Mastering the Art of Essay Writing

Essay structure is your friend.

Think of essay structure as a ready-made cheat sheet that’ll jumpstart your writing. It’s very formulaic in that every essay has three main parts: the introduction, body, and conclusion.

• Introduction. The intro is where you first tell your audience about your topic and thesis. Your thesis is the claim you’re making (e.g. Expanding the light rail system is important to boosting local businesses revenue downtown.) and it’s included in the introduction because everything after needs to support your initial claim. You’ll also include the basics of your supporting arguments. Your introduction should be where you tease the audience into reading more.
• Body. The body of your essay is the place to include strong arguments that back the claims you made in your thesis (e.g. The first iteration of the light rail line increased revenue for downtown businesses by 67%). If you need three paragraphs to defend your thesis, then the body should be three paragraphs. If it’s more complex and requires eight paragraphs, then so be it.


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• Conclusion. This is the easiest part of the essay because you’re basically just wrapping up everything you’ve already stated into a neat little package. Simply restate your thesis and the bones of your supporting arguments.

Stop procrastinating.

Procrastination is one of the biggest enemies of creation. You can’t finish a project if you never start, and the final product will suffer if you don’t give it the time you need to. Sometimes we feel like we can write an essay in a couple of hours, especially if we know the topic. However, you can almost always include more information in your essay. For example, if you’re writing an essay about a sport you love, do a deep dive into the history, obscure rules, or unique circumstances that have happened only a few times. You’ll have a chance to teach your readers something new, even if their knowledge base is similar to yours, before you start. One great way to get going is to create rough outline.

Create a basic outline.

One of the best ways to organize an essay is to build it out in an outline by casually jotting down some thoughts, ideas, facts into the body section of your thesis. Use prompts if you’re having a hard time putting your thoughts onto the page. You can answer who, what, why, where, when, and how as they relate to your topic. Brainstorming answers to these questions can be a great way to get the ball rolling as you build your outline. After you’ve made an outline, take the information and put it directly into your essay.

Read other people’s essays for inspiration.

One way to learn a skill is by watching others do it. In the case of writing an essay, reading well-written, powerful essays that others have crafted might give you some ideas. The more you read, the more you’ll see how thoughts and arguments are formed and defended. You could also just read more in general. Reading novels, for instance, helps to improve your storytelling ability, which can be an engaging way to present your arguments in an essay. Those who read the most are often the best writers because they understand how to organize their thoughts on paper.

Practice makes perfect.

The first version of your essay isn’t always the best version. Even after editing for grammar, spelling, and punctuation, you’ll find that you’ll do plenty of rewrites. You might take out entire sections, add new ones, or rework arguments. The more time you take to do these things, the better off you’ll be. It’s not common, but you can even take time to write two or three essays for your assignment, then choose the one you feel is best among them. Putting in the extra reps isn’t something most of us want to do because it takes so much more time. But the extra practice will make you a better writer in the end.

Now that you know how to begin, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a master essay writer who can take on even the most difficult topics.