Too often, students feel overwhelmed when starting to write essays and so they constantly feel unmotivated when given an essay question to answer. Here are some of my best strategies so that you can write essays confidently!

1. Do not start with writing your introduction first. Many times, the worst roadblock for students is that they believe they need to begin by writing their introduction perfectly. But this does not have to be the case! After you have planned your response, start with writing your body paragraphs and then write your introduction at the end. Since you will have already fleshed out your arguments, the introduction will become much easier to write!

2. Break down the essay question. Every essay question has valuable key words that can help you structure and plan the arguments you want to develop. Highlighting and brainstorming in regards to these key words will help you recognise what material is important to focus on and what is likely irrelevant.

3. Start with what you are most confident with. Instead of always starting with your first body paragraph, if your second body paragraph argument is the one you are most confident with, then start with that! This helps build momentum so that you will feel more confident as you continue writing the other sections.

4. Most importantly, the first draft of an essay is never perfect! It is only in later drafts that everything starts to become more cohesive through the editing process.

Hopefully these strategies are helpful and remember: making a start on your essay, even if it isn’t perfect, is better than making no start at all!

Kristina McLean