If you are in high school or any kind of college, then you are expected to write essays on almost every single course that you have signed on to. And, the thing is that not all of these essays are the same, some are persuasive and descriptive, while others are expository and meant to get into different areas of the subject.

But, whatever the essay, all of them need to have an introduction and some other basic components which cannot be ignored. The most important part of the essay is the introduction and it is also something which helps the essay get organised and manageable. The purpose of my writing today is to help you to learn how to start an essay. Given below are top 5 tips that you can apply to your next essay which will help you get started:

1. Chances are that your course teacher or professor has already assigned a topic to you, but if this is not the case and you have the freedom to choose, then make sure you pick a topic which is interesting to you. Choose something that you are familiar with and not a topic which is very new for you; this will help you with the research. Remember, you have to be passionate about the topic if you want to produce an effective essay. Also keep in mind that without research your essay isn’t going to be appreciated.

2. Once you have decided on the topic, you need to start writing your thesis statement. This is the statement that defines the purpose or objective of the essay. The thesis, contrary to common believe, is not a question but instead something which needs to be included in the introduction to clarify the goal of the overall essay.

3. Now let me tell you how to start an essay. Even though this might sound a little bizarre, you need to remember that the essay works in an upside-down fashion. What does this mean? Well it simply means that the start of the introduction of your essay needs to be general and then it needs to trickle down and get specific until you have reached a point which you want discuss in your essay. How will this help you? Working in this upside-down way will help you to make the essay more manageable, organised and focused so that you can craft a good essay.

4. A very common mistake the students make is to jump from sentence to sentence in the essay, make sure you make a smooth transition from point to point so that the reader doesn’t get confused.

5. Review the introduction and you are done.