Is an Essay Plan Useful?
How to Use an Essay Plan in Essay Writing
Essay writing is an integral part of student life. But do we go about this task properly? Or do we skip the essential phases of proper essay writing? For example, essay plan is an important element of the essay writing process. But how many of us actually make use of important writing tool? And even if we do, are we using it at the right stage? These are some of the few questions which should be explored in order to establish whether using a plan in your essay writing is important.
• For What Type of Essay?
A plan is useful immaterial of the type of essay being written. Be it an education essay or a narrative essay, the ideas is that you think through and plan before embarking on the actual writing. Even if you were to be writing a short essay or a lengthy MBA Essay, the plan will help you organize your thoughts and present them in a coherent manner. Another thing is that unless your assignment sheet specifies what type of essay is to be written, you should decide the most appropriate essay form for your topic at the planning stage. This is because a same subject can be written as a persuasive essay, analytical essay or argument essay. Subjects such as global warming, abortion or human rights are examples.
• When to Plan?
Planning your essay before embarking on any other steps in the writing process is advisable for many reasons. Some people think of planning the essay after selecting the essay topic and conducting research. But, planning should come before that. As a part of the planning, an essay outline should be drawn up. With this outline, you can start the researching process which will be more efficient as you will know what you are looking for and what exactly is needed to complete your essay. If you embark on the researching without an essay outline and a plan, you will research through each and every source that carries a relevance to your topic key word.
• Write The Essay Plan
Now it is time to actually draw up the plan. It can be a brief one with jot notes and key words. Start with selected essay topic. State a working title. It can be sharpened and fine tuned later. State the essay outline. Depending on the type of essay, the outline will vary. For instance, in an informative essay, you will use the body to elaborate and enumerate on the subject on which the information is being provided. But if you are writing a process analysis essay, then the essay outline will show the different steps as step 1, step 2, step 3 which will make up the body of the essay. Knowing how to write the essay introduction well will direct the writer to plan a good thesis statement at the outset of the essay.
• Consider your Target Audience
In planning your essay, there can be other issues which need to be considered as well. For instance what is the target audience profile? If you know your audience, it is easy to write an essay that interests them. From deciding on the appropriate topic to selecting a title and writing the essay, the audience profile should ideally be kept in mind.
• Writing Style
Lastly, the essay plan should also consider the essay style applicable. What is the essay style prescribed? Are you to write an MLA or APA essay? If it is a business essay, it is mainly to be written in Harvard style. Knowing this before hand and finding out what entails each style can assist you in smooth writing.
Having considered all above, it is quite evident that an essay plan will be most useful in writing any type of essay and for any type of essay writer. Even if you are armature or a professional, the use of a plan helps you streamline your writing process so that the final outcome is bound to be a quality essay that is enjoyed by the reader and rated high.
