How to start writing an essay and make everyone read it to the end

Once you have read over all related material and completed your research it is time to start writing the first draft of your essay. To do this you should outline your arguments.

Ask yourself whether there are any opposing positions to your argument. If there are then you need to outline them briefly. Decide what your position is going to be. You might find that in evaluating whether there are opposing sides you realize that you agree with one of the competing arguments. State the reasons why you hold your position and ensure you have outlined facts to support your decision. You also need to state why the contrary facts are insignificant.

You need to state your position in the matter coherently by integrating your critical analysis of the work or works you have read. This will ultimately become your introduction and conclusion as well. It is up to you to briefly state your position and why the problem to which your position relates is an important one. You need to indicate the question that you are going to answer in your essay and why it should be answered. This is what makes up the bulk of your introduction section.

Try and dive right in with regard to your first draft. Many students feel they are not yet ready or do not have all of the evidence or arguments and as a result they will put off writing the first draft until they think they can do it perfectly the first time. But the truth is that no first draft will be perfect the first time. The purpose of the first draft is to get your thoughts out on paper and to then go back and review them for coherency and completeness.

Don't let concerns about finding the perfect word or having the proper sequence hold you back from completing your first draft. That is why it is called "rough". You will revise any grammar or sequence issues later. Just get down your important information first. If you quote someone you will need to ensure the summary or quote is followed by a citation as per the citation format assigned to your project. Also make sure there is a corresponding citation at the end of the essay.

Think critically about the text. This does not mean you need to attack the author or the work negatively. It just means you need to critically explore and evaluate it and then discuss your findings.