i'm writing my essay

How To Start a College Essay: 9 Effective Techniques

This post was co-written by me (Ethan) and Luci Jones (Brown University, CO ‘23).

How to start a college essay TABLE OF CONTENTS

The full hemingway, the mini hemingway, the philosophical question, the confession, the trailer thesis, the fascinating concept, the random personal fun fact, the shocking image.

In anything you do, there’s a special, pivotal moment. 

I don’t mean the moment when inspiration strikes or the last brushstroke is painted or the audience oohs and ahs over the final product. The point in time we’re talking about here is the Moment When You Do The Darn Thing (DTDT for short). It’s when you get off the couch, stop binging Netflix , and take action. It’s when you put pencil to paper, fingers to keyboard, or *insert whatever other analogy feels applicable here.* 

For many, getting started is the hardest part of anything. And that’s understandable. First, because it turns whatever you’re doing into a reality, which raises the stakes. Second, because where you start can easily dictate the quality of where you end up.

College essays have their own special brand of DTDT. Knowing how to begin a college essay is daunting. It can be hard to write an engaging, authentic opener. But without an interesting hook, you risk getting lost in a vast sea of applications. To this end, we’ve put together some techniques about how to start a college essay to make your DTDT moment a little smoother and a little less stressful.

I say “probably” because I’m about to share a few overused techniques that I don’t recommend. Having said that, it is possible to pull them off—they’re just really hard to do well.

The Overly Grand Ambiguous Statement: From a distance, it might seem nice to talk about why all of humankind has felt some type of way for as long as history has existed. (Examples: “Many great thinkers have existed in our nation’s history” or “The key to a successful endeavor is perseverance.”) But these kinds of overly generalized or impersonal grand statements get lost easily in the crowd because they don’t tell the reader much about you. And without a connection to you, there’s not much reason for them to continue reading.

Going Meta: As cool as it may seem to demonstrate to your audience that you are aware of how you’re writing your essay in the moment you’re writing it, it’s less cool to college admissions officers who read meta stuff like that all the time. There are other, more subtle ways to demonstrate self-awareness in your intro rather than to open your essay with some variation of, “I stare at the blank screen...” or, worse, “When I was asked to write this personal statement, at first I wasn’t sure how to begin.”  Note that the meta essay can sometimes work (you’ll see a couple examples below), but has a higher degree of difficulty.

The Quote: While quoting famous people who have said something cool in the past may seem like an appealing way to start your essay, remember that colleges want to hear YOUR thoughts. Don’t use the words of another person to stand in for your own opinions or insights. You have cool things to say. It may just take a little while to discover what those things are.

The Too-Obvious Thesis That Spoils the Ending of the Movie (i.e. Your Essay): What if Avengers: Infinity War had opened with a voiceover from the director saying, “This is a film about how Thanos collects all the infinity stones and destroys half the population.” (Aaaaaand this is your too-late spoiler alert. Sorry. But don’t worry, they go back in time and undo it in Endgame . Oh, also spoiler.) That would’ve sucked. That’s what it feels like, though, if you start your essay with something like, “I want to be a veterinarian because I care about animals and the environment.” I read a sentence like that and I go, “Cool, thanks, now I can save myself the three minutes it would’ve taken to read the essay. Thank you, next.” While you may want to have that sentence in mind so you know what you’re trying to get across (this is called a logline), just don’t give away the whole thing. Instead, start your essay with something to pique our interest. How? We’re about to share 9 ways. 

Want to read a few more college essay tips? Check out this huge list from admissions experts. 

9 WAYS TO START A COLLEGE ESSAY:

An image-based description that focuses on a particular moment and doesn’t explain much—at least not right away. This technique lets dialogue, actions, or details speak for themselves.

(Note that there are many other authors that do this — it’s part of great writing — but my little brother suggested Hemingway and I kinda’ liked the sound of it.)

Example: 

Every Saturday morning, I’d awaken to the smell of crushed garlic and piquant pepper. I would stumble into the kitchen to find my grandma squatting over a large silver bowl, mixing fat lips of fresh cabbages with garlic, salt, and red pepper.

Why It Works: In this intro, the author paints a very visceral picture of waking up in the morning to the smell of her grandmother’s traditional Korean cooking. Through the careful word choice (“piquant pepper,” “fat lips of fresh cabbages,” etc.), we get a sense that something important is happening, even if we don’t know what it is yet. But this one can be difficult to pull off if you don’t help the reader understand why you’ve described what you’ve described. Read the rest of the essay here .

Which brings us to...

An image-based description, perhaps 1-3 sentences in length, that focuses on a particular moment and then follows up with a sentence that explains, comments on, or somehow provides context for what is being described.

Take a look at how this can happen by just adding one sentence to the example above (see bolded line below):

Every Saturday morning, I’d awaken to the smell of crushed garlic and piquant pepper. I would stumble into the kitchen to find my grandma squatting over a large silver bowl, mixing fat lips of fresh cabbages with garlic, salt, and red pepper. That was how the delectable Korean dish, kimchi, was born every weekend at my home.  

Why it Works: This single sentence hints at some of the author’s core values—culture, ritual, family—without giving too much away about where the essay is headed. Like any good intro, this one creates more questions that answers. (Read the rest of the essay here .)

Another example:

They covered the precious mahogany coffin with a brown amalgam of rocks, decomposed organisms, and weeds. It was my turn to take the shovel, but I felt too ashamed to dutifully send her off when I had not properly said goodbye. I refused to throw dirt on her. I refused to let go of my grandmother, to accept a death I had not seen coming, to believe that an illness could not only interrupt, but steal a beloved life.

Why It Works: The author drops us right into the middle of something we know nothing about, yet it invites us to care. How? The specifics. The details she notices and the resistance she’s feeling help to put us in her shoes. This means we don’t just feel sympathy, we feel empathy . And that empathetic connection heightens the stakes for us by raising questions: How did her grandmother die? Why can’t the author let her go? Why is she angry? (Spoiler: It turns out she’s more angry at herself than anyone else. Read the rest of the essay here .)

The author begins with information that creates certain expectations about them before taking us in a surprising direction. 

Growing up, my world was basketball. My summers were spent between the two solid black lines. My skin was consistently tan in splotches and ridden with random scratches. My wardrobe consisted mainly of track shorts, Nike shoes, and tournament t-shirts. Gatorade and Fun Dip were my pre-game snacks. The cacophony of rowdy crowds, ref whistles, squeaky shoes, and scoreboard buzzers was a familiar sound. I was the team captain of almost every team I played on—familiar with the Xs and Os of plays, commander of the court, and the coach’s right hand girl. But that was only me on the surface. Deep down I was an East-Asian influenced bibliophile and a Young Adult fiction writer.

Why It Works: We’re introduced to the author as a basketball superstar, the queen of the court, a sports fanatic—and at this point the reader may even be making assumptions about this author’s identity based on her initial description of herself. However, in one sentence, the writer takes us in a completely unexpected direction. This plays with audience expectations and demonstrates that she has a good degree of self awareness about the layers of her identity. After having our expectations thrown for a loop, we can’t help but wonder more about who exactly this person is (and if you want to know like I did, read the rest of this essay here ).

Another example: 

I am on Oxford Academy’s Speech and Debate Team, in both the Parliamentary Debate division and the Lincoln-Douglass debate division. I write screenplays, short stories, and opinionated blogs and am a regular contributor to my school literary magazine, The Gluestick. I have accumulated over 300 community service hours that includes work at homeless shelters, libraries, and special education youth camps. I have been evaluated by the College Board and have placed within the top percentile. But I am not any of these things. I am not a test score, nor a debater, nor a writer. I am an anti-nihilist punk rock philosopher. And I became so when I realized three things:

Why It Works: He basically tears up his (impressive) resume in the first few sentences and says, “That’s not me! Here’s the real me…” and as a result we wonder, “How does one become an anti-nihilist punk rock philosopher? And what are the three things??” (Read the rest here .)

Ask a question that you won’t (and probably can’t) answer in your essay. This gives you a chance to show how your brilliant brain works, plus keeps us hooked as you explore possible answers/solutions. 

Does every life matter? Because it seems like certain lives matter more than others, especially when it comes to money.

Why it Works: It raises a complex, interesting question and poses a controversial idea: that we treat some lives as though they matter more than others. We wonder: “Is that true? Could it be? Say more…” Heads-up: This one can veer into the “Overly Grand Ambiguous Statement” opening if you’re not careful. Click here to read the rest of the essay mentioned above, which by the way took him a long time to refine—as this approach is not easy to pull off.

Begin by admitting something you might be judged (or judge yourself) for. 

Example:  

I have been pooped on many times. I mean this in the most literal sense possible. I have been pooped on by pigeons and possums, house finches and hawks, egrets and eastern grays. (Read the rest here .)

Why it Works: Shows vulnerability, but also in many cases intrigues us to learn more. 

Here is a secret that no one in my family knows: I shot my brother when I was six. Luckily, it was a BB gun. But to this day, my older brother Jonathan does not know who shot him. And I have finally promised myself to confess this eleven year old secret to him after I write this essay.

Why It Works: This is a super vulnerable to admit and raises all sorts of questions for us: Why did he shoot his brother? Why hasn’t he confessed it to him? What will his brother say once he tells him? (Fun fact: This essay actually breaks the “don’t start with a quote” rule. Here’s the rest if you wanna’ read it.)

A contextualizing 1-2-sentences (often at the end of the first paragraph) to ground the essay by giving us a sneak peek at what’s to come in the essay—but that do NOT give away the ending.

Example (I’ve marked it in bold below at the end of the first paragraph): 

Six years ago, a scrawny twelve year old kid took his first steps into Home Depot: the epitome of manliness. As he marched through the wood section, his eyes scrolled past the options. Red Oak? No, too ubiquitous. Pine? No, too banal. Mahogany? Perfect, it would nicely complement his walls. As days went on, the final product was almost ready. 91 degree angles had been perfected to 90. Drawer slides had been lubricated ten times over. Finally, the masterpiece was finished, and the little boy couldn’t help but smile. A scrawny 12-year-old kid had become a scrawny 12-year-old man. This desk I sit at has not only seen me through the last six years, but its story and the story of the objects I keep on it provide a foundation for my future pursuits.

Why It Works: As we read the first few sentences of this paragraph we might wonder, “Where is this going?” But this sentence sets us at ease and—again, without giving too much away—gives us a sense of what’s to come. We know that we’re going to learn about the author and his future through the objects on his desk. Great! It also signals to the reader “Don’t worry, you’re in good hands. I’m still aware of the task at hand.” 

Begin with a concept that’s unusual, paradoxical, and/or marked a turning point in your thinking. This is often followed up with context explaining where the concept came from and why the author is considering it. 

Crayfish can turn their red blood cells into precursor neuronal cells, I read in shock. The scientific paper, published in Cell 2014, outlined the process where crayfish could regenerate lost eyestalks or olfactory (smell and odor) nerves with their blood – they could see and smell again! It seemed unfair from an evolutionary standpoint. Humans, who were so much larger than a 7-ounce crayfish, couldn’t use their abundant blood to fix their brain damage.

Why It Works: This opening signals to the reader that the author is: a) someone who has read quite a bit, b) curious, and c) knows, as I like to say, “some stuff about some stuff.” In this case, she knows some science stuff.

Do you know some stuff about some stuff? If so, a little geeky language can help signal this to the reader. Don’t overdo it, though, or it can seem showy.

FYI: I see this more often at the start of great essays than personal statements, as this can often lead to an essay that’s more heady/intellectual and less vulnerable/personal. A variation on this that’s a bit more personal is the...

Begin with a strange fact about yourself to grab our attention. Then go on to say why it’s meaningful. Example: 

I subscribe to what the New York Times dubs “the most welcomed piece of daily e-mail in cyberspace.” Cat pictures? Kardashian updates? Nope: A Word A Day.

(Read the rest here .)

Why It Works: It pulls us in by making us think, “Oh, that’s cool!” and then wondering, “Okay, where is this going?”

Grab our attention with an incredibly specific and arresting image or sentence. Then tell us why it matters.

Smeared blood, shredded feathers. Clearly, the bird was dead. But wait, the slight fluctuation of its chest, the slow blinking of its shiny black eyes. No, it was alive.

Why It Works: This style subtly highlights the writing talent of the author without drawing attention away from the content of the story. In this example, the staccatoed sentence fragments convey a sense of halting anxiety and also mimic the movement of the bird’s chest as it struggles to breathe. All sorts of questions come up: What happened to the bird? What will the author do? (Read the rest of the essay here .)

February 2011– My brothers and I were showing off our soccer dribbling skills in my grandfather’s yard when we heard gunshots and screaming in the distance. We paused and listened, confused by sounds we had only ever heard on the news or in movies. My mother rushed out of the house and ordered us inside. The Arab Spring had come to Bahrain.  

(Read the rest of the essay here .)

Bowing down to the porcelain god, I emptied the contents of my stomach. Foaming at the mouth, I was ready to pass out. My body couldn’t stop shaking as I gasped for air, and the room started spinning. (Read the rest of the essay here .)

There are, of course, many more kinds of openings—and I’ll add to this post as I discover new ones. 

We get it, writing a standout introduction is easier said than done. Hopefully though, after seeing some examples of dynamic and thoughtful intros that used our techniques, you’re inspired to brainstorm some of your own . You’ve got this. DTDT has never looked so good.

Have a great college essay opening or a new type of opening you’d like to suggest? Share it in the comments below!

This post was co-written by me (Ethan) and Luci Jones (Brown University, CO ‘23).  Luci took my How to Write a Personal Statement course last year. The essay that she produced was so good and her writing was so beautiful, I’ve asked her to help me co-write this blog post with me, create a few techniques for writing a great introduction, and analyze why they work so well.

Guide to Essay Writing: 5 Steps to Write an Outstanding Essay

Feel passionately about something and want to share it? Write an essay! Disagree with a popular opinion and wish to convince others to join you? Write an essay! Need to write something because the college you dream of attending is making you? Write an essay! 

“Essay” is a loose term for writing that asserts the author’s opinion on a topic, whether academic, editorial, or even humorous. There are a thousand different approaches to essay writing and a million different topics to choose from, but what we’ve found is that good essay writing tends to follow the same framework. 

Give your essays extra polish Grammarly helps you write with confidence Write with Grammarly

Below we discuss that framework and how you can apply it to your essays, whatever types they may be. But first, let’s start with a basic overview of how to write an essay.

Table of contents

How to write an essay.

Your essay needs a thesis statement

The essay-writing process

Essay structure, know your essay’s audience, 6 types of essays, essay writing tips.

The basic steps for how to write an essay are: 

• Generate ideas and pick a type of essay to write. 
• Outline your essay paragraph by paragraph. 
• Write a rough first draft without worrying about details like word choice or grammar.
• Edit your rough draft, and revise and fix the details.
• Review your essay for typos, mistakes, and any other problems. 

Want to know more? We cover the specifics below, but for now let’s talk about the nucleus of any good essay: the topic.

Your essay needs a thesis statement 

Three things to consider before writing your essay:

Of these, the most important by far is your thesis, or the crux of what your essay is about.

Your thesis, encapsulated in your thesis statement , is the central point you’re trying to make. The thesis of Bertrand Russell’s essay “ In Praise of Idleness ,” for example, is that people focus too much on work and don’t value time spent idly. Essays can occasionally stray and go into related tangents, but they always come back to that one core idea in the thesis. 

You should always pinpoint your thesis before writing. If you’re having trouble nailing it down, ask yourself, “What’s the one thing I want my reader to remember when they’re done reading my essay?”

The best practice is to include your thesis as soon as possible, even in your topic sentence if it’s appropriate. You’ll want to reiterate it throughout the essay as well, especially when wrapping up everything in the conclusion. 

The rest of your essay, then, supports your thesis. You can include empirical evidence, testimonials, logical deductions, or even persuasive rhetoric —whatever gets the job done. The point is that you’re building upon your initial thesis, not switching to completely different topics. 

If you’re writing an essay, research paper , term paper, novel, short story, poem , screenplay, blog article about essay writing—when writing just about anything , really—it’s crucial to follow an efficient writing process. Even if you prefer the stream-of-consciousness style for writing your rough draft, you still need to have an orderly system that allows you to revise and hone. 

For essay writing, we recommend this  five-step writing process :

1 Brainstorming

It always helps to collect your thoughts before you begin writing by brainstorming . Based on your prompt or thesis, try to generate as many ideas as possible to include in your essay. Think of as many as time allows, knowing that you’ll be able to set aside the ideas that don’t work later. 

2 Preparing

The preparation phase consists of both outlining your essay and collecting resources for evidence. Take a look at the results of your brainstorming session. First, isolate the ideas that are essential to support your thesis and then organize them in a logical and progressive order. In this stage you’ll incorporate your essay structure, which we explain below.

If you want empirical evidence or complementary citations, track them down now.  The way you write citations depends on the style guide you’re using. The three most common style guides for academics are MLA , APA , and Chicago , and each has its own particular rules and requirements for citing just about  any  kind of source, including newspaper articles ,  websites ,  speeches , and  YouTube videos .

This is the main stage of essay writing where you roll up your sleeves and actually write your first draft . Remember that everything doesn’t have to be perfect; this is your first draft, not your final draft, so give yourself the freedom to make errors. If you’re focusing on getting every single word right, you’ll miss the big picture. 

The revisions stage involves your second draft, your third draft, or even your twelfth draft if necessary. Address all the nuances and subtleties you glossed over in the first draft. 

Pay attention to both word choice and clarity , as well as sophisticated writing techniques like avoiding the passive voice . If you’re not confident in your writing skills yet, the Grammarly Editor ensures your writing is readable, clear, and concise by offering sentence structure and word choice suggestions, plus clarity revisions as you write. Grammarly helps catch common mistakes with sentence structure—like run-on sentences, sentence fragments, passive voice, and more.  

5 Proofreading

When all the heavy-duty revisions are finished, it’s time for the final polish. Go through your essay and correct misspellings , formatting issues, or grammatical errors. This is also where you can turn to Grammarly’s AI-powered writing assistant, which helps catch these common mistakes for you. Or  copy and paste your writing to check your grammar and get instant feedback on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other mistakes you might have missed.

Essay structure almost always follows a simple beginning-middle-end format, or in this case, an introduction-body-conclusion format. However, it’s what’s contained within those sections that makes all the difference. 

Introduction

Essays follow the same guidelines for introductions as any other piece of writing, with an extra emphasis on presenting the thesis prominently, ideally in the topic sentence. By the end of your introduction paragraph, your reader should know without a doubt what your essay is about. From there, follow the conventional best practices on how to write an introduction . 

Body paragraphs

The majority of your essay is body paragraphs , all of which support your thesis and present evidence. 

Pay close attention to how you organize your body paragraphs. Some arguments benefit from a logical progression, where one point leads to a second, and that second point leads to a third. Remember that the reader doesn’t understand the topic like you do (that’s why you’re writing the essay), so structure your paragraphs in the way that’s best for their comprehension. 

What if you’re writing an argumentative essay where you compare and contrast two or more points of view? Do you present your argument first and then share opposing points of view, or do you open with your opposition’s argument and then refute it? 

Serious writers can get pretty technical about how to organize an argumentative essay. There are three approaches in particular used often: Aristotlian (classical), Rogerian , and Toulmin . However, these can get exceedingly complicated, so for a simple essay, a basic structure will do just fine:

• Counterpoint
• Evidence supporting your point and/or disproving counterpoint 

Essay conclusions wrap up or summarize your thesis in a way that’s easy for the reader to digest. If you get the chance, you can add a new perspective or context for understanding your thesis, but in general the conclusion should not present any new evidence or supporting data. Rather, it’s more of a recap. For more specific tips, read about how to write a conclusion for an essay here . 

Five-paragraph essay

For quick and simple essays, you don’t need to get too technical with your essay structure. The five-paragraph essay structure works well in a pinch. This contains:

• One introduction paragraph
• Three body paragraphs
• One conclusion paragraph

While this essay structure might not be flexible enough for more advanced topics, it comes in handy when speed is a factor, like during timed tests. 

Your final consideration is who will read your essay—a teacher, an admissions counselor, your peers, the internet at large, etc. 

No matter what you’re writing, your audience should influence your language. For one thing, your readers determine whether the essay is formal or casual , which has an enormous impact on language, word choice, and style . Take emojis for example: In a casual essay they might be welcome, but for formal writing they’re not the most appropriate choice. 😓

Your audience also affects the essay’s tone, or how you sound on an emotional level (enthusiastic, cautious, confident, etc.). If you’d like to know more, you can read about the 10 common types of tone here . 

Like any form of writing, essays come in many different types . Sometimes the assignment dictates the type, as with admissions essays, and other times the thesis will determine it. Regardless, it helps to know what your options are, so here are some of the most common essay types: 

1 Argumentative essay

Argumentative essays assert or defend a position. This is the most common type of school paper, so keep that in mind when writing your first college essay . 

2 Admissions essay

Most colleges request an admissions essay in applications, which typically revolve around why you’re interested in their school. 

3 Persuasive essay

A persuasive essay is just as it sounds: an essay to persuade or convince the reader of a certain point. It’s similar to an argumentative essay— they both strongly favor a particular point of view, but the difference is the end goal: Argumentative essays just have to present their case, while persuasive essays have to present their case and win over the reader. 

4 Compare-and-contrast essay

When you want to devote equal attention to two opposing things, a compare-and-contrast essay works better than argumentative or persuasive essays, which lean to one side over the other.

5 Personal essay

Personal essays are often anecdotal or real-life stories of the authors, like the works of David Sedaris . Because they tend to follow narrative structures, the thesis can be flexible or interpretive. 

6 Expository essay

An expository essay thoroughly explains a certain topic to expand the reader’s knowledge. It is similar to an argumentative and persuasive essay in format, but with one key difference: expository essays don’t have a bias. 

Master the five fundamentals

Especially for school essays, your reader will scrutinize how well you handle the fundamentals. Knowing about essay structure and the writing process is one thing, but can you demonstrate an understanding of language style? Can you develop your thesis logically and coherently? Are your references and citations trustworthy?

When you’re ready for the next step of essay writing, take a look at the five concepts you must master to write better essays . The tips there pick up where this guide leaves off. 

Seek out another pair of eyes

This tip is not just for essays; it’s always advisable to have someone else read over your writing before finalizing it. All too often we miss the forest for the trees, and thinking long and hard on the same topic can give you tunnel vision. The solution is to get a fresh take from someone who’s seeing it for the first time. 

Typically you can swap with a friend and edit each others’ works. If that’s not an option, however, you can also use a writing center or join a writing group online. At the very least, you should sleep on it and take another look when you’re refreshed. 

Remember: Grammar and form are essential 

It’s not always about what you say, but how you say it. You could have the most obvious, objectively agreeable thesis in the world, but if your writing is incoherent, confusing, and full of mistakes, it’s tough to engage with your reader. 

For when your writing needs to make the right impact, Grammarly Premium offers full-sentence rewrites for confusing sentences—from splitting long sentences, cutting extra words, or rearranging key phrases—in addition to catching common grammar mistakes. It also gives you readability-focused formatting suggestions, so you know your writing is clear. It also helps those who are looking to improve their writing skill level in English, with suggestions for commonly misused words and phrases. 

Honing your writing with these elements in mind is key to relaying your point to your reader—and asserting your thesis as effectively as possible.

How to Get Better at Writing Essays: 10 Steps

by Joe Bunting | 64 comments

Do you dread essay writing? Are you looking for some essay tips that will help you write an amazing essay—and have fun doing it?

Lots of students, young and old, dread essay writing. It's a daunting assignment, one that takes research, time, and concentration.

It's also a piece of writing that you can break up into simple steps that make writing an essay manageable and, yes, even enjoyable.

These ten essay tips completely changed my writing process—and I hope that they can do the same for you.

Essay Writing Can Be Fun

Honestly, throughout most of high school and college, I was a mediocre essay writer.

Every once in a while, I would write a really good essay, but mostly I skated by with B's and A-minuses.

I know personally how boring writing an essay can be, and also, how hard it can be to write a good one.

However, toward the end of my time as a student, I made a breakthrough. I figured out how to not only write a great essay, I learned how to have fun while doing it . 

And since then, I've become a professional writer and have written more than a dozen books. I'm not saying that these essay writing tips are going to magically turn you into a writer, but at least they can help you enjoy the process more.

I'm excited to share these ten essay writing tips with you today! But first, we need to talk about why writing an essay is so hard.

Why Writing an Essay Is So Hard

When it comes to essay writing, a lot of students find a reason to put it off. And when they tackle it, they find it difficult to string sentences together that sound like a decent stance on the assigned subject.

Here are a few reasons why essay writing is hard:

• You'd rather be scrolling through social media
• You're trying to write something your teacher or professor will like
• You're trying to get an A instead of writing something that's actually good
• You want to do the least amount of work possible

The biggest reason writing an essay is so hard is because we mostly focus on those external  rewards like getting a passing grade, winning our teacher's approval, or just avoiding accusations of plagiarism.

The problem is that when you focus on external approval it not only makes writing much less fun, it also makes it significantly harder.

Because when you focus on external approval, you shut down your subconscious, and the subconscious is the source of your creativity.

The subconscious is the source of your creativity.

What this means practically is that when you're trying to write that perfect, A-plus-worthy sentence, you're turning off most of your best resources and writing skills.

So stop. Stop trying to write a good essay (or even a “good-enough” essay). Instead, write an interesting  essay, write an essay you think is fascinating. And when you're finished, go back and edit it until it's “good” or “proficient” according to your teacher's standards.

You don't have to sacrifice your interests to make academic progress. Your goal is to learn something new and expand your effective communication skills in the process.

Yes, you need to follow the guidelines in your assignment. If your teacher tells you to write a five-paragraph essay, then write a five-paragraph essay! If your teacher asks for a specific type of essay, like an analysis, argument, or research essay, then make sure you write that type of essay!

However, within those guidelines, find room to express something that is uniquely you .

I can't guarantee you'll get a higher grade (although, you almost certainly will), but I can absolutely promise you'll have a lot more fun writing.

The Step-by-Step Process to Writing a Great Essay: Your 10 Essay Writing Tips

Ready to get writing? You can read my ten best tips for having fun while writing an essay that earns you the top grade, or check out this presentation designed by our friends at Canva Presentations .

1. Remember your essay is just a story.

Every story is about conflict and change, and the truth is that essays are about conflict and change, too! The difference is that in an essay, the conflict is between different ideas , and the change is in the way we should perceive those ideas.

That means that the best essays are about surprise: “You probably think it's one way, but in reality, you should think of it this other way.” See tip #3 for more on this.

How do you know what story you're telling? The prompt should tell you.

Any list of essay prompts includes various topics and tasks associated with them. Within those topics are characters (historical, fictional, or topical) faced with difficult choices. Your job is to work with those choices, usually by analyzing them, arguing about them, researching them, or describing them in detail.

Academic writing is a conversation. It's likely one that was started years (maybe centuries?) ago. Experienced writers know that you can wade into that conversation or story and choose or develop an essay question that gives you opportunities to look at the conflict and change happening within a topic.

2. Before you start writing, ask yourself, “How can I have the most fun writing this?”

It's normal to feel unmotivated when writing an academic essay. I'm a writer, and honestly, I feel unmotivated to write all the time. But I have a super-ninja, judo-mind trick I like to use to help motivate myself.

Here's the secret trick: One of the interesting things about your subconscious is that it will answer any question you ask yourself. So whenever you feel unmotivated to write your essay, ask yourself the following question:

“How much fun can I have writing this?”

Your subconscious will immediately start thinking of strategies to make the writing process more fun.

The best time to have your fun is the first draft. Since you're just brainstorming within the topic, and exploring the possible ways of approaching it, the first draft is the perfect place to get creative and even a little scandalous. Here are some wild suggestions to make your next essay a load of fun:

• Research the most surprising or outrageous fact about the topic and use it as your hook.
• Use a thesaurus to research the topic's key words. Get crazy with your vocabulary as you write, working in each key word synonym as much as possible.
• Play devil's advocate and take the opposing or immoral side of the issue. See where the discussion takes you as you write.

3. As you research, ask yourself, “What surprises me about this subject?”

The temptation, when you're writing an essay, is to write what you think your teacher or professor wants to read.

Don't do this .

Instead, ask yourself, “What do I find interesting about this subject? What surprises me?”

If you can't think of anything that surprises you, anything you find interesting, then you're not searching well enough, because history, science, and literature are all brimming   over with surprises.

When you look at how great ideas actually happen, the story is always, “We used  to think the world was this way. We found out we were completely wrong, and that the world is actually quite different from what we thought.” (This is also at the heart of critical thinking, too.)

These pieces of surprising information often make for the best topic sentences as well. Use them to outline your essay and build your body paragraphs off of each unique fact or idea. These will function as excellent hooks for your reader as you transition from one topic to the next.

(By the way, what sources should you use for research? Check out tip #10 below.)

4. Overwhelmed? Write five original sentences.

The standard three-point essay is really made up of just five original sentences surrounded by supporting paragraphs that back up those five sentences. If you're feeling overwhelmed, just write five sentences covering your most basic main points instead of trying to create a detailed outline..

Here's what they might look like for this article:

• Introductory Paragraph:  While most students consider writing an essay a boring task, with the right mindset, it can actually be an enjoyable experience.
• Body #1: Most students think writing an essay is tedious because they focus on external rewards.
• Body #2: Students should instead focus on internal fulfillment when writing an essay.
• Body #3: Not only will focusing on internal fulfillment allow students to have more fun, it will also result in better essays.
• Conclusion: Writing an essay doesn't have to be simply a way to earn a good grade. Instead, it can be a means of finding fulfillment.

After you write your five sentences, it's easy to fill in the paragraphs for each one.

Now, you give it a shot!

5. Be “source heavy.”

In college, I discovered a trick that helped me go from a B-average student to an A-student, but before I explain how it works, let me warn you. This technique is powerful , but it might not work for all teachers or professors. Use with caution.

As I was writing a paper for a literature class, I realized that the articles and books I was reading said what I was trying to say much better than I ever could. So what did I do? I quoted them liberally throughout my paper. When I wasn't quoting, I re-phrased what they said in my own words, giving proper credit, of course. I found that not only did this formula create a well-written essay, it took about half the time to write.

It's good to keep in mind that using anyone else's words, even when morphed into your own phrasing, requires citation. While the definition of plagiarism is shifting with the rise of online collaboration and cooperative learning environments, always  err on the side of appropriate citation to be safe.

When I used this technique, my professors sometimes mentioned that my papers were very “source” heavy. However, at the same time, they always gave me A's.

Make sure you're reading the sources in full. You don't want to cherry pick a paper or study's content for your own term paper only to realize the author was actually refuting the information you pulled.

To keep yourself safe, I recommend using a 60/40 approach with your body paragraphs: Make sure 60% of the words are your own analysis and argumentation, while 40% can be quoted (or text you paraphrase) from your sources.

Like the five sentence trick, this technique makes the writing process simpler. Instead of putting the main focus on writing well, it instead forces you to research  well, which some students find easier.

6. Write the body first, the introduction second, and the conclusion last.

Introductions are often the hardest part to write because you're trying to summarize your entire essay before you've even written it yet. Instead, try writing your introduction last, giving yourself the body of the paper to figure out the main point of your essay.

This is especially important with an essay topic you are not personally interested in. I definitely recommend this in classes you either don't excel in or care much for. Take plenty of time to draft and revise your body paragraphs before  attempting to craft a meaningful introductory paragraph.

Otherwise your opening may sound awkward, wooden, and bland.

7. Most essays answer the question, “What?” Good essays answer the “Why?” The best essays answer the “How?”

If you get stuck trying to make your argument, or you're struggling to reach the required word count, try focusing on the question, “How?”

For example:

• How did J.D. Salinger convey the theme of inauthenticity in  The Catcher In the Rye ?
• How did Napoleon restore stability in France after the French Revolution?
• How does the research prove girls really do rule and boys really do drool?

If you focus on how, you'll always have enough to write about.

8. Don't be afraid to jump around.

Essay writing can be a dance. You don't have to stay in one place and write from beginning to end.

For the same reasons listed in point #6, give yourself the freedom to write as if you're circling around your topic rather than making a single, straightforward argument. Then, when you edit and proofread, you can make sure everything lines up correctly.

In fact, now is the perfect time to mention that proofreading your essay isn't just about spelling and commas.

It's about making sure your analysis or argument flows smoothly from one idea to another. (Okay, technically this comprises editing, but most students writing a high school or college essay don't take the time to complete every step of the writing process. Let's be honest.)

So as you clean up your mechanics and sentence structure, make sure your ideas flow smoothly, logically, and naturally from one to the next as you finish proofreading.

9. Here are some words and phrases you don't want to use.

• You  (You'll notice I use a lot of you's, which is great for a blog post. However, in an academic essay, it's better to omit the second-person.)
• To Be verbs (is, are, was, were, am)

Don't have time to edit? Here's a lightning-quick editing technique .

Also note: you will need some “to be” verbs, but they often signal passive voice. You want to write in active voice as much as possible.

A note about “I”: Some teachers say you shouldn't use “I” statements in your writing, but the truth is that professional, academic papers often use phrases like “I believe” and “in my opinion,” especially in their introductions.

10. It's okay to use Wikipedia, if…

Wikipedia is one of the top five websites in the world for a reason: it can be a great tool for research. However, most teachers and professors don't consider Wikipedia a valid source for use in essays.

Don't totally discount it, though! Here are two ways you can use Wikipedia in your essay writing:

• Background research. If you don't know enough about your topic, Wikipedia can be a great resource to quickly learn everything you need to know to get started.
• Find sources . Check the reference section of Wikipedia's articles on your topic. While you may not be able to cite Wikipedia itself, you can often find those original sources and cite them . You can locate the links to primary and secondary sources at the bottom of any Wikipedia page under the headings “Further Reading” and “References.”

You Can Enjoy Essay Writing

The thing I regret most about high school and college is that I treated it like something I had  to do rather than something I wanted  to do.

The truth is, education is an opportunity many people in the world don't have access to.

It's a gift, not just something that makes your life more difficult. I don't want you to make the mistake of just “getting by” through school, waiting desperately for summer breaks and, eventually, graduation.

How would your life be better if you actively enjoyed writing an essay? What would school look like if you wanted to suck it dry of all the gifts it has to give you?

All I'm saying is, don't miss out!

Looking for More Essay Writing Tips?

Looking for more essay tips to strengthen your essay writing? Try some of these resources:

• 7 Tips on Writing an Effective Essay
• Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

How about you? Do you have any tips for writing an essay?  Let us know in the  comments .

Need more grammar help?  My favorite tool that helps find grammar problems and even generates reports to help improve my writing is ProWritingAid . Works with Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and web browsers. Also, be sure to use my coupon code to get 10 percent off: WritePractice10

Coupon Code:WritePractice10 »

Ready to try out these ten essay tips to make your essay assignment fun? Spend fifteen minutes using tip #4 and write five original sentences that could be turned into an essay.

When you're finished, share your five sentences in the Pro Practice Workshop . And don't forget to give feedback to your fellow writers!

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

64 Comments

Good pointers, Joe. I could have used this advice 50 years ago when I was in college. I’m sure it would have been a great help. Adelaide

Thanks Adelaide! Me too!

Ironically, this essay was published right after I completed all my work for my English BA. 🙂 Overall, this is pretty good advice– why NOT write a fun essay? You know the professors are reading not only the papers of your classmates, but also the essays of students in their other classes. I have also used wikipedia as a way to find general information or additional citations. I have also tried a variation of #4 and #8, where you jot down some ideas to focus the essay before filling the paragraphs out. It’s how I write in general. It’s so much easier to write that way, since otherwise if I try to write straight through, I just start editing and stop writing. I do differ on #6, though. I have to write the introduction first– otherwise, I can’t lay out the other paragraphs. The intro is where my thesis is, and the beauty of a word processor is that it is easy to go back and just rewrite the thesis if it’s not totally working. But even with this help, there are professors (in several areas besides English, like history, psychology, and art) who love my writing, and classes where most people including myself are getting Bs, and nobody in the class knows who are getting the As. You could write the BEST essay ever, but it’s just not for THAT professor. Sometimes it felt like the trick was learning how to write an essay for a particular professor who wouldn’t really tell you want they wanted, and was just trial and error to figure out what they wanted. Those are just my thoughts since I actually felt like I had something to say on one of these helpful articles. 🙂

As anon native English speaker Can I borrow other writers’ phrases , sentences or expressions for my story especially I need to use the Dictionary sometimes,without being scandalous .or turned down (did I used it correctly ) And while Iam reading I discover a new wide variety of vocabulary which I admire a lot .

Unfortunately, that would be plagiarism, Maha. Sorry!

So why do we have to read a lot before we start writing ,if it isn’t or couldn’t consider to be a dictionary?

I looked for Plagiarism in the dictionary ;I found it is stealing ideas but I didn’t talk about that .I talked about the words that are used , be sure I have my own ideas .Example:stepped away & walked; that one ( writer ) used one of the previous verbs to get someone went away from some one else , and I want him to get away from a door for example or a phone ,what’s wrong ?

Hi Joe, Great points. I wish I had paid closer attention in school. I did not have the desire or the opportunity to go to college but I have written all of my life and just now realizing I can be a writer and publish on my own.

OK – using tip [I can’t remember how to do the hashtag and I only have fifteen minutes so I don’t want to go and look it up, so…] ‘hashtag’ 4, to write five original sentences that could be turned into an essay… Using an essay writing prompt when you have no need to write an essay can be beneficial in many ways. Writing in any form allows, in my opinion, the writer to express thoughts and create a piece of writing. Personally, I think an essay about writing essays could be interesting and fun, and almost certainly challenging; though it’s possible I’ve had too much coffee this morning and am failing to grasp the purpose of this prompt… either way, I’m writing – and writing is good for me. It’s making me smile. That was only four sentences but one of them was pretty long and fragmented.

Thanks, Joe 🙂

And I didn’t use my fifteen minutes up so now I have time to {alt key and press 3} #

Thanks for the tips, Joe. I don’t have occasion to write a lot of essays these days, but I do need to write tech specs and internal white papers fairly regularly. Here is a five-sentence skeleton from my “day job.”

Information technology as a career has traditionally been considered a bastion for technofiles who have little to offer beyond tweaking computer programs, but true success in modern IT requires a well-rounded world view and the ability to effectively interact with and influence others.

While previous generations of technology professionals may have been able to succeed by learning one or more core technologies, today’s fast-changing tech landscape requires a nimble mind in order to remain relevant.

Beyond the need to learn quickly and often, IT staff in the 21st century must be able to communicate effectively with stakeholders in all areas of the business.

In fact, today’s technology professionals are in a position to positively transform their organizations by translating powerful technological capabilities into consumable information that business influencers can understand and embrace.

The days of choosing a career in IT because you want to hide away in an office and write obscure software are over. The technology leaders of today must work in partnership with our customers to effect real competitive advantages.

This sounds like an essay I would enjoy reading, and I’m not even an IT person.

Thanks, Erica. Maybe I’ll write the full thing some day.

Thanks for the amazing post 🙂 Really great points ..

I get many confused looks whenever I tell people I have a degree in English yet hated writing papers in college. I wish I had taken the time to learn how to write one properly, so then they might not have sucked all the fun out of my life back then. I struggled to get Cs on my papers (granted, I usually waited ’til the night before to write them – such a bad habit for me). Anyway, I took a stab at the prompt and here are the results:

Title: Why The World Needs More Adoptive Families Thesis: Adoption can be a rewarding and beneficial experience, despite its own unique challenges. Body #1: Even though being raised by biological parents is the ideal, the reality is that adoption is likely the best option for children who are already waiting for a permanent family. Body #2: Thousands of children age out foster care each year without the support system of a stable family. Body #3: Supporting adoption is a Biblical mandate, regardless of one’s personal ministry calling. Conclusion: Adoption isn’t for everyone, but the need is great enough that more families must step up to meet it.

Great tips to creative writing…

I hate writing essay’s

Joe, thank you so much for this! I was in a bit of a writing slump and this was exactly the read I needed.

Thank you for your wonderful tips on writing an essay. How do u suggest we gather information for an essay for example, a school essay(narrative, argumentative and reflective)

how about an opinion essay what advice would you give me

I’m so glad to see you used Wikipedia as source tool. As someone that is more of a technical writer, research scientist/business man and who sells his work in the form of technical reports and occasional publications – I am a huge proponent of Wikipedia. There is no better way for the average person to research a subject (and that is a fact, see below). I am always saddened when I run into some severely handicapped uninformed soul who thinks that Wikipedia is not a valid source because it isn’t on paper. Few people take the time to read the comparison studies that have been done regarding the accuracy of Wikipedia and other encyclopedic sources – and none of which are 100% accurate and or unbiased. The first of such comparisons was done by Nature in 2005:

“For its study, Nature chose articles from both sites in a wide range of topics and sent them to what it called “relevant” field experts for peer review. The experts then compared the competing articles–one from each site on a given topic–side by side, but were not told which article came from which site. Nature got back 42 usable reviews from its field of experts.

In the end, the journal found just eight serious errors, such as general misunderstandings of vital concepts, in the articles. Of those, four came from each site. They did, however, discover a series of factual errors, omissions or misleading statements. All told, Wikipedia had 162 such problems, while Britannica had 123.”

Since 2005 there have been several other comparisons and Wikipedia fairs very well in all. One article I found in Forbes also reveals a curious phenomenon, conservative personality types tend to have a general bias against Wikipedia – and are also uninformed as to accuracy. Not unlike conservative college professors who have biases against even high quality online courses. Never underestimate the limitations of the conservative personality type.

Here are some the references I’ve found:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/full/438900a.html

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7084/full/440582b.html

http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/08/02/seven-years-after-nature-pilot-study-compares-wikipedia-favorably-to-other-encyclopedias-in-three-languages/

Conservative bias and Wikipedia

http://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2015/01/20/wikipedia-or-encyclopaedia-britannica-which-has-more-bias/

I love your thinking. Wikipedia is a great site. It provides directions and the general knowledge from a broad perspective. Many thanks for your references. I shall dig deeper and develop my writing skills.

Luke Ramirez

July 16 2015

Do you love mom? You really should. Mom is the one who loves you. Here are some reasons why I LOVE my mom!!!

My mom gives me food. She gave birth to me. She loves me and likes me a lot…. She gives me clothes. She lets me live. She helps me learn how to type. She wants me to be smart. She gives me discipline. My mom is the best mom in the world.

Always look up to your mom unless she is on drugs or something. You should always love your mom. She’s the one who went through pain for you. She’s awesomeness thing you could ever have.

(My son’s hilarious essay for all to view!) Also, bear with him because he is just starting.

hahaha, great post. It reminds of me when I was young

Hey Joe ! Thank you for your wonderful advices. I struggle a lot during essay writings but if I use your tips correctly, I’m sure I will get better results. Thanks a lot Joe 🙂

I totally agree with you 100 percent

I hate writing in APA. The citing. The reference page has to be perfect. Getting my Masters was so frustrating at times. I had to write a 30 page thesis. At least with essays, you don’t have to if it doesn’t apply. When helping my son with his we had a title page and cited only if necessary and providing a reference page. His teacher loved that because he is in middle school. The paper was really professionally written. He got a solid A.

This is the best advice on essays I’ve read in a long time. I’m about to write an essay and am a bit rusty. However, I’ve written a few over the course of my studies and the ones that got the best marks were the ones where I applied the sort of techniques you write about here… thanks for the refresh!

I read the whole thing in a woman’s voice oops! But great tips! Will be using those tomorrow!

This is great. We just apply the tips together with other sweetness to provide the best writing experience in our work.

This is a real inspiration man, keep up that same spirit.

I started reading this instead of doing my essay…

yeah me too

i got an essay due tommorow morning and yet here i am

I am having so much trouble writing my essay and even though these are great points and i can probably use them, I cant get my brain to use them. I really need help and i don’t even know how to begin to ask.

Thanks this helped a lot

Great points. Just a question, is it okay if we use let’s give it a try as a suggestion at the end of conclusion paragraph?Thanks

Great article! Helps me get past my fear of writing for grad school

Well done, Joe. You’ve successfully made, both my day and essays, better in every way. Thank you.

Hi Joe, thanks for the pointers they are really helpful with writing an essay (which I struggle with); but what about writing an exemplification essay?

Writing an essay is not easy, these are some useful hints and tips on how to construct and write the best essay possible. These simple steps will guide you through the essay writing process: • Decide on your topic. • Prepare an outline or diagram of your ideas. • Write your thesis statement. • Write the body. Write the main points. Write the sub points. … • Write the introduction. • Write the conclusion. • Add the final changes. • Read More At htpps://essaypeer.com

Writing is my favorite hobbie and these tips are very helpful. Thanks!

Global warming is being ignored by massive companies who emit most of the carbon dioxide, world leaders must act to stop them or there would not be another future.

These companies emit over half the carbon dioxide over a year period are choosing to ignore Global Warming.

Governments must put sanctions on these companies and increase their tax rate unless they switch to another renewable source.

Global Warming is getting worse and worse and it is only a matter of time that the governments of these companies started putting a stop to it.

Do you accept guest post here? I have a site that I think it’s close related to this post. Would that be possible?

this helped. thanks!

Great suggestions! I applied your ideas and I got an A from a super harsh teacher. I’d give this a 9/10!

Writing a perfect essay is not a easy task. It is so difficult to write perfect,creative,informative and quality essay. The essay also reveals what you can do when you have time to think and work on a writing project. Your tips are very helpful for writing a quality essay. Thanks.

This is a good piece overall, but leading with the idea of Bs and A minuses as mediocre is so unhelpful. Those are very good grades that most students would kill for.

They are good grades if you are a mediocre student. For those striving to get into an Ivy League school or other good colleges/careers, at least an A is needed in every class.

I am only at Tip #2 and can already feel my “inner writer” coming back to life. I’ve been torturing myself for so long — many new ideas and perspectives to share and nothing but dread at the thought of the actual writing. I was always such a “good student”, and by the time I finished grad school I no longer enjoyed either reading or writing. Pretty sad statement, even sadder that the ill effects have lasted three decades. The only writing advice I’ve read so far basically boils down to: it’s work, you just have to do it, set aside a specific time and force yourself…. all about as appealing as my mother’s shoe leather lamb chops. I can’t thank you enough for your approach. I think it’s going to work for me, and just know I am immensely grateful beyond what words can express. Yes!

Also I want to advise listening music when you are writing an essay. That’s what I found on youtube:

– Music for Brain Power – Study Music Alpha Waves – Classical Study Music

I think, it will be usefull for everebody ^_^

I want to ask Joe whether it is possible to post this article on our blog ? Our readers will enjoy to read these 10 Effective Tips

I’m struggling with an essay right now, I should have started it like 6months ago and I just couldn’t do it … even with the help of everyone around me. Though, reading your article, it gives me hope ! Thanks a lot 🙂

This is possibly the most useful article I have read. After severe procrastination lasting days you have reminded me about what I need to do I have finally managed to get myself into the right mental state for writing. You may not see this but massive thanks 🙂

Writing is one of my hobbies as well, but it’s just so frustrating when you brainstorm and then the person that grades your paper returns it to you with a lower score than you deserved. I would like to see them try. One thing I did noticed is that boring topics may reflect the writing style. When the topic is interesting that’s when the grades sky-rocket.

Hey dude, you just “unstuck” me. Thank you, I was trying to at least set the framework for a Didactics in Philosophy essay and you give me that initual impulse. Thank you !

nice article

Good article.

You’re so right, Joe, the biggest reason why writing essay is so hard for me is because I regularly focus on outside rewards and it makes my writing significantly harder! And I stopped doing it, and you know, I write much better now! Thanks! Also wanted to add that recently I found great free plagiarism checker for students and want to share it with others. It allows you to check 500 words for free and then after signing up it gives you five additional free pages. This is just enough to check the essay. Personally for me, it was a great find! Since it’s hard to find a free and good checker. Good luck to all!

My biggest problem is that I struggle writing my thoughts into words. When working on an essay, a discussion post, or an e-mail to my teacher, I need to try to make something that’s absolutely 100% perfect and I usually struggle to get the wording to sound great. I start off writing an essay just fine, but I either delete everything I’ve done because it doesn’t sound perfect or I sit in front of the screen and panic because I can’t think of the right way to word anything.

This then leads me to procrastinate by either doing something else to calm myself down or looking for self-help sites online, thinking I’ll find some magic cure all advice that I can say to/use on myself to overcome my block and start writing. In fact, me writing this post right now is due to procrastinating because I’m struggling to write something perfect for a class assignment.

Thats how I exactly feel when I have to write an essay! I have great difficulty writing the exact words or writing a good sentence. Im currently stuck too and my essay is due tomorrow ;(

While I love to eat cinnamon rolls, they are loaded with sugars which can be detrimental to my long-term health. Sugars are empty calories that trick the mind into always wanting more sugar which can result in addiction. Addiction to sugar-coated foods will encourage people to substitute their diet with sugar-heavy foods habitually. In the long term, the individual will have an increased risk of diseases such as diabetes. Consequently, foods having artificially-added sugar should be avoided to prevent disease.

I know I am *several* years late… but an essay came up, I know this is a reliable writing website, So I turned here!! I was not disappointed with this wonderful “how to write an essay” page. thank you for this help, Joe! And I look forward to many more readings in this site.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Submit Comment

Join over 450,000 readers who are saying YES to practice. You’ll also get a free copy of our eBook 14 Prompts :

Popular Resources

Best Resources for Writers Book Writing Tips & Guides Creativity & Inspiration Tips Writing Prompts Grammar & Vocab Resources Best Book Writing Software ProWritingAid Review Writing Teacher Resources Publisher Rocket Review Scrivener Review Gifts for Writers

Books By Our Writers

You've got it! Just us where to send your guide.

Enter your email to get our free 10-step guide to becoming a writer.

You've got it! Just us where to send your book.

Enter your first name and email to get our free book, 14 Prompts.

Want to Get Published?

Enter your email to get our free interactive checklist to writing and publishing a book.

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

Stuck on Your College Essay? 8 Tips for Overcoming Writer’s Block

←How to Write a Last Minute Essay

11 Tips for Proofreading and Editing Your Essay→

We’ve all had that feeling. You know you have to write an essay, a research paper, or even a story, but you can’t seem to string two thoughts together. It’s frustrating, it’s disheartening, and you don’t know how long it’ll be before inspiration strikes again. 

This familiar feeling is commonly known as “writer’s block”. According to The New Yorker , it was once believed that writer’s block was caused by exhausting one’s supply of inspiration or a lack of external motivation. Now, thanks to the research of Jermone Singer and Michael Barrios, we know that there are four broad causes of writer’s block: 

• Excessively harsh self-criticism 
• Fear of being compared to other writers and their work
• A lake of external motivation such as praise or attention 
• A lack of internal motivation such as a desire to share a story with the world 

No matter which bucket your writer’s block falls under, you are certainly not alone, and you can definitely get your creative juices flowing again. Want to get over your writer’s block? Here are some proven techniques that will help re-inspire your writing. 

Tips For Overcoming Writer’s Block On Your College Essay 

1. freewrite .

A lot of people get stuck on the idea that what they write has to be perfect, and that pressure keeps them from writing down anything at all. If you find yourself feeling that weight on your shoulders, just take a step back for a minute. Give yourself some leeway to write whatever you want on the topic that you’re writing about, even if it’s grammatically incorrect or irrelevant. Just writing something down can often give the mind something to work with, and it can often lead to further inspiration.

Keep in mind that this freewriting can take whatever form you want it to. It can be full sentences, bullet points, even phrases randomly placed on a sheet of paper. Whatever gets your brain thinking in some capacity is a good step in overcoming writer’s block. 

2. Respond to Brainstorm Questions 

What if your writer’s block is so bad that you can’t even come up with a topic or subject for your essay? If you need a place to start, try thinking about something that is not directly related to your college essays. The easiest things to brainstorm are things that you know, like yourself. Here are some easy brainstorm questions to get you thinking: 

• Who are my favorite characters on TV, Literature, and movies? Why are these my favorite characters? 
• What is something that I would join a multi-day protest march for? Is there actually anything that I am passionate about?
• Say I had to start a business selling something, and I would achieve the average level of success (financially, socially, etc) within that business, what would I choose to do?
• What nonprofit or cause would I volunteer for assuming I could not choose an activity that I’ve already done or an activity available in my school?

While these questions may not be immediately relevant to the college essay you’re trying to write, they are introspective questions. So the more you think about answers to these questions, the more you are reflecting on yourself and your goals. If you can start writing down your answers, then you’re already well on your way to writing a personal statement or explaining your interests and passions to colleges.

3. Talk It Out With A Friend 

College essays always ask you to reflect on yourself, and who knows you better than some of your closest friends? While they shouldn’t write your essay for you, they can be a good sounding board for ideas while giving you some ideas of their own. Try contacting someone you trust and asking them how they would answer the essay prompt if they were answering it for you. See what comes to their mind. They may bring up an interesting approach to an essay that you hadn’t even thought about, or remind you about an aspect of yourself that you hadn’t already considered. Their ideas could help spark your ideas. 

Keep in mind, this doesn’t have to be a friend. It could be a close relative, a neighbor, or even a teacher. You just need to talk to somebody who knows you well and can give you insight on how you should approach the essay, not how they would. 

4. Read a Memoir or Listen To a Podcast 

Inspiration tends to fuel inspiration, and what better way to get inspired to write a creative essay about yourself than to read/listen to others’ creative essays about themselves. Perhaps listening to people tell their stories will give you some ideas on how you can tell your story for your college essays. 

People share their stories in a variety of ways, both offline and online. You could read the personal memoir of someone who inspires you, or of someone whose story you relate to. If you want something that takes a little bit less time, you could listen to a podcast or watch a TED Talk of people telling their stories. Some other places to find inspiration are The New York Times’ Modern Love column or stories from The Moth . Most of the above are short and quick and could possibly spark inspiration for your own essay. 

5. Change Your Environment 

Maybe it’s not that you lack ideas or inspiration. Maybe you just can’t, for whatever reason, seem to get your ideas down on paper. That’s totally normal, and there’s a chance that your environment has something to do with it. If you’ve been brainstorming in your room for hours or if you’re not comfortable wherever you are, it’s going to be very difficult for you to be able to write creatively and vulnerably. 

Try going somewhere else to write, preferably somewhere with fresh air and sunshine. A simple change of scenery can be surprisingly helpful in getting your brain to work again and letting the creativity come through. As long as you’re peaceful and comfortable wherever you go, it’s a good place to be writing. 

6. Get Some Exercise 

It is commonly accepted that exercise releases endorphins and other helpful chemicals that stimulate your brain and keep you happy. In this way, exercise can be very beneficial in the writing process. If you’re feeling frustrated because of your writer’s block, exercise can lift your mood and give you a much-needed break. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, the chemicals in your brain can help spark some creative inspiration for your essay. 

Of course, it might be a little bit difficult to go for a run or get exercise if you’re staying at home. Just remember that no form of exercise is better than another, and exercise doesn’t have to take up a lot of space. Do some jumping jacks in place, find an apartment-friendly workout video online, or just put on some music and dance in your room. The key is to get your body moving.

7. Use a Pen and Paper 

Most students type their essays on computers instead of writing them down, and this makes sense. Almost all college applications are submitted online now, and it’s easier to share your essays with others for editing. 

That being said, typing your essays may not be the best idea if you’re experiencing writer’s block. The blank screen in front of you may be a psychological deterrent to your creativity, and the internet may serve as a huge distraction. 

If you find yourself unable to come up with something to write on a computer, try going old school and writing your ideas with a pen and paper. If you don’t have any of that around, try jotting down some ideas on a dry erase board or chalkboard. Writing your ideas instead of typing them encourages you to jot down shorter ideas and think in an entirely different way. This can be a beneficial switch for your brain as you attempt to overcome your writer’s block.

8. Work On A Different Section 

Who says that you have to write your essay from start to finish? If you are having trouble coming up with the beginning, write the end or start somewhere in the middle! If you have an idea of what you want to say and how you want the essay to flow, you can write it down in whatever order you want. Write down the parts that come easiest to you and circle back to the parts you haven’t quite figured out yet. This way, you’ll at least have something written down, and you can use that something to inspire you to write the other parts of your essay later. 

Again, your essay does not have to be perfect on the first draft. If the different parts of your essay don’t seem to fit together because you wrote them at different times, that’s okay. At least you’ll have all of the parts written down, and you can edit from there. 

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts