Hi all,
So with school starting back up, I thought I’d share some of my tips on how to write essays for school. No, nothing on creative writing today, just some cold, hard torture mind exercise, known as homework.
So part of the reason I wanted to major in and pursue a career in English is that, for lack of a less conceited explanation, I’m good at it. I’ve for some reason always had a knack for writing essays and papers, even though I hate them. And I always have people asking me how I do it, so here. If anyone asks, I can now explain it better, because I’ve written it down, and in the process maybe helped some people on the internet.
1. Study the prompt before diving in.
What kind of essay are you writing? Is it argumentative/persuasive? Do you need research and/or quotes? How many? Is there a word/page limit? What level of analyzation does it want from you? And most importantly, what does it seem like your teacher wants you to get out of and learn from the assignment? That might be a key thing to guide you in what to write. I even sometimes like to write a list breaking down all my objectives for the essay, and then check them off when I’m done to make sure I have everything.
2. Make an outline.
Seriously, it’ll make your work 100x less stressful. Here’s how I do mine (for a research paper):
Thesis: [Write this after you outline your body paragraphs. Your thesis should essentially combine the overview ideas of your body paragraphs. For example, if your body #1 is about peanut butter, and body #2 is about jelly, your thesis could be something like: “While delicious on their own, both peanut butter and jelly are far more useful when used together, each for the elements they bring to the table.” It’s a way of saying ‘this is what this essay is going to talk about’ without saying it outright.]
Body #1:
- Point 1
- Quote/citation/research to back it up
- Elaboration/fresh insight (basically how you interpret that data/quote but make it sound like the RIGHT interpretation.
- Quote/citation/research
- Elaborate
- [wash, rinse repeat until you think you’ve proven point 1 enough. Though I find that 2-3 quotes per paragraph is more than enough]
Body #2:
- Point 2
- Quote/citation/research
- Elaborate
- Quote/citation/reseach
- Elaborate
- [Wash, rinse, repeat until you think you’ve proven your point]
Body #3: [Same deal, though usually I only have 2 and it’s fine].
Conclusion: [This is usually improvised, as by the time I’ve written everything else, all I have to do now is summarize it. Imagine you’re talking to a bunch of people that weren’t listening the whole time, so you end with “Okay, if you don’t remember anything else, remember THIS: ” Except not those exact words.]
3. Don’t write it all at once.
For me, it’s far less stressful to outline on day 1, maybe write the intro paragraph as well, then do the body paragraphs on days 2/3, and then the conclusion on day 3. And yes, this means you can’t procrastinate for this plan to work.
4. If it’s a research paper where you have to have citations and quotes, then find those quotes ahead of time.
Use your outline in junction with the research phase. I usually have a few ideas of the kinds of points I want to make, so I fill those in the outline first, then look for articles and stuff that will back up those points in my body paragraphs.
5. Remember your target audience.
Which in this case is probably your teacher/professor. Remember: EVERYTHING is written for someone, and it’s just good sense to write what would appeal to your target audience. Think about what they would want to hear – and what your teacher wants to hear is that you can write professionally and organize your thoughts in a professional manner. Keep your own opinions, because that makes it refreshing, but keep your writing style professional and clean. Imagine you’re writing a Crash Course video, but with a bit less of John Green’s humor (because humor is kind of risky to put in a school essay). Crash course is full of all kinds of educational treasure, but it’s not boring and dry. Write with that kind of life and your teacher might even enjoy your essay, who would’ve thunk it?
Also, look back at your prompts throughout the writing process. I’ve had times where I didn’t do this and ended up with poor grades because I misunderstood something. And it sucked. So make sure you’re following directions like your teacher wants you to. Remember, you’re writing this for a reason – your teacher wants you to learn something! Hence the reason for the prompt! They want you to figure it out yourself, because usually the kinds of things we write essays on require personal application and interpretation, which you can’t teach in a lecture!
Can you tell this is a soapbox point for me!
6. MLA and citations (*groan*)
I hate MLA as much as the next guy, and am by no means an expert, but over the years I’ve come to appreciate it for the simple fact that it’s consistent. No need to ask the teacher five million questions on the format of the essay ( “Should I have a title?” “Do I put just my name at the top, or the course and date too?” “How do you want the sources to be cited?”). All that is answered if you look up the MLA guidelines. Just make sure you’re using the right version – I’ve had times where I used MLA 10 when I should have used MLA 8, yadda yadda…
I have no advice other than to study the MLA guidelines meticulously. Make a checklist! Find sample essays to compare your own! If you have an awesome teacher, they’ll provide these, but you can also find them on the internet.
As for the works cited page…guys, you’ll hate me for this, but do not just plug in the URL into a website that makes it for you. MLA will never make sense to you if you don’t actually engage in it and make the cites yourself at least a few times. And you need to know how it works so that you can find when an easy-bake citation web page messes something up. There’s no need to hurt your grade because you didn’t take ten extra minutes to make the cited sources yourself.
I like to use https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ because it gives sample sources that make it so much easier for me to write my own.
And if you must, I like using this website, because you actually enter in all the appropriate info yourself, it just formats it for you: http://www.easybib.com/ . Click on ‘manual cite’ below the search bar.
ALSO! Make sure you’re citing the right thing. There are different formats for wed cites, books, magazines, poetry, and like a gazillion other stuff.
7. Don’t stress!
Which is kind of a moot point, but don’t put it off because the thought of all that work stresses you out. You’ve got this! Your opinions are interesting and insightful, and the world deserves to have your writing!
[I’m totally not a hypocrite with this bit of advice]
Now go forth, receive the A’s! Or the B’s/ occasional C, because honestly, I can’t afford to be picky.
Have a lovely day guys. I’ll see you again soon. 🙂
-Abigail
Grey Tea Books 