What is an essay?

Many suggest that an essay is a common essay. However, it is not. An essay is a prose literary genre. Translated from French means “essay” or “sketch”. The essay reflects the individual experiences of the author, his view on a particular issue. It does not give an exhaustive answer to a specific question, but reflects its own opinion or impression.When writing an essay, logic develops perfectly, the ability to argue your opinion, to correctly present information. The presentation style is more conversational. In order to write an essay correctly, one should take into account the specific features that distinguish it from other genres.

Key features of an essay:

The presence of a specific narrow topic that contains a problem and encourages the reader to think. Subjective author's position. The essay is distinguished by the presence of the author’s view of the existing problem, his attitude to the world, speech and thinking.

Spoken writing style. Complex wording, sentences that are too long should be avoided. It is important to maintain a laid-back style to establish contact with the reader. It is important not to overdo it, turning the academic essay into a substandard text full of slang. The correct emotional color will be given to the text by short, simple and clear sentences, the use of different intonation in sentences.
Detailed problem analysis. Own point of view must be argued based on factual material.

Relative brevity. There are no page limits, but the essay is small.

Free build. The essay is of the nature of the presentation, which does not fit into any specific framework. The construction is subject to its own logic, which the author adheres to, trying to consider the problem from different angles.

The logic of presentation. Despite the free composition, the essay should have internal unity, consistency in the author's statements expressing his opinion.Thus, the essay is distinguished by a special style of narration, its purpose is to induce the reader to think. The author does not insist on his point of view, but as if invites the reader to ponder and discuss it.

How to write an essay?

The correct writing of an essay is to understand the features of the genre. Compliance with the basic principles and recommendations for writing will create an interesting essay.

How to choose a theme
If there is no list of topics among which you can choose one, but only a general direction is given, then you need to consider what audience the essay is for. Options can be different: a teacher at a university, a commission, a literary community, an employer. If an essay is written for the teacher, then you need to consider what qualities will be assessed. Based on this, the topic should be chosen so that it is possible to show those abilities that the inspector expects from the author: originality, the ability to logically build sentences, literacy, professional qualities, etc.

When choosing the topic of writing an essay from the proposed list, you should choose the one in which there is certain knowledge, considerations or just a strong interest.

If the essay is focused on the employer, then it is desirable that both the topic and the content of the essay reflect the character of the author, his sincerity, originality, humanity and personality.

How to start an essay
It often happens that a person with sufficient eloquence and the ability to express his thoughts on paper, has difficulty in starting an essay, including an essay. Thinking about the beginning can stretch for a sufficiently long time, which greatly overshadows the process of creative work. Use our tips on how to start an essay.

Tip 1. Before you start writing an essay, you need to formulate an idea, define a goal and find sources of information for work.

Tip 2. Use the technique of freewriting (free writing). Its essence is to write down all thoughts that come to mind without editing it and not following grammar, punctuation, style, etc. A great way to help deal with a creative crisis and find an extraordinary idea.

Tip 3. It is important not to focus on the introductory part. An introduction can also be written after the main part has been written. In this case, it is already clear what the essay is about, and therefore the introduction is easier to write.

Tip 4. One of the fairly common options is to write an essay, starting with a question, the answer to which is given later.

How to make an essay plan

You should not strive to immediately draw up a perfect plan. In the process, it can be edited. It is not necessary to make a plan when writing an essay, as well as stick to an already written plan. The absence of restrictions and tight boundaries is an advantage of this genre. If it’s easier for the author to adhere to a strict plan, then you should take the time to draw it up.All main thoughts should be reflected in the form of points of the plan. Then, as detailed as possible, detail it, breaking each item into subparagraphs.