How To Write A Process Essay
The first thing to know about a process essay is that it isn’t like anything you have written before. That is why it’s so common for students of all academic levels to feel confused when they are sitting down to write a process essay for the first time. Our college paper writing service understands your confusion, and here is everything you need to know about writing process essay.
What Is a Process Essay?
You cannot learn how to write a process essay without learning the definition of this term first. So what is a process essay and how is it different from any other paper you have written throughout your academic career?
A good way to think about a process essay is to consider it a how-to essay. In this paper, the author provides step-by-step instructions that will allow the readers to achieve the expected result.
Types of process essays
At the same time, the definition of a process essay isn’t that straightforward and universal. In fact, there are two types of process essays, which may have similar features, but are completely different in nature.
An informational process essay explains a process or offers its detailed analysis. A directional process essay lists and details the steps required to achieve a specific result. That is why, when you are assigned with writing a process essay, you need to make sure you fully understand the task.
Process Essay Outline
Defining and writing down a process essay outline will help you streamline your thoughts and achieve a cohesive narrative. This is what a process essay outline looks like:
- Introduction
- Hook
- Description of the subject
- Thesis statement
- Body paragraphs
- Step in the process
- Explanation
- Evidence
- Additional discussion
- Conclusion
Tips for Using Transition Words in a Process Essay
Transition words are important in any type of essay. Whether you are writing a classification essay or any other assignment, you should pay attention to how you use them. Below are tips to help you utilize these words better in your future process essays.
Understand their Function and Importance
First, you must understand the importance and function of transition words to use them effectively. In academic writing, you intend to pass clear and concise information. Using transitions helps you achieve this writing goal because it establishes a logical link between your paper’s different components. They signal connections between ideas and direct readers on how to follow a logically coherent argument.
Know When to Use These Words
You will be better placed to use transition words if you know when to use them in your paper. We collected several circumstances in which you might need to utilize these phrases more. Look at the examples below.
- Tutor Comments: You need to up your game in this use if your instructors make comments about your writing. For instance, if they note that your writing is abrupt and choppy or they ask how ideas are related, you need to pay urgent attention to your transitions.
- Instructor and Classmate Comments: Have your friends, instructors, or classmates told you that they have difficulties following your train of thought? Then, you should polish your transitioning skills.
- You’re Working on a Group Paper: If you are working on a joint assignment that was written by pasting pieces of other people’s writing, you need to use transitions to make them flow logically and coherently.
- You Write Like You’re Thinking: Do you usually write the way you think and your brain starts jumping between ideas? Then, up your transition game to make your ideas flow.
Understand What These Words Are
Understand what these words are to be better placed to use them to articulate connections between preceding and successive information sections. Words such as “therefore,” “so,” “because,” “however,” moreover, and many others are transitions.
These phrases show connections between paragraphs and sentences. They glue your text together, and not using them correctly or at all makes your writing a bunch of sentences that are merely heaped together. Transition words piece together individual components into full units.
Moreover, you can use transitions as single words, phrases, sentences, or whole paragraphs. Whichever way, their function and effect are the same.
Know Where to Use Transitions
You also need to know where to use transition words to get the most out of them. These words help you transition smoothly in the following circumstances:
- Between sections. These words are beneficial, especially when dealing with longer writings. In such cases, you may need to use transitional paragraphs to summarize for readers the details you shared and show their significance to the discussion in the upcoming section.
- Between paragraphs. Transition words are also great for transitioning between paragraphs. They can signal connections by summarizing previous paragraphs and suggesting what the next paragraph contains. An inter-paragraph transition can be a word, two, or three. Moreover, you can use them at the end of a paragraph, at its beginning, or both.
- Within paragraphs. You may also use these words within paragraphs. When used inside paragraphs, they connect ideas between sentences. You can use them as single words or a group of words.
Understand the Types of Transition Words
Lastly, understand that there are various types of transition words. We can categorize them based on the type of connection you wish to make within your process essay. Below are examples:
- Cause and effect. Words like “therefore,” “consequently,” etc. are good examples of transitions for delineating the cause-and-effect relationships. For instance, you can say, “I am tired. Therefore, I won’t attend the meeting.”
- Clarification. These words also clarify things. Here is an example. “We are releasing you. In other words, you are sacked.”
- Contrast. Transitions also contrast ideas or objects. Good examples are “however” and “but.”
- Examples. Transition words that exemplify things include “for example,” “to exemplify,” etc.
How to Write a Process Essay
We have already talked about the process essay definition and outline, and now you can finally find out how to write a process essay with our guide.
Introduction
In the case of a process essay, the introduction plays an essential role in the success of your paper. After reading the introduction, your readers will either be intrigued enough to continue writing or will close your essay and will never come back to it again.
At the beginning of the introduction, you need to include a hook — an eye-catching statement about the most interesting aspect of the process you’re describing. Then you need to provide some scientific and historical background to the process, so that your readers know where you’re coming from.
Finally, the last sentence of your process essay introduction should be a thesis statement — a phrase that can summarize your whole upcoming paper. Your thesis statement will sound like this: “In this essay, I will demonstrate a quick and easy way to mend ripped jeans that is suitable even for beginners.”
Body paragraphs
Now you know how to start a process essay, but what about the main part of the paper — the body paragraphs? The body paragraphs are where the instructions will take place, so you need to make them easily understandable and informative for the readers.
Each body paragraph will be dedicated to a separate step in the process, so there will be more body paragraphs than the usual three you’d include in any other essay. Each body paragraph should contain a brief version of the step, its explanation, and evidence that supports your way of performing the step.
At the end of each body paragraph, you can also include a fragment of free discussion. Talk about additional tips, warnings, or alternative ways to complete this step if you feel like this information can be useful to the readers.
Conclusion
As it’s always the case with academic essays, the job of a conclusion is to put a logical end to your writing. You should not include any new information in your conclusion and need to instead convince the readers that your way of doing things is the correct one.
The conclusion of your process essay needs to remind the readers why they should repeat your procedure in the first place. If you feel like the procedure may be too complicated for most readers, you can also add some words of encouragement to convince them to give the procedure a try.
Process Essay Topics
A good topic can account for up to 50% of the success of your essay. If you are struggling with finding a suitable topic for your essay, here are 15 great process essay topics for your inspiration:
- How to become more efficient in college.
- How to limit your use of social media.
- How to get rid of insomnia.
- How to cook more at home instead of eating takeouts.
- How to give up smoking for good.
- How to find a job straight out of college.
- How to give medicine to a cat.
- How to travel on a budget.
- How to look more presentable for job interviews.
- How to set up a video conference call.
- How to get rid of toxic people in your life.
- How to become a more confident person.
- How to plan your meals and grocery shopping.
- How to find your true calling.
- How to open a hot dog stand.
Process Essay Writing Tips
To make the job of writing a process essay easier for you, we have prepared these five final tips:
- Find the perfect balance between broad and narrow process essay topics. You don’t want to get too specific to make your essay useful only to professionals, but you also don’t want to provide information that is too general — it may turn out to be useless.
- Try to use active voice in your instructions. That way, you will set the right tone for your essay and will make it easier for the readers to follow the steps to recreate the process.
- At every step of the process, think of your readers and the way they will recreate your steps. If they will need any specific equipment or skills to cover one of the steps, make sure to include that information in the essay.
- Your readers should know not only about the potential benefits and positive results of your instructions, but also about the possible side effects and unwanted consequence, as well as ways to resolve them.
Get Inspired by High-Quality Process Essay Examples
Here is a short excerpt of a sample process essay.
Many details can go wrong during a safari. Since most of us return home whole, we continue taking risks. However, we can’t fully protect our dream safaris from dangers and inconveniences, but careful safari planning saves us from many headaches. In this paper, I will discuss how to plan for a safari.
First, determine the kind of vacation you need: rest, sharing family, or nature escape. Afterward, select the ideal destination you are craving. For instance, if you want to rest, do not select a safari to five nations in three weeks because it will defeat the very purpose of going out to rest.
Need More than Process Essay Examples? Contact Us for Help
We have discussed the tips and insights to help you draft perfect process papers. Use this new knowledge in your next paper to score high grades. Should you require further assistance, don’t hesitate to ask for it. Our team is available 24/7 to craft an outstanding process essay on any subject for you.
