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Writing An Essay In 6 Easy Steps

Author: Martha Liu

When it comes to writing, many people over think what it is that they have to do, freeze up, blank out, and end up writing nothing.

But, if you possess a modest understanding of the English language, writing a good and useful essay is easy if you just follow a few simple guidelines.

An essay, like  a novel, a thesis, a textbook, and so on has a certain structure to it. But the structure is not set in stone. In fact, there are more than a few essay forms that you can take advantage of. For the beginning writer, however, the basic steps of writing an essay consists of 6 separate actions.

1) Choose your topic

Professional writers are always saying “write what you know.” While many writers make a great living researching topics that they know little about and writing essays and articles on them, for the beginning writer, writing about what you know is good advice. It’s one less step that you have to worry about. So choose a subject that interests you personally and break it down into a smaller topic, something that you can fully write about in an essay length piece of writing.

2) Prepare a short outline for your topic.

Although the outline doesn’t have to be on paper, if you’re just beginning to write, putting the outline on paper or in your computer can help you to organize your thoughts and focus on what you want to say.

3) Write the Introduction

The introduction should be relatively short and should focus on what you plan to prove or accomplish with your essay. Of course, this pre-supposes that you’ve answered the question for yourself. If you ask yourself the question, “Why am I writing this topic?”  and you fail to come up with an interesting and convincing reason, you’ve likely chosen the wrong topic and should think about changing it.

4) Write the body using your outline as a guide

If you’ve written an outline, this should be easy. Simply write one paragraph for each point in your outline. If you know your subject well, the paragraphs should almost write themselves. Don’t focus too much on grammar or style as you are writing. Simply try to get your thoughts down on paper in a coherent manner.

5) Write your summary

Write a paragraph summarizing all of the points what you’ve just written about.

6) Edit and re-write your essay

Many writers would call this the most important part of the writing process. You’ve got your initial thoughts on paper, now you simply have to improve them. This is where you spell check, grammar check, finalize your paragraph transitions, and recheck the facts presented in your essay. It’s not unusual for professional writers to re-write three, four, or more times. In fact, many say that the difference between a good writer and a great writer is the amount of effort put into re-writing.

Even if you have no natural talent for writing, by following the above steps you can easily put together an essay presentable enough for almost any purpose.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/writing-an-essay-in-6-easy-steps-1930522.html

About the Author

Martha Liu is webmaster and writer for bookauthorservices.com . Please visit her site and find articles on writing children’s book, steps to writing a book quick, and other author related information and products.