Crafting a Winning Essay: A Guide for Young Writers

Abstract

Letter to young writer Dear young writer, Greetings, I am one of the named editors of the BAE 2020, and I will be among the editors who will be choosing the best 26 essays of the year. From our earlier conversations, I have noted that you are quite ambitious in your writing and express your desire in your essays to be part of the anthology. In this respect, I am writing you this letter to guide you on what it takes to make a bridge to the reader so that your success can be guaranteed. There are several criteria that you need to incorporate for your essay to be a success. Therefore, young writer, if you want any chance of being in my anthology, you’d better ensure that your essay contains the following. A good introduction paragraph. A good introduction paragraph is essential in any essay since it tends to set up the arguments you would wish to make and further tell the reader what to expect. An excellent introduction to your essay should catch your readers' attention by incorporating a hook sentence. The hook sentence tends to set the tone for your essay. The hook sentence should be clear, concise, and catchy, deliberately done to sparkle your reader's curiosity. In hook sentences, it is always good to avoid lengthy and dense sentences. In other words, the hook sentence should lead the reader into the essay by giving a sense of the topic of discussion and clearly stating why the topic is of interest to you. Once you are done with your introduction and have familiarised your reader with what you want to do and why it is appropriate to give your reader background information, let your reader understand your topic and argument. Background information depends on what you plan to write about, including the historical, geographical, or social context. An outline of the debate that you would wish to address would be appropriate, a definition of some of the key terms that you may use, or even a summary of relevant theories or research about the topic in hand. It would be best if you took caution in how you do the background information in that the information should be broad but focused and relevant as per the topic. On the other hand, make sure that too much detail is not done at this point. It is always advisable to mention the points that you wish to revisit later. In other words, it is always good to save your evidence and interpretations for the main body of your essay. The last bit of the introduction is to present your thesis statement. A thesis statement is a sentence or two that sums up your overall argument. The thesis statement tends to narrow your focus and directly show what you want to say about the topic. It should not be just a statement of fact but should be a claim that requires evidence and sufficient explanation by conveying your position in a debate. Body of the essay Once the introduction is well articulated, the next is to go to the essay's body, whereby you should make sure that you have a well-structured essay. Each body paragraph should start with a topic sentence conveying the main point of that particular paragraph. Your topic sentence should spike your reader's interest by having an argument that supports the thesis statement. Besides that, you should be able to provide evidence for your arguments, and you should build good organization should on your ability to state and explain the specifics that led to your claims. Your essay's body should be done informal language, ensuring clear and concrete use of words and sentences. It is advisable to refrain from using commonly used examples as part paragraphs introductions since this will mainly create a monotone. On the other hand, your essay should be an informal voice throughout. The formal speech will make you sound more substantial and in command. Relevance throughout the essay is crucial. Kindly ensure that you do not veer off the topic since this will make your readers lose interest. You can only achieve this if you ensure that your subsequent paragraphs link to the main argument or the thesis statement. Finally, always make sure that your work is numbered and correct referencing is done, as this will give your essay locus on the article. At the same time, please ensure that your essay incorporates the correct spellings and punctuations, which you can achieve by proofreading through to omit the errors and modifying where necessary. Conclusion The essay's ideas need to be concluded, and it is always good to sum up the...