Where do I start when trying to write an essay?

Answer 1

Hi there!

As others have mentioned, the process of writing an essay is totally based on what works for you personally. It all depends on how you like to organize information and what your strengths in writing are. Sometimes, though, the hardest part is knowing where to begin!

For me, the best way to start is by reading the question or prompt carefully, and if there's no prompt, then I start by thinking deeply about the topic and the stance that I want to take in my paper. Then, I jot down a few key points that I want to make sure to make in my essay. This way, I can be sure that the essay is focusing on what it's supposed to and that I have a good direction to start in as I make my outline.

Next, I make an outline. For me, this step is crucial, but not for everyone! I find that an outline helps me organize my thoughts and prevents me from rambling on in my paper. Also, an outline can help organize the structure of the paper to make it the most effective it can be. For example, having a basic map of the points I'm going to make in my paper helps me decide where to insert counterarguments or pieces of evidence where I think they would be the most beneficial. Here's what my outlines look like:

Introduction-

Thesis statement

(I like to write the introduction last, so I don't focus too much on this part.)

Body Paragraph 1-

Main idea

Evidence

Evidence

Evidence

(Repeat for as many body paragraphs as you need to make all of your points)

Counterargument (if necessary)-

Point to be argued against

My argument

Evidence to support

Conclusion-

Restatement of thesis

As you can see, my outline isn't all-inclusive, and there's still a lot of writing to do. However, it gives me an idea of where to start and where my paper will be going.

Finally, I write my thesis statement and fill it, along with a restatement of it, into my outline. A thesis statement is basically the sentence that summarizes the essay's main point, so it might be helpful to do this before you make your outline if it would make it easier to fill in all of the main points of your body paragraphs that way. For me, writing the thesis statement is kind of an annoying step that I like to save until after I've gotten all of my thoughts down because my main challenge in writing it is that it's hard to fit all of my ideas into one sentence.

From there, all that's left to do is turn the outline into an essay! Of course, this is the main writing, which will take time, revision, and editing, but I find it's a lot more manageable once I have organized my main points, evidence, and structure of the essay.

I hope this helps! :)

Maddy

Answer 2

Where do I start when trying to write an essay?

There is no one right answer. It depends on what kind of an essay it is? Is it your opinion? Is it a researched topic? Whatever it is, get your ideas down. Organize them in some logical order.

When you are ready to write the essay, start with a statement or quote or something to grab the attention of your reader. Make sure it relates to your topic and it might be fitting to end with some sort of reference to that "grabber" at the end of the essay as well. Good luck, but remember, it is all in the planning. No matter what you are doing.

Answer 3

No one answer wins over all the others. It depends on the writer and his/her topic.

Some writers feel more comfortable preparing a full outline. Others simply jump in and start with sentence one, if they're lucky enough to find sentence one in 24 hours. Still others may feel one of the reasons or ideas from the middle of the essay comes most easily to her/him.

One famous writer declared I never write a story without writing the last sentence first. The writer felt that having the last sentence ready from the start helped her/him know where s/he was going.

So, trust yourself and follow your instinct.

Answer 4

An excellent question and one that we've all asked ourselves...How, where to start? This sounds counter-intuitive, but the best way to start writing an essay is not to start writing it. First, make sure you have understood the assignment, the prompt, and then try some/one of these techniques:

1. My personal favorite is to record yourself talking about your ideas, reactions to the prompt. It's usually a lot easier to talk about a topic than to write about it. And, no...your conversation with yourself does not have to be clearly organized, in complete sentences, or grammatically correct! Then listen to your ideas, etc. This usually provides a bit of clarity, a place to start and sometimes the outline of the essay.
2. Try creating a Mind Map. A Mind Map is a creative way to organize your ideas before writing anything. Here's an example of a simple Mind Map. You can see that the writer is ready to write about planning an outstanding birthday party! https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=Awr9ImiGO45eSW0A3JZXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0NjZjZzZhBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=mind+maps&fr2=piv-web&fr=tightropetb&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tL3NlYXJjaD9laT11dGYtOCZmcj10aWdodHJvcGV0YiZ0eXBlPVkxNDlfRjFfMTcyNTg5XzAyMjQyMCZwPW1pbmQrbWFwcw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAuwhvQNTQFCHl4L7EWeFZVPjTzVcFfWvocZmLfyzZ5ViO-nfiC5xkQqo-qlbmSmAYC5hmGLWwmEqGyFKmwFHoTEI__hjW_AUs-2Wu45ZFeHNxgPPFZa57m-YL0qkZIwnpV2KvQLYXEZfyd7Umj88NvxaunQ87rJqURUL6Wh3irG&_guc_consent_skip=1586379688#id=16&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsisterleadership.files.wordpress.com%2F2013%2F03%2Fmind-map.png&action=click
3. Jot down ideas that come to mind re the topic, again in no particular order and without worrying about spelling, grammar, organization.
4. Finally, yes, writing...but not worrying about grammar, spelling, organization, etc, what I call a Free Write. A Free Write can be a pre-1st draft...

Yes, my students often groan when I suggest one or more of these techniques; they say it takes too much time. Well, they have to decide how best to spend their time: finding a technique that works for them (yes, this might take time), or writing/rewriting/rewriting/rewriting the paper. Time will be spent one way or the other!

Hope this helps...and good luck!

Answer 5

The answer to your question can change a great deal based on the type of essay that you're writing, but I'm going to assume that you're writing an essay that involves a set of quotes from books or articles and/or anecdotes.

My suggestion is to take all of the evidence that you'll be using for your essay, whether it be quotes, specific stories, examples... all of the concrete stuff that you plan on using throughout your essay, and place them either on physical index cards or on rectangular screenshots that you can easily make on a windows computer, mac, or Microsoft Office (in other words, virtual index cards).

Then you can take all your cards, which contain all of the concrete aspects of what you plan on saying, and try laying them out in the order that you would want them to appear in your essay. If you're using physical cards, this is easy, but if you're using virtual ones, you may want to try Microsoft OneNote (which is my app of choice for most things) to lay out the cards.

Once you've found the order that makes the most sense to you, your essay has officially begun to take on a shape of its own. This will most likely inspire you to come up with a schnazzy intro of some kind, a common theme, and maybe even a conclusion that ties it all together.

I once interviewed to be a writer for time magazine, where one the the chief editors told me his opinion: writing is one of the single toughest activities to do in life, because when you're writing, you're literally creating something out of nothing. In that regard, don't be afraid to just create something, so that you can have something to chisel away at until it becomes your very own personal work of art. If you don't put it out there that first time, you can easily be stuck in the planning stage for too long.

I hope that helps!