5 Easy Steps in Crafting an Effective Essay for beginners
Crafting A Winning College Essay: A Personal Journey and Comprehensive writing Guide for Beginners
I was not always a seasoned writer. My 12-year-experience as a college professor has played the biggest role in honing my skills and the tips, I am about to share with you.
My first experiences writing as a college student was terrible.
I would hit a “writers block” after every two or three sentences. Turns out it was mostly because I did not believe in my writing abilities.
After failing the first two exams, I figured I needed help and searched for an online tutor who guided me to master the art of writing for academics and other purposes.
I imagine you are also on the crossroad hungry for essay writing tips for beginners like I was. You are just in time for me to walk you through this huddle.
On this article, I have simplified what I learnt into the most basic guide on how to master essay writing.
Navigating the Maze of Essay Requirements
The most important part of any form of writing is understanding the instructions. Once you decipher the instructions and understand the problem, the battle is halfway won.
One time I was presented with an essay on the topic of GMOs effect on climate change. My initial thoughts were on the health impacts of GMOs and I dived into writing without giving it enough thoughts.
As you can imagine, the professor did not waste their time on my essay and the grade was, well, I still remember I had to re-sit that whole class.
Another time, an essay on the “Pros and Cons of Technology”. Looking at it now, I can almost craft this essay effectively with my eyes closed. That time, I only wrote why technology is important without the comparative aspect that the essay intended to examine.
5 Key Steps in Crafting an Effective Essay for beginners
As a beginner, coming up with your own topic can sound like a mammoth of a task but you will realize it is the easiest thing when it comes to academic essay writing.
In most cases, however, you will be provided with a subject and topic to write about. The first thing you need to do is understand the task word, the content words and other essay requirements and instructions like limiting words.
One time I recall struggling to come up with a topic for a project on environmental sustainability. After crunching my fingers for close to an hour, I discovered I had a passion for sustainable cities.
Ideas started coming to me in avalanches because I was enthusiastic about the topic and luckily, it aligned with the assignment requirements. So, exploring things you love can inspire your writing.
Once the topic is at hand and you fully understand the user intent, you can commence on the following steps:
- Research: There is a number of research methods for essays. You need to find information from books, scholarly journals, and other sources to offer insight, analysis and interpret the topic provided.
Time for another story; I recall a time while I was still green in college essay writing and I was to write a well-researched informative essay. My research expedition took me visiting libraries and this sent me searching deeper.
Soon, I was consulting with knowledgeable professors, delving into academic journals and even online database.
I uncovered resources like peer reviewed articles and other information sources that provided me with an ocean of information and essay writing strategies.
All I had to do was ask! The quality of my essay was second to none in my class that time. I deduced that research was the bedrock of excellent college essay writing.
- Plan Your Essay: Make an outline or plan the structure of your essay to organize your thoughts.
- Write the Introduction: The introduction is the opening paragraph that lets the reader know what you are writing about. The paragraph should end with a thesis statement to declare your stand.
- Develop the Body: According to the University of Michigan, this is where you prove the thesis statement. You detail your ideas and provide evidence to back your claims.
- Create a Conclusion: You have poured all the energy into developing and writing the essay. Your conclusion needs to restate your thesis statement and recap your supporting points to be impactful.
“I like to have a clincher on the very last line; leaving the reader with some food for thoughts about what they just read and it works like a charm!”
The very final part is to polish your essay by edit and proofreading to review and fix any mistakes in your writing. Here you can use any of the online proof reading tools available and you also have to read through.
Stay tuned for a more comprehensive guide on how to master all these stages in writing.
The difference between informational and educational Essays
The direction your essay as a beginner takes depends on the purpose and goals of the information being sought by the examiner.
Essays are generally informational or educational and once you establish this intent, you have already claimed victory for the first half.
Informational essays will seek general information like answers or explanations about a concept or topic. They want you to test if you fully understand a subject and can define terms or state general facts about the topic.
Examples: Essays like "How does osmosis work?" or "What is photosynthesis?" have informational intent.
Educational essays on the other hand want to test your knowledge on a subject. They need you to sound like an expert with deep understanding of the topic.
Examples: Essays like "MBA marketing strategies" have educational intent.
Types of College Essays
Jamie Birt noted that effective writing is a skill that you need to master and carry on to your professional life.
If you are as scared as I was when I first started writing college essays, hold on for a revelation- You only have to gradually familiarize with the several types of essays that you might be tasked to write.
These classifications stem from the above descriptions of essay purposes and each comes with distinct characteristics.
You will not be required to write them all but let me demystify some of the most common types of college essays to help you find your footing:
- Descriptive Essay: If an essay calls for you to describe a person, event or object in details, this is called a descriptive essay.
Your primary focus should be to create a very vivid appeal to the readers senses.
Example: “A Visit to a Vibrant Street Market.”
- Narrative Essay: As the name suggests, this essay will task you to tell a story. You need to note that the essay should be written from a first-person perspective.
It will often ask you to narrate a personal anecdote, with a clear beginning, middle, and ending.
Example: “The day I overcame my fear of heights”
- Expository Essay: The core of these essays is explanations that inform the reader you truly understand the topic.
In these types of essays, you only state facts, and accurate statistics not your personal opinions.
Example: "The Impact of Climate Change on Ocean Levels"
- Persuasive Essay: Persuasive essays came to become my favorite. The goal here is simply to convince the reader to see your point of view on a specific topic.
The secret is to structure your arguments and evidence very well in a persuasive language and you have yourself a winning persuasive essay.
Example: "The Importance of Green Energy: Save Our Planet"
- Argumentative Essay: These are my second favorite because they are very similar to persuasive essays.
The only variation here is you have to support your argument with evidence, and then make counterarguments on a particular topic.
The secret is to present a harmonious view of the subject and leave the examiner to take a side.
Example: "The Pros and Cons of Traditional Education"
- Compare and Contrast Essay: Remember when I was to write about the pros and cons of technology and I only wrote about the advantages?
The test was to determine if I could analyze the similarities and differences of the impacts of technology.
I was supposed to critically think and present an in-depth comparison of the effects both positive and negative. Now you and I know.
Example: Traditional Education vs. Online Education
- Cause and Effect Essay: This is as simple as it sounds. These essays want you to establish a relationship in events or situations and explain how either leads to the other.
You need to demonstrate to the examiner that a certain “cause” resulted to particular “effects” directly.
Example: “The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health.”
- Research Essay: If I was to rank them in order of ease, this type would take the top seat. A research essay is all about presenting findings on a certain topic.
Structuring the format of these essays is also put to test but I can guide you through this on one sitting!
You will be required to cite your findings in MLA (Modern Language association) or APA (American Psychological Association). I will explore these more on another post but don’t sweat it.
These are the most common essays you might be required to write as a beginner in college.
Practical Essay Writing Tips for Beginners
I personally struggled with time management as a student. Balancing between class, parties and all the demands of college life saw me miss deadlines and procrastinate a lot!
If you are like me, you should consider planning specific goals for each day. There are numerous time management apps and time tracking software you can use to break down tasks.
Working under pressure with tight deadlines did not only heighten my anxiety during essay submission dates but I also suffered writer’s block. These are times when I could not find anything to write for reasons beyond lack of skill.
Since I was committed to learning and developing effective essay structures, I would organize groups for brainstorming ideas, took short breaks and created mind maps to keep track of time. Try these to keep the creative juices flowing.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Beginning Writing
I have to admit I was a bit sloppy when I was beginning my writing journey. Some of the pitfalls I would fall into included unintentional plagiarism and errors while citing sources.
Over time, I learnt the importance of researching diligently and citing my sources properly and this was an interesting learning process.
To avoid this, keep a meticulous record of your sources and use plagiarism checkers during proofreading. That way you will also maintain your academic integrity and present original and well cited essays.
Key Take a ways
The transition from a struggling writing beginner in college to the seasoned writer I am has shaped both my professional and academic lives.
All the challenges I have faced along the way like anxiety from missed deadlines, bouts of writers blocks and poor grades resulted more from poor time management than inability to write.
Sometimes along the way I had to seek guidance and help from peers and eventually the fire refined me into a great writer and you can too.
Conclusion
Congratulations for making it this far. I have distilled my experience into a straightforward guide that any beginner can use to master college essay writing.
If you are to recall anything from this read, understanding essay requirements is the most crucial lesson I want you to take away. See the time I misunderstood an essay prompt about GMOs and climate change and my grade suffered a significant setback?
Furthermore, I want to stress on the importance of researching thoroughly, preparing an outline before commencing, developing a powerful introductory paragraph with a thesis statement, well supported arguments on the body, strong conclusion and thorough proofreading and editing.
I hope that my writing journey inspires you to begin this adventure with confidence towards becoming a proficient writer. You can master writing beyond your imagination! In a writer’s hand, a pen is like a magic wand.