Informative Essay: The Main Tips on Writing

There is hardly a high school or a college student who has not been assigned an informative essay on a great variety of topics. However, each student thinks it is he/she who has the most difficulties completing this task. Although the point of an essay seems rather obvious from its type, the topic often gives you some trouble. You may not know how to reveal its if you pick the topic yourself. If it is chosen for you by your teacher, you may know nothing about it, which makes it immensely difficult to start writing. Writing an informative essay will get much easier if you consider the following tips collected by EssayWriters.us for you.

The Definition of an Informative Essay

Some students get too worried about the type of an essay when they hear it. They struggle to learn as much as possible about how to write an informative essay as if they have no clue as to what it is. Sometimes, this preliminary research takes too much time and is often completely unnecessary. Every student has written either this type of essay or a very similar one already. An informative essay aims at revealing a topic by explaining different standpoints and providing the reader with general information. It is extremely important not to prove anything in this type of essay.

Essays of a Similar Origin

As we’ve mentioned above, some essays have a lot in common. An informative essay is probably the one that has the greatest number of ‘relatives’ due to its general aim origin. For this reason, it is quite close to a descriptive essay and a process essay. The latter describes the process of doing something, which allows us to consider it a kind of a descriptive one. Problem/solution, cause-and-effect, and compare-and-contrast types of essay are related to an informative essay as well.

The Top Informative Topic Examples if You Are to Speak on It Too

If you are assigned to prepare an oral presentation supporting your informative essay, you are to choose a topic which is exciting both for the reader and for the listener. Here are some:

  • The Acute Problems of Education,
  • The Essence of Time-Management,
  • Holidays We’ve Never Heard Of,
  • The Attitudes towards Domestic Violence in Different Countries,
  • Evolution of Feminism,
  • and many, many others!

Please, mind that although you have the same topic for your informative essay and your speech, their form has to be completely different!

Before You Start WRITING

It is critical for you to understand that, unlike many students’ beliefs, working on an informative essay is much more that writing (or actually typing) the text. There are plenty of preliminary things to do.

  • Searching for an Interesting Idea. The topic always deals with the discipline you study, but not only in the subject. The fact whether you are interested in what you study influences the topic you pick a lot. The idea is viewing the topic through a certain lens. Unfortunately, if the subject makes you feel bored, in the majority of cases, you won’t develop an interesting idea. Another reason why your idea BECOMES a boring one is preferring to write about something you are already familiar with and something well-discussed before you. If you want to learn something new and make the process of writing full of creativity, you are better to write your informative essay about something beneficial for your outlook.
  • Narrow Down the Topic. Just like any other piece of writing an informative essay presupposes quite an accurate topic. As long as it isn’t a scientific article, it is vital to make your writing interesting for the wide audience which at least includes your teacher and your groupmates. This is why you should make it specific and general at the same time. Take into consideration the word count of your future paper, when you are searching for your topic. Although set phrases and some cliches are still allowed, their abundance is frowned upon. It is quite clear because there shouldn’t be too much empty talk. On the other hand, if you have too much to say, you may fail to fit all your ideas in the volume required.
  • Gather Some Information. Of course, an informative essay means information! But you have to see the difference between the information you already possess that is hardly enough for a proper paper and the information you have to process. The research you are to conduct is to be based on both primary and secondary sources. It is easy to separate sources into these groups when you write about literature. Books under consideration are primary sources; all the critique is secondary ones. In other cases, you have to find out in which sources you can find the essence of your topic and in which there is the discussion of what is already given. If you want to touch upon the topic of holiday bizarre for your culture, turn to legends of people you are writing about as primary sources. All the literature that describes these holidays written by various researchers will represent your secondary sources.
  • Use Reliable and Diverse Sources. There is nothing wrong in getting a general clue about a problem you know nothing about from Wiki and similar websites.What is wrong is to use such sites as sources. And there are many reasons for it. Even a very well written Wiki article is for general reference, unlike some ACADEMIC sources researched by Wikipedia authors. These you can use, but only if you truly process the info not just mention them on the last page of your paper. Besides being either primary or secondary, your sources should be of different types. You can’t just use books or articles. The variety of sources is a key to a successful essay.

How to Create an Informative Essay Outline

Many students worry about their essay structure. It gets even worse if they want to get a custom essay online. In an ideal scenario, a essay writer has to send you an outline first. If this feature is not provided, your informative essay should still include all the following aspects and parts – no exception!

A standard informative essay has a five-paragraph structure. It includes the Introduction, the Main Body, and the conclusion. The Main Body, in this case, consists of three paragraphs. You present your topic in the Introduction. The Body paragraphs, although each has some functions of its own, in general, reveal the topic set in the Introduction. And, finally, you draw your conclusions in the last paragraph.

How to Write An Introduction

You should definitely have something really catchy in the beginning. A rhetorical question, an opening sentence, etc. – you actually have a number of options, but mind that it shouldn’t be too general and has to be closely connected to what you are going to write about.

Then, it may seem that it is time for the thesis statement,  but you still don’t have enough of context for it. All that is general goes to the introduction.

Now, you have something to rely on so you can state your thesis. This part of the introduction has to correspond with the essay style and be direct and concise. Thesis, once stated, is to be unchanged throughout the paper, so each argument you make will prove it. That is why you should be very thorough.

The Main Body

As we’ve mentioned above, each body paragraph has its function, and all of them aimed at strengthening your thesis. Every paragraph should be the continuation of your main thought. The best start of a body paragraph is a target point, that is the aspect of your topic revealed in this section.

The first paragraph is to contain a claim which is to be discussed further. Then goes the evidence in an informative essay the evidence is as important as in a persuasive one. It should be strong and can include a variety of facts found in your primary sources. The last part of the main body is the explanation which is similar to the discussion in other essay types. Don’t mix up explaining your point with persuading the reader that you are right. The explanation is very important to make sure that the reader has understood the information you provided. The success of an informative essay depends hugely on this.

How to Conclude Your Paper

The conclusion is a vital part of your work that reflects all the process and results of your research. Like the work itself, it starts with a thesis statement. Then, you are to summarize whether the arguments used in the paper prove, your main point to a sufficient effect. The results should be presented briefly and accurately. You can also describe the opportunities for further research in the conclusion, or/and leave the reader something to think about.

When You’ve Done Writing

There is a number of aspects you are to pay attention to after you’ve finished your writing, such  as:

Word Choice and Style: A couple of unfitting words can ruin your paper. You should mind everything: the words (including terms) you use, whether your sentences are built according to the style, if you’ve used appropriate set phrases and avoided stop-words, etc.

Grammatical Correctness: The abundance of spelling and punctuation mistakes is one of the greatest sign of disrespect to your teacher. Besides, it influences your grade a lot. Some errors and misprints are, of course, inevitable. Various grammar checkers will make your life easier and your grades higher.

Logic: All the parts and paragraphs in your paper should be logically coherent. Each sentence should flow out of the previous. Mind this when you reread your paper carefully.

Mutual Editing: Some students see essay writing as a competition. Surely, someone will get better grades. But the number of As is unlimited, so you better see it as one of the first steps towards mutual scientific work. Ask your groupmate to edit your paper and don’t be too lazy to edit his or her paper in return. You’ll see that another person is able to notice more mistakes in your essay, both grammar and logical.

Professional Advice on Writing Informative Essays

Essay writing has always been difficult for many students for various reasons. That is why the whole range of writing companies has appeared.  Such services help student face college essays by proofreading or structuring their works, processing students’ ideas, or coming up with some ideas of their own. After all, they can write your work from scratch with minimal assistance from your side, or, if you want to do it on your own, they’ll help you with advice. And here is what professionals have to say about informative essay writing. You definitely shouldn’t start with your thesis, which is one of the main mistakes that inexperienced writers do! Start with choosing a topic. Pay enough attention to the research process. Create a proper outline featuring the main details you are going to use in the text. Use reliable sources only! All these things will allow you to understand your topic completely that, in turn, is the only way to write a good informative essay. Proofread and edit after you’ve written your essay!

Do You Still Have Any Difficulty Writing Your Essay?

Sometimes, you just don’t have enough time to tackle all the things we’ve discussed in the article. Besides, is there is too much stress in your studying, you might just not have a physical opportunity to deal with another essay. It seems a hopeless case, and you are about to get an F, but we have a solution for you! Think about having your paper done for you! If you have already considered it but don’t know what writing service you can trust, here is what you can do! Find a highly professional writing team that has a great number of positive reviews, like that of EssayWriters.us. Here, you’ll get any kind of writing assistance and won’t pay a fortune for it!