By the time you finish this series, you'll be all set to ace your essay.

This is the first video of the playlist, in which you'll learn the basics.

In an academic essay, the goal is to persuade readers of a position or perspective through informed arguments, supported with evidence and analysis.

There are three main stages to writing an essay.

Preparation, writing, revision.

In this video, I'll quickly go through all the stages and steps with you.

And in the next few videos in this playlist, we'll go more into detail for each stage with example sentences and paragraphs.

Can't wait?

Let's dive right in.

Hi, I'm Jessica from Scribbr, here to help you achieve your academic goals.

In the preparation stage, you first need to understand the assignment and choose a topic.

Once you've chosen your topic, you should come up with an initial thesis.

This is the main point you want to make in the essay, or the position you're going to argue for.

At this stage, it doesn't have to be perfectly phrased, but it's important to start with a clear idea of what you want to say.

Then you can start creating an outline and planning your essay structure.

This will kickstart your writing and keep you on track.

Preparation is done, and now we're moving on to writing.

Every essay starts off with an introduction.

It's important to grab the reader's interest right off the bat and inform them what will be covered in the essay.

Hook the reader in the first sentence, and then give context that'll help your reader understand your argument.

This might involve providing brief background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms.

But don't overdo it.

Just enough to give the reader a taste, you know?

Next, remember the thesis statement from before?

Present it here.

Tell the reader the central argument you're going to make.

The thesis statement is usually one or two sentences long, and it drives the whole essay.

So make sure to spend some time on this part.

You can end your introduction section with an overview of the essay.

So basically signposting your essay structure.

Moving on to the body section.

This is the longest part of your essay, usually around 60 to 80%.

Here is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas.

It's easy to get lost in a big chunk of text.

To give your essay a clear structure, it is important to make use of paragraphs.

Each paragraph should be centered around just one argument or idea.

Introduce the purpose of each paragraph using topic sentences.

A good topic sentence makes the transition from the previous paragraph and introduces the argument to be made in this paragraph.

After the topic sentence, present evidence by providing the reader with data, examples, or quotes.

Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

The hard work is done, and you've arrived at the last paragraph of your essay, the conclusion.

Here are three things you should do.

Summarize and tie together the points you made in the essay's body.

Show the outcome of your arguments.

What new insights have you provided?

Emphasize why your argument matters.

After you're done writing, but before you submit your hard work, it's important to revise and polish your writing.

Double-check your arguments.

Have you said everything you meant to say, or do some points need restructuring?

Finally, make sure to check your grammar, spelling, and formatting.

And if you've cited sources in your paper, also use a plagiarism checker to make sure everything is good to go.

Once you've checked everything off this checklist here, you're good to go.

When you're ready, your next step should be creating an outline for essay.

Click this to learn how to do so.

See you there!