When writing an essay, creating its structure is one of the most important things you will have to do. In fact, the way you structure your essay could affect the way you actually write it. If you don’t plan well, you could end up with a mess of an essay. Hence, here’s how to structure your writing correctly and build a foundation for your essay with the help of an outline.
#1 Know the Basics
First and foremost, you need to know the basics before you start structuring your essay. At its core, every essay can be broken down into three parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. Each part has its own purpose:
- Introduction – This is where you introduce your topic and make your thesis statement if you have one.
- Body – This is the biggest part of your essay where you present your points, explain concepts, make arguments, and so on.
- Conclusion – This is the final part of your essay where you sum up everything you talked about.
#2 Break Down into Sections
Once you have mentally separated your essay into three main parts, you can further break it down into sections. The introduction and conclusion usually don’t need this because they are relatively short, but you should definitely break up the body of your essay.
Depending on your essay type and the topic you will be writing about, you may want to have more or fewer sections. You don’t need to have subheadings for your sections, but if it is an essay on the longer side, your educator might ask you to add them. You can already name your sections while creating the outline.
#3 Make a List of Points
Before you can structure your essay, you need to decide what you want to write about. This is why you need to make a list of points on the topic that you want to cover in your essay. Just write them all down in a separate list and brainstorm additional ideas if necessary.
You can then review the list to cross out any points that you think aren’t relevant enough to bring up in your essay. You can already group your points to make it easier for you to add them to your structure during the next step.
#4 Fill Out the Outline
Once you have a comprehensive list of points you want to cover in your essay, you can fill out the outline with them. Some points may be more suitable for the first section while others could be more appropriate for the section right before the conclusion.
If you are unsure whether you are structuring your essay correctly, you can get help from a professional writer from the writing service Trust My Paper. They will help you throughout the entire process and give you tips on essay writing.
#5 Use a Logical Approach
The way you structure your structure should be logical – you can’t let it be a stream of consciousness. The way you add points to your sections should make sense. Here are some approaches you can use for structuring:
- Chronological – Recount events in chronological order.
- General to Specific – Present points from general to specific ones.
- Compare and Contrast – Compare or contrast different aspects of a topic.
- Problems-Methods-Solutions – State the problems, choose the methods, and offer possible solutions.
- Level of Importance – Discuss arguments based on the level of their importance (more important to less important or vice versa).
#6 Add Details and Specifics
Now that you have a rough version of your outline, you can improve it in different ways. First, add details and specifics to it. If there is a relevant piece of information related to a particular point in your outline, add it in. It’s like a note to yourself so that you don’t forget to write about this information when writing the essay.
#7 Move Around Parts
Another way you can improve your outline is by moving around parts. Once again, it should make sense for them to be structured in a particular way, so only move them if it is logical to do so. Moving around parts can help you create a foundation for a more dynamic and interesting essay.
#8 Remove Redundancy
There may be some things in your outline that are redundant, so just remove them. Don’t be afraid to do so, especially if you have a word limit. You can also remove redundant parts during the writing process. To help you write the essay itself, you can use the Write My Essays AI tool which has a number of features specifically created for students.
#9 Review Before Writing
Before you start writing your essay, make sure to review your outline one last time. Does the structure look logical to you? Are there any other improvements you can make? Are you ready to sit down and finally write your essay?
#10 Adapt as You Go
Last but not least, don’t be afraid to change things during the writing process. You need to adapt as you go. If you are writing your essay and realize that something in your structure doesn’t make sense, you can still change it. Don’t stick to the outline so strictly.
Final Thoughts
All in all, structuring your essay shouldn’t be too difficult if you know what you want to write about. You should simply organize your thoughts and create a backbone for everything else you write. Use the tips in this article to help you structure your essays well.