Several high school students may be looking at this article to find an accurate idea of writing an essay. So, let me inform you that you have come to the exact right place. Even if you don’t know how to make your way around words, you don’t need to be intimidated with essays.
Professionals taking up exams like IELTS or LSATs also require to write good essays. So, this article won’t only be effective for high schoolers but also for a diverse range of people. So, without wasting any more time, let’s find out how to write an effective essay.
But, before that, let’s check out what are the different types of essays.
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What Are The Different Types Of Essays?
If you want to know how to write an effective essay, you must first figure out the different types of essays. So let’s check them out.
1: Narrative Essay
You choose this format when you have to share your experience of an event in a narrative form. It is like telling a story, and it often becomes anecdotal, personal, and experiential.
2: Expository Essay
This type of essay clarifies a topic, and it also includes instructional writing with step-by-step information. You have to investigate an issue here, explain the idea to provide some information to the reader.
3: Explanatory Essay
There is also an explanatory essay where the author chooses to explain an idea about a particular topic. The writer has to provide a neutral view of the topic by providing analysis from the research.
4: Descriptive Essay
When the writer describes an event, that is denoted as a descriptive essay. However, the best part of this essay is that it allows people great artistic liberty so that readers could enjoy the piece they are reading.
5: Persuasive Essay
This type of essay convinces the audience to agree with the author’s point of view. You have to present arguments, statistics, facts, and data in this kind of essay to convince the reader of your thoughts.
How To Write An Essay In 7 Easy Steps?
Not only the authors but everyone suffers from ‘writer’s block’ at one time in their lives. So, when you have to write an essay during an exam, you must know these easy steps that will help you write it.
If you know how to write a bill, you are almost one step closer to write an effective essay. That’s because a bill has some rules like the date, author-line, title, and whereas clauses, and an essay has three main parts. The parts are the introduction, the main body, and the conclusion. So, let’s get started on the steps now;
1: Determine Your Essay Topic
If you already have an essay topic assigned to you, this step won’t be essential. But, sometimes, teachers let your minds roam free and allow you to choose the essay topic yourself. In that case, you must ask yourself a few questions before you determine the subject.
Just ask yourself what you are passionate about, or what is something that you want to share with others. You can also ask yourself if there is any societal misconception that you want to correct. Once you figure out the topic, you have to choose the correct format of essay that will go best with that particular idea.
2: Research The Topic
When you have already chosen the essay topic, you must research it and brainstorm some ideas to proceed with the writing. Start with some factual data, and ask yourself the why, when, where, how, and what questions regarding the topic. If you find all the answers to these wh-questions, you will include them in your essay.
You can simply make a mind map to brainstorm the collective ideas. You can also make bullet points about those answers while writing the essay’s main body; you know which topics to include. If your paper is not time-sensitive, you can also interview the subject matter experts to provide some authentic point-of-views in your writing.
3: Create The Thesis Statement
Once you have brainstormed a few ideas and researched them, it’s time you start with your introduction. And, by writing the introduction, we mean to write a compelling thesis statement. A thesis statement sums up the primary argument of your essay. Then, when readers read it, they will know what you are writing the essay.
A thesis statement is a significant part of the essay and significantly more important when writing your introduction. It will explain to the readers what position you hold in terms of that subject. So, cast your complete focus on the thesis statement before anything else.
4: Create An Essay Outline
Once you have created your thesis statement, it’s time you focus on creating an essay outline. If you are already a professional, you may choose to skip this part, but let me tell you, it’s quite an essential part of essay writing. This step enables you to stay focused while you write the essay. It keeps you more organized and saves your time.
You can include how many paragraphs your essay will be and what points you will have in those paragraphs. If you don’t make this outline, you may end up getting diverted from the topic. So, take this step seriously if you want to know how to write an essay.
5: Start The Writing
If your essay outline is ready, it’s time you focus on the actual writing part. Elaborate on each of the points you jotted down in the outline. Make separate paragraphs for them, and present facts to provide evidence in favor of your idea. But, when you start writing the essay, make sure you include some catchy lines there to hook your readers.
Don’t elaborate on the information unnecessarily, and make sure you stay as concise as possible. If you write a formal essay for your school or college, you must not write them in first-person pronouns.
6: Intext The References
You must avoid plagiarism when writing an essay because your professors want you to put forth your ideas there. So, when you will put forth someone else’s idea, make sure you cite the references correctly. You can cite the references in any format like Harvard, APA, MLA, Chicago, or Vancouver.
There are also different citation techniques available for each of those formats. You can get the guide online on any possible site. The best site to get the references for your academic essay will be Google Scholar.
7: Edit Your Flaws
Once your writing is complete, make sure to read it at least twice to correct your mistakes. First, of course, you have to fix all the grammatical and spelling errors. There’s a free tool of Grammarly available for that. So, you can use it to correct silly grammatical mistakes and give your essay the utmost professional look.
Don’t use any unnecessary words when you opt for the editing part. You can also eliminate a few lines and add some new ones. And, before finally submitting the essay, make you cross-check all the facts you have put there once again.
Conclusion
If you have stayed with us this far, you must have got a good idea of how to write an essay. So, make sure you follow these steps and write the best essay of your career the next time you have to write one. Another thing is that there are some other types of essays too apart from the ones we mentioned there. But, these are the major ones, so if you are writing an essay for academic purposes, these will be the types to go for.
