General Essay Writing Tips

Despite the fact that, as Shakespeare said, "the pen is mightier than
the sword," the pen itself is not enough to make an effective writer.
In fact, though we may all like to think of ourselves as the next
Shakespeare, inspiration alone is not the key to effective essay
writing. You see, the conventions of English essays are more
formulaic than you might think – and, in many ways, it can be as
simple as counting to five.

Steps to Writing an Essay

Follow these 7 steps for the best results:

1. Read and understand the prompt: Know exactly what is being asked of you.
It’s a good idea to dissect the prompt into parts.
2. Plan: Brainstorming and organizing your ideas will make your life much easier
when you go to write your essay. It’s a good idea to make a web of your ideas
and supporting details.
3. Use and cite sources: Do your research. Use quotes and paraphrase from your
sources, but NEVER plagiarize.
4. Write a Draft: Ernest Hemingway once said, “The first draft of anything is always
crap.” While the truth behind this statement is debatable, drafts are always a
good place to get any of your “crappy” ideas out of the way and are often
required by professors and instructors.
5. Make a strong thesis: The thesis (main argument) of the essay is the most
important thing you’ll write. Make it a strong point.
6. Respond to the prompt: Once you have worked out any kinks in your draft, you
can start writing the final draft of your essay.
7. Proofread: Read your response carefully to make sure that there are no
mistakes and that you didn’t miss anything.
Of course, every essay assignment is different and it’s important to be mindful of that. If
one of these steps isn’t applicable to the essay you are writing, skip it and move to the
next one.

The Five Paragraph Essay

Though more advanced academic papers are a category all their own, the basic high
school or college essay has the following standardized, five paragraph structure:

Paragraph 1: Introduction
Paragraph 2: Body 1
Paragraph 3: Body 2
Paragraph 4: Body 3
Paragraph 5: Conclusion

Though it may seem formulaic – and, well, it is - the idea behind this structure is to
make it easier for the reader to navigate the ideas put forth in an essay. You see, if your
essay has the same structure as every other one, any reader should be able to quickly
and easily find the information most relevant to them.

The Introduction
 Want to see sample essays?
Check out our Sample Essay section where you can see scholarship essays,
admissions essays, and more!
The principle purpose of the introduction is to present your position (this is also known
as the "thesis" or "argument") on the issue at hand but effective introductory paragraphs
are so much more than that. Before you even get to this thesis statement, for example,
the essay should begin with a "hook" that grabs the reader’s attention and makes them
want to read on. Examples of effective hooks include relevant quotations ("no man is an
island") or surprising statistics ("three out of four doctors report that…").

Only then, with the reader’s attention "hooked," should you move on to the thesis. The
thesis should be a clear, one-sentence explanation of your position that leaves no doubt
in the reader’s mind about which side you are on from the beginning of your essay.

Following the thesis, you should provide a mini-outline which previews the examples
you will use to support your thesis in the rest of the essay. Not only does this tell the
reader what to expect in the paragraphs to come but it also gives them a clearer
understanding of what the essay is about.

Finally, designing the last sentence in this way has the added benefit of seamlessly
moving the reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper. In this way we can
see that the basic introduction does not need to be much more than three or four
sentences in length. If yours is much longer you might want to consider editing it down a
bit!

Here, by way of example, is an introductory paragraph to an essay in response to the

following question:

"Do we learn more from finding out that we have made mistakes or from our successful
actions?"

"No man is an island" and, as such, he is constantly shaped and influenced by his
experiences. People learn by doing and, accordingly, learn considerably more from their
mistakes than their success. For proof of this, consider examples from both science and
everyday experience.

The Body Paragraphs

The middle paragraphs of the essay are collectively known as the body paragraphs and,
as alluded to above, the main purpose of a body paragraph is to spell out in detail the
examples that support your thesis.

For the first body paragraph you should use your strongest argument or most significant
example unless some other more obvious beginning point (as in the case of
chronological explanations) is required. The first sentence of this paragraph should be
the topic sentence of the paragraph that directly relates to the examples listed in the
mini-outline of introductory paragraph.

A one sentence body paragraph that simply cites the example of "George Washington"
or "LeBron James" is not enough, however. No, following this an effective essay will
follow up on this topic sentence by explaining to the reader, in detail, who or what an
example is and, more importantly, why that example is relevant.

Even the most famous examples need context. For example, George Washington’s life
was extremely complex – by using him as an example, do you intend to refer to his
honesty, bravery, or maybe even his wooden teeth? The reader needs to know this and
it is your job as the writer to paint the appropriate picture for them. To do this, it is a
good idea to provide the reader with five or six relevant facts about the life (in general)
or event (in particular) you believe most clearly illustrates your point.

Having done that, you then need to explain exactly why this example proves your
thesis. The importance of this step cannot be understated (although it clearly can be
underlined); this is, after all, the whole reason you are providing the example in the first
place. Seal the deal by directly stating why this example is relevant.

Here is an example of a body paragraph to continue the essay begun above:

Take, by way of example, Thomas Edison. The famed American inventor rose to
prominence in the late 19th century because of his successes, yes, but even he felt that
these successes were the result of his many failures. He did not succeed in his work on
one of his most famous inventions, the lightbulb, on his first try nor even on his hundred
and first try. In fact, it took him more than 1,000 attempts to make the first incandescent
bulb but, along the way, he learned quite a deal. As he himself said, "I did not fail a
thousand times but instead succeeded in finding a thousand ways it would not work."
Thus Edison demonstrated both in thought and action how instructive mistakes can be.

A Word on Transitions

You may have noticed that, though the above paragraph aligns pretty closely with the
provided outline, there is one large exception: the first few words. These words are
example of a transitional phrase – others include "furthermore," "moreover," but also "by
contrast" and "on the other hand" – and are the hallmark of good writing.

Transitional phrases are useful for showing the reader where one section ends and
another begins. It may be helpful to see them as the written equivalent of the kinds of
spoken cues used in formal speeches that signal the end of one set of ideas and the
beginning of another. In essence, they lead the reader from one section of the
paragraph of another.

To further illustrate this, consider the second body paragraph of our example essay:

In a similar way, we are all like Edison in our own way. Whenever we learn a new skill -
be it riding a bike, driving a car, or cooking a cake - we learn from our mistakes. Few, if
any, are ready to go from training wheels to a marathon in a single day but these early
experiences (these so-called mistakes) can help us improve our performance over time.
You cannot make a cake without breaking a few eggs and, likewise, we learn by doing
and doing inevitably means making mistakes.
Hopefully this example not only provides another example of an effective body
paragraph but also illustrates how transitional phrases can be used to distinguish
between them.

The Conclusion
Although the conclusion paragraph comes at the end of your essay it should not be
seen as an afterthought. As the final paragraph is represents your last chance to make
your case and, as such, should follow an extremely rigid format.

One way to think of the conclusion is, paradoxically, as a second introduction because it
does in fact contain many of the same features. While it does not need to be too long –
four well-crafted sentence should be enough – it can make or break and essay.
Effective conclusions open with a concluding transition ("in conclusion," "in the end,"
etc.) and an allusion to the "hook" used in the introductory paragraph. After that you
should immediately provide a restatement of your thesis statement.

This should be the fourth or fifth time you have repeated your thesis so while you should
use a variety of word choice in the body paragraphs it is a acceptable idea to use some
(but not all) of the original language you used in the introduction. This echoing effect not
only reinforces your argument but also ties it nicely to the second key element of the
conclusion: a brief (two or three words is enough) review of the three main points from
the body of the paper.

Having done all of that, the final element – and final sentence in your essay – should be
a "global statement" or "call to action" that gives the reader signals that the discussion
has come to an end.

In the end, then, one thing is clear: mistakes do far more to help us learn and improve
than successes. As examples from both science and everyday experience can attest, if
we treat each mistake not as a misstep but as a learning experience the possibilities for
self-improvement are limitless.