by Matt Bird

Created on: August 11, 2010

Maybe you need to write an essay to get into college. Maybe you're already in and just want to pass a class. Maybe you're even in the middle of writing one for an exam and you need some help. (In that third case you might be in trouble as you shouldn't be reading this.) Whatever the case, you need to understand how essays work, and you need to understand quickly if you're to succeed and impress your teachers.

Relax. Essay writing is really not so hard once you understand that they all have a general structure you can follow: intro, body, conclusion. The introduction obviously introduces the topic of the essay and includes your thesis, the body backs up your thesis with proof in several themed paragraphs and the conclusion wraps the whole thing up, perhaps by asking new questions and reinforcing everything you've already said. Simple enough.

Not good enough? Then perhaps you could use some further tips. These should help with your essay writing and increase your chances of scoring an elusive, approving remark from the essay's reader.

- First, you need to know your topic before you write. What do you want to prove? What points will you use to back up that statement? In what order will you display your points? You must lay out these points before you even start writing, as you may otherwise discover halfway through that you'd rather re-order everything, forcing you to start over. Given that essays often take a long time to write already, knowing the construction of your essay before it's even written is essential to good time management.

- Second, you need to do your research. This may come as you're writing the essay, but for the most part you don't want to be pouring through books to get what you need in the midst of a sentence. Thoroughly read over any material you think will be of use and don't neglect to keep notes so you won't have to return to the same pages over and over again.

- Third, keep track of quotes. Quotes are gold in essays - so long as they're used in moderation, and properly cited. They are the words of people wiser than yourself, and will back up most any argument you can make. Be careful to get the quote exactly right, however, or you may get in serious trouble with readers.

- Fourth, when possible, type your essay. Any essay you hand in should be done on a computer. Not only does this make it look nice and neat, it allows you to easily shift paragraphs and sentences around in your browser. The days of scratching out sentences and rewriting,

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