How to Write an Essay

Writing an essay can be a daunting task, especially if you don’t know where to begin. Whether you’re a student working on a college project or just a casual person who wants to learn how to write essays in their free time, understanding the process of essay writing is essential. 

An essay consists of various different things, all of which we’ll discuss in this article. It’ll be a guide on how you’re supposed to write essay. We’ll walk you through the process and also show how an AI essay writer can be a helpful resource throughout it. 

Step-by-Step Guide on How to Write an Essay

Below, we’re going to discuss each step of the essay writing process in detail so you can understand them easily.

1: Understand the Essay Title or Come up with a Compelling One

The First step of Essay Writing is starts with a  Essay title or topic. If you have already been provided a topic, the first step is to try and understand it. See what it’s asking you to address and how broad or narrow its focus is. Additionally, you must also determine what approach the title of your essay wants you to take. Is it asking you to analyze something, compare it, or simply discuss it in detail? 

Besides this, Essay type can also be determined just by looking at its topic. Let’s say you’re supposed to write one on the topic “Global Warming and Its Effects on the World.” The best approach would be to write an analytical essay. One that analyzes the causes and effects of global warming in detail.

Similarly, if the essay topic on hand is something like “The Importance of Renewable Energy Sources.” It is best to write a persuasive essay. One that clearly states the need for renewable energy sources and convinces readers. 

This is all you have to do if you’ve already been given a topic. If you don’t have one on hand, the first step is to come up with a compelling one. For that, you have to do the following things: 

• Sit and think about what would work best for the things you want to write about. 
• Be specific and avoid vague or generic titles. 
• Try using words that accurately reflect your topic. 

Also, be creative and don’t make the title too long as it can look intimidating that way. Wordplay and metaphors can be integrated into your essay title to make it compelling.

For Example:

Instead of writing: "The Impact of Social Media." 

Try something like: "Increasing Depression: Social Media's Influence on Mental Health."

2: Research and Gather Information

Once you have a good understanding of your essay’s title, it is time to research it. Find information that you can add to your essay to support or put forth your arguments. 

Go through relevant resources like books, academic journals, and reputable websites to find as much material as you can. To exemplify this, let’s say you are researching for an essay titled “AI and its Possible Implications in the Future,” it’ll be best if you search for AI and its drawbacks on Google Scholar, find books that address this, and go through websites that offer information related to your Essay. 

We recommend that you also take notes while researching. Jot down anything you find interesting or relevant so you don’t lose it. Also, don’t forget to mention their references in your notes as well as you’ll have to cite them while essay writing. 

While research can be tedious and time-consuming, it is worth it. Your whole essay will be based on it. The better the research, the more comprehensive and detailed the essay can be.

3: Create a Robust Outline

Experts think of an outline as the backbone of an essay. It helps you organize your thoughts, ideas, and research chronologically. If this step is done right, you can achieve a logical flow of information in your essay, making it high-quality. Using an outline for your essay can reduce writing time by up to 15%.

That said, an essay outline usually includes:

• Introduction
• Body Paragraphs
• Conclusion

But this isn’t all. These three sections should be further divided so you don’t have to stop and think about what you’re supposed to write in each one. Everything will be pre-determined and you can just write essay in a continuous flow. 

In the introduction, mention your hook, background information, and thesis statement while crafting an outline. 

Similarly, each body paragraph must consist of sub-headings that relate to the main heading and address the essay title as well. Determine what your sub-headings will be and add them to your outline. Also, mention your main points along with the evidence that you gathered through research and incorporate them into each of your body paragraphs. 

Do remember to only mention things briefly in your outline as you’re supposed to elaborate on them fully during the essay writing process. 

Lastly, when it comes to the conclusion outline, simply summarize the key points and findings of your essay. Also, restate your thesis in a new way. Once all this is done, your essay’s outline should look something like the one in the image below.

4: Write a Captivating Introduction 

The next step is to write the introduction part of Essay. Start with a compelling opening sentence or anecdote. This will be your hook. You can use the one you mentioned in your outline and improve upon it while writing. Similarly, after the hook, the background information that you briefly mentioned in the outline should also be elaborated and improved upon while essay writing. 

When it comes to the last part of your introduction, the thesis statement, clearly state your main argument or point concisely. Keeping it between 1-2 lines is enough. 

That said, if you’re struggling to come up with an essay introduction yourself even after looking at your outline, you might need a reference point to get started.

Tip: For getting a reference point, Essayness AI Essay Writer can be of great use to write an Essay. It is trained on large datasets and can provide essays that include a good introduction. These suggestions can inspire you and give you a starting point for writing an introduction on your own.

Let’s say you’re writing an introduction for an essay titled “The Importance of Critical Thinking in Schools.” Simply enter it in the Essayness input box and adjust the required parameters before hitting the provided button to get a reference introduction that you can take inspiration from, as shown below.

Essayness Output:

The Essayness AI Writer wrote an introduction while considering the type of essay we selected. It also includes everything we mentioned before. A compelling hook, a little bit of background on the topic, and a thesis statement that mentions what will be talked about in this essay.

5: Craft High-Quality Body Paragraphs

After the introduction, comes the main part of your essay: its body. Follow your outline and start writing essay on it. As mentioned earlier, the body of your essay should have a few main headings. Each main heading has to be divided into further sub-headings and those sub-headings should include your arguments, main points, and the evidence that you gathered.

Do remember that each of them must also somehow contribute to addressing the title of your essay. They should be relevant and to the point. Start with a topic sentence in each of your essay’s body paragraphs. This will help the readers know exactly what’s about to come.

Use quotes, references, and examples to make your arguments credible. Explain how these things support your thesis and while you’re at it, prepare the readers for the next heading or paragraph. Add transition phrases or sentences to maintain coherency in your essay’s body, ensuring a smoother reading. 

If these things are too much for you and you’re struggling to write a good Essay body, don’t worry as you can take inspiration here as well.

Tip: Our Essayness Essay Generator can come in handy here as well for providing you with inspiration. It can develop strong body paragraphs that also include headings for your essay. Simply input the things it requires and you’ll have an example text to follow.

We’ll demonstrate this with the same essay title that we used for the introduction: “The Importance of Critical Thinking in Schools.”

Essayness Output

While we can’t show the whole essay body, it can easily be determined that the tool came up with a highly informative one. It includes headings and information which can be added while you’re writing yourself.

6: Conclude the Essay

By now, you’re done with most of the essay writing process. The only thing that’s left is to write a conclusion for your essay. The best way to describe a conclusion is it bring your essay to a close by summarizing the main points and findings for readers. 

Briefly recap the main arguments you made in the body paragraphs. Also, reinforce your thesis statement in light of the evidence you presented. And lastly, leave the readers with a final thought or a call to action. 

To take things a step further, you can discuss the broader implications of your argument, offer insights, or suggest further research in your conclusion as well. 

Having said that, many students find writing a conclusion to be the most difficult part of the essay. This is mainly because it has to be kept short and to the point, with little to no unnecessary information. If you find yourself struggling here, we’ve got a fix for you.

Tip: An example essay that includes a conclusion on your title can be generated using Essayness Essay Writer. Just like with the introduction and body paragraphs, this generated version can be used as a reference point and you can follow the Essayness' approach to write your own accurate and effective conclusions. 

This will be demonstrated below using the same essay title that we used for the last two sections of our post.

Essayness Output

It doesn’t come as a surprise that the Essayness came up with a short conclusion that includes everything that was needed. While writing a conclusion yourself, you can add more important information that you think would go well without hesitation. Don’t just stop here because the tool did so.

7: Add a Reference List 

Once the introduction, body, and conclusion of your essay are done, it is time to add a reference list to it. The list must include sources to all the citations, quotes, and sources that you used in the body of your essay. 

Additionally, the reference list has to be written in a format. Some of the most popular citation and reference formats are as follows: 

• APA 7th Edition.
• MLA Manual of Style 9th Edition.
• Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition.

Usually, which format the sources have to be cited and added to the reference list is provided in the guidelines. If you weren’t asked for a certain one, you can just choose to go with the first style that we mentioned. 

To show you what a reference list looks like, we’ll use Essayness AI Essay Writer here as well. It allows users to add references to their essays and if they choose to do that, the tool provides them with a reference list as well. Here’s what it looks like:

8: Proofread and Finalize 

The only thing that remains now is proofreading. This is an important step as it helps polish your essay before submission. Read your whole essay carefully and look for the following things: 

• Grammar and Spelling Mistakes.
• Factual Issues.
• Clarity and Complexity Issues.

If these things surface, fix them one by one. Additionally, check if your essay is formatted properly. Important things have to be bold, underlined, and italicized. 

Once you’re certain that everything is fixed and the essay is perfect. You’re done with the process.

Final Words

Writing an essay can be challenging, but with a structured approach, it's manageable. Start by thoroughly understanding or choosing a compelling title that gives a clear direction for your essay's analysis or argument. 

Once the Essay title is set, conduct comprehensive research using credible sources and take detailed notes. Then create a robust outline, typically comprising an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. 

The introduction of your essay should hook the reader, offer some background, and present a concise thesis statement. After that, each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence, backed by research and evidence, clearly addressing the essay's title while maintaining coherence with transitions. 

At the end, conclude by summarizing key points, reinforcing the thesis, and possibly suggesting further research or actions. Add a reference list in the required format to credit all sources used and proofread the entire essay for grammar, clarity, and factual accuracy. During the Essay Writing, whenever you need inspiration or are stuck somewhere, look towards Essayness to get a jumpstart.