Planning is an important part of writing an essay. It allows you to brainstorm your ideas surrounding a topic and ensure that your answer includes everything that you think is necessary.
However, you may only get between three and five minutes in an exam to plan your essay. Therefore it is important to get the crucial elements written down so you can easily remember them when you get into writing your essay.
Essay elements
Some elements may not be necessary to plan ahead, such as your introduction or conclusion. However, you should aim to plan the following:
- Points: make note of the points you’re going to discuss for and against the question.
- Opinion: perhaps it’s a good idea to note down which side of the debate you support, after you’ve looked at the points you’re going to make.
- Examples: jot down some examples you think could be important, such as an election, law or date.
- Synoptic links: if appropriate, think of some ways that you could link your points to other areas of the specification.
Planning Grids
It might be a good idea to create a planning grids to help you visualise your writing on paper. Start off by planning your whole essay, then over time as you approach the exam, see how quickly you can plan an essay before you begin writing. This should help you identify the areas you need to plan, the areas you might want to plan, and the areas you don’t need to plan.