Choose topic for your essay

Usually, you choose your essay topic yourself if no specific one has been assigned. Please see a video on the importance of assignments. However, if the topic has been assigned, this does not mean you can move further.

Essay topic has been assigned

Then you should ask yourself (or your professor) whether it must be a general essay, or a research on a very narrow topic. If the essay should be on a specific topic, than obviously topic "Abortion" would not be enough; this one is very general. To make it narrower, you should ponder on such topic as "Ethical problems of abortion in the United States." The topic "Sri Lanka: The cost of the damage caused by severe tsunami in December 2004" is very specific. If you want to broaden it, turn it into something like "Tsunami: the devastating power of water."

Essay topic hasn't been assigned

Then you are free to write an essay on any topic you like, however it may not be as simple as it looks to be. Remember that in order to write a better quality essay, you would want to write about something you like, or something you are closely familiar with. If you are fond of cars, then write about cars; if you are interested in football, then write about football. It is that simple.

You should decide whether it is going to be a persuasive essay, informative, or other kind of essay. If it is an informative one, then just provide the facts one by one in a logical and understandable form. If you intend to persuade your audience, you will have to back your facts with reasons, consequences, and statistical data (if applicable). Then gather your facts, and scetch a simple outline. You are then ready to proceed!