An essay introduction is a first impression, and first impressions are crucial. Business and psychology sources from Forbes to the Association for Psychological Science highlight that people make judgments within the first few seconds of an encounter. This principle applies to essays as well. Therefore, an essay’s introduction must pique interest and build credibility. Unlike in-person encounters, an essay introduction allows the author to carefully craft their message, presenting themselves as rational, humane, and complex, without being judged on uncontrollable factors like ethnicity, gender, or age.

The first step towards quality writing is developing a clear structure or outline. While there may be a writer or two out there who can sit down without preparation and compose structured, flowing rhetoric, these are outliers. The majority of us will end up with incoherent ramblings without taking the time to focus on a clear essay structure. You could write one hundred sentences of Shakespearean-quality verse; if they lack conceptual organization, they will fail to convey a strong point.

Writing rewards genuine effort. The more time you spend writing and reading, the better your skills become. Writing an important essay, like a thesis dissertation, is similar to running a marathon: both are challenging and require significant time and effort to prepare and complete. Just as a marathoner must train their body, a writer must immerse themselves in their field, exposing their mind to complex ideas and language. The more practice a writer gets in organizing and expressing complex thoughts, the better their writing will become.

Before we set out to supply any rules of thumb or clever writing tricks, it’s crucial that you acknowledge that writing, like other complex, skilled work, is not formulaic. Rules of thumb and clever tricks do not, on their own, add up to good writing. Rather, writing is a practice. A practice is a kind of work that requires ongoing time and offers gradual but substantial progress. Unlike learning to tie your shoes or parallel park, which have recognizable endpoints, being a good writer is a long haul and you will continue to move forward, if slowly and sometimes circuitously.