Start an Essay
Beginning an essay can be challenging, even for experienced writers. Getting blocked in the beginning of your writing process can slow you down and prevent you from ever writing your essay. However, understanding how to organize your ideas, develop your thesis and introduction, and keep on writing can help you finish your essay successfully.
Contents
Steps
Understanding Your Essay Assignment
- Know how to read an essay prompt. Although they vary depending on who has written them, most essay prompts include similar information. Essay prompts can seem overwhelming at first, especially if they incorporate a lot of information, but knowing what you're looking for can help you decipher them.
- Most prompts begin with some contextual information about the topic of the essay. While this can seem superfluous, read it carefully; it may give you a clue about how your teacher wants you to frame the topic of the essay.
- The "task" of the essay prompt will usually be worded with active verbs such as summarize, describe, compare, contrast, analyze and/or argue. These verbs will help you know what type of essay the prompt is asking for.
- Sometimes the prompt will offer a list of questions or suggestions for further thought. Read this section attentively: sometimes these questions or suggestions may just be a way to prompt your own thinking, but other times it may be required to address them all in your essay.
- Many prompts will conclude with a list of formatting requirements: common requirements include "12-pt font," "double-spaced," and "1-inch margins," but your prompt may also ask for others. Make sure you adhere to all of these requirements in your final draft! Failure to do so may cost you points on the essay.
- Understand your essay prompt completely. Knowing exactly what your teacher expects from you is the first step to starting your essay successfully. You should read the prompt as soon as possible after it is given to you.
- Read any questions or prompts several times. You may want to re-write the prompt in your own words to be sure that you understand it. Paraphrasing can help you remember and interpret information more effectively.
- If you have a choice between several essay prompts, choose the one that you feel the most comfortable with or the one that you think you can write about in the most detail.
- Ask questions if you are confused or unsure about the teacher’s expectations.
- Ask to see a rubric. Find out if there is a grading rubric for the essay and ask to see it ahead of time so that you can see how your work will be evaluated. This can help you know where to focus most of your time.
- Come up with at least two ideas. If your essay assignment is open-ended and you have to completely choose your own topic, come up with several ideas and then choose the one that you think will make the best essay: it may not be the first idea that pops into your mind.
- A good essay topic is broad enough that you will have plenty to say, but not so broad that you can't say anything of substance. An essay about "the impact of Shakespeare" is too broad; you could write a dozen books about that topic. An essay about "the impact of Shakespeare on common English phrases" is narrower, but still offers you plenty to think about.
Prewriting for Your Essay
- Consider the purpose of your essay. Is it to persuade your reader of something? Is it to convey an experience? Is it to present a critical analysis of a text or image? Knowing your goal will help you decide how to navigate your ideas.
- Prewrite to get ideas flowing. The best way to start an essay is to get your ideas out in a non-essay format to begin with. Prewriting can take many different forms, and you may want to experiment to find one that helps you the most.
- Freewriting, a process in which you just write what you are thinking about without worrying about grammar or punctuation or even your central argument, may be a good way to start generating ideas. It could also help you “find” your thesis.
- A simple list may be all you need. Write a list of the subtopics or specifics you want to include in the essay.
- A mind map may be a helpful prewriting guide for visual learners. The center of the mind map contains your main argument, or thesis, and other ideas branch off in all directions.
- Keep your audience in mind. As you write, think about what you might need if you were reading the essay. If it's a history essay, what context would you need about your topic? If it's a narrative essay, what information would you need to feel as though you had experienced the event?
- Understand that prewriting isn't perfect. One of the biggest causes of writer's block is striving for perfection before you've written a word. Don't censor yourself as you prewrite. Try to avoid negative thoughts such as "This doesn't make any sense" or "I can't express what I want to say." Just write everything down!
- Write a traditional outline. If you have used one of the prewriting methods listed above, reorganize the content and add detail by creating an outline. A traditional outline is a great format for getting out ideas in detail and organizing your entire essay.
- Begin each section of your outline with the main point. Indicate each section with a roman numeral (For example, I. Puppies are cute.)
- Provide at least two sub-points for your main point. Indicate each sub-point with a capital letter (For example, A. Puppies look cute, B. Puppies act cute.)
- Provide at least two details for each sub-point. Indicate your details with a number (For example, A- 1. Puppies have sweet faces, 2. Puppies are small, and little things are usually cute. B- 1. Puppies play and roll around all the time, making people laugh, 2. Puppies are very affectionate and lick their owners to show love.)
- Each level of detail should be indented further to the right than the level before.
- Read your outline. Be sure that the organization makes sense, and re-organize or switch sections around if you need to. Be sure that each section has a similar amount of detail, and add detail to any sections that need to be developed.
Developing a Thesis Statement
- Determine the type of paper you need to write. Your thesis will vary based on whether your paper is analytic, argumentative, or expository. Thinking about the verbs used in the prompt and the goal of your essay will help you decide what direction it needs to take.
- An argumentative thesis will indicate a position (side of the argument) as well as introduce the topic.
- An expository thesis will introduce what is going to be explained in the paper.
- An analytical thesis will introduce the topic and contextualize the reason for the analysis.
- Understand what a thesis statement needs to accomplish. Your thesis statement should provide an answer to the question "So what?" Ask yourself how your argument or analysis contributes to your reader's understanding.
- Think about what you want to say. Developing your thesis statement is an important part of writing your paper. If you try to write it before you’ve done any thinking or research about your topic, you’re unlikely to be successful.
- Refer back to your prewriting and try to find relationships between the ideas there.
- Think about your essay assignment and what you most want to say: the thesis statement will likely be somewhere in between those two things.
- Use a “working” thesis statement. If you are having trouble with this step, or if you feel like the pressure to have a perfect thesis statement is interfering with getting started, try using a “working” thesis statement. This will enable you to move on without getting too stuck, knowing that you’re going to go back and change the thesis.
- Write your thesis statement. Remember that you can always revise or change the language later, so don’t spend too much time worrying about the exact wording.
- Your thesis should answer the question posed by the essay prompt (if there was a prompt).
- A thesis statement is usually the last sentence of your introduction, but it may occasionally be the very first sentence of your paper.
- Do not write your thesis statement as a question.
- Avoid the "three-prong" thesis. An example of a typical three-prong thesis might be "Puppies are good for your health because they are cute, affectionate, and inexpensive." The trouble with thesis statements such as these is that they can severely restrict your essay development. You may feel the need to use only one paragraph to discuss each prong rather than developing your ideas as much as necessary.
Writing Your Introduction
- Consider writing your introduction last. If you find yourself getting stuck by the introduction and it is preventing you from writing the rest of your paper, skip it for now. Just write your thesis statement at the top of your paper and start on your body paragraphs.
- You may find it easier to write your introduction after you finish your essay, after you know what you end up saying with your essay.
- It is more important to get into a groove with your writing than to write each part in the order that it comes in the essay.
- Remember the purpose of an introduction. An introduction should introduce your topic, state your argument, and provide your reader with the context of your essay. If sentences in your introduction do not help with any of those goals, they are likely unnecessary.
- Write a hook. A hook, often the very first sentence in your paper, is a sentence or two that “hooks” or grabs the interest of your audience. Commonly used hooks may be good for novice writers, but some college professors think that certain hooks are overused. A few ideas for hooks follow.
- A statistic (particularly one that seems surprising to the reader) can be a good way to start certain types of papers. Be sure the statistic is from a reliable source, like one from your school’s library database.
- A personal story or anecdote told in detail can draw the reader in. It should, however, be relevant to the topic, and you will need to explicitly connect it to your thesis statement. This may not be appropriate in a formal essay.
- A quotation from a famous person can be a good lead-in. However, since this is one method that has been overused, try putting a twist on this method by using a surprising quote, contradicting the quote, or using it in a new context. You will also need to connect this to your thesis clearly.
- Illuminating a paradox or puzzling scenario could draw your reader in by making them question something that is usually taken for granted.
- Try to avoid introductions that start by giving a dictionary definition of a word and explaining it or by asking a question.
- Avoid over-used and essentially empty phrases like “from the beginning of time” or “throughout the history of mankind.”
- Transition from your hook to your thesis. You will need to write a few sentences that explain the context of your hook and transition into the thesis of your paper. If your hook is long, as with a detailed personal anecdote, this may be a phrase like “this experience has led me to believe that…” If your hook is shorter, like a statistic, you will likely need to write 3-4 sentences explaining your statistic and leading up to your thesis statement.
Writing Your Essay
- Give yourself time to write. If you wait until the last minute to begin your essay, you will likely feel more stress and the pressure to write in a short amount of time might cause you to become stuck. You also want to give yourself time to revise, so getting started early will help with the entire process.
- Sit down and write. The best way to write is to write. Just start putting words on the page, and give yourself a writing goal for your work time.
- Giving yourself a time goal (like 2 hours of writing) is often more helpful than a product goal (like 2 pages or 400 words).
- Many people use the “Pomodoro technique” to write, which is to focus with no distractions for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break.
- Keep writing when you feel stuck. Sometimes trying to get one sentence or section “perfect” can prevent you from continuing to write.
- If you find yourself getting stuck on a particular sentence, write a “placeholder” sentence and move on. A placeholder sentence may look like this: [Something about how much I like puppies.]
- You may want to mark any placeholder sentences with brackets or by highlighting it in the word processing program (or on paper if you’re writing a draft by hand).
- Revisit your placeholder sentences. When you have finished your first draft, go back to any areas or sentences that you skipped and try to write them now. It will be easier to revise your essay if these sections have already been filled in.
Essay Template and Sample Essay
Doc:Essay Template
Tips
- Choose a topic that interests you if you are able to. It will be easier to write about something you are interested in.
Warnings
- Be sure to leave yourself plenty of time to revise. This is particularly true if you have several placeholder sentences in place: don’t forget to go back and change them.
- Try not to spend too much time planning. If you over-plan, you might run out of time for productive writing.
Related Articles
Sources and Citations
- ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/understanding-assignments/
- https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/1/
- https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/673/01/
- http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/brainstorm_freewrite.htm
- http://www.studygs.net/writing/prewriting.htm
- https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/673/02/
- https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/567/1/
- http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/planning-and-organizing/organizing
- https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/
- http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/beginning-academic-essay
- http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/introductions/
- http://pomodorotechnique.com/
