by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: September 21, 2010

When you have to complete a 2,000 word essay it can be tempting to simply dive straight in and write down all your thoughts without really taking time to consider how you are going to approach the question you’re meant to address. Now that word processing is the norm you can simply keep on typing until you reach the word limit and then have a quick read of what you’ve written, without really structuring it in anyway. This won’t help you achieve high marks and so you have to be prepared to take some time to plan your essay.

You might think that creating an essay plan is a waste of time, but it can actually help you keep your mind focused on what you’re being asked and how you are going to respond to the question. If you create an essay plan you will be able to decide what points you wish to raise and relate these issues back to the question. Planning in advance means you are able to locate the relevant writers that you need to quote and to draw on evidence that you’ve uncovered.

To create an essay plan it helps to know what it is you are being asked and so it may help to highlight key words that are in the question. You need to know whether you’re being asked to evaluate, analyse, assess, or compare and the topic that you are supposed to focus your attention on. Usually, an essay will relate to some work that you’ve been covering in your lessons or lectures and so it may help to look over your notes that relate to that particular topic.

You may find that there are certain key themes and texts that keep making an appearance, in which you case you will probably have to draw on these when you write your essay. Before you even start writing your essay, though, you need to have some idea of what you’re going to say in the introduction, what your main points are going to be and how you are going to conclude your answer.

The introduction only needs to be brief, giving a general overview of the areas you are going to focus on and the approach you intend to take to answering the question. The bulk of the essay is where you are going to make your argument and so you will have to designate a paragraph for each point you raise, drawing on what other academics have said and using other sources as evidence. You then need to round off your essay by providing a conclusion that reiterates the argument you have been making.

It might take you quite awhile to produce a decent essay plan, but it is worth it, as you will find it much easier when you actually come to write your essay and already know what you intend to say.

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