Basic Guide to Essay Writing

Many students find essay writing a cumbersome and painful assignment. That is because they are still not sure how to approach essay writing. If you get the approach right, you find that essay writing is not painful at all. In fact, it can be a very fun and fulfilling process. Here is a basic guide to essay writing.

1. Brainstorm for good ideas.

For any essay, you need a list of ideas that you can expand on. In this early stage, don't worry about organizing the ideas or grammar, or anything like that. Stay focused and write down everything that comes to mind. If you find yourself having a lack of ideas, you need to either relax your mind, or get some stimulation.

When you relax your mind, or when you stimulate your mind, you find that you get a whole load of fresh ideas. You can relax your mind by taking a walk, or taking a short break. You can stimulate your mind by playing some games or talking to other people. Do whatever works for you. The important thing is to get that list out! Without a list of ideas, you can't really start your writing.

2. Planning and organization.

Next, start to plan and organize your essay based on the ideas that you have. You can narrow down to a few ideas that you really like to write about. Group ideas that are of a similar theme together. Strike out those ideas that you wish to drop. You will end up with a much more organized list of ideas that you initially have.

Decide early how you want to expand on those ideas. Do you want to give concrete examples? How about facts? Do you need to do more research? The goal here is to have enough content for your essay.

3. The actual writing.

If you have gone through the first two steps, writing your essay will be a breeze. Start working on the first group of ideas and include all the content that you want to include. At this stage, it is important to remind yourself not to write like a robot. Let your writing flow. Don't just copy styles or ideas from your research. Write with your own style.

4. Proof read and final editing.

Many students skip this important final stage. As human beings, we all make mistakes when we write. So it's important to polish your essay by going back at least 2 to 3 times to check the work. Proof reading is different from editing. Editing involves making corrections to the content in the essay. Proof reading involves correcting grammatical or structural errors. You should do both to get a top class essay. This is the secret to getting a distinction for your essay. So don't miss this step!

As a final tip, feel free to express yourself as you write. Don't be restricted just because you don't have a strong command of English. For all you know, even when you write with broken grammar, you may still end up scoring high for content!