Introduction
If you’re like many, you have lots of ideas for what to write about. But writing an expository essay is more than just sitting down and typing away—it’s a process that requires some organizing before you get started. Here are five ways to organize your own ideas before putting pen to paper:
Get clear on the purpose of your writing
When preparing to write an expository essay, you should make sure that you have a clear purpose in mind. This will help guide the rest of your writing process and make it easier for you to organize your ideas.
If this is your first time organizing an expository essay, it can be helpful to keep things simple by making a list of all of the topics you are interested in writing about or are allow to write about if your writing is for a school assignment.
There are many different types of Expository Writing
There are many different types of Expository Writing. The most common ones include:
- Compare and Contrast
- Problem and Solution
- Sequence
- Classification
- Process Analysis
- Cause and Effect
- Definition
Write a concise thesis statement
Once you’ve got a good idea of what you want to write about and a plan for how you’ll organize your thoughts, it’s time to get down to business. The first step should be writing a concise thesis statement that establishes why this topic is important and how it relates to other ideas in the field. This will help guide the rest of your essay and ensure that every paragraph informs the overall argument while staying focused on its central point.
Build an outline. This is essential!
Now that you have collected your ideas and organized them, it’s time to create an outline. An outline will allow you to figure out what each major section of your essay will be about. This is essential because it helps keep track of which sources you want to include in the paper, and how they support the main ideas of the essay.
An outline also allows you to see where there might be holes in your argument or areas that need more research. You can add notes or even entire paragraphs as needed along with adding source material. You don’t want to write too much without adding any sources though, so make sure everything has a source first!
Find evidence that supports your thesis statement
Once you’ve narrowed down your topic, the next step is to find evidence that supports your thesis statement. But how do you know if a source is credible? Well, there are a few things that make a source credible.
- Did they publish their findings in a reputable journal or newspaper?
- Did they receive widespread recognition for their work?
- Did they use reliable methods to collect data (i.e., did they conduct multiple independent tests)?
- Just a note, but wikipedia is great for quick reference but you don’t want to use it for your academic writing.
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