As high school students, it’s easy to feel like your life is passing by you without you really making an impact on the world. Most of us have felt this way at some point, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to start making more of an impact now. One great way to start having more of an influence on people around you and even in your community is to start writing essays that make a difference in someone else’s life.
1. Find your subject
Try to find a subject that you are interested in. For example, if you are a person who likes travelling, then your essay can be about how travelling has impacted your life. If you are a person who likes animals, then your essay can be about how animals have influenced human history. Find something that is important to you and use it as the subject of your essay. You should pick a topic that interests you because then you will be more invested in the project.
2. Write an outline of your idea
An outline will ensure that you cover all of the necessary points, and it will also be a good foundation for your essay. Your outline should include:
- Topic sentence (i.e., what I want to talk about)
- 3-5 subtopics (sub-points) under each topic sentence
- Reasons or evidence supporting each point; this is where you provide details or examples from your research that are relevant to your topic sentence
- Conclusion sentence
- A sentence about how your readers can learn more
3. Start writing
The first step is to brainstorm your topic. Often, this is not a difficult step as the content of an essay question is often fairly broad. With some thought, you should be able to come up with a list of possible topics that can fit with the requirements. One thing to keep in mind: do not choose something too broad or too narrow. The second step is to create an outline for your essay. This will help you organise your thoughts and make sure that you are using all of your allotted time wisely.
4. Maintain focus
Try to maintain focus and stay on task. Don’t let other things get in the way of your writing process. Put away your phone, turn off any music that you are listening to, and don’t answer any texts or social media notifications. This may sound like common sense, but it’s easy to get distracted if we’re not aware of what’s going on around us.
5. Ask for help if needed
This is where you might need help from your teacher or an essay writer service. Your teacher will know what topics or questions are on your test, and they will be able to give you a specific topic if needed. You can also talk with your peers, who may have written an essay on a similar topic and be willing to share their work with you if you need essay help. Just make sure that you do not plagiarize any material that was not created by yourself or anyone else who has given permission for use of their work.
6. Proofread and re-edit
One of the most common mistakes people make when writing essays for school is not proofreading and re-editing. While it is important that you don’t spend too much time on each sentence, it is also a good idea to go back and make sure there are no grammatical errors or typos. A good way to do this is by reading your essay out loud and checking for any awkward sentences.
7. Don’t stress too much about it
Don’t try to write out your entire essay all at once. Take it one paragraph at a time, and don’t worry about what you might say later on in the essay. It’s not that hard. The more you practise, the better you’ll get! Make sure to have an outline of your ideas before you start writing. That way, when you’re done with each paragraph, make sure it fits into the overall structure of the essay so far.
