Planning an essay: Skills Hub: University of Sussex.

This video suggests a way of planning your essay. Please note that S3 is now called Skills Hub. You can book a 1-2-1 tutorial for essay help with an RLF Fellow. Check the title, idea or plan with your tutor. He or she might have expectations you haven't realised and may spot a problem with the basic idea.

Think about the main elements that need to be covered in the essay. Make sure you allocate the greatest number of words to the 'main body of the essay' and not to a subsidiary point. Decide how much space you can devote to each section of your outline. For example, a third of a page for the introduction.

Essays take time to complete. You will need to set aside time for the following stages of writing: Thinking about the question. Gathering information and ideas. Organising your ideas. Getting something on paper. Writing a first draft. Reviewing in light of feedback or reflection.

Each person encounters different struggles when it comes to essay writing. Some people find it difficult to put their ideas into words while others don’t even know how to start an essay.Naturally, it would be difficult to compose an essay when you’re completely clueless on the topic.

Paragraphs: Every essay must be written in paragraphs. Each paragraph should explain one main idea, and needs to have the SEXI structure: S: A Topic Sentence. This tells the reader what the paragraph is going to be about. You only need to write down the jist of the topic sentence for each paragraph in your essay plan.

How to Write an Essay Plan A free guide from Essay UK An essay is a short piece of writing on a subject, which is designed for the writer to show their knowledge surrounding the subject, giving opinion and backing it up with academic research.

Essay structure is guided by its content and argument so every essay will pose unique structural challenges. Having a clearer understanding of the most effective ways to structure your writing can help you to plan and organise the content of your essays and make sure you get your ideas across.

The essay writing process consists of three stages: preparation, writing and revision. These stages apply to every essay or paper. However, the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay, for example a personal statement, statement of purpose, high school essay or graduate school essay.

An example of an essay plan Why plan? An essay plan helps you organise your ideas and you can be modified as you read, think or discuss more. It is a basic outline of your essay and is useful if you want to discuss your writing with your lecturer, tutor or with an Academic Support person. Here is an example of an essay topic and a possible plan.

Example reflective essay If you want some inspiration for writing, take a look at our example of a short reflective essay, which can serve as a useful starting point for you when you set out to write your own. Some final notes to remember.

Good critical essay writing is shaped by effective planning, following the plan for drafting, and improving by editing and proofreading. Plan your time well. One mistake students often make with an essay is to start writing too soon. There is research and thinking to do first and putting words on the page comes later. Another big mistake is to.