Guidelines for Writing a Persuasive Essay Step by Step

Writing persuasive essays for an “A+” grade can seem difficult at first, especially when you are challenged to convince your audience to agree with you on some issue. What makes it even more difficult is if you don’t have any idea how to write a persuasive essay in the first place.

Here is a step by step guide to writing a persuasive essay:

• Choosing a Topic: Even if you’ve been given a few topics to choose from, you don’t want to wait around too long before selecting one that you fully understand and that you find interesting. You should choose a topic in which you hold a firm position on either side or the other. A persuasive essay that is written from an uncertain perspective will not do a very good job in impressing your audience.


• Writing a Thesis: Before you embark on researching your topic, you should write draft a thesis to hold your persuasive essay together and guide you as you start searching for sources. First figure out your main arguments that you have drafted while choosing your topic and write them down on index cards. Take these cards with you and add notes as you find content that either supports or disproves your ideas. These cards will be your main topic points throughout your work.


• Grab the Audience’s Attention: Also known as a hook, you should have a statement early on in your introduction that grabs your audience’s attention and compels it to read through to the very end. You might start with a statistic, a quote, or an interesting question that focuses your reader’s attention on your topic.


• Research Your Topic: If you plan to use any facts or quotes in your persuasive essay, you will have to conduct an appropriate amount of research to ensure your inclusions are accurate. Be sure to properly cite your material and apply proper credit to the author. Look at several sources to ensure that the information you are using is current.


• Outline Your Essay: If you’ve written any other types of essays, then you know that writing an outline beforehand is a great way to organize your thoughts and provide you a guide to follow as you start your first draft. You don’t have to make your outline tremendously detailed, just make sure to get down your major points, your pieces of evidence, and your thesis statement


• Putting it All Together: If you’ve written a good outline, then writing your first draft shouldn’t be a problem. Use your outline as a guide and don’t be afraid to deviate from it if you find your draft creatively moving in a direction that feels more natural. Pay attention to your transition sentences linking one paragraph to the next. Try not to stop to make corrections to your grammar or spelling; your first draft should be written as effectively and efficiently.