How to Start an Essay – Basic Guidelines

Before your readers meet your idea, they read your way of writing: simple, clear, and concise. That’s exactly what you need to implement while writing an essay. Most importantly, you must have an idea of how to start an essay.

Are you going to write one to make excuses and present new arguments? Do you want to know how? If so, then continue reading because I’ve compiled this guide regarding the best way to start an essay for you to keep your efforts up for a new draft.

So, Let’s Get Going!

An essay is a short, clear, and concise written piece that presents the writer’s arguments and perspective based on evidence and analysis.

Essay writing is a versatile niche someone can write on to share information, explore a subject, and persuade readers worldwide. If you go for writing essays, you will be able to persuade people and shift their mindsets for the better.

You need to write down your statement in a polite tone with giving concise and clear instructions while presenting your arguments. That’s the way you may shift readers’ mindsets for the better and hope for a brighter future with what you write.

Here are the core types of essay writing to know the variety of essays, to understand what to write according to the situation.

• Education
• Criticism
• Persuasion
• Culture
• Philosophical reform
• Analysis

Here is the complete guide on how to start your essay to convey your thoughts and arguments on a specific topic.

Here is the ideas list for starting an essay introduction to attract readers’ attention and enhance their retention rates.

If you’re unsure how to begin an essay, using an essay generator can help give a rough structure or starting point, which you can then build on with your ideas.

1. Create a Hook

What is a hook in an essay? A hook sentence is the very first sentence of an essay that aims to grab readers’ attention and persuade them to read to the end.

For instance, I can use questions to grab your attention in the introductory section of this article on Edulize.

2. Write Context

Secondly, you need to write the context of the topic so that readers can understand the purpose of your writing. For example, you can add background to the subject, set a tone, and lay out your main argument.

3. Include Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a statement in which you have to presents your main argument in front of readers.

In that case, they will be able to understand what you will talk about later in the whole essay.

4. Roadmap to Structure

Here comes the roadmap to the structure of your essay that describes how your essay will present arguments accordingly.

Outlines are the major structural points of your essay that describe how arguments and supportive evidence will come to be encountered.

Further, outlines are being used for organizing the whole scenario and events included in the essay logically.

Here are some considerations while creating outlines:

• Brainstorm the main purpose of your writing
• Include primary points
• Support your outline with authentic information resources
• Organize your outlines logically
• Revise outlines if you have any new ideas or information

The body of an essay is the main table on which you present your primary arguments and share supportive evidence.

Moreover, you may pursue and intrigue readers’ minds to have a complete read of your argument by using your communication skills.

Here are some significant components of an essay body:

1. Body Text Length

If you’re writing an education essay, then you should complete your arguments, evidence, opinions, and authentic information in three paragraphs. Further, it decides the type of your essay, so try to comprise 60-80% of the text length of your essay.

2. How to Start a Paragraph in an Essay

Write your essay in a compressed and concise way by staying relevant to your main argument through supportive arguments. Write each paragraph about two to three lines to make it easy for readers to read each word.

You should start a new paragraph with a supportive argument, and the rest will explain and provide information about the argument.

Finally, here comes the final step of how to start an essay, which is how to end an essay. Remember, a strong essay conclusion accounts for approximately ¾ part of an essay.

Here are some points to consider while writing an essay conclusion:

1. What to Include

“What to include” is the pillar of an essay conclusion that provides writers with valuable insights into how a great end may be made. If you are worried about what to include, then these exclusive points are for you:

• Returns to a thesis statement
• Get your points together
• Explain why your opinion matters

2. What Not to Include

“What not to include” has the same importance as what to include in the essay conclusion. The reason behind this is that it also offers writers insights to concise their writings while making arguments. Here are some potential what not to include:

• Don’t include new arguments
• Don’t undermine your opinion, i.e. (It’s only one approach of many)
• Don’t use conclusion phrases, i.e. (In the sum, In conclusion, and more)

What to Include vs What Not to Include in the Conclusion:

What to Include	What Not to Include
Discuss your thesis statement	Start a new argument
Gather points	Don’t give your opponents’ arguments
Give your opinion	Conclusion phrases

First, introduce yourself to the readers. But is it that easy to grip readers’ attention? I don’t think so.

Thereby, you have to adopt an innovative approach to introduce yourself so readers will feel relatable and continue reading till the end. Now, discuss what you are going to tell them about yourself to establish yourself as the main character.

When you try to cite an article in your essay, you need to include in-text citations and a reference list. Also, you have to include the list at the end of the essay to make it easy for readers to navigate with the references.

There are 4 common citation styles. Here they are:

🔹 In-text citation:

• Narrative: According to Smith (2021), …
• Parenthetical: (Smith, 2021)

🔹 Reference list:

Smith, J. (2021). Title of the article. Journal Name, 35(2), 123–135. https://doi.org/xxxx

🔹 In-text citation:

• (Smith, 2021) or Smith (2021) states…

🔹 Reference list:

Smith, J. (2021) ‘Title of the article’, Journal Name, 35(2), pp. 123–135.

🔹 In-text citation:

• (Smith 123) ← Use the page number if available

🔹 Works Cited Entry:

Smith, John. “Title of the Article.” Journal Name, vol. 35, no. 2, 2021, pp. 123–135.

🔹 In-text citation:

• (Smith 2021, 123)

🔹 Bibliography:

Smith, John. 2021. “Title of the Article.” Journal Name 35, no. 2: 123–135.

Well, that’s all you may need to know about how to properly start an essay. I have tried to compile basic guidelines about an educational essay to provide what you need.

Essay writing will provide you with an approach to convey your opinions, thoughts, and arguments on a specific topic through authentic evidence and information.

In addition, this approach will enable you to make use of your freedom of speech and have a unique identity in your gatherings. It will allow you to influence more and more readers to gather them on a single forum for a brighter future.