Essay writing includes the following stages:

• Topic selection

  This stage is very important and requires a lot of attention and deliberation. If your tutor defined a topic for you, you can simply miss this stage and start from the topic analysis.

  A lot of useful and interesting tips on topic choice can be found in the Topic selection section.

• Topic analysis

  This stage defines the whole course of your future work. It is of the highest importance to interpret the given topic so as to obtain maximum amount of information from it and direct your research in the right way.

  More tips on this stage may be found in the Topic analysis section.

• Brainstorming key ideas

  Finding appropriate ideas is one of the most important tasks while writing an essay. Quality of your paper and its uniqueness as well as value depend on the number of key ideas you find and the way you develop them.

  The section Brainstorming key ideas is dedicated to detailed consideration of this stage.

• Literature research

  It is important to base your essay on reliable and up-to-date sources in order to create works worth of praise and valuable for the future research. Besides, proper literature research will add more ideas and will help to cover all the aspects of the given subject.

  More detailed information on this stage can be found in the Literature research section.

• Statement formulation

  Statement is the starting point for the development of you work. Thus, it is clear that without strong foundation, the work is bound to fail. Conversely, if you pay enough attention to this stage, and will be able to find the necessary phrase, your essay is sure to be highly evaluated.

  Important information on this aspect can be found in the Statement formulation section.

• Developing outline

  Stage of outline writing shouldn’t be ignored, as the logical organization and clear structure depend on it. If you decide to neglect this step, you face the risk of getting lost in the thoughts’ development and eventually end up with a low-quality piece of writing.

  Additional tips on this process can be found in Developing outline section.

• Writing drafts

  Writing numerous drafts gives you a chance to formulate your ideas in different ways and then choose the one variant that suits the given subject the best. Besides, it provides you with the possibility to get rid of needless mistakes and polish your style to perfection.

  The section Writing drafts is dedicated to additional information on this stage.

• Editing and proofreading

  This stage is often neglected by students, as they often decide that it is not important and doesn’t bring any significant changes. In actual fact, it is one of the stages that helps you avoid mistakes and make your writing perfect.

  More information on this topic can be found in the Editing and proofreading section.

Remember, each of the afore listed stages is very important and only strict following of these steps can guarantee that your essay writing process will bring you not only high grades, but also a great deal of satisfaction.

In order to make your essay comply with the necessary style, you just have to stick to our tips and not to forget to proofread your essay at least two times.

In this section you will find guidelines on the following format styles:

• MLA Format

  This style is one of the most popular ones, as it is widely used in schools, colleges, universities and in over a thousand of scientific journals, newsletters, university presses and magazines.

  In order to find more information on this style application, please, view the MLA format section.

• APA Format

  The style is mostly used in the social and behavioral sciences. Its main purpose is to help develop the idea with as little distraction as possible and along with that provide maximum of precision.

  Guidelines on this style usage can be found in the APA format section.

• Chicago/Turabian Format

  This style is considered to be a guide for the American English grammar, style and punctuation. It deals with different aspects of editorial practice and is widely used in the academic practice.

  Detailed guide on this style can be found in the Chicago/Turabian format section.

• ASA Format

  ASA style is a generally accepted format for academic assignments in universities and mostly specifies arrangement of bibliography and footnotes. It is mostly applied in the sociological sphere.

  In order to understand how to write in this style, make use of the ASA format section.

• Harvard Format

  This style is also known as parenthetical referencing, as according to it, partial citations are given in parentheses and are included in text, as opposed to footnote style.

  All the other peculiarities of this style can be found in the Harvard format section.

• Bluebook Format

  This citation system is mostly used in the legal sphere in the USA. It was approved by such prominent universities as Harvard, Yale, University of Pennsylvania and others.

  In order to see the most peculiar features of the style, view the Bluebook format section.

• Vancouver Format

  This citation system is mostly popular for the physical sciences and is one of the two official styles used in medicine (the other one is Harvard).

  To see the guidelines on this system, visit the Vancouver format section.

Remember, meeting style requirements greatly influences the final grade of your essay. It is not reasonable to think that your teacher will not notice non-compliance with the style, as he or she has definitely learned all the style’s peculiarities to the dot. It is better to revise your work an extra time, than to regret about some accidental mistake for a long time.

Remember, it is better to use correct formatting from the stage of writing drafts. It is also recommended to write down all the information considering sources you take as a basis at the stage of literature research so as not to forget some important details.

But how to choose a topic which will help you exploit your writing skills to the utmost and hide the weaknesses of your writing style? Here are a few tips which are sure to make the selection process easier:

• Be passionate!

  Never choose a subject which you feel indifferent about. If you do not care about the topic, you are very likely to suffer from a writer’s block, as you will not know what to tell your readers. In this respect, even the idea that you do not agree with or are strongly opposed to can be a better choice. However, the ideal choice is a subject matter that you really enjoy, because in this case you are sure to be passionate and enthusiastic, which is very inspiring itself.

• Be familiar with your topic!

  One more advantage of writing about something important for you personally, is that you are very likely to know a lot about the topic. In case you do not, spend some time to research your sphere of interests! The more you know about what you are writing, the more believable the text will be and the more your readers will trust you.

• Be specific!

  Once you have identified your key interest area, start narrowing it down to one clear problem. It is an important stage, because if you fail to formulate a clear definite topic, you will never manage to compress all your passion into a necessary amount of words and organize your writing in coherent paragraphs without being overwhelmed with emotions. Imagine, you love dancing and decide to write about it. Immediately a whole hurricane of ideas is stirred in your head: types of dancing, ballet, hip-hop, classical dance, benefits, training techniques, etc.

  However, these elements are very different and, if you start writing everything that comes into your head, you will end up with nothing logical and meaningful, but appropriate in terms of size, or you will write a whole research, which will be comprehensive, but too lengthy. Instead, limit your imagination to one of the points within the key sphere of interest: write about why you love ballet or why, in your opinion, hip-hop is more popular with young people than classical dance.

• Never choose a worn out topic!

  It is no doubt tempting to choose something ready-made instead of going deep into the preparation stage. However, it is worth bearing in mind, that the only thing a much elaborated topic will evoke in the reader is the desire to yawn. Even if your ideas are magnificent, they will never be even noticed. So, take time, but invent your own one. The time spent preparing for the writing process makes up half of its final success.

So, consider these four simple rules next time you have to write essay and make sure that they are easy to follow and effective.

Now that you have your topic defined, you are ready for the next stage.

So, in order to retrieve all the information from your topic, follow the action plan below:

1. Read the topic carefully.
2. Underline the key words.
3. Explain the topic in your own words, but using the underlined keywords as well, to yourself.
4. Try to answer the question “What should I write? How should I write it?”
5. If you cannot answer, you might try to choose other keywords.

Study the following essay topic:

What type of company would you most like to see built in your home town or city. Give reasons to support your response.

Now consider the underlined keywords. Reformulate them in your own way, for instance:

I must write about the company I would be happy to see in my city and explain the reasons.

Now create an outline:

1. Introduction.

   Brief outline of the city, mentioning the possible sphere for a company.

2. First supporting paragraph.

   Explain why this company is good for the city.

3. Second supporting paragraph.

   Explain how you personally can benefit from this company.

4. Concluding paragraph.

   Brief summary of what has been said and a clear opinion formulation.

Any topic can be analyzed in the similar way. So, try not to be nervous, focus on the topic and decode it. This will give you a clue for the next stage.

Brainstorming is another key issue in developing your essay topic. The word is generally used to denote a process of a very intensive mental work when you must think of and note down all ideas and associations concerning the topic that appear in your mind.

Try working along such scheme:

• Start with asking yourself a lot of questions like “Who?”, “What?”, “Where?”, “When?”, “Why?”.
• Write down everything that comes into your head without evaluating the idea as being good or bad. Do not try to structure the notes in any case at this stage, just note down anything that you can imagine.
• Then, read the list carefully. Now try to find the words that have something in common thematically and unite them together using some special symbols. For example, use a circle around all the words referring to the same ideas.
• See how they correlate with the topic. If you can see the way it can be applied, try to make up a topic sentence out of the key words belonging to one group.
• Then do the same for the second group and so on.
• After this, use the sentences for an outline of your essay.

Brainstorming is not so easy. The simplest and most affordable exercise is to choose a topic and to write at least 10 ideas, related to it, every day. However, if trained and developed on a regular basis, it will help you a lot not only in essay writing, but also in business context, where decision-making techniques and the art of coming up with the most unusual creative ideas are of primary importance.

As soon as you have a proper topic, analyzed it and got a list of ideas, you are ready for the next stage.

Creating an academic essay is very likely to be based on literature research – the task that can be considered unconquerable by many students. However, if approached appropriately, it can turn out to be quite easy.

We recommend to go through such stages of literature research:

• The first step here is search for information based on the topic analysis and the key words obtained in the process of brainstorming. This can be useful for the Internet browsing as well as the library cataloging systems.
• Look through the materials you have found and evaluate them critically. If the information seems interesting, save a copy or make detailed notes for reference. If you use a printed book from a library, make sure you note down the pages, as you will further need them for quoting.
• After having studied the requirements for citation, prepare a reference section page. It is usually done in an alphabetical order. Many students tend to postpone this piece of work till the end, which is actually a big mistake, as then you will have to read the essay again in order just to put the surnames of the quoted authors and pages from the book. Using a well-composed reference section from the very beginning is much easier and it actually saves your time. You can view guidelines on main formatting styles in the corresponding section.

However, after you have finished writing the draft, check if all the quotes are introduced properly, as a failure to do this can result in plagiarism accusations. In case you mention some of the ideas found in books, make the reference to the author and the book and respect the intellectual property rights of the authors.

A well-composed literature reference list will help you a lot, as you can easily include it into the completed work, check all the pages and books’ details. Moreover, a list which includes recent works can influence your mark in a positive way, as it shows your diligence and persistence as a student.

Now you have a proper topic, analyzed it, got a list of ideas, and performed literature research and you are ready for the next stage.

Thesis statement is crucial for a successful essay, as, roughly speaking, it contains the key idea of what you are going to write about and serves several important purposes. First, it emphasizes the idea that you have about the topic, structures the essay, and, finally, helps you decide what information to include and what to leave out of your essay.

Here are some useful tips on statement formulation:

• A good thesis statement always expresses an opinion about the topic, not just some fact.
• It must be written in the form of a complete statement. However, it should not be a direct manifestation of the author’s opinion, as there will be no need to read the whole essay then.
• One of the important points to consider when writing a thesis statement is making it as clear as possible. For this purpose you need to use ideas you brainstormed at the previous stage.

Having identified your thesis statement, consider the ideas you have in general. Do you have enough thoughts to support your thesis statement? If you have three or more, you can relax. The rule of three means that the statement is formulated in the correct way. However, if you feel that your statement cannot be given adequate support, do not be afraid of choosing a different one and rewriting it completely. Doing it at this stage is still much easier, than rewriting the whole piece in the end.

Your thesis statement, if written correctly, helps you a lot in the process of creating your essay. It is a figurative anchor which you can stick to and develop the idea and the language safely.

Now you have a proper topic, analyzed it, got a list of ideas, performed literature research and formulated the main statement and you are ready for the next stage.

At this stage your main objective is to create a plan, which will show how adequately you can develop and support the idea you manifested in your statement. Support usually depends much on the examples provided and the reasons given. The key to success here is to make the essay as clear as possible.

So, the action plan for a successful outline is as follows:

• Carefully analyze the information you obtained at the stages of topic analysis and brainstorming.
• Briefly summarize your thesis.
• Start writing an outline by naming the paragraphs first with lots of space in between the lines.
• Then develop the idea of each paragraph in the way it would contain an example, the reason why the example is used and some supporting arguments.
• Make sure you have at least four paragraphs in your essay; if you feel that there are more ideas you can use to support your statement, add more paragraphs.

Below you will find a sample outline for an essay on the topic “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? A teacher should always stick to the subject matter of the course. Use specific reasons and examples to support your response.”

1. Introduction: an ambiguous issue – there are pros and cons.
2. Supporting paragraph 1: positive aspects:

Examples – moral influence apart from education.

Reason - a good teacher bears the responsibility for the students.

Personal story – an example when such deviations did you good.

3. Supporting paragraph 2: negative aspects:

Examples – too little time and a huge syllabus.

Reason – teachers simply do not have time for everything.

Personal experience – an example when you legged behind the program.

4. Conclusion: support the idea of teachers spending time on moral issues.

Remember, well-written outline is a key to perfectly structured and clear-cut essay that is highly evaluated by teachers and professors.

Now you have a proper topic, analyzed it, got a list of ideas, performed literature research, formulated the main statement and composed detailed outline and you are ready for the next stage.

Let us consider this important stage in a detailed way:

1. Look at your outline, take a deep breath and start writing the introductory paragraph. Its main purpose is to evoke the reader’s interest in the topic. Try to begin with some background information about how this topic is related to you, including your thesis and the markers of how the essay will be organized.
2. The next step is writing the supporting paragraphs. Start your paragraph with a topic sentence – the one that will contain the main idea of the passage and then support it with strong details of your personal experience, if appropriate. Make sure the sentences in the paragraph are united into a unified single whole, otherwise your essay is likely to look simply as a collection of separate sentences and sound too choppy. This can be achieved by repeating keywords or substituting them with their synonyms, referring the keyword to a pronoun or by adding linking words and expressions.
3. Then proceed with the conclusion, which is actually a summary of the previously mentioned ideas. The conclusion must be written in the way that once having read it, the reader will have a very clear idea of what your essay is about. The ideas for conclusion are very similar to the ideas in the introduction, however, there is more emphasis on the result of the issue consideration.

Now read your essay carefully and pay attention to:

• The logical development.
• Smooth transitions.
• Simple sentences structure.
• Compound sentences structure.
• Complex sentences structure.
• Inversions and agreements.
• Vocabulary and usage of the lexical units.

In order to help you at the stage of writing, we’ve developed some useful tips on the most important writing skills. You are welcome to view them in the Writing tips section.

If you spot any mistakes, correct them, and remember, “The one who does not make mistakes never learns”.

Now that you have a proper topic, analyzed it, got a list of ideas, performed literature research, formulated the main statement, composed detailed outline and wrote one or several drafts, you are ready for the final stage.

At Essay-Writing-Tips.com you can find useful pieces of advice on the following academic levels:

• High school academic level
• College academic level
• Bachelor’s academic level
• Master’s academic level
• Ph.D. academic level

The articles include detailed information on what the teachers expect from each level of education and what you should beware of while writing your essay at the certain level. Of course, each teacher has his or her own requirements and vision of the students’ skills, required for each level, but we tried to cover the most general and necessary features of each one.

Always try to put yourself on the place of your teacher and assess your piece of writing from objective point of view. Of course, it is better to hear opinion of another person, but if there is no such possibility – just try to be critical and eliminate each revealed inconsistency.