A Beginner's Guide To Essay Writing

Essays are almost a guarantee in high school. You will most likely have to write one every year, unless, perhaps, a pandemic suddenly takes over the world, throwing all your teacher’s school plans out the window, thus, leading them to decide that writing an essay at home was probably not the best idea. Unfortunately, we most likely won’t be that lucky this year.

From my few years of experience, I can say this: the hardest part of essay writing is simply starting to write. I’ve known plenty of people that procrastinate until the night its due, which usually ends to them not being happy with the result and gaining a poor grade on it. So, to stop yourself from ending up in that situation, here are a few tips and tricks on how to plan, write and edit essays for the coming school year.

PLANNING

It’s really hard to write anything if you don’t know exactly what you’re writing. If you have a solid thesis and outline, with strong points and evidence, then the rest of the essay should come naturally to you. Here are some things to consider while planning everything out:

1. Choose a topic you are interested in and one where you can develop strong points

The number one thing a parent or teacher will tell you to do is to write about what you’re passionate about, which is true. You don’t want to be stuck writing a whole five paragraphs on something you really aren’t a fan of. But most of the time, you will not have the freedom to write about any topic - it will typically be based on something you’ve read in class or discussed. So another thing you should consider: your points.

Your essay should consist of three main points and two or three subpoints supporting each main point. So, take the time to develop a working thesis for each topic and brainstorm to see what points you can form. If you want to, work with a friend - talking it out can help to develop strong points and flesh ideas out to make them specific. Check for: Which topic has more points? Which has stronger points? Can you find evidence for most of them? Take them all into consideration when choosing your topic so you don’t find yourself switching to another one halfway through.

2. Use an outline to structure and develop your essay

Your essay paragraphs will typically be written in the form of point, evidence and explanation. My teachers have always provided me with outlines, but that may not be the case for everyone. I strongly suggest using one before beginning to write.

I’ve never been a huge fan of outlines. I’ve found them restricting at times, but you don’t need to plan your essay to the very last detail (unless that’s a requirement by your teacher.) All you really need is a layout of what you’re going to do while writing, which you can probably do while brainstorming.

When you have your topic and a rough idea for a thesis, write down your three big points. Under those points, write down the two or three supporting points. Under each of those, note down your evidence to save yourself from having to go back and find evidence later. That’s all you really need.

Depending on what helps you, you can make your outline as detailed or as brief as you want. Write down your topic and closing sentences for each paragraph. Write down your explanation. Add however much to your outline that will make writing your essay easier. But if adding details to your outline holds you back from writing, keep it brief and instead, get started on your first draft.

WRITING

So, you have your points, you have a basic idea of the structure of your essay. Now you have to put it all together and start writing! Here are a few things to help you while writing:

1. Do NOT start with the first paragraph

The point of your introductory paragraph is to draw your reader in and make them want to read your essay, but how exactly are you supposed to do that when you don’t have an essay to begin with? Instead, write down your working thesis and start writing your body paragraphs. Come back to your introductory paragraph right at the end, when you have an idea of how your essay is going.

When you do start writing the beginning of your essay, consider starting off with a quote or a question to get your readers drawn in. A good, strong hook is important to an awesome essay!

2. Don’t overthink, just write

You’re writing the first draft of your essay, there’s at least a second - maybe a third draft - before you get to your final, best copy of your essay. You don’t have to get stuck finding the right sentence to start your paragraph or look through Thesaurus.com trying to find the best word to deliver your message. Write what comes to you. Get all of your ideas down and work to flesh out and improve your writing later.

My friends have always asked how I finish the first draft of my essay quickly, and this is exactly the reason why. I don’t hold back the ideas that come to my head, at least the ones related to my essay topic. There’s always room to move ideas around, cut sentences, but first, you need the words and ideas to edit.

EDITING

Editing is something I still struggle with. In middle school, I used to hand in my work without even reading over what I wrote, but I knew I couldn’t risk it in high school. My biggest struggle is usually that I hate reading what I already wrote, but sometimes, you have to be your biggest critic to get yourself the grades you want. Still, some tips can help you out.

1. Read your essay out loud

Sometimes, your wording sounds fine when reading over your sentence, but it can be a different story when reading it aloud. There were plenty of times where I found myself tongue-tied when reading my work, realizing it was worded confusingly. Saying things out loud can help to make your writing flow, and overall, better.

If you’re like me and don’t usually like to read things aloud either, then there’s plenty of websites that can read your work back to you. Even copying and pasting your work into Google Translate can help you listen and pick out parts that might sound just a bit off.

2. Don’t be afraid of peer editing

I also used to be insecure with people reading what I write but in high school, this is my editing go-to. Having a second set of eyes to look at your work can help to point out areas that may sound clear to you, but not to others. Even pointing out a few grammar errors is helpful. It’s probably a good idea to also provide them with a checklist of what’s needed in your essay. If you missed something, it would be helpful for someone to point it out for you instead of you losing marks for missing it.

3. Highlight areas you want to get back to while writing

Yes, I said to not waste time finding the right word or structure of your sentence, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave it like that. A friend of mine suggested highlighting sentences that you think can be written better, and come back to it later. Highlighting helps to find the area easily later, instead of having to read your entire essay to find one section. The comments tool in Google Docs is also a good way to use this, allowing you to write a personal note so you don’t have to remember exactly what you wanted to change with that sentence.

4. Try writing or editing in Comic Sans

This is actually something I’ve discovered recently, and I thought I would share here too. As a writer, Comic Sans is probably my least favourite font, however, it has its benefits.

Comic Sans is a font where each letter is completely different from the others. It’s said to be favoured by people with dyslexia since there’s no confusion between similar-looking letters. Changing your document to Comic Sans can help you to read your work without having it hurt your eyes. It’s easier to detect simple, silly mistakes since it’s not all squished together in one brick of writing. It’s also said to help you write more if you’re just struggling with writer’s block. And if you hate the font as much as I do, don’t worry, you can always change it back at the end.

Before I end this off, here’s a list of things to remember before submitting your essay:

• Unless stated otherwise, have your essay in size 12 font, double spaced, in Times New Roman (especially if you used the last editing tip, don’t submit your essay in Comic Sans!)

• Remember what format your essay is in. Literary essays for your English class will typically be in MLA format.

  • For MLA format, make sure your full name, date, teacher’s name and course code are in the top left-hand corner, and your last name and the page number is on the right

  • Add a Works Cited (bibliography) at the end of your essay, on a separate page, even if you’re just citing your book, also in the proper format.

• Don’t use contractions in formal essays

• Use present tense for all your verbs, unless it’s a conditional

• Use both direct and embedded quotes

• Don’t use personal pronouns (I, me, we, you, us) unless it’s in a direct quote.

So there you have it, a guide on how to start writing your essay. Use what’s helpful to you and don’t be afraid to find your own methods. There’s no one way to write an essay. Just do yourself a favour and don’t leave it for the last minute.

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Prantika is a grade 11 student at Danforth CTI in Toronto, Canada and is enrolled in the Math and Science Technologies program at her school. Her favourite subject is science, though she also enjoys math and computer science. When not swarmed with homework, she can probably be found with her nose in a book or trying to write one of the many novel ideas in her head. Prantika hopes to be able to pursue a career in engineering or computer sciences in the future.