Building and Writing an Essay

Getting organized to build an essay can be a daunting task.
For me, the best way to do it is to write all of my concepts on post-it notes and then lay them out in the order I would like to discuss them.



This takes the clutter out of my brain and allows me to work it around until it is organized.
Laying the post-its out on a white board is helpful since you can use your marker to add notes or arrows to help your essay flow.

It's also a great way to find holes or see where you've got overlapping or extra material.

Writing your first draft becomes effortless, just grab the first post-it and write.  Then move on to the second one!  Repeat until you get to the final one.

If you've got a word count target, this is also a great way to determine before you begin if you've got enough content to work with.  If you can write 100 words about 10 ideas, you've got a 1000 word essay, and slightly more with an introductory and summarizing paragraph!