I'd love to know how you structure your essays! Even just planning process would be super helpful!
Of course! (I'm actually taking a break from an essay to write this XD)
So the first thing I usually do is figure out word count. I prefer having a minimum word count over a page count because it feels like a more attainable goal. If I'm given a page count, I'll typically break it down to word count instead based off the requirements. Due to the classes I usually write essays for having the same requirements (MLA formatting), it's easy enough to do that.
If you consider that 12 point font double spaced is roughly 400 words, it's easier to break down page counts into word counts. (Especially going off a 1,000 word essay is roughly 4 pages.)
After word count is figured out, break it down further. I typically have a set minimum word count for every paragraph I write. That set word count is usually around 100 words but that changes depending on the parameters of the essay.
For example, I've got a 750-850 word essay I'm currently trying to write. It also has the caveat of only being 5 paragraphs. Obviously, I can't use my usual 100 word paragraphs for this but 150 word paragraphs work just fine so that's the minimum word count I'm using for this.
Now that the word count has been figured out, look at the topic. Typically, you're going to have an introduction and conclusion for the essay, that gives you two hundred words right there. I start with an outline and mark those down along with their possible word counts. If you've got a set topic (the essay I'm writing now has a thesis given by the professor with certain points to make along the way), go ahead and add those to the outline.
Example:
Introduction- Thesis (150)
Body 1: Minimalism (150)
Body 2: Characterization (150)
Body 3: Symbolism (150)
Conclusion (150)
That's the outline I'm currently working with for my essay, giving me a goal of the minimum word count to read for every paragraph and the overall essay.
If you don't have specific points assigned, create them. Pick a few points in your topic that you know you'll get the word count with. Put those in the Body section and work from there. This works for research papers, persuasive essays, book reports, compare and contrast essays, analysis essays, and any other type of essay I've come across to date.
After that, it gets a bit messy. Depending on how confident I am on my topic, I'll either go straight into the draft or start a word dump. Word dumping is when you just let every idea possible come to you and you write it down, sorting it out when it's finished.
I don't really rewrite the whole thing when doing a second draft. Instead, I'll read it aloud to catch any errors or things that could have been said differently and proofread it before submitting and never looking at it again. Essays aren't usually a long process for me, a 1k word count essay can be done in about 2 hours at the most.
