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FigJam Build a strong foundation with our essay plan template

No shaky arguments here. Whether it’s a class assignment, personal statement, or a missive on the company blog, FigJam’s essay writing plan will help you construct a stronger essay outline from the ground up.

Essay plan template

Share ideas, hone arguments, and refine your writing with our collaborative essay plan template.

Nail down your message

Organize evidence, strengthen supporting arguments, and hammer your main point home with our essay planning sheet.

Create flow: Maintain a cohesive writing process with an essay planning template that clarifies how one section leads to the next.

Evaluate your argument from all sides: Crystallize your claim and test it out from new angles in a visual format.

Do your research: Fact check your work and sources before writing by laying out supporting evidence on an easy-to-read outline.

FigJam Make a statement together

Writing doesn’t have to be a solo act. FigJam’s Community-built widgets make it easy to draft with collaborators and source feedback from trusted peers. Fold in new ideas and fine-tune existing arguments with Badge, Storymapper, and Lil notes.

Break it down, then build it up

Perfect the nuts and bolts of your essay with a well-organized essay plan example. Next, find new ways to tell your story with templates from our Community.

Story mapping

Design a compelling narrative step by step.

Compare and contrast the main points in your essay.

Other templates from the community

Share your message with peers, mentors, and more with interactive templates.

How to write an essay plan?

If you’re wondering how to plan an essay or how to write an effective essay plan with important points and supporting details, just tap into our free essay plan example to get started. From there, you’ll be prompted to break your essay down into the following sections:

• Introduction
• Body paragraph #1
• Body paragraph #2
• Body paragraph #3

Fill in each of these sections with relevant information and credible sources. Then, share it with your trusted collaborators and peers to make sure your argument sings.

What are the 5 aspects of planning an essay?

The 5 aspects of planning an essay correspond to the 5 main sections of your essay: the introduction, the 3 body paragraphs, and the conclusion.

• Introduction – Planning an introduction involves writing a thesis statement and a brief list that outlines the order of your supporting arguments.
• Body paragraphs (3) – As you plan your 3 body paragraphs, you’ll collect evidence—from credible sources—that backs up any supporting detail, arguments, and thesis.
• Conclusion – While you conceptualize this final section, consider how you can open up the floor for further conversation after the essay ends. Are there any related questions you wished you’d asked? What makes this a relevant topic—today? Jot down all of your ideas on a planning sheet for essays.

What is a good structure in an essay?

Many essays follow the classic 5-part structure—the introduction that states your main argument, the 3 points supporting that claim, and the conclusion that wraps everything up.

Keep in mind, however, that you don't have to follow this essay planning example exactly. Some of the best essays break the mold—so don’t be afraid to customize your essay planning sheet or collaborate on a creative structure as you outline.

Other templates you might like

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7 Steps for Writing an Essay Plan

Have you ever started writing an essay then realized you have run out of ideas to talk about?

This can make you feel deflated and you start to hate your essay!

The best way to avoid this mid-essay disaster is to plan ahead: you need to write an Essay Plan!

Essay planning is one of the most important skills I teach my students. When I have one-to-one tutorials with my students, I always send them off with an essay plan and clear goals about what to write.

Essay Planning isn’t as dull as you think. In fact, it really does only take a short amount of time and can make you feel oh so relieved that you know what you’re doing!

Here’s my 7-Step method that I encourage you to use for your next essay:

The 7-Step Guide on How to write an Essay Plan

• Figure out your Essay Topic (5 minutes)
• Gather your Sources and take Quick Notes (20 minutes)
• Brainstorm using a Mind-Map (10 minutes)
• Arrange your Topics (2 minutes)
• Write your topic Sentences (5 minutes)
• Write a No-Pressure Draft in 3 Hours (3 hours)
• Edit your Draft Once every Few Days until Submission (30 minutes)

I’ve been using this 7-Step essay planning strategy since I was in my undergraduate degree. Now, I’ve completed a PhD and written over 20 academic journal articles and dozens of blog posts using this method – and it still works!

Let’s go through my 7 steps for how to write an essay plan.

Prefer to Watch than Read? Here’s our video on writing an Essay Plan.

how to write an essay plan

1. figure out your essay topic. here’s how..

Where did your teacher provide you with your assessment details?

Find it. This is where you begin.

Now, far, far, far too many students end up writing essays that aren’t relevant to the essay question given to you by your teacher. So print out your essay question and any other advice or guidelines provided by your teacher.

Here’s some things that your assessment details page might include:

• The essay question;
• The marking criteria;
• Suggested sources to read;
• Some background information on the topic

The essay question is really important. Once you’ve printed it I want you to do one thing:

Highlight the key phrases in the essay question.

Here’s some essay questions and the key phrases you’d want to highlight:

This strategy helps you to hone in on exactly what you want to talk about. These are the key phrases you’re going to use frequently in your writing and use when you look for sources to cite in your essay!

The other top thing to look at is the marking criteria. Some teachers don’t provide this, but if they do then make sure you pay attention to the marking criteria !

Here’s an example of a marking criteria sheet:

Sample Essay Topic: Is Climate Change the Greatest Moral Challenge of our Generation?

Now, if you have a marking criteria you really need to pay attention to this. You have to make sure you’ve ticked off all the key criteria that you will be marked on. For the example above, your essay is going to have to make sure it:

• Takes a position about whether climate change is a serious challenge for human kind;
• Discusses multiple different people’s views on the topic;
• Explores examples and case studies (‘practical situations’);
• Uses referencing to back up your points.

The reason you need to be really careful to pay attention to this marking criteria is because it is your cheat sheet: it tells you what to talk about!

Step 1 only takes you five minutes and helps you to clearly clarify what you’re going to be talking about! Now your mind is tuned in and you can start doing some preliminary research.

2. Gather your Sources and take Quick Notes. Here’s how.

Now that you know what your focus is, you can start finding some information to discuss. You don’t want to just write things from the top of your head. If you want top marks, you want some deep, detailed and specific pieces of information.

Fortunately, your teacher has probably made this easy for you.

The top source for finding information will be the resources your teacher provided. These resources were hand picked by your teacher because they believed these were the best sources available our there on the topic. Here are the most common resources teachers provide:

• Lecture Slides;
• Assigned Readings.

The lecture slides are one of the best resources for you to access. Lecture slides are usually provided online for you. Download them, save them on your computer, and dig them up when it’s time to write the essay plan.

Find the lecture slides most relevant to your topic. To take the example of our climate change essay, maybe climate change is only discussed in three of the weeks in your course. Those are the three weeks’ lecture slides you want to hone-in on.

Flick through those lecture slides and take quick notes on a piece of paper – what are the most important topics and statistics that are relevant to your essay question?

Now, move on to the assigned readings . Your teacher will have selected some readings for you to do for homework through the semester. They may be eBooks, Textbooks or Journal Articles.

These assigned readings were assigned for a reason: because they have very important information to read ! Scan through them and see if there’s any more points you can add to your list of statistics and key ideas to discuss.

Next, try to find a few more sources using Google Scholar. This is a great resource for finding more academic articles that you can read to find even more details and ideas to add to your essay.

Here’s my notes that I researched for the essay question “Is Climate Change the Greatest Moral Challenge of our Generation?” As you can see, it doesn’t have to be beautiful #Studygram notes! It’s just rough notes to get all the important information down:

Once you’ve read the assigned lecture slides and readings, you should have a good preliminary list of ideas, topics, statistics and even quotes that you can use in step 3.

3. Brainstorm using a Mind-Map. Here’s how.

Do your initial notes look a little disorganized?

That’s okay. The point of Step 2 was to gather information. Now it’s time to start sorting these ideas in your mind.

The best way to organize thoughts is to create a Mind-Map. Here’s how Mind-Maps often look:

For your essay plan Mind-Map, write the essay question in the middle of the page and draw a circle around it.

Then, select the biggest and most important key ideas that you think are worth discussing in the essay. To decide on these, you might want to look back at the notes you took in Step 2.

Each key idea will take up around about 200 – 350 words (1 to 2 sentences).

Here’s a rough guide for how many key ideas you’ll want depending on your essay length:

• 1000-word essay: 3 to 4 key ideas
• 1500-word essay: 5 to 7 key ideas
• 2000-word essay: 6 to 8 key ideas
• 3000-word essay: 9 to 12 key ideas

Once you’ve selected your key ideas you can list them in a circle around the essay question, just like this:

Last, we need to add detail and depth to each key idea. So, draw more lines out from each key ideas and list:

• Two sources that you will cite for each key idea;
• A statistic or example that you will provide for each key idea;
• Any additional interesting facts for each key idea

Here’s how it might look once you’re done:

4. Arrange your Topics. Here’s how.

You’re well and truly on your way to getting your essay down on paper now.

There’s one last thing to do before you start getting words down on the manuscript that you will submit. You need to arrange your topics to decide which to write first, second, third, fourth, and last!

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Start and end with your strongest points;
• Ensure the points logically flow.

To ensure your points logically flow, think about how you’re going to transition from one idea to the next . Does one key point need to be made first so that the other ones make sense?

Do two key points seem to fit next to one another? If so, make sure you list them side-by-side.

Have a play around with the order you want to discuss the ideas until you’re comfortable. Then, list them in order. Here’s my order for my Climate Change essay:

Each of these key ideas is going to turn into a paragraph or two (probably two) in the essay.

5. Write your topic Sentences in just 5 minutes. Here’s how.

All good essays have clear paragraphs that start with a topic sentence . To turn these brainstormed key points into an essay, you need to get that list you wrote in Step 5 and turn each point into a topic sentence for a paragraph.

It’s important that the first sentence of each paragraph clearly states the paragraph’s topic. Your marker is going to want to know exactly what your paragraph is about immediately. You don’t want your marker to wait until the 3 rd , 4 th or 5 th line of a paragraph before they figure out what you’re talking about in the paragraph.

So, you need to state what your key idea is in the first sentence of the paragraph.

Let’s have a go at turning each of our key ideas into a topic sentence:

6. Write a No-Pressure Essay Draft in just 3 Hours. Here’s how.

Okay, now the rubber hits the road. Let’s get writing!

When you write your first draft, don’t put pressure on yourself. Remind yourself that this is the first of several attempts at creating a great essay, so it doesn’t need to be perfect right away. The important thing is that you get words down on paper.

To write the draft, have a go at adding to each of your topic sentences to turn them into full paragraphs. Follow the information you wrote down in your notes and Mind-Map to get some great details down on paper.

Forget about the introduction and conclusion for now. You can write them last.

Let’s have a go at one together. I’m going to choose the paragraph on my key idea “Is climate change caused by humans?”

I’ve already got my first sentence and my brainstormed ideas. Let’s build on them to write a draft paragraph:

• “Most scientists believe climate change is caused by humans. In fact, according to the IPCC, over 98% of climate change scientists accept the scientific data that climate change is caused by humans (IPCC, 2018). This figure is very high, signalling overwhelming expert consensus. This consensus holds that the emission of carbon from burning of fossil fuels in the 20 th Century is trapping heat into the atmosphere. However, a minority of dissenting scientists continue to claim that this carbon build-up is mostly the fault of natural forces such as volcanoes which emit enormous amounts of carbon into the atmosphere (Bier, 2013).”

Your turn – have a go at your own draft paragraphs based on your Mind-Map for your essay topic! If you hit a rut or have some trouble, don’t forget to check out our article on how to write perfect paragraphs .

Once you’ve written all your paragraphs, make sure you write an introduction and conclusion .

Gone over the word count? Check out our article on how to reduce your word count.

7. Edit your Draft Once every Few Days until Submission. Check out this simple approach:

Okay, hopefully after your three hour essay drafting session you’ve got all your words down on paper. Congratulations!

However, we’re not done yet.

The best students finish their drafts early on so they have a good three or four weeks to come back and re-read their draft and edit it every few days.

When coming back to edit your draft , here’s a few things to look out for:

• Make sure all the paragraph and sentence structure makes sense. Feel free to change words around until things sound right. You might find that the first time you edit something it sounds great, but next time you realize it’s not as good as you thought. That’s why we do multiple rounds of edits over the course of a few weeks;
• Check for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors;
• Print out your draft and read it on paper. You notice more mistakes when you read a printed-out version;
• Work on adding any more details and academic sources from online sources like Google Scholar to increase your chance of getting a top grade. Here’s our ultimate guide on finding scholarly sources online – it might be helpful for this step!

Before you go – Here’s the Actionable Essay Plan Tips Summed up for you

Phew! That essay was tough. But with this essay plan, you can get through any essay and do a stellar job! Essay planning is a great way to ensure your essays make sense, have a clear and compelling argument, and don’t go off-topic.

I never write an essay without one.

To sum up, here are the 7 steps to essay planning one more time:

The 7-Step Guide for How to Write an Essay Plan

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 7 Key Features of 21st Century Learning
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Sociocultural Theory of Learning in the Classroom
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ The 4 Principles of Pragmatism in Education
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 17 Deep Processing Examples

1 thought on “7 Steps for Writing an Essay Plan”

Nice fun and concise approach to essays, thank you

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Construct an Essay Plan

Construct an initial essay plan.

After you have generated some ideas, it’s important to write an initial plan before you head for the library. This can feel strange—after all, how can you answer a question when you haven’t done any research?—but starting with an initial plan helps you order your ideas and focus your reading. Without a sense of which direction to head in, it’s easy to get lost in the research process.

This initial plan will be provisional and might consist of:

• a provisional answer to the question (or thesis statement)
• a brief outline of possible main point.

As you research and develop your understanding of the topic, your ideas will likely change, and your answers may change with them. Try to see your essay plan as something that evolves as you engage further with your topic.

While it’s a good idea to write an initial plan before you start researching, if you really know nothing at all about the topic, some initial skimming and browsing through recommended or assigned readings can provide a few ideas. However, the initial planning stage is not the time for a lot of intensive or detailed reading.

What elements should an essay plan consist of?

A 1-2 sentence thesis statement.

A plan should indicate the answer to the question. A clear and well-written thesis statement will help you to determine the direction and structure of your argument.

What is a thesis statement?

• A clear and direct answer to the essay questio.
• A claim that can be discussed and expanded further in the body of the essay.
• One or two complete sentences.
• A part of the introduction.

In the initial plan, the thesis statement is usually provisional. However, after you’ve done some research, you will need to work on your thesis statement until it is clear, concise and effective.

• Try introducing your thesis statement with the phrase ‘this essay will argue’ or ‘this essay argues’.
• Paraphrasing the assignment question can help ensure that you are answering it.

Possible main points

Once you have a thesis statement, follow it with a paragraph or a set of points that indicate the ‘reasons why’ for your answer. The ‘reasons why’ can be developed into the main points of your essay.

What are main points?

• Main points make up the body of an essay.
• Each point should be developed in a paragraph. These paragraphs are the building blocks used to construct the argument.
• In a 1000-1500 word essay, aim for three to four main points

In the initial plan, try to express the main idea of each point in a single, clear sentence. These can become topic sentences—usually the first sentence of each paragraph which summarise the information in the paragraph. In your second plan, you develop these points further. 

Arrange your main points in a logical order and number them. Is there one that would seem to go first or one that would seem to go last? Are there any two that are closely linked? How are the ideas connected to each other? Do the main points, when considered as a whole, present a unified discussion?).

The structure of the essay

A plan should follow the structureof an essay, e.g. Introduction, body and conclusion.

While you may not be ready to construct an introduction or conclusion, this three-part structure should be at least suggested in your plan.

Some indication of the research

A plan should include some indication of the sources you might use to RESEARCH the topic.

Make a few notes about how each main point might be developed. If possible, specify the evidence you might draw on and which texts you might refer to. Jot down titles, authors, page numbers etc.

    Next: Step 4 - Research and gather information

Essay and assignment writing guide.

• Essay writing basics
• Analyse the task
• Work out your ideas
• Construct an essay plan
• Research and gather information
• Write a second essay plan
• Answering assignment questions
• Editing checklist
• Writing a critical review
• Annotated bibliography
• Reflective writing
• ^ More support

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How to plan an essay: What's in this guide

• What's in this guide
• Essay Planning
• Additional resources

What's in this guide?

This guide contains key resources for planning your essay.

Click the links below or the guide tabs above to find the following information

• Learn how to plan an essay
• Find additional resources that include a short essay planning video and an essay template.
• Link out to the Pathways Student Guide

Click below to view our related resources

How to write an essay.

The basics on how to write an academic essay for university

How to analyse an essay question

This simple technique can help you unpack an essay question

• Next: Essay Planning >>
• Last Updated: Feb 15, 2024 1:23 PM
• URL: https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/essay_planning

How to Write an Essay Plan

Essay planning might seem like a waste of time, but it’s not! In fact, planning your essays will save you time and energy in the long-run.

This is because it’s much easier to write an essay that’s already been planned. You won’t need to worry about which point should come next or whether your argument is strong enough. Instead, you can focus purely on writing the essay.

So, if you want to ease the stress of essay writing and improve your grades, make essay planning a priority!

How will planning improve my grades?

Essays plans can:

• Help you create a clear structure
• Help you distribute the word count evenly
• Prevent you from missing material out
• Help you build a strong argument
• Allow you to get feedback (many tutors will look at essay plans)
• Alleviate writer’s block (when it comes to writing the essay)

Once you’ve written a few essay plans, you’ll appreciate just how much value they can add to your essays.

What does an essay plan look like?

An essay plan is a skeleton outline of your essay. It summarises what will be included in each paragraph and how the paragraphs will link together. It also states how many words will be used in each section, and the key references that’ll be used. Check out the essay plan template below for more details.

Essay plan template

Essay title: [….], introduction – […] words.

• Engage with the essay question: [….]
• State your position or argument: [….]
• State any theories or frameworks that will inform the essay (if applicable): […]
• Outline the structure of the essay: [….]

Paragraph 1 – […] words

• Outline your first key point: [….]
• Provide evidence (empirical research, theories, examples etc): [….]
• Consider any criticisms of the above, then rebut: […]
• Restate the main point and its relevance to the overall argument, link to next paragraph: […]

Paragraph 2 – […] words

• Outline your second key point: [….]
• Consider any criticisms of the above, then rebut […]

Paragraph 3 – […] words

• Outline third key point: [….]
• Restate the main point and its relevance to the overall argument: […]

Conclusion – […] words

• Revisit the essay question and re-state your position/argument: [….]
• Summarise the points from each paragraph: [….]
• Offer a slightly new perspective and leave a lasting impression: [….]
• List the key references to be used: [….]

Total word count: […]

It’s worth mentioning that essay plans aren’t perfect. They provide an outline of the essay, but some elements will probably change during the write-up process. In many ways, writing an essay plan is like planning a car journey. You’ll have a clear sense of where you’re going, but you might have to take some detours along the way.

A step-by-step guide to filling in the essay plan

If the essay plan template looks daunting then don’t worry, try breaking it down into stages:

1. Interpret and rephrase the essay question

You’ll see that the first stage of the essay plan asks you to ‘engage with the essay question’ .

Often, essays fail because they haven’t answered the question. That said, you should begin by making sure you understand the essay question. To do this, take a copy of the essay title and highlight the most important phrases. Then, slightly rephrase the question, and add it to your essay plan.

As an example,

Engage with the essay question: This essay critically evaluates what the gig economy means for employment relations issues, particularly workers’ rights and work-life balance.

2. State your position or argument

As shown above, the next stage of the essay plan is to state your position or argument. You will need to have done some research/background reading to get a sense of what you want to ‘argue’ in your essay. As an example,

3. Choose your key points

Once you’ve planned your introduction, it’s time to choose the themes that will be covered in your paragraphs. You should only include one key point per paragraph. Example:

Paragraph 1 – 150 words

• Outline your first key point: Some gig economy workers are labelled as ‘independent contractors’, rather than ‘workers’ (even though they do the duties of ‘workers’). This means that they are not entitled to employment rights such as sick pay and holiday pay. By labelling their staff as ‘independent contractors’, these companies undermine workers’ rights.
• Provide evidence (empirical research, theories, examples etc): Deliveroo will be used as an example. Employee experiences reported in the press (see Smith, 2018) and journal articles relating to this case will be cited (see Adams, 2019). Also, employment rights legislation will be presented (Gov, 2020).
• Consider any criticisms of the above, then rebut: Independent workers’ unions have helped some gig-economy workers fight back and achieve ‘worker’ status. This suggests that the gig economy is not inevitably exploitative. However, the unions have not been able to achieve ‘worker’ status for Deliveroo riders, despite fighting hard.
• Restate the main point and its relevance to the overall argument, link to next paragraph: As such, this substantiates the suggestion that some gig economy companies have undermined centuries of workers’ rights progress. As such, it can be said that some gig economy companies are leaving workers vulnerable to exploitation. Indeed, another exploitative facet of the gig economy is that workers often carry a high ‘burden of responsibility’ but are not comparatively compensated, as is explored in the next paragraph.

If you want to learn more about how to structure your paragraphs, check out our guidance on how to structure an essay .

4. Gather the evidence

When writing your plan, make a note of the key sources you will use in your essay. You’ll notice that under each paragraph, it says to ‘Provide evidence (empirical research, theories, examples etc)’.

It’s advisable to include at least one reference per paragraph. The more references you can gather before you start writing your essay, the better! Also, put the full citation in the ‘Reference list’ section of your essay plan so that you don’t lose it.

5. Offer a slightly new perspective and leave a lasting impression

Good essay conclusions don’t just repeat material that was discussed in the essay. Rather, they offer a slightly advanced perspective on the material that was discussed in the essay. This ‘advanced’ perspective can be quite difficult to plan for as it is often realised as a result of actually writing the essay.

However, this point has still been included in the essay plan template as it acts as a reminder. Want more tips on how to write an essay conclusion? Check out our detailed guidance!

6. Divide up the word count

You will notice that, next to each paragraph on the essay plan, there’s a space to fill in the suggested word count. Dividing up the word count before you start writing will stop you from exceeding the word limit when you write up your essay.

Essays are all different, but, as a general rule, the word count tends to be allocated as follows:

• Intro – 5-10%
• Main body (split into paragraphs) – 80-90%
• Conclusion – 5-10%

To create a sense of balance, try to keep all the paragraphs a similar length.

When done properly, an essay plan can take several hours to write. But, as mentioned, it’ll save you so much time and energy in the long run. Not to mention, it’ll make the writing process a lot less stressful!

You may also like

Essay plans

An essay plan is a way to identify, select, and order the points you want to make in your essay. It helps you to work out your argument and your structure before writing, which should make the writing process more efficient and focussed. Sometimes essay plans are set as formative assignments so tutors can provide feedback before you write your full essay. 

Scroll down for our recommended strategies and resources. 

Enough detail for feedback

If you have an essay plan as an assignment, the main purpose is to give your lecturer enough information about your structure and main points so they can give you useful feedback. Follow any guidance you have been given, but usually an essay plan doesn’t have to be in full sentences; an outline structure of main points in a bullet point list, maybe with some further details of the evidence you will use or explanation under each point, is often enough. See these guides on how to do simple outline plans for an essay:

How to plan an essay (University of Newcastle)

Structuring the essay (Monash University)

Different ways of planning

Group similar ideas.

The aim of planning is to put down all your ideas and then to sort through them and order them. Look at where the ideas group together to see if any common themes start emerging, as these might form the paragraphs in your essay. See the video below for an example of how to group and order ideas in a plan.

Planning: General structure [video] (University of York)

Changes are normal - reverse outline

We rarely follow our essay plans exactly because our ideas develop as we write. If you don’t keep to your plan, it isn’t a sign of failure or a sign that planning doesn’t work. However, you may need to reflect on your planning process - are you over-planning and it takes too much time, or are your plans too vague and more detail would help? If you have strayed from your plan, a good strategy is to check the structure of your essay afterwards to make sure it all matches up. See the guide below on how to do a reverse outline as a useful part of your redrafting process.

Reverse outlines (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

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Cookie statement

Essay Mapping Tool

Instructions.

Effective writing at university is a process:

Analyse the task → Gather content → Plan → Draft → Edit

This tool may help you to bridge from planning to drafting by helping you arrange your sentences in a logical order. It also provides tips for each component of an essay – the introduction, body, and conclusion. It can be used to improve your understanding of essay writing in general or as a planning tool for one of your university assignments.

Because this tool is for your personal use only, you may decide to write in bullet points, but we recommend full sentences. Once you have filled in each section, a complete essay overview will be generated which can be printed.

1. Introduction

Three paragraphs planning spaces have been provided for you. You can add or delete as necessary.

The purpose of the body is to logically develop the points made in your thesis and outline statements. There are no rules about the number of paragraphs required in assignment, but in general, you are advised to develop one idea per paragraph. This is done with a clear and coherent structure which introduces the topic in a topic sentence, defines or clarifies which aspect of the topic you are going to discuss, develops and supports your discussion and (optionally) concludes your discussion.

A topic sentence generally has two parts. You may refer to the overall essay topic and also introduce the specific aspect you plan to discuss in this paragraph. This is referred to as topic + controlling idea . You can also use a topic sentence to link to or contrast with the previous paragraph. This is an effective strategy to use with the second body paragraph onwards. You may choose to conclude the paragraph with a summary sentence; however, you are advised not to overuse this type of sentence as it may seem repetitious.

Cohesion and coherence refer to how effectively sentences are connected and how smoothly the writing flows. This is not simply achieved by following a logical paragraph structure, but also by using linking words (e.g. however/furthermore/consequently ) and referring words (e.g. this/that/these/those )

When you develop your argument, remember to use a range of support. You can use examples, logical reasoning, speculation, statistics and citations

Paragraph 1

Write the topic and controlling idea (one sentence).

Support your controlling idea using evidence, examples, elaboration or explanations. Do not go off topic. Do use in-text references.

Sum up the paragraph and link to your thesis OR link to the next paragraph (one sentence).

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 3, 3. conclusion.

The purpose of the conclusion is to summarize the key points you have discussed; however, it often contains a paraphrase of the thesis statement. This helps link the whole essay together. A conclusion may also contain a statement which links the essay to the broader topic or suggests a future action.

You can begin with the phrase ' In conclusion, ' but there are other phrases you could consider: In summary/This assignment has…/In this essay, I have… . Avoid Finally/Briefly/

Remember to reference any sources you have used. Refer to CDU Library for more information on referencing.

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Essay planning

An excellent, student-friendly guide for A-level students about the benefits of essay planning, and covering all the stages of planning. Includes detailed guidance on how to approach a KS5 essay question or title and how to identify the key or command words of the question. 

An extract from the lesson worksheet: 

The stages of essay planning

There are definite stages to planning an essay which are as important to follow for coursework essays as for essays written in exam conditions. 

• Read the question (several times).
• Identify the key words in the question and underline them.
• Explore these key words.
• Write a plan which addresses these key words and orders your ideas.
• Start writing your essay and refer regularly to your plan.

Considering the title

Essay titles are generally framed in the same kind of way.  You may be asked to discuss, consider or explore a text or a particular aspect of it.  You may be asked what you think about an aspect of a text or you may be invited to consider the validity of a particular statement about a text.  You could also be asked to compare and contrast two or more texts.

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The PEEL essay plan helps you write an essay in a structured way to cover all the key points. PEEL is used in many schools and universities to guide students to better essay writing.

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Essay Plan Generator

When you are able to develop a skill in essay writing , you will realize how it is able to take your time and a lot of patience to improve more. Writing an essay would help you talk about a particular worldly issue without showing any biases. Essays are more on facts and a little of your opinion. Essays give writers the chance to incorporate their own experiences, the way how they think and their ability provide research data. It is an essential part in the learning process that enables you to mark your point of view. In this article, you will be able to encounter more about the idea of creating a simple yet presentable essay plan .

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What is an Essay Plan?

An essay plan is an act of making you practice how to organize ideas and make further modifications. It serves as an outline that is essential to use for discussing or writing about a certain issue. The purpose of an essay is to practice your mind on how to focus on an area where it can bring you to make a quality conclusion .

Planning is the way how you are able to visualize regarding the content of your essay. You should make sure that your essay is well-planned. Otherwise, you will end up having a sequence of phrases that are not even organized. Your main points should be clear and logically stated.

10 Steps for Essay Planning

• Read and analyze the essay questions.
• Write down the essay questions.
• Brainstorm or think of more ideas regarding the matter.
• List down all of your thoughts and the scope that covers the essay questions.
• Take note of the words or phrases that you think are essential in your work.
• Write down the main points that can be used to answer the questions.
• Look through any type of handouts that can be used to have a more detailed outline of your essay.
• Do not forget to take note of the sources of all the information you got. This will be indicated in the reference list.
• Do not make your outline too complicated.
• Think about how many words you need to write, the elements that you cover in your essay and how much space you should be able to allot to each of your outline section.

Here is an outline of your essay that you need to follow:

• Essay question or topic
• Introduction – this includes your thesis statement
• 1 st Paragraph – this includes your topic sentence and evidence
• 2 nd Paragraph – this also contains a topic sentence and evidence
• 3 rd Paragraph – just like the first and second paragraph, it contains a topic sentence or an idea that is supported by an evidence or claim
• Conclusion  – provides the possible motivations and restatement of central idea
• Reference – the list of the sources of your texts, data or images that you do not own

What is a good essay?

A good essay must have one clear main idea. Each of the paragraphs must have a topic sentence to be supported with a supporting detail. They should be organized logically and must be able to stick together. Always make sure that an essay would give a best impression to the readers.

What is the standard number of paragraphs per essay?

Essays must have at least five paragraphs.

What is the best way to start an essay plan?

The best way to start an essay plan is to prepare a box plan that consists of the essay elements. These elements will serve as your guide to be able to write continuously without getting lost of the usual standard arrangement.

Effective essay planning helps in making your work be done immediately. It speeds up your writing process and gives you precise direction while working on it. You just have to follow the correct structure and format of your essay. Always consider your audience when making an essay because they are the ones who will give you feedback about it. The attention that they should give also matters.

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Plan Templates

8+ essay plan templates – sample, example.

Having a hard time starting your essay plan? We got you covered. The secret to writing a comprehensive and coherent essay is by coming up with a well-structured essay plan . An essay plan allows you to build your essay one idea at a time. Essay plan templates and outline templates showcase what are some of creative and appropriate sections in your essay.You may also see Plan Templates .

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What Essay Plan Templates Are in Store for You?

• Argumentative Essay Planning Sheet Template – In writing an argumentative essay, the challenge lies on how you structure the flow of your arguments. Bear in mind that you can’t just merely enumerate your arguments but to lay them out in a logical and systematic manner. By using these template, you can breakdown your arguments into sections with their supporting details.
• Academic Essay Plan Template – This template is a guide in writing an effective essay plan. This will help you know the basic elements of an essay plan and how to effectively convey and write your ideas in the most comprehensible and coherent way. There are also sample thesis statements that you may refer to.
• Discursive Essay Plan Template – This template provides you with suggestions and outline on how to write an essay plan for three different types of discursive essays namely the for and against essays, opinion essays, and essays suggesting solutions to problems. The respective plan templates provide you with writing tips in terms of structure and content.
• Persuasive Plan Template – Persuasive essays can be tricky. Your essay must be convincing enough to persuade your readers to take your side. You need to effectively introduce the issue, clearly state your position, and write your supporting evidences.

Discursive Essay Plan

Persuasive Essay Plan

How to Effectively Map Out Your Essay Plan?

• Come up with a comprehensive and engaging thesis statement. You thesis statement presents the why’s and importance of your essay. It will be the heart of your essay. Your thesis statement will project the scope and limits of your the write-up. As per content, thesis statements are not necessarily long. As much as possible be concise and succinct.
• Provide topic sentences for each paragraph. This is done so as to guide the flow of your sentences. The topic sentence will is either your idea or argument. After that, substantiate your claims by providing your evidences.
• Make a sound conclusion. You also need to plan the structure of your conclusion. You should plan how you’ll manage to reiterate the important points and adding a strong closing sentences or notes to your reader’s in a creative and professional way. Like writing a strategic plan template , essay plan also provides key writing strategies and methods.

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