Writing Essays

Writing essays is a skill many students struggle with but it is an essential one to improve across subjects and educational levels. The best essays make a clear, developed and detailed argument that is cohesive, precise and insightful.

To start with, you will need ideas. Start with a quick brainstorm in response to the question –& relevance is key! Your teacher should give you guidance about how much you need to write depending on the level, subject and exam. As an example, a typical GCSE English Language or Literature essay written in about 45 minutes would have about 350-450 words and three body paragraphs, along with a two or three sentence introduction and a three sentence conclusion. Simplistic pro/con essays tend to be a bit basic for this level so try developing two paragraphs for one side and one for the other if it's that kind of essay. For each body paragraph you need to plan two or three points with examples and each paragraph should be on a distinct subtheme. Thus, if the question was "Are family or friends more important?', one paragraph topic could be "Family are more important because they have a greater impact on who you are.' Points made could include how family impact you from day one and at a critical early stage in life, affecting personality and habits. Examples of personality traits would be being a teamplayer and habits would be reading books or eating healthily.

Once you know what you will be arguing in the main body of the essay you can plan and write the introduction. Here you will introduce the general theme and the specific question (in your own, interesting words) and your general argument or the three aspects you will consider. In addition, any difficult key terms should be defined and essential background information for the reader to understand your essay can be explained. In the conclusion it is not a good idea to simply repeat the same ideas or words but to summarise the essay effectively. Therefore, conclusions tend to clearly answer the question, summarise the main points concisely in one sentence and then often generalize or personalize the argument or briefly consider future/consequent impacts of the issue. Overall, I see introductions as telling the reader the starting points for the essay and its paragraphs, and conclusions as reiterating where the arguments and paragraphs ended up.

When you come to write up the essay you'll need to ensure the language is clear and the ideas are linked. There should be a logical flow of sequenced ideas from start to finish including planning the order of paragraphs. For example, you might begin with the opposing view and build up to your strongest argument right before the conclusion, or the structure may be ordered by time such as the logical order to do things here. Add linking phrases to show the links between sentences and paragraphs. Finally, make sure you have used appropriately precise, varied and concise language so that the reader can follow your argument and is not put off by repetition. You need to sound like a reliable, educated source!

In conclusion, an effective, top-grade essay develops several ideas related to the topic into a fluent and convincing argument. A well-planned essay will contain sufficient detail and flow to provide a clear, convincing answer. You may surprise yourself how quickly you can produce essays once you get into the habit of planning!