how to write an excellent essay!

Essay Writing Advice

Professor Tim Wilson presents essay writing as a process built around research, critical analysis, planning, and a clearly defined central argument. Although his advice is aimed mainly at university students, he says it can be adapted to other levels.

1. Research widely and efficiently

• Use online academic resources and university databases, but do not dismiss books: Wilson describes them as essential sources.
• Learn to skim books and other texts efficiently. Useful material may appear well beyond the introduction—sometimes around two-thirds of the way through a work.
• Consult both primary sources and secondary sources:
  • Primary sources provide direct evidence.
  • Secondary sources show how others have interpreted or discussed the subject.
• Work efficiently: research should support the essay, not consume all the time intended for writing.

2. Assess sources critically

Do not accept a claim just because its author sounds confident or forceful. Instead:

• Identify the author’s argument and consider possible bias or agenda.
• Examine the evidence used to support each claim.
• Watch for overgeneralizations, outdated information, non sequiturs, and other logical fallacies.
• Check whether the reasoning follows from the evidence.

3. Define the central argument before writing

Wilson calls the essay’s central, forceful argument the “crunch”—similar to a thesis or, in some approaches, a synthesis. Before starting the essay, the writer should know:

• The main point.
• The essay’s focus.
• The argument the essay is ultimately intended to establish.

If the writer cannot identify this central point, Wilson advises waiting before beginning the essay.

4. Plan a five-part essay

Wilson outlines a five-part structure:

1. Introduction

   • Briefly state how the essay will answer the question.
   • If the question is broad or vague, define the scope and make the focus specific.
   • Keep the introduction concise; it does not need to be unusually clever or attention-grabbing.

2. First body paragraph

   • Establish knowledge of the subject and begin presenting relevant arguments or evidence.

3. Second body paragraph

   • Continue developing the discussion and show balance.
   • In an argumentative essay, these paragraphs might present reasons for and against a proposition, or distinguish stronger arguments from secondary ones.

4. The “crunch” paragraph

   • Make the essay’s central case clearly and forcefully.
   • Address earlier points, explain which ones the writer accepts or rejects, and present the writer’s key contribution.
   • Arrange the reasoning logically and support it with evidence and quotations.
   • This is likely to be the longest and most important paragraph. Save the strongest ideas for it rather than revealing everything too early.

5. Conclusion

   • Briefly draw together what the discussion has established.
   • Do not introduce a new argument or start a new line of discussion. A new idea belongs in the essay’s body—or may require a separate essay.

Wilson compares essay structure to a disciplined advance: the earlier paragraphs prepare the ground, while the main argument is held back for its most effective point.

5. Keep introductions and conclusions in proportion

• Teachers generally do not need elaborate openings to stay interested.
• Focus most of the effort on presenting and developing arguments, especially in the body and the “crunch” paragraph.
• Keep both the introduction and conclusion brief. Some traditions encourage conclusions to suggest further discussion, but Wilson cautions against spending too much time on this.

6. Write clearly rather than trying to impress

• Use advanced vocabulary only when you know exactly what the words mean and how to use them.
• Avoid difficult words used merely to show off; misusing them weakens the writing.
• Prefer clear explanations that an intelligent child could understand. Explaining a complex idea simply is more skillful than making a simple idea sound needlessly complicated.

Speakers and Sources

• Professor Tim Wilson — the principal speaker, giving the essay-writing advice.
• An excerpt from an earlier film or lesson — introduced as the “wise advice of the turkey”; the subtitles do not clearly identify a separate speaker in that excerpt.