Writing assignments are often the reason why students spend sleepless nights and feel overwhelmed. Even though it is a great way for instructors to check how well you understand a specific topic and can draw logical conclusions relying on the available information, essay writing might be the least inspiring assignment you can get. It requires a lot of time and effort, and you never know if you will score high or low because the final grade depends on many factors.  But is there a way to overcome all the challenges of this type of assignment and get the desired grade? Of course, there is, and we are glad to share all the valuable information we’ve accumulated on how to write an essay for dummies with you. Use our guide to craft engaging essays without stress.

What Is an Essay?

You can find many long and confusing definitions on various online resources, but they might not answer all of your questions. Moreover, after reading them, you might have even more questions popping up in your head. Therefore, we will not use academic language to explain the concept of essay writing. Simply put, an essay is a short story that gives you a chance to share your thoughts, ideas, and knowledge about a specific issue. Think of it as a conversation with your reader, where you introduce your main point, support it with evidence, and wrap it up with a conclusion. To improve your understanding of the concept, our writing essays for dummies guide starts with the key features of this type of assignment.

Focused discussion. A great essay focuses on a specific aspect of a subject and analyzes it from different perspectives. That is why you need to choose a topic that is narrow enough to analyze all of the crucial points. At the same time, it should be broad enough to discuss numerous arguments. It is always a good idea to do a quick preliminary analysis before you start writing and make sure that you have enough information to include in your piece. After that, you can use our college essay title generator to craft a short and intriguing title.

Examples of topics:

Too broad: Climate change

Narrowed: The effects of climate change on coastal cities

Too narrow: The color of the curtains in Act 3, Scene 2 of Hamlet

Broadened: The role of the setting in creating an atmosphere in Shakespearean tragedy

The thesis statement and supporting evidence. A thesis statement is the main argument of your essay which you present in the introductory paragraphs. It should be clear and short for your readers to understand what your piece is going to be about. The subsequent body paragraphs will consist of your arguments that rely on relevant facts, examples, and quotes from reliable sources. This evidence strengthens your argument and makes your essay more convincing. Our essay writing for dummies guide would not be complete without examples, so here is one for you to take a look at.

Thesis statement example: Through the use of vivid imagery and symbolic language, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” explores the themes of grief, loss, and the human condition.

Factual information instead of assumptions. Your personal opinions and beliefs have no place in academic writing. It’s crucial to support your arguments with evidence from credible sources, such as academic articles, books, or reputable websites. Your essay is a demonstration of your ability to stand on the shoulders of giants (famous writers and scholars) and contribute to the existing discussion.

5 Steps to Writing a Great Essay

Now that you have a clear understanding of the goals and characteristics of an essay, it’s time to learn about an effective algorithm for how to write it. Students often get frustrated with this type of assignment because they don’t have specific step-by-step instructions on how to manage it. Our essay for dummies guide is here to help you with that.

#1 Thorough Research 

Once you know what to write about in your essay, it’s time to start collecting the necessary information. When you are doing a research study, you aim to find credible, up-to-date information on the topic of your essay. Our experts underline the significance of the quality of sources you choose to use. It is better to rely on 4 reputable sources than on 20 articles of low reliability. Also, if you struggle to find facts and figures to support your ideas, you can look through the bibliography pages of the academic articles you want to use. There, you will find many publications on similar topics. Here are the most common sources students use:

• Academic databases – JSTOR, Google Scholar, or your library’s online resources  
• Books – scholarly books on the chosen topic
• Credible websites – websites from reputable institutions, government agencies, or well-known organizations

If you want to save time while researching your topic, we suggest you take effective notes throughout the process. You can copy direct citations or summarize key points to make it easier to find the necessary chapters or sentences when you start writing. Make sure you know what citation style to use to format your bibliography page correctly. Usually, every educational institution uses a particular formatting style (APA, MLA, etc.), so find out this information in advance.

#2 The Outline

One of the crucial tips of our Writing an Essay for Dummies guide is this: No matter what you do, never skip the outlining step of the writing process. Creating a detailed outline helps you include all the important points in your piece and make sure there is a logical flow of arguments. If you don’t know how to find the most convincing arguments for your essay, you can ask our experts for help. You can also use our essay prompt generator to create a logical structure for your literary piece.

What are the main components of a helpful outline? You need to focus on 2 points – arguments and supporting evidence. The rest of your essay will consist of the introductory and concluding paragraphs. The beginning of your piece should have a hook to attract the attention of readers (a question, quote, anecdote, etc.) and a thesis statement. The last paragraph is where you restate your main idea and leave readers with insightful conclusions. 

But let’s get back to the arguments and evidence. No matter whether you are writing an essay or a persuasive speech, you should make it convincing. Many students are uncertain about the number of arguments they should include in their assignments. Usually, you will not need more than 5 arguments to present your viewpoint. Let’s see how it works. Remember our thesis statement example about Poe’s poem? Our academic writing for dummies guide has a detailed example of stating an argument and supporting it with reliable information:

Argument: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” masterfully employs vivid imagery and symbolic language to delve into the profound themes of grief, loss, and the human condition. 

Evidence:

• You can find information about what the raven symbolizes (intelligence and ominous foreboding) and continue your analysis by stating that it serves as a constant reminder of the narrator’s loss and inability to escape his grief.
• Poe’s use of alliteration and assonance creates a hypnotic rhythm. Therefore, readers can feel the narrator’s obsessive thoughts and emotional burden. 

Don’t forget to include counterarguments in your assignment as well. Most probably, you will discuss a debatable topic, and there are views opposite to the ones you’re writing about. Refuting these arguments is an essential part of in-depth analysis and high-quality academic writing. 

#3 The Writing Process

There’s nothing left to do except to start writing your essay. To avoid writer’s block, start with any section you like. Moreover, you can write the introduction and conclusion after you have all the body paragraphs ready. Then, you will know exactly what to write in them. 

Try to use the notes from your classes and include key ideas your instructor has highlighted. Dedicate every paragraph to one specific point and use transitional phrases to get from one argument to another. The main idea here is to write the first draft without the fear of making mistakes. Remember that you can always revise and finetune it later.

#4 A Logical Sequence of Arguments

Review your draft and check if there is a logical flow of ideas. If you think that something does not look right, try changing the sequence of the arguments. Also, check if it’s easy for readers to follow your train of thought. Do any terms or concepts need a more in-depth explanation? Did you manage to meet the required word count?

If you need to add more information to your essay and don’t know what else to write about, you can consider expanding your conclusion paragraphs. For instance, you can identify a gap in the research and point out a specific area that needs further exploration. Additionally, you can encourage readers to take action, such as advocating for a specific cause or policy change. The main tip for writing this section, according to our guide on how to write a college essay for dummies, is that you should not introduce any new information at this point. Restate your thesis statement to provide a sense of closure.

#5 Editing and Proofreading

Academic integrity is one of the main values held by scholars worldwide. Therefore, you should pay close attention to possible plagiarism-related issues and cite all the sources you use in your essay. You can use free or fee-based plagiarism checkers to avoid unintentional plagiarism in your writing. On top of that, many educational institutions check essays for AI-generated content, and you are welcome to use our free AI text detector to avoid unnecessary stress.

Finally, typos and grammatical mistakes can spoil the overall positive impression of your literary piece. Carefully proofread every section and make corrections if necessary. You can ask your friends to assist you and give you feedback on your essay. Constructive criticism is always helpful when it comes to creative assignments.

Valuable Tips on Writing Impressive Essays

• Learn to differentiate between all types of essays. Understanding the specific requirements and expectations of each essay type is key to successfully managing writing assignments. When you recognize the distinctions between an analytical and argumentative essay, you can address the assignment’s objectives effectively.
• Stick to the standard structure. This is important, first of all,because many academic assessments are evaluated based on their structure and organization. In addition, following the requirements of making your introduction and conclusion take up around 10% of the total word count, leaving the rest to the main body of your essay, is crucial for its readability and clarity. Once you master the use of this structure, you will see that it provides a solid foundation for more complex forms of academic writing, such as research papers and dissertations.
• Use free tools. We’ve already mentioned some great tools you can use to write essays better and faster. You can benefit from being a student in the 21st century by using formatting tools to make sure your essay meets the specified requirements. Also, you can use AI tools to generate ideas for your essays and find reliable sources of information.

Essay Writing for Dummies: Tips From Graduates

Everybody has a unique writing routine that works best for them. Some start working on their masterpieces well in advance, while others prefer to wait till the last minute. Here are some tips from recent college graduates where they share their strategies for managing writing assignments:

“I struggled with writer’s block until I discovered the power of freewriting. I’d set a timer and just write whatever came to mind without worrying about grammar or structure. This helped me get my ideas flowing and often led to unexpected breakthroughs. I’d then go back and refine the best parts into a more structured essay.”

“I’d often include unnecessary details and get sidetracked from my main point. I knew that reading was a possible way to improve my writing skills. So, instead of focusing on fiction books, I started reading essays by professional writers. I paid close attention to how they structured their arguments and made every sentence count.”

“I used to cram for essay deadlines, which always resulted in poor quality work. But then I decided to change this habit and started breaking down the essay writing process into smaller tasks and allocating specific time slots for each step. This approach helped me stay organized and submit my best work on time.”

Summing Up

Hopefully, our guide on how to write an essay for dummies will make your studying less overwhelming. You can also check our ultimate guide on essay writing to get even more helpful information. No matter what obstacle stands in your path to academic success, EssayShark is here to assist you. If you decide to hire one of our talented writers, you can first use our words to pages converter to determine the number of pages you need. Then, it will be easy for you to fill out an order form and place an order. Our experts will be glad to help you at any time, day or night.