An Author's Tips for Essay Writing

"How's school going?" a friend asks.
"Oh, it's fine. I have to write a ten-page paper, though, for my government class. It's about oil fracking."
"That shouldn't be any problem for you. I mean, you're a writer."
I'd love to smile at them and say no, writing an essay is nothing like writing a book. I don't have to enjoy trying to take a topic that I have zero background knowledge on and write a ten-page dissertation about why it's good, why it's bad, the corruption between the government and the oil industry...ugh. Yeah.
Do I enjoy it? No. Do I get good grades on my essays? Yes. And if you or someone you know is trying to write an essay, the following tips might help you (or them) get an A.

1. Make an outline, but don't worry if you don't follow it exactly. You might hit a train of thought that takes you a great distance in your paper, but not in the direction your outlines wants you to go. So long as you're still following your teacher's directions, don't worry. The outline is simply a tool to help you get your paper done. More specifically, it gives you a list of topics that you need to put somewhere in your paper. They don't have to be A, B, C if you think B, A, C actually works better.
2. When you open that blank document, the first thing you should do is put in your header (your name, your class, your teacher's name, and then the date) and the page number, if those things are required for the format you're using. Staring at a white screen and knowing you have to fill it with words is intimidating. Having that header there helps mitigate that feeling. Also, don't worry about a title at first. Just put "Title Here" as your title, then don't forget to fill it in later.
3. Your title isn't the only thing that can wait. The introduction can, too. Write a few (or all) of your body paragraphs so that you get the gist of your paper, then write the introduction. Even your thesis can wait--it should be built around the paper, not the paper built around the thesis.
4. Your introduction and your summary should be essentially the same (in content, not wording). In other words, both your introduction and summary paragraphs should have an overview of your main points in the order in which they're presented and a little bit of your opinion on your essay's topic. An introduction is just a conclusion that starts with a hook and ends with your thesis; a conclusion is just an introduction that starts with a restatement of your thesis and ends on a memorable note.
5. Your viewpoint on an issue might change as you're writing a paper. Let's take my fracking paper. If you start out thinking that fracking does nothing but good for a nation, enough research might tell you that there are some drawbacks to the process. And if you think fracking is evil, the numbers say that some good has come of it. Reflect your new opinion, not your old, in your paper. And don't worry if you change stance on an issue mid-essay. You're not being graded on your opinions, so long as you have facts to support what you believe.
   

1. How many main points, exactly, do you need? Three is standard, but if I'd tried building a ten-page essay around three main points, I'd have had a rough time of it. Each page requires 2-3 paragraphs. Sometimes your main points, especially if you have subpoints, can be stretched into several paragraphs. Estimate how many paragraphs it will take you to thoroughly discuss a certain topic (I spent at least five paragraphs on fracking's effects on water but only two on earthquakes). Just be flexible, and have some extra points you can bring up if you surprised yourself with your succinctness.
2. If you need extra length in your paper, try to expand expressions. For example, "so" can be replaced with "therefore" or "because of this." If your paper's too long, try going through and removing the word "that." It's unnecessary more often than you think it is. (Thank you, Mr. Ridgely, for teaching me this!)
3. You can make yourself sound smarter by looking up synonyms to common words. Google is your friend; just look up "synonyms for evil" and you can talk about how the dalliance between the government and the oil industry is deplorable or despicable or iniquitous. I got away with using "cacography" (a fancy way to say "a word misspelled on purpose") in a literature paper once. That was the highlight of my essay-writing career.
4. There are a lot of dirty hacks out there for making your paper seem longer than it actually is. I don't advise using them, both for conscience's sake and the possibility of point removal. But here's what you can do to add some fluff to your papers: throw in exactly one block quote (a quotation that's more than four lines long and has to be set apart by indenting the left edge further). If the last line of a paragraph is close to the right margin, add a few more words to get another line. And make your citations longer, within reason. For example, I put "U.S. EPA" instead of just "EPA."
5. Make use of online help. I use Grammarly as a good online grammar and spelling checker. Your school might have a writing center that can help you revise your essays. Try sending your essay to a friend who's good with English. I personally would love to help you, but thanks to my government teacher *glares at government teacher* I have yet another essay of my own to write.

There you have it, friends! Which of the above tips is your favorite? Have you heard of any of them before? Do you have any tips that you'd like to add to this list? Let me know in the comments below! God bless you, dear readers, and don't forget to check us out on Amazon!