“How do you write a perfect essay?” This is a common question in the minds of high school and college students. Essay writing is not only about English grammar or vocabulary. It is about crafting an idea, planning logically, and expressing your creativity. It can be challenging at the beginning to write a good essay, but once you master the skills, it will be a piece of cake for you to write about any topic. In this article, we will help you with a step-by-step guide to writing an essay. 

1. Understanding the topic

The first and the utmost important part of essay writing is understanding the essay topic or question. Many a time students failing to understand the topic may get poor marks in spite of writing a good essay. Therefore, take your time to understand the topic to start brainstorming. This will help you to form different ideas and express your creativity. 

2. Planning

Planning is inevitable when you are trying to build anything whether a building or an essay. Planning may sound time-taking to you, but proper planning can actually help you save time in the long run. When you are in the process of planning, you must consider the following points:

• Decide the style of writing – formal, informative, informal, or personal, etc.
• Determine what will be the type of your essay – argumentative, narrative, descriptive, or narrative.
• What content you would include in your essay.

3. Create the format or structure

When you want to write a good essay, it’s vital to decide the structure of your writing. We know that there are three main parts of an essay – introduction, main body, and the conclusion. You need to think and write what points you would want to include under each part. For example, if you are writing an essay on “Pollution in the 21st Century”, you might want to write the negative effects of pollution in the ‘main body.” Also, you might want to give a brief account of how pollution affects us and how we see it in the “Introduction” part. Besides, if your essay is argumentative, then you might include additional paragraphs providing grounds and answering possible rebuttals after you make a claim.  

4. Create a Thesis Statement

It is always useful to start the first paragraph with a thesis statement. This is the central sentence that should guide you to complete your essay. It is easier to write an essay with a thesis statement because it shows your opinion and why you think this to be true. The best thing is that once you write a statement, all your ideas will revolve around it and thus, will help you to stick to the topic and boost your creativity skills.

5. Start each paragraph with Topic sentences

Just like the thesis statement, you must begin each paragraph with a topic sentence. This will help you not to deviate from the theme. Also, it will help you to explore your creativity in terms of vocabulary and ideas. 

6. Keep your writing simple and connected

Many students think that writing a good essay requires them to fill with complex sentences and lots of uncommon words. But, that’s not true. The main points that make a good essay are:

• Make sure to organize your ideas before each paragraph.
• Keep sentences simple with 15 to 25 words.
• Use an active voice.
• Prioritize clarity.
• Use synonyms wisely and only if you understand the meaning of the words.
• A conversational tone sounds more engaging.
• Keep your ideas connected with transitional words or phrases.

7. Write your sources and use quotations

Writing a good essay in college or high school will require you to use quotations or facts. Use only credible sources and quotations to prove that your writing is unique. Back up and support your points with proper evidence and sources. The credible sources for essays can be published books, reports, or journal articles, etc.

8. Proofread

No matter how small or big your essay is, you must take the time to proofread your essay. You can rectify many mistakes like grammatical or spelling errors etc. Also, reading the essay writing, again and again, can help you know how successful you are in presenting the theme of the essay. Moreover, it will also help you to add any points that you might have missed before.

Writing a perfect essay comes with practice and knowledge. The more time you spend reading articles and learning new words or phrases, it will help you to master the art of writing. So, start spending a good amount of time reading books, journals, or articles and see how your essay turns out to be.