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How to write an essay
Make a plan
Everyone knows an essay has to have a start, a middle and an end (and that the middle should be the longest bit), but you can get so much more out of essay planning than that. Plan your time, too. Sitting down to write a whole essay can be daunting, but it doesn’t need to be that way. Even if you just spend half an hour here and there, you’ll be surprised how quickly your essay starts to build up. Maybe your concentration span doesn’t work like that, and you need longer periods of time to get going? No problem, just plan it in.
It doesn’t need to take you ages to write your essay plan, either. Let’s say you get set an essay on Monday, for the following Monday. Take a quick look at your diary…free hour before football practice on Tuesday night? Don’t spend it reading the paper or messing around on Facebook, get into the library and start writing. Plan another couple of sessions before the weekend too, and by Friday night you’ve nearly done – you just need an hour on Sunday evening. Plus you can plan rewards to motivate yourself – some chocolate, or a beer, or maybe download an album. Give yourself something to aim at.
Draw yourself a map
So you’re sat in the library on Tuesday evening, and the clock’s ticking. Half an hour’s gone already, and you’ve not written anything. Don’t panic or storm off in a huff. Start thinking about some headings.
Headings are subtitles for the main title of your essay. You don’t have to leave them in if you don’t want to, or if your university mandates an essay format that doesn’t use headings. Don’t forget, your essay can look completely different at the start than it needs to at the end. If you’re using Microsoft Word or OpenOffice, try using the stylesheet (in Word: Format > Styles and Formating > Heading 1) to format your headings, then use the document map (View > Document Map) to keep track of where you are, and what headings you’re using.
But what are your headings going to say? Well, start by thinking about all the things you know about the essay title. Look back through your notes, or at a study guide. Let’s say you’re writing about the French Revolution. What do we know about the French Revolution? OK. Aristocrats, revolutionaries, peasants, the guillotine, the Bastille. There, five headings. Say you’ve got a 5,000 word essay to write – that’s 1,000 words on each (slightly less, actually, since you’ll need to do an introduction and a conclusion). And 1,000 words is a piece of cake. If you’re still struggling, try breaking it down more. Where did they come from? What did they want? Who were they? What happened to them? There you go – that’s four subtitles for each of your subtitles – 250 words on each. You can write 250 words with your eyes closed.
Now your hour’s probably gone. It may not look like much, but now you’ve got a complete map for your essay. If you write a little under each of those headings, you’re nearly there.
Draft and redraft
Like we said above, your first draft doesn’t need to look anything like the finished product. In fact arguably it shouldn’t. Since most students have access to computers these days, it’s easier than ever to redraft, revise and restructure your essay. You should normally have a fairly clear idea what your introduction is before you even start. Really it can just be a re-stating of your title. Let’s go back to our French Revolution essay. Your introduction can simply say, “In this essay, we aim to discuss (whatever your essay title is) by examining the roles of the aristocracy, the peasantry and the revolutionaries, and by considering the twin symbols of the Bastille and the guillotine.”
There, simple. You’ve not really said anything new, but you’ve started your essay off.
Now, let’s fast forward a bit. Once you’ve written your headings, and you’ve written a little bit under each of your headings, you should start to have a clearer idea of what your essay is about. Re-read it. Maybe certain things contradict one another. Don’t worry – double check you’ve got your facts right, and then mention that you’ve found an interesting paradox. Whatever happens you’ll start to see patterns emerging. The aristocracy were greedy and unfair, for instance, the peasants were starving...you’ve got your conclusion. Just rewrite your introduction with a little extra detail.
“In this essay, we’ve seen how the unfairness and greed of the French aristocracy contributed to…”
Bingo – there’s your conclusion. You’re just about there – you just need a quick proof and edit.
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Other study area articles
- Essay Conclusion
- Essay Format
- Essay Introduction
- Essay Writing And Grammar
- How To Form Your Essay Title
- How To Reference Your Essay
- How To Use Punctuation In An Essay
- How To Write An Essay
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