Most essays keep to a basic structure regardless what the topic is about. Whether it's to argue a particular point of view you have or if it's to explain the complexity of the steps you need to take to complete a task. In any way you look at it, the structure remains the same.

So let's start with the topic. You need to choose a topic that will narrow it down as opposed to being too generalized. If you wrote an essay on "South Africa," it's a broad topic with many different things you can write about. But sometimes it is better in the long run to be more specific. So if you concentrated on South Africa's politics or culture, then you would be heading in the right direction. Once you have found the topic you want to write about, it's time to move on to the next step.

For the next stage you need to take your ideas and draft an outline or diagram. Some quick tips for doing a diagram is where you take a piece of paper and draw a big circle on the piece of paper. Then start in the middle and write down your topic. Then draw 4 lines working outward from the center. You can draw another circle within this circle and you will have evenly divided areas to write your ideas in.

Closer to the center you want to write the more important ideas and working outward you end up with the less important points. Once you have your basic ideas fleshed out, you can move on to the next step where you write your statement.

In short the statement tells the reader what point you will be making and it outlines the basic argument so the reader knows where you are going with this. Next up is the body of the essay. Here you will focus primarily on the main points, it's sub points and you will need to ensure that you elaborate on these sub points as well. So as an example you might start a sentence with, "Subway Station travel decreases risk of overcrowded freeways."

This will be your main point. Next you need to list 4-5 points that will support the main idea and essentially these are your sub points. Next for each sub point you want to elaborate on the idea even further and this will be the main body structure of your essay.

Next you will need to concentrate on the introduction and the conclusion. The focus of your introduction to the essay is to grab the reader's attention and hold it. It can contain startling information that is true and verifiable, but doesn't need to be something new.

Even if it's about an event that people are familiar with, all you need to do is present it in a different tone and find some shocking truth that will capture your reader's attention. Your introduction can also include a dialogue that will be followed with a few sentences of elaboration or an anecdote which essentially is a story to illustrate your point. Remember to keep the anecdote short and to the point.

Keep it short and summarize your most important points. All you need here is three to four sentences that will describe your main points for the reader.

Once you are finished, all you need to do is add the finishing touches by checking that your writing makes logical sense and all your paragraphs are structured correctly. Run a spell check and if everything is fine, you will have your finished essay for submission.