| Prewriting Stage- This is one of the most important | | | | average audience. Gauge your average audience's |
| stages of your writing process. Your ideas and | | | | tolerance level in digesting your facts and ideas. |
| content will be created during this stage and it's | | | | Understand that what may be of most interesting |
| worth spending the time to jot down your ideas and | | | | idea to you may not be the most interesting for the |
| organize them before you start the writing process. | | | | average audience. Tailor your writing style to the |
| • Prewriting Steps: | | | | specific audience that you are trying to target. |
| 1. Carefully choose a relevant topic that suits your | | | | Stay focused. Many writers venture off their topic |
| interests and knowledge base. Ask your self the | | | | once they write a fantastic opener in the first |
| following questions: What am I trying to achieve | | | | paragraph. Try to avoid taking your personal |
| through this essay? What topics are relevant to the | | | | experience or other examples so extreme that it |
| issue? Are there any experiences or special interests | | | | overshadows what you are trying convey. Make sure |
| that I have that I can take leverage on? Would this | | | | all of your examples and experiences prove a point |
| topic also be of interest to others? What are the | | | | to support your main idea. |
| available resources for each of the potential topics? | | | | Stay Organized. One of the most difficult tasks of |
| If I need more resources, are they easily accessible? | | | | writing an essay is organizing the structure of the |
| 2. Answer these questions. Write them out with pen | | | | essay. You may have chosen the most interesting |
| and paper and evaluate how well you can answer | | | | topic in the world and have all the facts and personal |
| these questions for each of the potential topics. | | | | experiences to support it, but if you lack clarity in |
| 3. Choose your topic based on your answers. | | | | your sentences or your paragraphs lack structure, |
| 4. List your ideas. Ask yourself why your topic is | | | | your audience may not follow your points and even |
| important and why people should read it. What are | | | | become frustrated. |
| some important points I want to make in for this | | | | Spend enough time on your conclusion. Even the best |
| topic? List ideas that are relevant to your topic and | | | | of the writers sometimes make the mistake of |
| label them according to the degree of relevance. | | | | overlooking the role of the last paragraph. Your |
| 5. Pick the idea that is most supportive. This will be | | | | concluding paragraph is your last chance to convey to |
| your most powerful weapon and you want to have | | | | your audience about what your main idea is. Use this |
| all your other ideas and facts to complement it | | | | opportunity to reiterate your main points. Ask |
| throughout your essay. | | | | yourself if your last paragraph is powerful enough to |
| 6. Develop the outline of your essay. Once you have | | | | leave a special impression for your readers. |
| identified the ideas and facts to be used, organize | | | | Revise! No matter how well you think you've written |
| them in a way that can most effectively present | | | | your essay, chances are, your essay will be infested |
| your main idea. Ask yourself which order to put them | | | | with grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Part of |
| in the essay. | | | | your revision may even involve deleting parts of your |
| • Writing your Essay Write a clear thesis | | | | essay! You may also need to write more to make |
| statement that answers the question or represents | | | | your paragraphs look more transitioned and easy to |
| the topic you've chosen. Give yourself enough time | | | | follow. Also be mindful of choice of words, content |
| for your first paragraph as it will set the tone for the | | | | and structural issues, and overall style and that the |
| rest of your essay. This being said, don't be too hard | | | | parameter of your essay fits the required criteria. |
| on yourself as you first sit down and write. Even the | | | | Revising is not an easy task. It is not only time |
| best writers experience difficulty for the first | | | | consuming, but also the chance of improving |
| paragraph. | | | | something you've written yourself is low. Have your |
| Make your supporting paragraphs personal. Show | | | | essay professionally edited. Whether it is for a college |
| how your meaningful and relevant experiences | | | | application, academic purpose, or for a business |
| influenced your development. Discuss experiences | | | | presentation speech, a single undetected error can |
| especially traumatic or rewarding and make sure to | | | | jeopardize your chance of admission, your GPA, or |
| mention things that you've learned from them. | | | | acceptance by your audience. |
| Understand your audience. Try to estimate your | | | | |