Write a draft
• Part 3 of 3: Checking
• Tips

You don't have to be a writer to write a good essay. Writing an essay is a creative process. By dividing this process into a series of small steps instead of a big cryptic process, you make writing your essay a much easier task. You can brainstorm your main ideas, write them down on a draft, and polish your text into a brilliant essay.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Before writing

1. 1 Read the assignment carefully. It is important to be clear about what your teacher expects from your essay. In terms of theme and style, each teacher has different requirements that need to be adhered to. Keep your assignment sheet with you while you work on your essay and read it carefully. Ask the teacher about anything you don't understand. Make sure you understand the following things well:
   • What is the purpose of the essay?
   • What is the theme of the essay?
   • What are the volume requirements?
   • What should be the main tone of the composition?
   • Is research required?
2. 2 Divide the time into three equal parts. Writing in stages can help you complete an assignment and effectively control your time. Allocate 1/3 of your time for each of the following steps:
   • preparation: collect your thoughts, brainstorm and do all the necessary research, and plan your essay;
   • writing: active writing of an essay;
   • editing: re-read the work, add sentences if necessary, delete unnecessary parts, correct punctuation, grammar and spelling errors.
3. 3 Write whatever comes to your mind or keep a journal to get some ideas on paper. When you first try to find the best way to cover the topic you need to write about, write down what you think on paper. It's not necessary to show this to anyone, so feel free to express your thoughts and opinions on the topic and see what happens.
   • Try writing for 10 minutes without stopping. Feel free to express your own opinion on a particular topic, even if your teacher has warned you not to include your personal opinion in the work. This is not the final version!
4. 4 Try the 'theme blocks' or 'circles' exercise. A reference schema is great if you've generated a lot of ideas and don't know where to start. This will help you move from general to specific, which is an important part of any essay. Take a blank piece of paper or use a chalk board to draw the outline. Don't save space.
   • Write your topic in the center of the paper and circle it. Let's say your theme is Romeo and Juliet or Civil War. Write the phrase on paper and circle it.
   • Around the center circle, write your main ideas or thoughts on the topic. You might be interested in Juliet's death, Mercutio's wrath, or family strife. Write as many key ideas as you like.
   • Write more specific questions or comments around each main idea. Start looking for connections. Do words and ideas repeat themselves?
   • Connect the circles with lines where you see the corresponding connection. A good essay should be organized according to the main idea, and not in chronological or plot order. Use these connections to form your core ideas.
5. 5 Start with a really strong idea. When you're brainstorming and you get a good idea, develop it. In general terms, write whatever comes to mind, and then work on making that idea flow into a whole essay.
   • Don't worry about a perfect thesis or argument right now - take care of that a little later.
6. 6 Think about writing planto organize your thoughts. Once you've decided on the main ideas and arguments for the topic, you can jot them down in a blueprint to start drafting your work. Use complete sentences to tie the main components of an essay together.
7. 7 Write a thesis statement. Your thesis statement will guide your entire essay and may be the single most important part of writing a good essay. A thesis statement is usually a controversial point of view that the author tries to prove in an essay.
   • Your thesis statement must be controversial. The sentence "Romeo and Juliet is an interesting play written by Shakespeare in the 1500s" cannot be called a thesis statement because it is an obvious statement. It doesn't need proof. "The main role in the play" Romeo and Juliet "belongs to the most tragic character of Shakespeare - Juliet" - much closer to the controversial statement.
   • Your thesis statement must be specific. “Romeo and Juliet is a play about not making a bad choice” is not as good a thesis as: “Shakespeare emphasizes that inexperienced adolescent love is both comic and tragic at the same time.” The latter is much more successful.
   • A good thesis guides the essay. The thesis can sometimes provide an overview of the thoughts that you present in your work, thereby guiding both yourself and the reader: "Shakespeare uses Juliet's death, Mercutio's rage and the petty quibbles of two families to illustrate that the heart and head always work separately."

Part 2 of 3: Write a draft

1. 1 Think in fives. Some teachers teach the "rule of five" or the "five paragraph" format for writing an essay. This is not a hard and fast rule and you don't need to stick to the exact number "5", but it can be helpful in writing an argument and organizing your thoughts; try to include at least three different points of view in your essay,to prove your main argument. But some teachers prefer to see the following paragraphs in the essay:
   • An introduction that describes the topic, summarizes the problem, and presents your argument.
   • Main paragraph 1 in which you state and prove your first argument.
   • Main paragraph 2 in which you state and prove your second argument.
   • Main paragraph 3, in which you state and prove your last argument.
   • The final paragraph in which you summarize your arguments.
2. 2 Support your main ideas with two types of evidence. In a good essay, the thesis is like a table surface - just as the table surface is supported by legs, since it cannot hang in the air, so the thesis must be supported by evidence. Each thought must be supported by two types of evidence: arguments and facts.
   • Facts include specific quotes from the book you are writing about or specific facts on a topic. If you want to talk about the character of Mercutio, you need to quote his words and describe him in detail.
   • The arguments are based on your logic and reasoning. Why is Mercutio like that? What should we note in his manner of speaking? Explain your point of view with logic to the reader, and you will have a convincing argument with strong evidence.
3. 3 Think about the questions that need to be answered. A common complaint from essay students is that they don't know what to say on a specific topic. Learn to ask yourself questions that readers might ask to get the material together ahead of time by answering those questions on a draft.
   • Ask how. How is Juliet's death presented to us? How do other characters react? How should the reader feel?
   • Ask why. Why is Shakespeare killing her? Why not let her live? Why should she die? Why wouldn't the play have worked without her death?
4. 4 Feel free to sound too smart. A common mistake many essay students make is that they spend too much time replacing what they think is too clever words with simpler ones. You are not going to fool your teacher by inserting a $ 100 word in the first sentence, while leaving the rest of the arguments too weak. Creating a strong argument requires much less effort in terms of formulation and vocabulary, but more in terms of structure and supporting the thesis with the main ideas.
   • Use only those words and phrases that you yourself understand. Academic vocabulary is good, of course, but if you don't understand what you are writing, it can confuse the person who reads your work.

Part 3 of 3: Checking

1. 1 Get some feedback on your work. It can be tempting to consider your work complete once you've written the required number of pages or words, but it's much better if you put your work aside for a while, come back to it later, and look at it with a fresh eye. You probably want to make some changes.
   • Try to write a draft and give it to your teacher a few days before the deadline in order to receive comments. Consider all comments and make the necessary changes.
2. 2 Be prepared to make changes. Good writing takes a long time. The word "check" literally means "look again." Many students believe that proofreading is about correcting spelling mistakes and typos, and while this is certainly part of proofreading, it is important to know that no writer writes perfect text on the first try. You still have a lot of work to do. Try the following:
   • move paragraphs to achieve the best structure for your essay;
   • remove entire sentences that are repetitive or don't work;
   • remove any points of view that don't support your argument.
3. 3 Go from general to specific. One of the best ways you can improve your draft while reviewing is by picking ideas that are too general and making them more specific. This may involve adding evidence such as quotes or arguments, it may involve rethinking your point of view and shifting focus, it may involve finding entirely new points of view and new evidence to support your thesis.
   • Think of each main point of view as a mountain in a mountain range that you fly over in a helicopter. You can stop or fly over them quickly, pointing out their features from afar and giving a quick overview, or you can stop below between them and show them up close so that observers can see mountain goats and waterfalls. Which is the best option?
4. 4 Reread your draft out loud. One of the best ways to evaluate a paper and see if it passes the test is to sit down and read it aloud. Does it sound good? Circle anything that needs clarification, rewording, or clarification. When you're done, go back and make the corrections you mapped out to improve your writing as much as possible.
5. 5 Correct the work in the last step. Don't worry about commas and apostrophes until your essay is almost ready to be submitted. Leave syntax errors, spelling and typos for later. You need to worry about them only when the more important parts of your essay - the thesis, main ideas and arguments - have already been polished.

Tips

• You can always add more circles to your reference circuit if you think there are not enough of them.
• Free Mind can help you draft a draft.
• Remember that there is no time limit (unless you are on an exam), so take your time and feel free to express your thoughts.
• Let your imagination run wild.
• Write down the idea, and then expand it by at least two lines.