resources for writing essays

• Tips for Reading an Assignment Prompt
• Asking Analytical Questions
• Introductions
• What Do Introductions Across the Disciplines Have in Common?
• Anatomy of a Body Paragraph
• Transitions
• Tips for Organizing Your Essay
• Counterargument
• Conclusions
• Strategies for Essay Writing: Downloadable PDFs
• Brief Guides to Writing in the Disciplines

How to Write an Essay

Use the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide:

Essay Writing Fundamentals

How to prepare to write an essay, how to edit an essay, how to share and publish your essays, how to get essay writing help, how to find essay writing inspiration, resources for teaching essay writing.

Essays, short prose compositions on a particular theme or topic, are the bread and butter of academic life. You write them in class, for homework, and on standardized tests to show what you know. Unlike other kinds of academic writing (like the research paper) and creative writing (like short stories and poems), essays allow you to develop your original thoughts on a prompt or question. Essays come in many varieties: they can be expository (fleshing out an idea or claim), descriptive, (explaining a person, place, or thing), narrative (relating a personal experience), or persuasive (attempting to win over a reader). This guide is a collection of dozens of links about academic essay writing that we have researched, categorized, and annotated in order to help you improve your essay writing. 

Essays are different from other forms of writing; in turn, there are different kinds of essays. This section contains general resources for getting to know the essay and its variants. These resources introduce and define the essay as a genre, and will teach you what to expect from essay-based assessments.

Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab

One of the most trusted academic writing sites, Purdue OWL provides a concise introduction to the four most common types of academic essays.

"The Essay: History and Definition" (ThoughtCo)

This snappy article from ThoughtCo talks about the origins of the essay and different kinds of essays you might be asked to write. 

"What Is An Essay?" Video Lecture (Coursera)

The University of California at Irvine's free video lecture, available on Coursera, tells  you everything you need to know about the essay.

Wikipedia Article on the "Essay"

Wikipedia's article on the essay is comprehensive, providing both English-language and global perspectives on the essay form. Learn about the essay's history, forms, and styles.

"Understanding College and Academic Writing" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This list of common academic writing assignments (including types of essay prompts) will help you know what to expect from essay-based assessments.

Before you start writing your essay, you need to figure out who you're writing for (audience), what you're writing about (topic/theme), and what you're going to say (argument and thesis). This section contains links to handouts, chapters, videos and more to help you prepare to write an essay.

How to Identify Your Audience

"Audience" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This handout provides questions you can ask yourself to determine the audience for an academic writing assignment. It also suggests strategies for fitting your paper to your intended audience.

"Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content" (Univ. of Minnesota Libraries)

This extensive book chapter from Writing for Success , available online through Minnesota Libraries Publishing, is followed by exercises to try out your new pre-writing skills.

"Determining Audience" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This guide from a community college's writing center shows you how to know your audience, and how to incorporate that knowledge in your thesis statement.

"Know Your Audience" ( Paper Rater Blog)

This short blog post uses examples to show how implied audiences for essays differ. It reminds you to think of your instructor as an observer, who will know only the information you pass along.

How to Choose a Theme or Topic

"Research Tutorial: Developing Your Topic" (YouTube)

Take a look at this short video tutorial from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to understand the basics of developing a writing topic.

"How to Choose a Paper Topic" (WikiHow)

This simple, step-by-step guide (with pictures!) walks you through choosing a paper topic. It starts with a detailed description of brainstorming and ends with strategies to refine your broad topic.

"How to Read an Assignment: Moving From Assignment to Topic" (Harvard College Writing Center)

Did your teacher give you a prompt or other instructions? This guide helps you understand the relationship between an essay assignment and your essay's topic.

"Guidelines for Choosing a Topic" (CliffsNotes)

This study guide from CliffsNotes both discusses how to choose a topic and makes a useful distinction between "topic" and "thesis."

How to Come Up with an Argument

"Argument" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

Not sure what "argument" means in the context of academic writing? This page from the University of North Carolina is a good place to start.

"The Essay Guide: Finding an Argument" (Study Hub)

This handout explains why it's important to have an argument when beginning your essay, and provides tools to help you choose a viable argument.

"Writing a Thesis and Making an Argument" (University of Iowa)

This page from the University of Iowa's Writing Center contains exercises through which you can develop and refine your argument and thesis statement.

"Developing a Thesis" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This page from Harvard's Writing Center collates some helpful dos and don'ts of argumentative writing, from steps in constructing a thesis to avoiding vague and confrontational thesis statements.

"Suggestions for Developing Argumentative Essays" (Berkeley Student Learning Center)

This page offers concrete suggestions for each stage of the essay writing process, from topic selection to drafting and editing. 

How to Outline your Essay

"Outlines" (Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill via YouTube)

This short video tutorial from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows how to group your ideas into paragraphs or sections to begin the outlining process.

"Essay Outline" (Univ. of Washington Tacoma)

This two-page handout by a university professor simply defines the parts of an essay and then organizes them into an example outline.

"Types of Outlines and Samples" (Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab)

Purdue OWL gives examples of diverse outline strategies on this page, including the alphanumeric, full sentence, and decimal styles. 

"Outlining" (Harvard College Writing Center)

Once you have an argument, according to this handout, there are only three steps in the outline process: generalizing, ordering, and putting it all together. Then you're ready to write!

"Writing Essays" (Plymouth Univ.)

This packet, part of Plymouth University's Learning Development series, contains descriptions and diagrams relating to the outlining process.

"How to Write A Good Argumentative Essay: Logical Structure" (Criticalthinkingtutorials.com via YouTube)

This longer video tutorial gives an overview of how to structure your essay in order to support your argument or thesis. It is part of a longer course on academic writing hosted on Udemy.

Now that you've chosen and refined your topic and created an outline, use these resources to complete the writing process. Most essays contain introductions (which articulate your thesis statement), body paragraphs, and conclusions. Transitions facilitate the flow from one paragraph to the next so that support for your thesis builds throughout the essay. Sources and citations show where you got the evidence to support your thesis, which ensures that you avoid plagiarism. 

How to Write an Introduction

"Introductions" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page identifies the role of the introduction in any successful paper, suggests strategies for writing introductions, and warns against less effective introductions.

"How to Write A Good Introduction" (Michigan State Writing Center)

Beginning with the most common missteps in writing introductions, this guide condenses the essentials of introduction composition into seven points.

"The Introductory Paragraph" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post from academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming focuses on ways to grab your reader's attention at the beginning of your essay.

"Introductions and Conclusions" (Univ. of Toronto)

This guide from the University of Toronto gives advice that applies to writing both introductions and conclusions, including dos and don'ts.

"How to Write Better Essays: No One Does Introductions Properly" ( The Guardian )

This news article interviews UK professors on student essay writing; they point to introductions as the area that needs the most improvement.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

"Writing an Effective Thesis Statement" (YouTube)

This short, simple video tutorial from a college composition instructor at Tulsa Community College explains what a thesis statement is and what it does. 

"Thesis Statement: Four Steps to a Great Essay" (YouTube)

This fantastic tutorial walks you through drafting a thesis, using an essay prompt on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter as an example.

"How to Write a Thesis Statement" (WikiHow)

This step-by-step guide (with pictures!) walks you through coming up with, writing, and editing a thesis statement. It invites you think of your statement as a "working thesis" that can change.

"How to Write a Thesis Statement" (Univ. of Indiana Bloomington)

Ask yourself the questions on this page, part of Indiana Bloomington's Writing Tutorial Services, when you're writing and refining your thesis statement.

"Writing Tips: Thesis Statements" (Univ. of Illinois Center for Writing Studies)

This page gives plentiful examples of good to great thesis statements, and offers questions to ask yourself when formulating a thesis statement.

How to Write Body Paragraphs

"Body Paragraph" (Brightstorm)

This module of a free online course introduces you to the components of a body paragraph. These include the topic sentence, information, evidence, and analysis.

"Strong Body Paragraphs" (Washington Univ.)

This handout from Washington's Writing and Research Center offers in-depth descriptions of the parts of a successful body paragraph.

"Guide to Paragraph Structure" (Deakin Univ.)

This handout is notable for color-coding example body paragraphs to help you identify the functions various sentences perform.

"Writing Body Paragraphs" (Univ. of Minnesota Libraries)

The exercises in this section of Writing for Success  will help you practice writing good body paragraphs. It includes guidance on selecting primary support for your thesis.

"The Writing Process—Body Paragraphs" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

The information and exercises on this page will familiarize you with outlining and writing body paragraphs, and includes links to more information on topic sentences and transitions.

"The Five-Paragraph Essay" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post discusses body paragraphs in the context of one of the most common academic essay types in secondary schools.

How to Use Transitions

"Transitions" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill explains what a transition is, and how to know if you need to improve your transitions.

"Using Transitions Effectively" (Washington Univ.)

This handout defines transitions, offers tips for using them, and contains a useful list of common transitional words and phrases grouped by function.

"Transitions" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

This page compares paragraphs without transitions to paragraphs with transitions, and in doing so shows how important these connective words and phrases are.

"Transitions in Academic Essays" (Scribbr)

This page lists four techniques that will help you make sure your reader follows your train of thought, including grouping similar information and using transition words.

"Transitions" (El Paso Community College)

This handout shows example transitions within paragraphs for context, and explains how transitions improve your essay's flow and voice.

"Make Your Paragraphs Flow to Improve Writing" (ThoughtCo)

This blog post, another from academic advisor and college enrollment counselor Grace Fleming, talks about transitions and other strategies to improve your essay's overall flow.

"Transition Words" (smartwords.org)

This handy word bank will help you find transition words when you're feeling stuck. It's grouped by the transition's function, whether that is to show agreement, opposition, condition, or consequence.

How to Write a Conclusion

"Parts of An Essay: Conclusions" (Brightstorm)

This module of a free online course explains how to conclude an academic essay. It suggests thinking about the "3Rs": return to hook, restate your thesis, and relate to the reader.

"Essay Conclusions" (Univ. of Maryland University College)

This overview of the academic essay conclusion contains helpful examples and links to further resources for writing good conclusions.

"How to End An Essay" (WikiHow)

This step-by-step guide (with pictures!) by an English Ph.D. walks you through writing a conclusion, from brainstorming to ending with a flourish.

"Ending the Essay: Conclusions" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This page collates useful strategies for writing an effective conclusion, and reminds you to "close the discussion without closing it off" to further conversation.

How to Include Sources and Citations

"Research and Citation Resources" (Purdue OWL Online Writing Lab)

Purdue OWL streamlines information about the three most common referencing styles (MLA, Chicago, and APA) and provides examples of how to cite different resources in each system.

EasyBib: Free Bibliography Generator

This online tool allows you to input information about your source and automatically generate citations in any style. Be sure to select your resource type before clicking the "cite it" button.

CitationMachine

Like EasyBib, this online tool allows you to input information about your source and automatically generate citations in any style. 

Modern Language Association Handbook (MLA)

Here, you'll find the definitive and up-to-date record of MLA referencing rules. Order through the link above, or check to see if your library has a copy.

Chicago Manual of Style

Here, you'll find the definitive and up-to-date record of Chicago referencing rules. You can take a look at the table of contents, then choose to subscribe or start a free trial.

How to Avoid Plagiarism

"What is Plagiarism?" (plagiarism.org)

This nonprofit website contains numerous resources for identifying and avoiding plagiarism, and reminds you that even common activities like copying images from another website to your own site may constitute plagiarism.

"Plagiarism" (University of Oxford)

This interactive page from the University of Oxford helps you check for plagiarism in your work, making it clear how to avoid citing another person's work without full acknowledgement.

"Avoiding Plagiarism" (MIT Comparative Media Studies)

This quick guide explains what plagiarism is, what its consequences are, and how to avoid it. It starts by defining three words—quotation, paraphrase, and summary—that all constitute citation.

"Harvard Guide to Using Sources" (Harvard Extension School)

This comprehensive website from Harvard brings together articles, videos, and handouts about referencing, citation, and plagiarism. 

Grammarly contains tons of helpful grammar and writing resources, including a free tool to automatically scan your essay to check for close affinities to published work. 

Noplag is another popular online tool that automatically scans your essay to check for signs of plagiarism. Simply copy and paste your essay into the box and click "start checking."

Once you've written your essay, you'll want to edit (improve content), proofread (check for spelling and grammar mistakes), and finalize your work until you're ready to hand it in. This section brings together tips and resources for navigating the editing process. 

"Writing a First Draft" (Academic Help)

This is an introduction to the drafting process from the site Academic Help, with tips for getting your ideas on paper before editing begins.

"Editing and Proofreading" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page provides general strategies for revising your writing. They've intentionally left seven errors in the handout, to give you practice in spotting them.

"How to Proofread Effectively" (ThoughtCo)

This article from ThoughtCo, along with those linked at the bottom, help describe common mistakes to check for when proofreading.

"7 Simple Edits That Make Your Writing 100% More Powerful" (SmartBlogger)

This blog post emphasizes the importance of powerful, concise language, and reminds you that even your personal writing heroes create clunky first drafts.

"Editing Tips for Effective Writing" (Univ. of Pennsylvania)

On this page from Penn's International Relations department, you'll find tips for effective prose, errors to watch out for, and reminders about formatting.

"Editing the Essay" (Harvard College Writing Center)

This article, the first of two parts, gives you applicable strategies for the editing process. It suggests reading your essay aloud, removing any jargon, and being unafraid to remove even "dazzling" sentences that don't belong.

"Guide to Editing and Proofreading" (Oxford Learning Institute)

This handout from Oxford covers the basics of editing and proofreading, and reminds you that neither task should be rushed. 

In addition to plagiarism-checkers, Grammarly has a plug-in for your web browser that checks your writing for common mistakes.

After you've prepared, written, and edited your essay, you might want to share it outside the classroom. This section alerts you to print and web opportunities to share your essays with the wider world, from online writing communities and blogs to published journals geared toward young writers.

Sharing Your Essays Online

Go Teen Writers

Go Teen Writers is an online community for writers aged 13 - 19. It was founded by Stephanie Morrill, an author of contemporary young adult novels. 

Tumblr is a blogging website where you can share your writing and interact with other writers online. It's easy to add photos, links, audio, and video components.

Writersky provides an online platform for publishing and reading other youth writers' work. Its current content is mostly devoted to fiction.

Publishing Your Essays Online

This teen literary journal publishes in print, on the web, and (more frequently), on a blog. It is committed to ensuring that "teens see their authentic experience reflected on its pages."

The Matador Review

This youth writing platform celebrates "alternative," unconventional writing. The link above will take you directly to the site's "submissions" page.

Teen Ink has a website, monthly newsprint magazine, and quarterly poetry magazine promoting the work of young writers.

The largest online reading platform, Wattpad enables you to publish your work and read others' work. Its inline commenting feature allows you to share thoughts as you read along.

Publishing Your Essays in Print

Canvas Teen Literary Journal

This quarterly literary magazine is published for young writers by young writers. They accept many kinds of writing, including essays.

The Claremont Review

This biannual international magazine, first published in 1992, publishes poetry, essays, and short stories from writers aged 13 - 19.

Skipping Stones

This young writers magazine, founded in 1988, celebrates themes relating to ecological and cultural diversity. It publishes poems, photos, articles, and stories.

The Telling Room

This nonprofit writing center based in Maine publishes children's work on their website and in book form. The link above directs you to the site's submissions page.

Essay Contests

Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards

This prestigious international writing contest for students in grades 7 - 12 has been committed to "supporting the future of creativity since 1923."

Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest

An annual essay contest on the theme of journalism and media, the Society of Professional Journalists High School Essay Contest awards scholarships up to $1,000.

National YoungArts Foundation

Here, you'll find information on a government-sponsored writing competition for writers aged 15 - 18. The foundation welcomes submissions of creative nonfiction, novels, scripts, poetry, short story and spoken word.

Signet Classics Student Scholarship Essay Contest

With prompts on a different literary work each year, this competition from Signet Classics awards college scholarships up to $1,000.

"The Ultimate Guide to High School Essay Contests" (CollegeVine)

See this handy guide from CollegeVine for a list of more competitions you can enter with your academic essay, from the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards to the National High School Essay Contest by the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Whether you're struggling to write academic essays or you think you're a pro, there are workshops and online tools that can help you become an even better writer. Even the most seasoned writers encounter writer's block, so be proactive and look through our curated list of resources to combat this common frustration.

Online Essay-writing Classes and Workshops

"Getting Started with Essay Writing" (Coursera)

Coursera offers lots of free, high-quality online classes taught by college professors. Here's one example, taught by instructors from the University of California Irvine.

"Writing and English" (Brightstorm)

Brightstorm's free video lectures are easy to navigate by topic. This unit on the parts of an essay features content on the essay hook, thesis, supporting evidence, and more.

"How to Write an Essay" (EdX)

EdX is another open online university course website with several two- to five-week courses on the essay. This one is geared toward English language learners.

Writer's Digest University

This renowned writers' website offers online workshops and interactive tutorials. The courses offered cover everything from how to get started through how to get published.

Writing.com

Signing up for this online writer's community gives you access to helpful resources as well as an international community of writers.

How to Overcome Writer's Block

"Symptoms and Cures for Writer's Block" (Purdue OWL)

Purdue OWL offers a list of signs you might have writer's block, along with ways to overcome it. Consider trying out some "invention strategies" or ways to curb writing anxiety.

"Overcoming Writer's Block: Three Tips" ( The Guardian )

These tips, geared toward academic writing specifically, are practical and effective. The authors advocate setting realistic goals, creating dedicated writing time, and participating in social writing.

"Writing Tips: Strategies for Overcoming Writer's Block" (Univ. of Illinois)

This page from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Center for Writing Studies acquaints you with strategies that do and do not work to overcome writer's block.

"Writer's Block" (Univ. of Toronto)

Ask yourself the questions on this page; if the answer is "yes," try out some of the article's strategies. Each question is accompanied by at least two possible solutions.

If you have essays to write but are short on ideas, this section's links to prompts, example student essays, and celebrated essays by professional writers might help. You'll find writing prompts from a variety of sources, student essays to inspire you, and a number of essay writing collections.

Essay Writing Prompts

"50 Argumentative Essay Topics" (ThoughtCo)

Take a look at this list and the others ThoughtCo has curated for different kinds of essays. As the author notes, "a number of these topics are controversial and that's the point."

"401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing" ( New York Times )

This list (and the linked lists to persuasive and narrative writing prompts), besides being impressive in length, is put together by actual high school English teachers.

"SAT Sample Essay Prompts" (College Board)

If you're a student in the U.S., your classroom essay prompts are likely modeled on the prompts in U.S. college entrance exams. Take a look at these official examples from the SAT.

"Popular College Application Essay Topics" (Princeton Review)

This page from the Princeton Review dissects recent Common Application essay topics and discusses strategies for answering them.

Example Student Essays

"501 Writing Prompts" (DePaul Univ.)

This nearly 200-page packet, compiled by the LearningExpress Skill Builder in Focus Writing Team, is stuffed with writing prompts, example essays, and commentary.

"Topics in English" (Kibin)

Kibin is a for-pay essay help website, but its example essays (organized by topic) are available for free. You'll find essays on everything from  A Christmas Carol  to perseverance.

"Student Writing Models" (Thoughtful Learning)

Thoughtful Learning, a website that offers a variety of teaching materials, provides sample student essays on various topics and organizes them by grade level.

"Five-Paragraph Essay" (ThoughtCo)

In this blog post by a former professor of English and rhetoric, ThoughtCo brings together examples of five-paragraph essays and commentary on the form.

The Best Essay Writing Collections

The Best American Essays of the Century by Joyce Carol Oates (Amazon)

This collection of American essays spanning the twentieth century was compiled by award winning author and Princeton professor Joyce Carol Oates.

The Best American Essays 2017 by Leslie Jamison (Amazon)

Leslie Jamison, the celebrated author of essay collection  The Empathy Exams , collects recent, high-profile essays into a single volume.

The Art of the Personal Essay by Phillip Lopate (Amazon)

Documentary writer Phillip Lopate curates this historical overview of the personal essay's development, from the classical era to the present.

The White Album by Joan Didion (Amazon)

This seminal essay collection was authored by one of the most acclaimed personal essayists of all time, American journalist Joan Didion.

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace (Amazon)

Read this famous essay collection by David Foster Wallace, who is known for his experimentation with the essay form. He pushed the boundaries of personal essay, reportage, and political polemic.

"50 Successful Harvard Application Essays" (Staff of the The Harvard Crimson )

If you're looking for examples of exceptional college application essays, this volume from Harvard's daily student newspaper is one of the best collections on the market.

Are you an instructor looking for the best resources for teaching essay writing? This section contains resources for developing in-class activities and student homework assignments. You'll find content from both well-known university writing centers and online writing labs.

Essay Writing Classroom Activities for Students

"In-class Writing Exercises" (Univ. of North Carolina Writing Center)

This page lists exercises related to brainstorming, organizing, drafting, and revising. It also contains suggestions for how to implement the suggested exercises.

"Teaching with Writing" (Univ. of Minnesota Center for Writing)

Instructions and encouragement for using "freewriting," one-minute papers, logbooks, and other write-to-learn activities in the classroom can be found here.

"Writing Worksheets" (Berkeley Student Learning Center)

Berkeley offers this bank of writing worksheets to use in class. They are nested under headings for "Prewriting," "Revision," "Research Papers" and more.

"Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism" (DePaul University)

Use these activities and worksheets from DePaul's Teaching Commons when instructing students on proper academic citation practices.

Essay Writing Homework Activities for Students

"Grammar and Punctuation Exercises" (Aims Online Writing Lab)

These five interactive online activities allow students to practice editing and proofreading. They'll hone their skills in correcting comma splices and run-ons, identifying fragments, using correct pronoun agreement, and comma usage.

"Student Interactives" (Read Write Think)

Read Write Think hosts interactive tools, games, and videos for developing writing skills. They can practice organizing and summarizing, writing poetry, and developing lines of inquiry and analysis.

This free website offers writing and grammar activities for all grade levels. The lessons are designed to be used both for large classes and smaller groups.

"Writing Activities and Lessons for Every Grade" (Education World)

Education World's page on writing activities and lessons links you to more free, online resources for learning how to "W.R.I.T.E.": write, revise, inform, think, and edit.

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Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

College admissions essays are an important part of your college application and gives you the chance to show colleges and universities your character and experiences. This guide will give you tips to write an effective college essay.

Want free help with your college essay?

UPchieve connects you with knowledgeable and friendly college advisors—online, 24/7, and completely free. Get 1:1 help brainstorming topics, outlining your essay, revising a draft, or editing grammar.

Writing a strong college admissions essay

Learn about the elements of a solid admissions essay.

Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes

Learn some of the most common mistakes made on college essays

Brainstorming tips for your college essay

Stuck on what to write your college essay about? Here are some exercises to help you get started.

How formal should the tone of your college essay be?

Learn how formal your college essay should be and get tips on how to bring out your natural voice.

Taking your college essay to the next level

Hear an admissions expert discuss the appropriate level of depth necessary in your college essay.

Student Stories

Student Story: Admissions essay about a formative experience

Get the perspective of a current college student on how he approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about personal identity

Get the perspective of a current college student on how she approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about community impact

Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

This content is licensed by Khan Academy and is available for free at www.khanacademy.org.

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Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers

P LANNING, PARAGRAPHING AND POLISHING: FINE-TUNING THE PERFECT ESSAY

Essay writing is an essential skill for every student. Whether writing a particular academic essay (such as persuasive, narrative, descriptive, or expository) or a timed exam essay, the key to getting good at writing is to write. Creating opportunities for our students to engage in extended writing activities will go a long way to helping them improve their skills as scribes.

But, putting the hours in alone will not be enough to attain the highest levels in essay writing. Practice must be meaningful. Once students have a broad overview of how to structure the various types of essays, they are ready to narrow in on the minor details that will enable them to fine-tune their work as a lean vehicle of their thoughts and ideas.

In this article, we will drill down to some aspects that will assist students in taking their essay writing skills up a notch. Many ideas and activities can be integrated into broader lesson plans based on essay writing. Often, though, they will work effectively in isolation – just as athletes isolate physical movements to drill that are relevant to their sport. When these movements become second nature, they can be repeated naturally in the context of the game or in our case, the writing of the essay.

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• Links to  high-quality video  tutorials
• Clear objectives  easy to match to the demands of your curriculum

Planning an essay

The Boys Scouts’ motto is famously ‘Be Prepared’. It’s a solid motto that can be applied to most aspects of life; essay writing is no different. Given the purpose of an essay is generally to present a logical and reasoned argument, investing time in organising arguments, ideas, and structure would seem to be time well spent.

Given that essays can take a wide range of forms and that we all have our own individual approaches to writing, it stands to reason that there will be no single best approach to the planning stage of essay writing. That said, there are several helpful hints and techniques we can share with our students to help them wrestle their ideas into a writable form. Let’s take a look at a few of the best of these:

BREAK THE QUESTION DOWN: UNDERSTAND YOUR ESSAY TOPIC.

Whether students are tackling an assignment that you have set for them in class or responding to an essay prompt in an exam situation, they should get into the habit of analyzing the nature of the task. To do this, they should unravel the question’s meaning or prompt. Students can practice this in class by responding to various essay titles, questions, and prompts, thereby gaining valuable experience breaking these down.

Have students work in groups to underline and dissect the keywords and phrases and discuss what exactly is being asked of them in the task. Are they being asked to discuss, describe, persuade, or explain? Understanding the exact nature of the task is crucial before going any further in the planning process, never mind the writing process .

BRAINSTORM AND MIND MAP WHAT YOU KNOW:

Once students have understood what the essay task asks them, they should consider what they know about the topic and, often, how they feel about it. When teaching essay writing, we so often emphasize that it is about expressing our opinions on things, but for our younger students what they think about something isn’t always obvious, even to themselves.

Brainstorming and mind-mapping what they know about a topic offers them an opportunity to uncover not just what they already know about a topic, but also gives them a chance to reveal to themselves what they think about the topic. This will help guide them in structuring their research and, later, the essay they will write . When writing an essay in an exam context, this may be the only ‘research’ the student can undertake before the writing, so practicing this will be even more important.

RESEARCH YOUR ESSAY

The previous step above should reveal to students the general direction their research will take. With the ubiquitousness of the internet, gone are the days of students relying on a single well-thumbed encyclopaedia from the school library as their sole authoritative source in their essay. If anything, the real problem for our students today is narrowing down their sources to a manageable number. Students should use the information from the previous step to help here. At this stage, it is important that they:

●      Ensure the research material is directly relevant to the essay task

●      Record in detail the sources of the information that they will use in their essay

●      Engage with the material personally by asking questions and challenging their own biases

●      Identify the key points that will be made in their essay

●      Group ideas, counterarguments, and opinions together

●      Identify the overarching argument they will make in their own essay.

Once these stages have been completed the student is ready to organise their points into a logical order.

WRITING YOUR ESSAY

There are a number of ways for students to organize their points in preparation for writing. They can use graphic organizers , post-it notes, or any number of available writing apps. The important thing for them to consider here is that their points should follow a logical progression. This progression of their argument will be expressed in the form of body paragraphs that will inform the structure of their finished essay.

The number of paragraphs contained in an essay will depend on a number of factors such as word limits, time limits, the complexity of the question etc. Regardless of the essay’s length, students should ensure their essay follows the Rule of Three in that every essay they write contains an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Generally speaking, essay paragraphs will focus on one main idea that is usually expressed in a topic sentence that is followed by a series of supporting sentences that bolster that main idea. The first and final sentences are of the most significance here with the first sentence of a paragraph making the point to the reader and the final sentence of the paragraph making the overall relevance to the essay’s argument crystal clear. 

Though students will most likely be familiar with the broad generic structure of essays, it is worth investing time to ensure they have a clear conception of how each part of the essay works, that is, of the exact nature of the task it performs. Let’s review:

Common Essay Structure

Introduction: Provides the reader with context for the essay. It states the broad argument that the essay will make and informs the reader of the writer’s general perspective and approach to the question.

Body Paragraphs: These are the ‘meat’ of the essay and lay out the argument stated in the introduction point by point with supporting evidence.

Conclusion: Usually, the conclusion will restate the central argument while summarising the essay’s main supporting reasons before linking everything back to the original question.

ESSAY WRITING PARAGRAPH WRITING TIPS

●      Each paragraph should focus on a single main idea

●      Paragraphs should follow a logical sequence; students should group similar ideas together to avoid incoherence

●      Paragraphs should be denoted consistently; students should choose either to indent or skip a line

●      Transition words and phrases such as alternatively , consequently , in contrast should be used to give flow and provide a bridge between paragraphs.

HOW TO EDIT AN ESSAY

Students shouldn’t expect their essays to emerge from the writing process perfectly formed. Except in exam situations and the like, thorough editing is an essential aspect in the writing process. 

Often, students struggle with this aspect of the process the most. After spending hours of effort on planning, research, and writing the first draft, students can be reluctant to go back over the same terrain they have so recently travelled. It is important at this point to give them some helpful guidelines to help them to know what to look out for. The following tips will provide just such help: 

One Piece at a Time: There is a lot to look out for in the editing process and often students overlook aspects as they try to juggle too many balls during the process. One effective strategy to combat this is for students to perform a number of rounds of editing with each focusing on a different aspect. For example, the first round could focus on content, the second round on looking out for word repetition (use a thesaurus to help here), with the third attending to spelling and grammar.

Sum It Up: When reviewing the paragraphs they have written, a good starting point is for students to read each paragraph and attempt to sum up its main point in a single line. If this is not possible, their readers will most likely have difficulty following their train of thought too and the paragraph needs to be overhauled.

Let It Breathe: When possible, encourage students to allow some time for their essay to ‘breathe’ before returning to it for editing purposes. This may require some skilful time management on the part of the student, for example, a student rush-writing the night before the deadline does not lend itself to effective editing. Fresh eyes are one of the sharpest tools in the writer’s toolbox.

Read It Aloud: This time-tested editing method is a great way for students to identify mistakes and typos in their work. We tend to read things more slowly when reading aloud giving us the time to spot errors. Also, when we read silently our minds can often fill in the gaps or gloss over the mistakes that will become apparent when we read out loud.

Phone a Friend: Peer editing is another great way to identify errors that our brains may miss when reading our own work. Encourage students to partner up for a little ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’.

Use Tech Tools: We need to ensure our students have the mental tools to edit their own work and for this they will need a good grasp of English grammar and punctuation. However, there are also a wealth of tech tools such as spellcheck and grammar checks that can offer a great once-over option to catch anything students may have missed in earlier editing rounds.

Putting the Jewels on Display: While some struggle to edit, others struggle to let go. There comes a point when it is time for students to release their work to the reader. They must learn to relinquish control after the creation is complete. This will be much easier to achieve if the student feels that they have done everything in their control to ensure their essay is representative of the best of their abilities and if they have followed the advice here, they should be confident they have done so.

WRITING CHECKLISTS FOR ALL TEXT TYPES

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A (Very) Simple Way to Improve Your Writing

• Mark Rennella

It’s called the “one-idea rule” — and any level of writer can use it.

The “one idea” rule is a simple concept that can help you sharpen your writing, persuade others by presenting your argument in a clear, concise, and engaging way. What exactly does the rule say?

• Every component of a successful piece of writing should express only one idea.
• In persuasive writing, your “one idea” is often the argument or belief you are presenting to the reader. Once you identify what that argument is, the “one-idea rule” can help you develop, revise, and connect the various components of your writing.
• For instance, let’s say you’re writing an essay. There are three components you will be working with throughout your piece: the title, the paragraphs, and the sentences.
• Each of these parts should be dedicated to just one idea. The ideas are not identical, of course, but they’re all related. If done correctly, the smaller ideas (in sentences) all build (in paragraphs) to support the main point (suggested in the title).

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Most advice about writing looks like a long laundry list of “do’s and don’ts.” These lists can be helpful from time to time, but they’re hard to remember … and, therefore, hard to depend on when you’re having trouble putting your thoughts to paper. During my time in academia, teaching composition at the undergraduate and graduate levels, I saw many people struggle with this.

• MR Mark Rennella is Associate Editor at HBP and has published two books, Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders and The Boston Cosmopolitans .  

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18 Best Writing Resources for Students

For students, writing a good essay is one of the most challenging parts about getting through a class or course. You may understand the lessons and you may even have a few interesting ideas on related topics. The big problem is putting that knowledge and those ideas into written form. Even with enough writing practice, you might still struggle to improve your writing skills due to certain challenges.

So check out these 18 writing resources and tools that will help you write better essays and improve your overall writing skills . Make the most of these resources for writers to run a grammar check, develop a better writing style, improve your essay organization, and more.

To improve writing skills and style

These resources will get you engaged on a deeper level with your writing, while helping you identify common problems with your work and ways to correct them.

1: Hemingway Editor

One of the leading free writing tools, the Hemingway Editor helps you improve the readability of your essays. Besides pointing out common errors, this writing software will highlight lengthy and complex sentences that make your essay difficult to read and understand. It suggests simpler alternatives to complex words and phrases and counts your adverb and passive voice usage, letting you know when it’s too excessive.

The Hemingway Editor will also grade the readability of your essay based on complexity. Ideally, you should aim for Grade 6 or lower, but that’s not always possible especially for highly technical topics and college-level essays.

2: Online tutoring on Wyzant

If you want to learn how to become a better writer, why not learn it straight from the experts? Wyzant offers a valuable writing resource to improve your writing skills with the help of a writing tutor. You will get personalized training on how to become a better writer by working on your weaknesses and moving lessons at your pace.

Your personal writing tutor will help you learn the basics such as how to improve your grammar and avoid common English mistakes. They will also teach you essentials such as how to write a research paper, how to write a thesis statement , how to write an essay, and more.

3: Thesaurus.com Writing Tool

Even if you have the basics down pat, there’s another challenge in the form of word choice. To present an exceptional paper, you want to avoid using overused and common words. At the same time, you want to make sure that you don’t overcomplicate your writing with jargon and overly complex words. The Writing Tool from Thesaurus.com provides you with a solution to this dilemma.

Enter your essay into the tool and hover your cursor over the words you want to swap, and you’ll have the option to look up synonyms for them. This simplifies the process of swapping words with better alternatives to improve your writing.

4: Cliché Finder

Similarly, the Cliché Finder also provides you with an excellent writing resource to avoid overused phrases that can make your writing look weak. In addition, it’ll also provide you with suggestions to replace certain words with stronger alternatives.

5: OneLook Dictionary Search

This free writing tool has a comprehensive treasury that can fuel and inform your writing efforts. OneLook Dictionary Search allows you to find definitions for words, find words and phrases that begin with a certain phrase or letter combination, find words related to a certain word or phrase, and more. So if you ever get stuck somewhere, use this resource for writers to get the word suggestions you need.

6: Write Rhymes

If an assignment ever calls for a poem and you want to follow a certain rhyme scheme, there’s a good chance you’ll run out of ideas at some point. Use this free writing tool to find a rhyme for the words you want to use.

Writing resources for proofreading and grammar

Before submitting a research paper, essay, email, manuscript, or any other written document, it is important to carefully proofread it. These resources can help get your work into tip-top shape.

7: Grammarly

One of the best and most popular free writing tools, Grammarly automatically detects common grammatical errors and punctuation mistakes as you write. You can install the extension to your browser, Microsoft Office suite, or desktop and enable easy proofreading and editing. Plus, the Grammarly Keyboard is one of the best writing apps for iPad or iPhone, in case you regularly work on your tablet or mobile.

8: Grammar Girl – Quick and Dirty Tips

The Grammar Girl podcast is one of the best free resources for writers as it regularly highlights common grammatical mistakes, writing tips, commonly confused words, word history, and other grammar-related questions. For example, its past episodes have highlighted top grammar myths, discussed whether to use “canceled” or “cancelled,” and more.

9: Proofreading Tool

If you’re looking for a Grammarly alternative, this is another useful tool for proofreading and editing. Just copy-paste your essay into the tool and it will automatically analyze it for issues. The Proofreading Tool helps you detect passive voice issues, vague phrases, duplicate words, misspellings, punctuation errors, misused words, awkward phrases, and more. With these highly detailed results, this writing resource offers an excellent solution to improve your essay.

If Proofreading Tool doesn’t meet your needs, you also have the option to use Typely instead. Enter your text into the editor and the tool will give you a detailed report of all the issues it detected. In addition, it also gives you stats about your writing, which includes reading difficulty level, sentiment analysis, and reading time.

Note-taking resources

When you’re researching for your writing project, taking notes helps you concentrate and process information. In order to take the best notes (read: useful, easy-to-follow notes), you must understand your source materials. Just like listening and reading are interactive tasks, taking notes allows you to organize and stay focused.

11: Evernote

Taking notes is crucial for students, as you need detailed and organized notes to write powerful research papers and essays. If you want to know how to take notes more effectively, it’s all about the tools you use. Evernote helps you take notes, add necessary attachments and resources, and organize them so you can easily find them again when you need them.

12: Notability – Ginger Labs

An excellent alternative to Evernote is Notability from Ginger Labs. This writing resource simplifies the process of taking notes and organizing them. It lets you create a note using a combination of handwriting, typing, and photos. It comes with built-in note-taking and sketching tools and lets you add and annotate PDFs.

Resources to help organize ideas

In your writing you need to make your ideas not only clear for yourself, but also for your readers. Organization is a matter of balancing your ideas, determining the most effective ways to relaying information, and how you convey it all to your readers.

13: Essay Outline Templates – Template Lab

One of the most challenging steps in essay writing is the part where you develop an essay outline . Of course, you might already have a fair idea of what you want to write but you’re not sure exactly how to turn those ideas into an outline. To make this process easier, Template Lab offers 30+ essay outline templates that you can use as examples.

With five types of essay outlines available for download, this is one of the most comprehensive essay writing resources for students.

14: Essay Shuffler

As difficult as it is to write an essay, what’s even more difficult is organizing it into a logical flow. Even if you’re following an outline, there’s a chance that some of your ideas may go all over the place as you write them. So make the most of Essay Shuffler in your essay organization efforts. This tool allows you to shuffle sentences between paragraphs so you can find a way to improve your writing flow and rearrange phrases that sound off.

15: Inspiration Maps

For those who need to build diagrams and create graphic organizers, Inspiration Maps is one of the best writing apps for iPad or iPhone. You can use it to create concept maps and process flows to organize your essay writing efforts and develop a logical visual outline for your essay. The drag and drop feature lets you shuffle and organize your ideas with ease.

Resources to enhance productivity

16: a soft murmur.

It’s easy to get distracted and lose focus on your writing when there’s a lot of noise in your surroundings. Shut out the street sounds and loud construction noises with this productivity tool that lets you listen to ambient sounds. The best part is that you can customize the sounds you want to hear and control their intensity. You can choose to listen to waves crashing, wind blowing, fire crackling, crickets chirping, and more.

17: Calmly Writer

Calmly Writer is another writing resource that enhances productivity by minimizing distraction. If you find all the toolbars and menu options on your writing software too distracting, you’ll love the minimalist layout of this tool. You get to work on a solid black space with only a blinking cursor. You can also access the hidden menu button by moving the cursor to your left.

18: StayFocusd

One of the easiest ways to get distracted from your writing projects is by spending time on entertainment websites and social media. Install the StayFocusd extension to your browser and limit the amount of time you spend on distracting websites. It lets you access them only for a certain amount of time and then blocks them for the rest of the day, allowing you to focus on writing your essay.

Bottom line

These are some of the best writing resources that will help students enhance their writing skills and knowledge as well as improve an existing piece of writing. Use the tools to guide your writing journey and the free learning resources to clarify any doubts or curiosities you might have. Most importantly, try working with a private writing tutor to address your unique weaknesses and improve your overall writing skills.

Jacqueline Zote is a copywriter with a passion for all things relating to the English language. Her interests range from pop culture and mythology to social activism. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies published by HarperCollins Publishers and Zubaan Books.

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Guide to Different Kinds of Essays

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An essay is a paper that discusses, describes or analyzes one topic. It can discuss a subject directly or indirectly, seriously or humorously. It can describe personal opinions, or just report information. An essay can be written from any perspective, but essays are most commonly written in the first person ( I ), or third person (subjects that can be substituted with the he, she, it, or they pronouns).

There are many different kinds of essays. The following are a some of the most common ones:

Descriptive Cause/Effect Argumentative Definition Narrative Critical Compare/Contrast Process

Descriptive:

Examples: A descriptive essay could describe . . .

The descriptive essay provides details about how something looks, feels, tastes, smells, makes one feel, or sounds. It can also describe what something is, or how something happened. These essays generally use a lot of sensory details. The essay could be a list-like description that provides point by point details. Or, it could function as a story, keeping the reader interested in the plot and theme of the event described.

Definition:

Examples: A definition essay may try and define . . .

A definition essay attempts to define a specific term. It could try to pin down the meaning of a specific word, or define an abstract concept. The analysis goes deeper than a simple dictionary definition; it should attempt to explain why the term is defined as such. It could define the term directly, giving no information other than the explanation of the term. Or, it could imply the definition of the term, telling a story that requires the reader to infer the meaning.

Compare/Contrast:

Examples:A compare/contrast essay may discuss . . .

The compare/contrast essay discusses the similarities and differences between two things, people, concepts, places, etc. The essay could be an unbiased discussion, or an attempt to convince the reader of the benefits of one thing, person, or concept. It could also be written simply to entertain the reader, or to arrive at an insight into human nature. The essay could discuss both similarities and differences, or it could just focus on one or the other. A comparison essay usually discusses the similarities between two things, while the contrast essay discusses the differences.

Cause/Effect:

Examples:A cause/effect essay may explain . . .

The cause/effect essay explains why or how some event happened, and what resulted from the event.

This essay is a study of the relationship between two or more events or experiences. The essay could discuss both causes and effects, or it could simply address one or the other. A cause essay usually discusses the reasons why something happened. An effect essay discusses what happens after a specific event or circumstance.

The example below shows a cause essay, one that would explain how and why an event happened.

If this cause essay were about a volcanic eruption, it might go something like this: “Pressure and heat built up beneath the earth’s surface; the effect of this was an enormous volcanic eruption.”

The next example shows an effect essay, one that would explain all the effects that happened after a specific event, like a volcanic eruption.

If this effect essay were about a volcanic eruption again, it might go something like this:

“The eruption caused many terrible things to happen; it destroyed homes, forests, and polluted the atmosphere.”

Examples:A narrative essay could tell of . . .

The narrative essay tells a story. It can also be called a “short story.” Generally, the narrative essay is conversational in style and tells of a personal experience. It is most commonly written in the first person (uses I ). This essay could tell of a single, life-shaping event, or simply a mundane daily experience.

Examples: A process essay may explain . . .

A process essay describes how something is done. It generally explains actions that should be performed in a series. It can explain in detail how to accomplish a specific task, or it can show how an individual came to a certain personal awareness. The essay could be in the form of step-by-step instructions, or in story form, with the instructions/explanations subtly given along the way.

Argumentative:

Examples: An argumentative essay may persuade a reader that . . .

An argumentative essay is one that attempts to persuade the reader to the writer’s point of view. The writer can either be serious or funny, but always tries to convince the reader of the validity of his or her opinion. The essay may argue openly, or it may attempt to subtly persuade the reader by using irony or sarcasm.

Examples: A critical essay may analyze . . .

A critical essay analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, and methods of someone else’s work. Generally, these essays begin with a brief overview of the main points of the text, movie, or piece of art, followed by an analysis of the work’s meaning. It should then discuss how well the author/creator accomplishes his/her goals and makes his/her points. A critical essay can be written about another essay, story, book, poem, movie, or work of art.

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15 must-have essential resources for essay writing students.

December 20, 2018

As you may already be aware, essay writing is something you are expected to do very well in college. College students receive many writing assignments over the course of each semester. You may have to write research papers, argumentative essays, book reviews, and so on. But do you have time for all these assignments? Are you really able to complete each academic paper on time and dedicate enough time to it? Remember that you also need a bit of spare time every day to spend with your family and friends. You don’t want to become a recluse just because you have a lot of writing assignments to complete. Many students are wondering “who can write my essay for me” because they can’t manage to finish everything on time. The good news is that you don’t have to pay somebody to write your essay. You can just use some resources for student writers to speed up the process of writing academic papers.

Frequent Problems With Essay Writing

Student essay writers are having a very difficult time these days. They are left with very little time every day for themselves. There are many factors that force student essay writers to spend more time than is necessary on their assignments. Here are just a couple examples:

• Many students don’t know how to write essay papers correctly.
• Finding sources and books takes a lot of research.
• Searching for quotes and citations also takes quite a bit of time.
• Writing the outline is not simple at all.
• Checking the spelling and grammar take hours to complete.
• Editing the paper and making sure it follows all academic writing standards is a time-eater.

But did you know that many of these problems can be solved by using tools for writing essays? While you won’t be able to find software to write essay papers on its own, you can find some tools and resources that will assist you greatly. In other words, you will be able to complete each and every school assignment faster by using help you can find online.

The Benefits of Using Resources for Essay Writing

There are many benefits to using resources for essay writing. In most cases, the tools are free to use. They make the job of organizing your paper and of searching for academic sources a lot easier. Some tools will help you with grammar and spelling. Others will help you find books and information on almost any subject. You can even find an archive of newspaper editions dating back to 1851 if need be. Other resources are simply there to help college students learn how to write in proper academic language following all academic standards.

The List of the 15 Best Resources for Students

Of course, there are hundreds of resources for college students online. We are not suggesting that we know them all. However, here are the 15 best resources for students that we think are actually going to help you:

• Encyclopedia.com – This encyclopedia is trustworthy and features information from over 100 trusted sources. You can find information just about anything there, so it’s the best of the essay writing tools.
• Brainy Quote – This website has tens of thousands of quotes from thousands of authors. And all quotes are neatly sorted by author and topic, so it’s easy to find a great quote for your paper.
• ChaCha – You simply ask a question and other people reply to it. It is just like having a personal assistant who searches for information for you.
• The Dartmouth Writing Program – One of the essential resources for students
• The Internet Public Library – The IPL is your best resource if you need information and scholarly articles and essays.
• The New York Times – If you need old information, The New York Times has an archive where it maintains all its editions starting from 1851.
• Wayback Machine – This online resource maintains an archive of old web pages dating as far back as 1996. For any old news and information, this is the place to go.
• SparkNotes Online – Get writing help with grammar quickly
• MIT Writing Courses – Even if you are not attending MIT, you can get access to their writing courses. You have a lot to learn from them, guaranteed.
• Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab – You will find a lot of invaluable academic writing advice, writing guides and writing tips there.
• Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary – Why waste time looking through a hard copy when you can search online for any word you wish?
• Auto Crit – This tool helps with writing essays quickly as it can analyze your writing and tell you how to fix it.
• Academhack – This resource helps students learn to write essay papers by using tools found online
• Scholarpedia – A kind of Wikipedia, only maintained by scholars instead of regular users. One of the best essay writing resources!
• An Essay Writing Company – Get a professional academic writer to work on your essay or help you with anything from an outline to proofreading services

Use these resources for student writers with confidence knowing that they will help you in your quest to become a better, more efficient academic writer. Good luck!

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Blog • Understanding Publishing

Last updated on Jan 18, 2023

Reedsy’s Recommended Writer’s Resources for 2024

Here at Reedsy, we’re fortunate to work with some of the finest talents in the publishing industry — and these experts have shared their experience and knowledge with us in the form of tips, interviews and how-to guides. From developing fascinating characters to motivating yourself and submitting to writing contests, we’ve published articles on so many topics that it’s hard to keep track of them all.

On this page, we’re rounding up some of the best Reedsy articles so far, alongside some of our favorite, most trusted resources from elsewhere on the web. If there’s something specific you need help with, head to the relevant category in the table of contents for easier browsing. 

Finding ideas and inspiration

When you’re just looking for a nudge toward a creative idea, an element of randomness can help you get going. To get you started, the links below comprise our best and most entertaining options, from generators and prompts to our list of ideas for books.

50+ Book Ideas (and 11 Ways to Find Even More!) : A look at some of the ways authors come up with book ideas: from writing prompts to tarot cards and Craigslist ads, the point is to be fearlessly creative.

Title Generator : Give our title generator a whirl, then see if you can come up with a story to accompany the title. Here are just a few examples of the cryptic titles you can get: The Waxed Painting , Clue of the Forgotten Cottage , Ceasefire of the Senses .

Plot Generator : Need a premise for a story in a hurry? Try out this fun, free tool for creating a story out of thin air. You can lock certain variables while continuing to tweak others for maximum fun.

Creative Writing Prompts : Dip into our archive of over 1,100 prompts and, if you like, take part in our weekly short story contest. If you’re after specific genre ideas, you can browse 37 different genre categories.

FREE RESOURCE

Get our Book Development Template

Use this template to go from a vague idea to a solid plan for a first draft.

Tips for writing different genres

If you aren’t fully familiar with the distinctions between each category, head to our blog post outlining the most common book genres . Otherwise, you’ll find our writing tips for each genre below, complete with insights from pros.

🐉 Writing fantasy : Seven of the top fantasy editors in the industry share their expert tips on writing fantastical worlds and characters pursuing noble quests.

🏎 Writing thrillers : In this post, we break down the science of thriller writing into seven heart-stopping steps.

🚌 Writing Young Adult fiction : A guide on writing YA fiction straight from editor Kate Angelella .

🧪 Writing science fiction : Six tips from experienced science fiction editors who have worked at Penguin Random House, Dundurn Press, and Jolly Fish Press.

🔎 Writing mysteries : From hiding clues and establishing the perfect motive to constructing an intriguing sleuth, our tips for mystery writers will help you craft the perfect crime.

💕 Writing romance : Our best tips for breathing life into beloved tropes and helping your characters reach their heartwarming happy ever after.

🎭 Writing literary fiction : For writers keen to experiment, our steps to writing literary fiction help you find the writerly playground you need — as long as you’ve got something to say.

🧒🏾 Writing children's books : A step-by-step guide to writing for children, from figuring out your target age group to taking your readers seriously and polishing up your messy first draft.

👶🏻 Writing picture books : Looking to become the next Julia Donaldson or Doctor Seuss? You could do a lot worse than starting right here.   

🧑🏼‍🎓 Writing nonfiction : Our guide to planning, outlining, writing, and publishing nonfiction.

🧘‍♀️ Writing self-help : Our post covers Identifying the problem you’ll help your readers manage, persuading them to listen to you, and taking the stage to show them how to best help themselves.

🍲 Writing cookbooks : For those with culinary talents worth sharing, this blog post walks you through turning your recipes into a book people will want on their kitchen shelf.

📝 Writing memoirs : Our guide to memoirs examines the many forms a memoir can take, then helps you outline yours and step into your own narrative.

🦸🏿 Writing comic books : A two-part guide to producing and publishing your own series of comic books — superheroes optional.

Which genre (or subgenre) am I writing?

Find out which genre your book belongs to. It only takes a minute!

Starting to write a book

How to Build a Solid Writing Routine : A free Reedsy Learning course that will show you how to regularly find time for your writing.

How to Outline Your Novel : Grab three free outlining templates in this comprehensive guide to laying the groundwork for your first draft.

How to Start a Story : 11 professional editors share their best tips on how to start a story and seize your reader’s attention straight away.

How to Overcome Writer's Block : Vanquish the writer's dreaded foe, writer's block, once and for all! This post has 20+ strategies that you can use to get unstuck.

NaNoWriMo Pep Talks : A nonprofit known best for its annual November writing challenge, this website is also packed full of pep talks from beloved authors like Neil Gaiman, Brandon Sanderson, Meg Cabot, and Maggie Stiefvater. For more on the November challenge, head to our own NaNoWriMo post .

Self-Care for Authors : A blog post from our friends at Self-Publishing Formula, this is a great reminder that while productivity is important in the short term, mental health is even more important in the long term.

The 25+ Best Writing Tools : If you believe that a workman is only as good as his tools, make sure to check out this list of the most efficient writing aids to bolster your work.

The Best Novel Writing Software : The 21st century has given us the gift of technology. These are the best, most affordable pieces of novel writing software that writers shouldn’t miss.

The 16 Best Writing Apps : An impressive range of writing, editing, and productivity-enhancing apps for every kind of writer, from authors to content writers.

ProWritingAid : An editing and proofreading software that’s better suited to fiction writers than its giant competitor Grammarly , ProWritingAid is worth checking out. We’ve also reviewed it here on the Reedsy blog!

FREE OUTLINING APP

The Reedsy Book Editor

Use the Boards feature to plan, organize, or research anything.

Learning about craft elements

There’s a number of craft topics we keep getting questions about because they’re integral to writing a good book, and often complicated to get right. With guidance on topics like writing complex characters and organizing your work’s structure, this is our blog’s educational corner. Time to put your learning hat on! 👩‍🎓

Character Development : A character with a convincing arc is key to a satisfying book. This article will help you develop characters your readers won’t forget.

Dynamic vs Static Characters : A comparison of two important types of characters you’ll have to get to grips with.

The Ultimate Character Profile Template (Free download): Grab a free character profile template to supplement your character development. 

Point of View : A 4-part series on choosing the best point of view for your novel — first, second, third person, or multiple points of view? We also take a look at the differences between third person omniscient and limited POVs.

Mastering Story Structure : An in-depth guide to story structure, plus resources for using some of the most popular structural frameworks in storytelling.

Writing Dialogue : Learn how to write dialogue that doesn’t sound like two planks of wood talking to each other. Check out 150+ Other Words for "Said" To Supercharge Your Writing to download a free supplemental resource.

Diversity Style Guide : If you’re worried about how you’ve represented a particular group in your work and want to ensure you use respectful and sensitive language, this free resource allows you to search up specific terms for use advice compiled by various journalistic bodies.

The Ultimate Worldbuilding Template

130 questions to help create a world readers want to visit again and again.

Revising your work and leveling up your skills

Got a first draft together, and wondering where to go next? Typically, writers run their projects through a few rounds of self-editing first, then enlist the help of professional editors and volunteer beta readers.

How to Edit a Book : Download our free editing checklist that can guide you through the tricky minefield of editing a book.

How to Self-Edit Your Own Writing : Our top tips for refining your own prose, trimming off the excess and keeping only what’s of value.

Guide to Professional Editing : A look at how professional editors can help writers improve their books and grow their skills.

Reedsy’s Editors for Hire : If you didn’t already know, you can hire the industry’s most experienced editors right here on Reedsy. 

Give your book the help it deserves

The best editors, designers, and book marketers are on Reedsy. Sign up for free and meet them.

Learn how Reedsy can help you craft a beautiful book.

An Intro to Beta Readers : For a second opinion on your novel, turn to a writer's best friend: the beta reader.

51 Online Critique Circles to Improve Your Writing : If you’re looking for a source of regular feedback and don’t mind helping others in return, join a writing group. They’re a brilliant source of both insights and camaraderie.

The Ultimate List of Writing Contests : A great way to get your name out there, build up your writing credentials, and pocket some cash, writing contests have helped countless writers rise up from obscurity. Don’t forget Reedsy’s weekly prompts contest, of course!

Best Writing Communities and Best Writing Websites : Take a look at these lists to find tons of support and even more tips on how to succeed as a writer.  

Tell us about your book, and we'll give you a writing playlist

It'll only take a minute!

Publishing your work 

Once you’ve got a polished manuscript in your hands, it’s time to assess your publishing options. Without complicating matters, you will have two avenues to explore: you can look for a publishing deal, or you can self-publish. If you aren’t sure which option is right for you, check out our 1-minute quiz below, or head to our post comparing the two types of publishing .

Is self-publishing or traditional publishing right for you?

Takes one minute!

Traditional publishing

 If you’re serious about going down the traditional publishing route, you will need to think about submitting a query to a literary agent — or perhaps directly to publishers.

How to Publish a Book : A full publishing guide of best practices, whether you want to self-publish or publish traditionally.

The Best Literary Agents Seeking Submissions : Our Reedsy-vetted directory of 600+ literary agents across all genres and categories, with information on how and where to query them.

The Best Book Publishing Companies : A comprehensive directory of the best publishers, vetted by the team at Reedsy. 

How to Write a Query Letter in 7 Steps : A step-by-step guide (including a handy printable checklist) on crafting a killer query letter that will get agents to request your manuscript.

How to Find a Literary Agent for Your Book : Some more guidance on how to find the right literary agent for you.

How to Write a Book Proposal : A step-by-step guide (including a comprehensive template) on crafting a killer book proposal that will get agents to notice your nonfiction book.

Self-publishing

If you choose to take charge and self-publish a book, you’ll soon find yourself with a lot of questions. After all, you’re basically going to do the work of the publisher by yourself. But that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone — with Reedsy, you can now work with the best editors, designers, and marketers in the publishing business.

How to Self-Publish a Book : In which we show you how to self-publish an awesome book in seven simple steps.

The Best Self-Publishing Companies All Authors Should Know : Our picks for the best self-publishing companies in the industry today.

Author Scams and Publishing Companies to Avoid : Unfortunately, there are plenty of self-publishing companies out there that just want your money. Learn which ones to avoid and how to spot them with this guide.

The Complete Guide to Amazon Self-Publishing : The King of eBook retailers is a complicated platform, but a great option for self-publishers. We boil it down to the essentials.

How Much Does It Cost to Self-Publish a Book? : Using data from the Reedsy network, we unveil the current costs of hiring pros like developmental editors, proofreaders, designers, and formatters.

How Does Reedsy Choose Its Professionals? : We’re a professional marketplace with a difference, in that we accept only 3% of all the applications we receive from professionals. Find out more about our selection process.

Marketing yourself and your book

Many writers assume that a traditional book deal will mean they have zero marketing duties. The truth is that both indie and traditionally published authors have to invest significant time in promoting their own work, as big publishers spend much of their marketing budget on household names or celebrity authors. Regardless of how you’re publishing, the resources below can help you figure out how to reach people with your book.

How to Build an Author Website : We walk you through seven simple steps for setting up and populating a key marketing tool, your author website.

6 Steps for Building Your Author Mailing List : As Reedsy’s Ricardo Fayet always says, any sale you make when you don’t have a mailing list is a lost opportunity. Find out how to start yours and start building a relationship with your readers.

How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market by Ricardo Fayet (book): For a friendly and comprehensive guide answering all your marketing questions, download Reedsy's free ebook. 

Social Media for Writers — The Complete Guide : Everything you need to know about the major platforms and how to use them.

Facebook Advertising for Authors : A must-read two-part series from best-selling author Mark Dawson, covering a platform that allows you to target very specific segments based on things like location, gender, age, and interests.

BookBub Ads Expert by David Gaughran (book): A book walking you through the intricacies of BookBub’s ad platform, from our friend and marketing expert David Gaughran.

70+ Book Marketing Ideas To Rocket-Boost Your Sales : Whether you’re just getting started or are feeling stuck, there’s definitely something to inspire you in this list of 70 ways to market your book.

Keeping current with the publishing industry

The publishing industry never sits still. From reading trends to new technologies to policy changes by Amazon, it’s beneficial for every author to keep up with what publishers and big players in the self-publishing industry are up to. The resources below can help you do just that. 

The Hot Sheet (paid newsletter): Jane Friedman’s newsletter offers in-depth, journalistic coverage of publishing developments in both traditional and indie publishing communities.

Writer Beware : Blog alerting the indie community to reports of scammy behaviors. It’s sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, and has helped countless writers avoid industry pitfalls.

Alliance of Independent Authors : A membership association for self-publishing authors, ALLi champions the rights and interests of indie writers — for example, 2022 saw ALLi successfully campaign against Amazon’s ebook return policy, which was then revised. 

The Creative Penn Podcast : Run by author and entrepreneur Joanna Penn, one of the most trusted voices in publishing, this podcast can help you keep up with industry news as well as technological developments, the latter being a topic Joanna is consistently curious about. 

Catapult’s Don’t Write Alone series : This series of essays published by Catapult aims to bring a sense of solidarity to writers dealing with similar struggles — check it out for essays relating to rejection, motivation, productivity, and craft improvement.

Writer’s Digest : You probably don’t need our recommendation to check out this popular magazine — its many years of website archives are a treasure trove of advice on countless subjects relating to writing and publishing a book.

Nathan Bransford : Author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford runs a blog that shares invaluable insights from the literary trenches. His resources on all things literary agent are great for any author new to the ways of traditional publishing.

Self-Publishing Insiders podcast : Draft2Digital’s podcast tackles a wide range of self-publishing topics, from crafting a better book to marketing it successfully. Our favorite episode? The one featuring Reedsy’s Ricardo Fayet , of course.

Smith Publicity’s podcast : This podcast sees guests share tips on book marketing and publicity — topics have ranged from understanding reader niches to becoming an in-demand public speaker, amplifying marginalized voices, and establishing yourself as a thought leader.

Self-Publishing Show Live : One of our favorite conferences relating to indie publishing, SPS Live takes place annually in London. The largest of its kind across the Atlantic, you’ll no doubt meet hundreds of enthusiastic, energetic indie authors at this conference — and us, of course! Come along to meet the Reedsy gang and get inspiration from your fellow authors.

The path to publication can have its tricky moments, but you’re never on it alone. With all of the resources available on the internet, there’s always someone you can turn to for advice. If you fancy hearing from us when we publish new guides and tips from the world of publishing, sign up to our newsletter here .

3 responses

Angela Ackerman says:

29/12/2016 – 19:47

Good to see this all put together--I get a lot of very broad publishing questions that can't be answered simply in an email or DM, so this article is a good go-to for me to pass on. ;) Angela

↪️ Reedsy replied:

30/12/2016 – 09:52

Glad you like it, Angela! That's also why we decided to compile this list of resources. And thanks for pointing authors to our blog! :)

Natasha says:

21/08/2019 – 03:14

Thank you for sharing!

Comments are currently closed.

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150 Best Writing Tools and Resources [2024 Edition]

I can almost hear you thinking:

The list with tools. Again. How many more articles like this do we need to decide on the best resources for writers? Or is it going to be a list of writing tools for students?

Whether you write essays, business articles, or books, you should bookmark this page. Here I’ve gathered all the best tools for writers by categories and needs. Now you can find them in one place and save time on searching.

• Inspiration and idea organization
• Writing apps for planning: titles, theses, outlines
• Distraction-free online writing tools
• Essay writing tools for students
• Business writing tools and resources
• Creative writing tools
• Book writing tools and resources
• Best writing tools for proofreading and editing
• Checking for plagiarism and quality
• Tools for writers to cite sources

Inspiration and Idea Organization

These apps will come in handy for everyone working with text content. They help take notes, organize thoughts, and brainstorm ideas for your future content. College students can use them to craft to-do lists for their academic assignments.

Writing Apps for Planning: Titles, Theses, Outlines

These tools are popular among bloggers and copywriters working with many articles daily. They help beginners plan tasks better. Feel free to use them for generating titles and outlines. If you’re at school or university, they help with research and essay writing.

Distraction-Free Online Writing Tools

Authors know how frustrating a writing process is when something disturbs you. These tools help overcome writer’s block, catch the muse by the tail, and write faster.

Essay Writing Tools for Students

College students often struggle with essay writing. No wonder: Too many rules to know and too many details to remember. These resources will assist with every step of academic paper creation.

Business Writing Tools and Resources

Whether you write emails, business essays in school, or business articles, check these resources. Here are glossaries, samples, and other handy information on business content creation.

Creative Writing Tools

These tools are great supplies for writers of creative content. They’ll help generate ideas, craft drafts, and write engaging assets for different audiences.

Book Writing Tools and Resources

Consider these apps and tools for creating characters and organizing book plots . They’ll help you remember the storytelling principles and overcome writer’s block. Some are book writing software to save your whole story in one place.

Best Writing Tools for Proofreading and Editing

Authors know the writing process isn’t over after a draft is ready. Now it’s time to revise and edit it. These tools are the best for proofreading your work and checking its grammar. If you don’t have resources for hiring a professional editor, the below list is your helping hand.

Checking for Plagiarism and Quality

These tools are the best plagiarism and readability checkers. They’ll help avoid duplications and polish your texts for better quality.

Tools for Writers to Cite Sources

For those crafting academic papers or nonfiction based on research, it’s critical to provide sources they used. These tools and resources will help to cite them right. (Practical for school or college students dealing with reference lists in essays round-the-clock.)

• What is the most used writing tool?

The most used writing tool is Google Docs. Authors outline and write drafts there, share docs with clients and editors, and save texts in a cloud. Grammarly is the most popular one for proofreading and editing your texts. And those willing to check their texts for originality use Duplichecker or PlagiarismCheck .

• What are the best AI writing tools?

For today, the best AI writing tools are Jasper, Copy AI, and Textero . Many content creators also use ChatGPT : It saves time on research and idea generation.

• Which Google Docs tool can help you find synonyms to improve your word choice?

There’s no separate tool to install for this feature but a built-in dictionary in Google Docs. Go to Tools > Dictionary to find synonyms or word definitions in your document. Or, you can press Ctrl + Shift + Y to see them.

• What are some apps that write essays for you?

School and college students make the most of AI tools for essay writing. They use ChatGPT, Copy AI, and Jasper . These tools are great for deciding on an essay topic idea, generating a thesis statement, or outlining your future essays. Such apps can also help with essay proofreading, and you can ask them for up-to-date information to use as evidence.

• What is the best book-writing software?

I would recommend Reedsy, Novel Factory, and yWriter . Each helps you develop characters, create narrative arcs, and organize story plots. For an all-in-one decision to write, publish, and distribute books, try Fast Pencil . Vellum can be your choice if you write business e-books and want to prepare them for publishing.

• Essay samples
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Student Opinion

310 Prompts for Argumentative Writing

Questions on everything from mental health and sports to video games and dating. Which ones inspire you to take a stand?

By Natalie Proulx

Does social media harm young people’s mental health? Do video games deserve the bad rap they often get? Should parents track their children? Who is the greatest athlete of all time?

Every school day, we publish new questions for students based on the news of the day, including prompts, like these, that inspire persuasive writing.

Below, we’ve rounded up over 300 of those argumentative prompts, organized by topic, all in one place. They cover everything from parenting and schools to music and social media. Each one, drawn from our Student Opinion column , links to a free New York Times article as well as additional subquestions that can help you think more deeply about it.

You can use these prompts however you like, whether to inspire an entry for our new Open Letter Contest , to hone your persuasive writing skills or simply to share your opinions on the issues of today. So scroll through the list below and see which ones inspire you to take a stand.

If you enjoy these questions, know that you can find all of our argumentative writing prompts, as they publish, here . Students 13 and up from anywhere in the world are invited to comment.

Argumentative Prompt Topics

Technology and social media, college, work and money, health and relationships, gender and race, arts and entertainment, parenting and childhood, government and politics, animals, science and time.

Social Media

1. Does Social Media Harm Young People’s Mental Health? 2. How Much Should Speech Be Moderated on Social Media? 3. Should the United States Ban TikTok? 4. How Young Is Too Young to Use Social Media? 5. Should Kids Be Social Media Influencers? 6. What Should Be Done to Protect Children Online? 7. Should There Be Separate Social Media Apps for Children? 8. Are You a Fan of ‘School Accounts’ on Social Media? 9. Will Social Media Help or Hurt Your College and Career Goals? 10. Is It Ever OK to Use Strangers as Content for Social Media?

Phones and Devices

11. Should More Teenagers Ditch Their Smartphones? 12. Should the Adults in Your Life Be Worried by How Much You Use Your Phone? 13. Should Phones Ever Be a Part of Family or Holiday Gatherings? 14. What Are Your Texting Dos and Don’ts? 15. Does Grammar Still Matter in the Age of Twitter? 16. Is Your Phone Love Hurting Your Relationships? 17. Should Texting While Driving Be Treated Like Drunken Driving? 18. How Young Is Too Young for an Apple Watch?

The Internet

19. Do Memes Make the Internet a Better Place? 20. How Excited Are You About the Metaverse? 21. Should Websites Force Users to Prove How Old They Are? 22. What Is the Best Way to Stop Abusive Language Online? 23. How Do You Feel About Cancel Culture? 24. Does Online Public Shaming Prevent Us From Being Able to Grow and Change? 25. Do You Think Online Conspiracy Theories Can Be Dangerous? 26. Does Technology Make Us More Alone?

School Discipline and Attendance

27. Should Schools Ban Cellphones? 28. How Should Schools Hold Students Accountable for Hurting Others? 29. What Are Your Thoughts on Uniforms and Strict Dress Codes? 30. Should Schools Test Their Students for Nicotine and Drug Use? 31. How Can Schools Engage Students Who Are at Risk of Dropping Out? 32. Should Students Be Allowed to Miss School for Mental Health Reasons? 33. Should Your School Day Start Later? 34. Should There Still Be Snow Days? 35. Do Kids Need Recess? 36. Should Students Be Punished for Not Having Lunch Money?

School Quality and Effectiveness

37. How Do You Think American Education Could Be Improved? 38. Do Schools Need to Do More to Hold Students Accountable? 39. Are Straight A’s Always a Good Thing? 40. Should Students Have the Same Teachers Year After Year? 41. Do Teachers Assign Too Much Homework? 42. Should We Get Rid of Homework? 43. Should We Eliminate Gifted and Talented Programs? 44. Is It Time to Get Rid of Timed Tests? 45. What Role Should Textbooks Play in Education? 46. How Should Senior Year in High School Be Spent? 47. Does Your School Need More Money? 48. Do School Employees Deserve More Respect — and Pay? 49. Should Public Preschool Be a Right for All Children?

Teaching and Learning

50. Do You Think We Need to Change the Way Math Is Taught? 51. Should Financial Literacy Be a Required Course in School? 52. Should Schools Teach Students Kitchen and Household Skills? 53. Do We Need Better Music Education? 54. What Are the Most Important Things Students Should Learn in School? 55. What Is the Purpose of Teaching U.S. History? 56. Do Schools Need to Do More to Support Visual Thinkers? 57. Is School a Place for Self-Expression? 58. Should Media Literacy Be a Required Course in School? 59. Can Empathy Be Taught? Should Schools Try to Help Us Feel One Another’s Pain? 60. Should Schools Teach You How to Be Happy? 61. Should All Schools Teach Cursive? 62. Should Kids Still Learn to Tell Time? 63. How Important Is Knowing a Foreign Language

Technology in School

64. How Should Schools Respond to ChatGPT? 65. Does Learning to Be a Good Writer Still Matter in the Age of A.I.? 66. Is Online Learning Effective? 67. Should Students Be Monitored When Taking Online Tests? 68. Should Schools Be Able to Discipline Students for What They Say on Social Media? 69. Can Social Media Be a Tool for Learning and Growth in Schools? 70. Should Facial Recognition Technology Be Used in Schools? 71. Is Live-Streaming Classrooms a Good Idea? 72. Should Teachers and Professors Ban Student Use of Laptops in Class? 73. Are the Web Filters at Your School Too Restrictive?

Education Politics

74. Do You Feel Your School and Teachers Welcome Both Conservative and Liberal Points of View? 75. Should Students Learn About Climate Change in School? 76. Should Teachers Provide Trigger Warnings for ‘Traumatic Content’? 77. Should Teachers Be Allowed to Wear Political Symbols? 78. What Do You Think About Efforts to Ban Books From School Libraries? 79. What Is Your Reaction to the Growing Fight Over What Young People Can Read? 80. What Do You Think About the Controversy Surrounding the New A.P. Course on African American Studies? 81. Should Schools or Employers Be Allowed to Tell People How They Should Wear Their Hair? 82. Does Prayer Have Any Place in Public Schools? 83. Should Schools Be Allowed to Censor Student Newspapers?

College Admissions

84. Should Colleges Consider Standardized Tests in Admissions? 85. Should Students Let ChatGPT Help Them Write Their College Essays? 86. What Is Your Reaction to the End of Race-Based Affirmative Action in College Admissions? 87. Are Early-Decision Programs Unfair? Should Colleges Do Away With Them? 88. Is the College Admissions Process Fair? 89. How Much Do You Think It Matters Where You Go to College? 90. Should Everyone Go to College? 91. Should College Be Free? 92. Is Student Debt Worth It? 93. Should High Schools Post Their Annual College Lists?

Campus Life

94. What Should Free Speech Look Like on Campus? 95. Should Greek Life on College Campuses Come to an End? 96. Should Universities Work to Curtail Student Drinking? 97. How Should the Problem of Sexual Assault on Campuses Be Addressed? 98. Are Lavish Amenities on College Campuses Useful or Frivolous? 99. Should ‘Despised Dissenters’ Be Allowed to Speak on College Campuses? 100. Should Emotional Support Animals Be Allowed on College Campuses?

Jobs and Careers

101. Is High School a Good Time to Train for a Career? 102. Is There Such a Thing as a ‘Useless’ College Major? 103. Should All High School Students Have Part-Time Jobs? 104. Should National Service Be Required for All Young Americans? 105. Is It OK to Use Family Connections to Get a Job?

Money and Business

106. Do You Think the American Dream Is Real? 107. Should All Young People Learn How to Invest in the Stock Market? 108. Should We All Go Cashless? 109. When Should You Tip? 110. Should We End the Practice of Tipping? 111. Are You a Crypto Optimist or Skeptic? 112. Do Celebrities and Influencers Make You Want to Buy What They’re Selling? 113. Is $1 Billion Too Much Money for Any One Person to Have? 114. Are C.E.O.s Paid Too Much? 115. Is It Immoral to Increase the Price of Goods During a Crisis? 116. What Should Stores Do With Unsold Goods? 117. Is There a ‘Right Way’ to Be a Tourist? 118. Who Should We Honor on Our Money?

Mental Health

119. Is Teen Mental Health in a State of Crisis? 120. ‘Love-Bombing.’ ‘Gaslighting.’ ‘Victim.’ Is ‘Trauma Talk’ Overused? 121. Does Achieving Success Always Include Being Happy? 122. Is Struggle Essential to Happiness? 123. Should Schools Teach Mindfulness? 124. How Can We Bring an End to the ‘Epidemic of Loneliness’? 125. Does Every Country Need a ‘Loneliness Minister’? 126. What Ideas Do You Have to Bring Your Community Closer Together? 127. Are Emotional-Support Animals a Scam? 128. Is It OK to Laugh During Dark Times?

Dating and Relationships

129. Who Should Pay for Dates? 130. Do Marriage Proposals Still Have a Place in Today’s Society? 131. Should Your Significant Other Be Your Best Friend? 132. How Do You Think Technology Affects Dating?

Physical Health

133. Should Governments Do More to Discourage People From Smoking and Vaping? 134. How Should Adults Talk to Kids About Drugs? 135. Can Laziness Be a Good Thing? 136. Should There Be Requirements for Teens Who Want to Ride E-Bikes? 137. What Advice Should Parents and Counselors Give Teenagers About Sexting? 138. Should All Children Be Vaccinated? 139. Do We Worry Too Much About Germs?

140. Is It Becoming More Acceptable for Men and Boys to Cry? 141. Is It Harder for Men and Boys to Make and Keep Friends? 142. Should Award Shows Eliminate Gendered Categories? 143. Should There Be More Gender Options on Identification Documents? 144. Justice Ginsburg Fought for Gender Equality. How Close Are We to Achieving That Goal? 145. What Should #MeToo Mean for Teenage Boys? 146. What Is Hard About Being a Boy? 147. Should There Be More Boy Dolls? 148. Is Single-Sex Education Still Useful? 149. Are Beauty Pageants Still Relevant? 150. Should Period Products Be Free? 151. What Are Your Thoughts on Last Names? 152. What Rules Should Apply to Transgender Athletes When They Compete? 153. What Is Your Reaction to the Recent Wave of Legislation That Seeks to Regulate the Lives of Transgender Youths? 154. What Do You Wish Lawmakers Knew About How Anti-L.G.B.T.Q. Legislation Affects Teenagers?

Identity, Race and Ethnicity

155. How Should Schools Respond to Racist Jokes? 156. How Should Parents Teach Their Children About Race and Racism? 157. What Is Your Reaction to Efforts to Limit Teaching on Race in Schools? 158. How Should Racial Slurs in Literature Be Handled in the Classroom? 159. Should Confederate Statues Be Removed or Remain in Place? 160. Should We Rename Schools Named for Historical Figures With Ties to Racism, Sexism or Slavery? 161. How Should We Remember the Problematic Actions of the Nation’s Founders? 162. Does the United States Owe Reparations to the Descendants of Enslaved People? 163. What Can History Teach Us About Resilience? 164. Should All Americans Receive Anti-Bias Education? 165. Is Fear of ‘The Other’ Poisoning Public Life? 166. What Stereotypical Characters Make You Cringe? 167. When Talking About Identity, How Much Do Words Matter? 168. How Useful Is It to Be Multilingual?

TV and Movies

169. Is True Crime As a Form of Entertainment Ethical? 170. Should Old TV Shows Be Brought Back? 171. Does Reality TV Deserve Its Bad Rap? 172. How Closely Should Actors’ Identities Reflect the Roles They Play? 173. In the Age of Digital Streaming, Are Movie Theaters Still Relevant? 174. Do We Need More Female Superheroes? 175. Is Hollywood Becoming More Diverse? 176. When Does Lying in Comedy Cross a Line? 177. How Do You Feel About ‘Nepotism Babies’?

Music and Video Games

178. Will A.I. Replace Pop Stars? 179. If Two Songs Sound Alike, Is It Stealing? 180. Should Musicians Be Allowed to Copy or Borrow From Other Artists? 181. How Do You Feel About Censored Music? 182. What Are the Greatest Songs of All Time? 183. Do Video Games Deserve the Bad Rap They Often Get? 184. Should There Be Limits on How Much Time Young People Spend Playing Video Games? 185. Should More Parents Play Video Games With Their Kids?

186. Are A.I.-Generated Pictures Art? 187. What Work of Art Should Your Friends Fall in Love With? 188. If Artwork Offends People, Should It Be Removed? 189. Should Museums Return Looted Artifacts to Their Countries of Origin? 190. Should Art Come With Trigger Warnings? 191. Is the Digital Era Improving or Ruining the Experience of Art? 192. Are Museums Still Important in the Digital Age? 193. Can You Separate Art From the Artist? 194. Are There Subjects That Should Be Off-Limits to Artists, or to Certain Artists in Particular? 195. Should Graffiti Be Protected?

Books and Literature

196. Is Listening to a Book Just as Good as Reading It? 197. Should Classic Children’s Books Be Updated for Today’s Young Readers? 198. Should White Writers Translate a Black Author’s Work? 199. Is There Any Benefit to Reading Books You Hate? 200. Should Libraries Get Rid of Late Fees?

201. What’s the Best — and Worst — Part of Being a Sports Fan? 202. Who Is the GOAT? 203. Do Women’s Sports Deserve More Attention? 204. What Should Be Done About the Gender Pay Gap in Sports? 205. Should Girls and Boys Sports Teams Compete in the Same League? 206. Should More Sports Be Coed? 207. College Athletes Can Now Be Paid. But Not All of Them Are Seeing Money. Is That Fair? 208. Should High School-Age Basketball Players Be Able to Get Paid? 209. Are Some Youth Sports Too Intense? 210. Are Youth Sports Too Competitive? 211. Is It Bad Sportsmanship to Run Up the Score in Youth Sports? 212. Is It Ethical to Be a Football Fan? 213. Does the N.F.L. Have a Race Problem? 214. What New Rules Would Improve Your Favorite Sport? 215. What Sports Deserve More Hype? 216. How Should We Punish Sports Cheaters? 217. Should Technology in Sports Be Limited? 218. Does Better Sports Equipment Unfairly Improve Athletic Ability? 219. Is It Offensive for Sports Teams and Their Fans to Use Native American Names, Imagery and Gestures? 220. Is It Selfish to Pursue Risky Sports Like Extreme Mountain Climbing? 221. Should Cheerleading Be an Olympic Sport?

Related Writing Prompt

222. Should Parents Ever Be Held Responsible for the Harmful Actions of Their Children? 223. Where Is the Line Between Helping a Child Become More Resilient and Pushing Them Too Hard? 224. Should Parents Give Children More Responsibility at Younger Ages? 225. Should Parents Tell Children the Truth About Santa? 226. Should Parents Weigh in on Their Kids’ Dating Lives? 227. Should Parents Track Their Children? 228. How Should Parents Support a Student Who Has Fallen Behind in School? 229. Do Parents Ever Cross a Line by Helping Too Much With Schoolwork? 230. What’s the Best Way to Discipline Children? 231. What Are Your Thoughts on ‘Snowplow Parents’? 232. Should Stay-at-Home Parents Be Paid? 233. Should Parents Bribe Their Children?

Childhood and Growing Up

234. Is It Harder to Grow Up in the 21st Century Than It Was in the Past? 235. Is Childhood Today Over-Supervised? 236. When Do You Become an Adult? 237. Who Should Decide Whether a Teenager Can Get a Tattoo or Piercing? 238. Do We Give Children Too Many Trophies? 239. What Can Older Generations Learn From Gen Z? 240. What Is the Worst Toy Ever?

Legislation and Policy

241. Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished? 242. Should Marijuana Be Legal? 243. Should the United States Decriminalize the Possession of Drugs? 244. What Is Your Reaction to the State of Abortion Rights? 245. Should the Government Cancel Student Debt? 246. Should Public Transit Be Free? 247. Should There Be More Public Restrooms? 248. Should the U.S. Be Doing More to Prevent Child Poverty? 249. Should the Government Provide a Guaranteed Income for Families With Children? 250. Should Law Enforcement Be Able to Use DNA Data From Genealogy Websites for Criminal Investigations?

Gun Violence

251. Are You Concerned About Violence in America? 252. How Should Americans Deal With the Problem of Gun Violence? 253. What Should Lawmakers Do About Guns and Gun Violence? 254. Should the U.S. Ban Military-Style Semiautomatic Weapons? 255. Should Teachers Be Armed With Guns?

Voting and Elections

256. How Much Faith Do You Have in the U.S. Political System? 257. Is the Electoral College a Problem? Does It Need to Be Fixed? 258. Does Everyone Have a Responsibility to Vote? 259. Should We All Be Able to Vote by Mail? 260. Should There Be a Minimum Voting Age? 261. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? 262. Should Ex-Felons Have the Right to Vote? 263. Are Presidential Debates Helpful to Voters? Or Should They Be Scrapped?

Freedoms and Rights

264. How Important Is Freedom of the Press? 265. Why Does the Right to Protest Matter? 266. Does the U.S. Constitution Need an Equal Rights Amendment? 267. Do You Care Who Sits on the Supreme Court? Should We Care? 268. Should You Have a Right to Be Rude? 269. Should Prisons Offer Incarcerated People Education Opportunities?

Civic Participation

270. Are You Optimistic About the State of the World? 271. If You Could Take On One Problem Facing Our World, What Would It Be? 272. If You Were Mayor, What Problems Facing Your Community Would You Tackle? 273. Do You Think Teenagers Can Make a Difference in the World? 274. Do You Think It Is Important for Teenagers to Participate in Political Activism? 275. Is Your Generation Doing Its Part to Strengthen Our Democracy? 276. How Is Your Generation Changing Politics? 277. Why Is It Important for People With Different Political Beliefs to Talk to Each Other? 278. Are We Being Bad Citizens If We Don’t Keep Up With the News? 279. Why Do Bystanders Sometimes Fail to Help When They See Someone in Danger? 280. When Is It OK to Be a Snitch? 281. Should Reporters Ever Help the People They Are Covering? 282. Should Celebrities Weigh In on Politics? 283. Should Athletes Speak Out On Social and Political Issues? 284. Should Corporations Take Political Stands? 285. What Do You Think the Role of the First Lady — or First Spouse — Should Be Today?

286. Is Animal Testing Ever Justified? 287. What Is Our Responsibility to Lab Animals? 288. What Are Your Thoughts About Hunting Animals? 289. Should We Be Concerned With Where We Get Our Pets? 290. What Do You Think of Pet Weddings? 291. Is It Wrong to Focus on Animal Welfare When Humans Are Suffering? 292. Should We Bring Back Animals From Extinction? 293. Are Zoos Immoral? 294. Do Bugs Deserve More Respect?

Environment and Science

295. What Role Should Young People Play in the Fight Against Climate Change? 296. Should We Be More Optimistic About Efforts to Combat Climate Change? 297. How Far Is Too Far in the Fight Against Climate Change? 298. Should Plastic Bags Be Banned Everywhere? 299. Is It Ethical to Create Genetically Edited Humans? 300. Should We Still Be Sending Astronauts to Space? 301. Do You Think Pluto Should Be a Planet? 302. Should We Treat Robots Like People?

Time and Seasons

303. What Is the Best Month of the Year? What Is the Worst? 304. Would Life Be Better Without Time Zones? 305. Do You Think It Is Time to Get Rid of Daylight Saving Time? 306. When Do Holiday Decorations Go From Festive to Excessive? 307. Should We Rethink Thanksgiving? 308. When Does a Halloween Costume Cross the Line? 309. Should School Be a Place to Celebrate Halloween? 310. Should the Week Be Four Days Instead of Five?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

Natalie Proulx joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2017 after working as an English language arts teacher and curriculum writer. More about Natalie Proulx

6 Best Paper Writing Services: Legitimate Essay Writing Services

A re you searching for essay assistance or a legitimate company that can compose your essay? There are hundreds or even thousands of essay writing services available online. Each claims to be the preeminent essay writer for pupils. Difficulty may arise when attempting to discern a legitimate writing service from a fraudulent one.

You did indeed read that accuratelyIf you are at a loss for words and the due date is quickly approaching, you can seek the assistance of reputable essay writing services.

A person might query, "How can I ascertain which service merits my confidence?" That is a valid concern. Because there are so many online options, becoming perplexed and uncertain about which ones to believe is simple.

At this point, we enter the picture. By navigating you through the bewildering world of these services, we will assist you in locating the finest paper writing services. We will discuss every aspect, from reputable companies with a track record of delivering high-quality work to websites that provide affordable prices without compromising standards.

This page addresses your inquiry regarding the optimal approach to obtaining an essay from a reputable academic service.

6 Best Paper Writing Services:

• ProWritingCrew 
• EssayMasterz 
• EssayScribez  
• SkilledEssayWriter
• EssayLegend
• QualityEssayWriter 

The sites were ranked by how good the papers were, how helpful the customer service was, and how much they cost. They don't use ChatGPT or any other AI tools to write material, so the papers they give you are original and can't be copied.

Difficulties In Writing

Writer's block: .

Writer's block, arguably the most infamous barrier, can manifest abruptly, devoid of any discernible path or strategy, leaving the author blank-spaced.

Lack of Inspiration: 

Even when ideas flow, writers may need help finding inspiration or motivation to develop their thoughts into coherent writing pieces.

Time Constraints: 

Balancing writing with other responsibilities such as work, school, or family commitments can be challenging, leading to limited time for writing or research.

Perfectionism: 

The pursuit of perfection may induce writerly paralysis, wherein they laboriously revise and edit their work rather than progressing along the writing process.

Organization and Structure:

Determining a coherent framework and systematically arranging ideas can prove challenging, particularly when confronted with intricate subjects or protracted undertakings.

Research Challenges: 

Conducting thorough research and finding credible sources can be time-consuming and overwhelming, particularly for topics that are unfamiliar or require in-depth analysis.

Self-Doubt: 

Doubting one's writing abilities or fearing criticism from others can hinder creativity and confidence, making it difficult to express ideas effectively.

Procrastination: 

Putting off writing tasks until the last minute can result in rushed and subpar work, which can lead to increased stress and lower-quality outcomes.

Editing and Proofreading: 

Polishing and refining written work through editing and proofreading requires attention to detail and a critical eye, which can be challenging for some writers.

Writer's Fatigue: 

Writing for extended periods can be mentally and physically exhausting, decreasing productivity and creativity over time.

1.ProWritingCrew

ProWritingCrew is a preeminent provider of academic papers recognized for its professionalism, dependability, and outstanding quality. They offer a vast array of services to accommodate the requirements of both students and professionals, utilizing a group of seasoned writers and editors. ProWritingCrew provides superior essays, research papers, dissertations, and individualized presentations to meet each client's needs.

Why I Think They Are the Best:

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Countries They Write For:

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2. EssayMasterz

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3. EssayScribez 

EssayScribez is a trusted paper writing service that provides students high-quality academic assistance. With a team of skilled writers and editors, EssayScribez offers a range of services tailored to meet the diverse needs of students across various academic disciplines.

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EssayScribez provides writing services to students from around the world, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries.

The pricing at EssayScribez is competitive and transparent, with rates varying depending on factors such as the type of paper, academic level, deadline, and word count. 

In conclusion, EssayScribez is a reputable paper writing service that delivers high-quality academic assistance to students worldwide. With its experienced team of writers, commitment to customer satisfaction, and competitive pricing, it is a top choice for students seeking expert 

writing support.

4. SkilledEssayWriter 

SkilledEssayWriter is a reputable paper writing service that provides high-quality academic assistance to students worldwide. With a team of experienced writers and editors, SkilledEssayWriter offers a wide range of services tailored to meet the diverse needs of students across various academic levels and disciplines.

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SkilledEssayWriter provides writing services to students from around the globe, including but not limited to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Europe.

The pricing at SkilledEssayWriter is Student-friendly, with rates varying depending on factors such as the type of paper, academic level, deadline, and word count. 

In conclusion, SkilledEssayWriter is a reliable and reputable paper writing service that delivers high-quality academic assistance to students worldwide. Their experienced team of writers, commitment to customer satisfaction, and competitive pricing make them a top choice for 

5. EssayLegend 

About essaylegend:.

EssayLegend is a trusted paper writing service committed to providing students with top-quality academic assistance. With a team of skilled writers and editors, EssayLegend offers various services tailored to meet the diverse needs of students across different academic disciplines.

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EssayLegend provides writing services to students from various countries worldwide, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other international locations.

EssayLegend offers competitive and transparent pricing, with rates dependent on factors such as the type of paper, academic level, deadline, and word count. 

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6. QualityEssayWriter 

QualityEssayWriter is a distinguished paper writing service that provides students with exceptional academic assistance. With a team of proficient writers and editors, QualityEssayWriter offers a comprehensive range of services tailored to meet the diverse needs of students across various academic disciplines.

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QualityEssayWriter caters to students from across the globe, including but not limited to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other international locations.

The pricing at QualityEssayWriter is transparent and competitive. Rates vary based on factors such as the type of paper, academic level, deadline, and word count. They offer flexible pricing options to accommodate different budgets and needs, ensuring affordability without compromising quality.

How do I know if a paper writing service is legitimate?

Legitimate paper writing services typically have transparent policies, customer reviews, and clear communication channels. Look for services with verified testimonials and secure payment options to ensure legitimacy.

What factors should I consider when choosing a paper writing service?

Consider factors such as reputation, quality of writing, pricing, customer support, turnaround time, and guarantees offered by the service.

What if I need more than the quality of the paper I receive?

Reputable paper writing services typically offer revisions or refunds if you want more than the quality of the work. Check the service's policies regarding revisions and refunds before placing an order.

Do these paper-writing services provide any assurances?

Undoubtedly, authentic paper writing services frequently offer assurances, including confidentiality, money-back, and satisfaction. Consult the service's guarantee policies to understand your customer rights.

Do these paper writing services specialize in particular subject matters or academic levels?

Most paper writing services assist with various academic levels and topics. Whether one is a high school student or a doctoral candidate, there are services available that provide individualized educational support.

Conclusion:

Remember to use these services ethically and responsibly, adhere to academic integrity guidelines, and utilize the papers as valuable learning resources. With the support of these legitimate essay writing services, you can overcome educational challenges, excel in your studies, and embark on a path to success.

So, whether you're a student striving for academic excellence or a professional seeking expert writing assistance, the seven best paper writing services highlighted in this guide are your trusted partners in achieving your goals. Harness the power of these reputable services and confidently embark on your journey to academic and professional success.

Note: This article is for information purposes only and does not contain any recommendation from us for the readers.