The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

Posted by essay writing on February 18th, 2021

How to write an essay?

Essay writing is an integral component that cannot be eliminated at any stage of learning a language. However, the emerging and terrifying question is how to write an essay? The half battle is over once the assignment has been started. How to write an essay is not a problem anymore. Millions of hooks can be used to begin an essay with. So, hook your audiences by providing an intriguing start.

You may be wondering what a hook is. A hook is a sentence or group of sentences used to spark a person's curiosity. Hooks serve as a painkiller to the question of how to write an essay. Content should be drafted in a way that drives a person to wonder WHAT HAPPEN'S NEXT? Good writers always hold this curiosity from beginning to conclusion. The core is to grab readers' attention by making them as excited as you can. Below are some effective pedagogies to open the paragraph that serve as the most fascinating hooks for beginners.

1-      Dialogue

2-      Question or Riddle

3-      Onomatopoeia

4-      Show don’t tell

5-      Cracking a joke

Dialogue

Break the monotony and begin from the middle, which is like watching trailers of the most awaited series. Give readers a real insight into what the content is all about by whispering a bit of the most exciting conversation or the core of conflict penetrating in their mind. This is not a common hook but a unique one!

Here is a sample for you:

“Where is mum going with a skateboard?” surprised John. “Wasn’t that planned?” startled Adam. “I am clueless” confirming John. “It is a day for which we were planning from millions of years ago to make it as perfect as it can be, but what can we do if someone had decided to spoil it by all means?” commented silver-tongued sister Erica, ready with tools aiming to create the most magnificent sandcastle one has ever witnessed. Adam came closer to John and whispered, “Though its eleventh-hour but still, you can get yourself ready for a picnic, I am sure no one is going to wait for you and I am not going to spoil my most awaited picnic with Erica alone.”

Good writers are masters in imagery. If this question ‘how to write an essay’ is the torture of your life then use exaggeration ‘hyperbole’ as this is the most effective tool to create emphasis or effect.

Question or Riddle Hook

One cannot judge a book by its cover but can get attracted to it by reading an interesting title. Building curiosity is all that is required here. Why not start the essay with catchy questions to trigger the creative nerves? Make sure that the content facilitates the question and expresses all possible opinions. Surely after practising these tools, how to write an essay will not be a nightmare for you.

For example:

Where in the Pacific Ocean you can find the most delicious and perfectly cooked octopus?

Have you ever wish for…?

Do you know what happens when…?

A funny way of asking a question is opening an essay with a riddle by throwing a challenge in front of reader which taps on the inquisitive nature of human beings.

What has many keys but can’t open any doors?

A sound effect

One can ignore a bee but cannot overlook a buzz. Begin with a bang and eliminate the threat of how to write an essay once for all.  Use Onomatopoeia, an essential feature of figurative language which adds weightage to your work. It includes words that imitate the sound it represents. It amplifies the outcome.

Example: RRRRINNNG...RINGGG...RINNG! The sound of my alarm clock droned in my ears as I struggle to come out of bed, keeps on aggravating me to an extent that finally the timepiece has been thrown out of my window. Guess what? It is still on RRRINNGGG RRINNNGGG. What a bad day?

Show don’t tell

The best way to grab the reader’s attention is to let the reader work, allow him to build imagery, leave clues to be cracked and leave them to explore the world of wonders. Use figurative language and descriptive words as tools.

For Example: Instead of telling Tom was petrified, show

Face – His eyes were wide with fright and his mouth was opened in horror.

Body – His knees were shaking and he covered his face with his hands.

Voice – He spoke slowly, and his voice quivered. He could barely get out a few words.

For example: Instead of announcing what season it is, show

Through the clear glass, I watched the sheets of bright, white glittering snowflakes fell from the sky. I just couldn’t control my excitement on my mouth grinned from ear to ear.

Surely, after having a handful of effective pedagogies concerninghow to write an essay, one can be found on the moon and it is completely justified.

Cracking a Joke!

Comics are being loved and fantasized about by everyone. What is more catchy than a joke is trying a hilarious beginning, which will ease the pressure on how to write an essay. Being a comic lover, it is evident that one will be loaded with an amazing joke that is ready to be cracked at the beginning and can be used to highlight any topic. Below are some examples for your reference. 

There were a daddy tomato, mama tomato, and a baby tomato going about a street when the baby tomato starts falling behind, and the daddy tomato exclaims,

KETCHUP!

Innovation is always welcomed and no one can stop creativity. Jokes can be created as per the situation.

Take the initiative and get rid of the nightmares of how to write an essay. Focus on a powerful beginning for which, attention should be hooked using these five hacks. Start it with dialogue, question, riddles, joke, sound effect or use the most effective strategy of good writers ‘show, don’t tell’. Surely, the puzzle, how to write an essay will be solved by this time.