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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39976
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39976
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

First, if English is not your mother tongue, **you might find it easier to write the essay first in your mother tongue, and then translate it.** That is the stage when you can take care of grammar etc. Maybe consider getting a friend to help you. Get your thoughts in order first, and deal with the language second.

**As for how to write, consider what you've read. How would you tell a friend about it?** There's some logic to how you would be recounting it, right? You wouldn't start with details, for example - you'd speak of the bigger picture first. If your friend knows nothing at all about the subject, you might tell her first the most basic shape of what you're talking about, why it's relevant, what field of knowledge it belongs to. Once you've built the foundations, you can elaborate on them. Once you've explained the simple stuff, you can tell about the more complex stuff, go into greater detail. Once your friend understands what you're talking about, you can talk about conflicting opinions - maybe someone disagrees with how you view the subject. You wouldn't talk of disagreements before you've explained what the subject is, right?

**What is it you want to say about the subject?** There's the stuff you've read, but what do you think about it? How does it come together? What conclusions do you draw? What questions do you ask? Why are you talking about this particular subject instead of another? An essay tries to make some point.

Once you've explained the subject and the point you were trying to make about it to an imaginary friend (or a real one who's willing to help you), write it all down. Freeform, pretty much the way you've told it. **Then go back and polish what you've written** : give each idea its own paragraph, see what needs elaboration and where you're repeating yourself, rearrange ideas if you feel they fit better in a different order. It's easier to improve on something that you already have in hand, than to work from nothing.

At all times keep in mind that what you're doing with an essay is, you're explaining an idea to someone who knows nothing about it. Like an imaginary friend you're talking to, only written down.

Original score: 2