One of the secrets to writing an effective essay is to be organized in your approach.  Use the following steps as a guideline to writing your next essay.

1. Understand the topic
2. Read and annotate articles
3. Collect quotations and paraphrases on cards
4. Write a clear Thesis Statement with predictors
5. Freewrite, brainstorm, or cluster
6. Outline your essay
7. Write a topic sentence for each predictor
8. Decide on a logical order
9. Write your first draft
10. Revise checking for unity and coherence
11. Edit checking for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors
12. Write your final draft