Writing essays is\nsomething most students struggle with, but while you can do an adequate job\nwith most regular essay assignments, an ACT essay is particularly daunting for\nthe majority of students. Writing an ACT essay is a crucial step in the college\napplication process and can make or break your chances of getting into their\ndream school. With so much of your potential success depending on the quality\nof your writing, it\u2019s not surprising to see many students struggling with the\ntask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Passing an ACT\nwriting test is not an easy job, but there is a great way to approach this\nassignment and increase your chances of success. The most challenging aspect of\nwriting an ACT essay is that this task is strictly time-limited. That is why\nyou need to have a detailed approach to writing long before you sit down at the\ndesk to create your essay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our 8-step\nwriting guide will help you structure your work better without missing any key\ningredients of a good piece of writing. Follow these steps to increase your\nchances of delivering a strong ACT essay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are\npressed for time as the deadline is approaching fast, you may think that you\ncan get away without the planning stage of the writing process. However, the\nimportance of this stage cannot be overrated, as it actually saves you time once\nyou begin writing your ACT essay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before writing\nthe essay, you will be typically given an essay prompt and up to three\nperspectives. You do not necessarily need to agree with any of the\nperspectives, but it is important to have a deep understanding of the prompt\nand your relationship with all three perspectives. One of them must be closer\nto your own perspective than the rest of them, so make sure to choose wisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can always\ninclude your own view as the fourth perspective, but if you are in a rush, ACT\nessay experts do not recommend it. Instead, you should use the remaining time\nto find the perspective you can relate to the most and will be able to support\nyour arguments. Only then will you have a strong foundation for a good ACT\nessay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, the\ngoal of your ACT essay is to demonstrate the link between your own perspective\nand at least one of the perspectives you are given in the assignment. The only\nway to do it is through convincing evidence, and you are going to need at least\na few pieces of evidence for your essay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this stage, it\nis better to word your opinions into short phrases and notes rather than\ncomplete sentences. Since you are still able to change your perspective at this\npoint, it is better not to invest too much into writing before you are set on\nthe perspective. You can find strong evidence in the following sources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Essay prompt.<\/strong> If you read the prompt carefully a few times, you may discover plenty of ideas and examples to support your perspective on the subject matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Personal experience.<\/strong> A good way to add strength to your perspective is to use an example from your own life or the life of someone you know. And the best news is that those examples don\u2019t even need to be real to serve their purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Statistics.<\/strong> Statistics always add credibility to the perspective of your essay. Again, the statistics don\u2019t have to be real to add value to your essay perspective. Even made-up statistics can fit perfectly into the narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0History.<\/strong> If there have been any specific events from history that could support your perspective, you should always find a way to include them in your essay. The historical events and facts don\u2019t need to be 100% correct, but they always need to be relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have\nchosen the perspective you are going to defend in your essay, the remaining\nperspectives will also need to be covered in the writing, only this time, you\nneed to argue against them. You don\u2019t always need to cover both of the\nremaining perspectives to prove your point \u2014 in most cases, the graders of your\nessay will be more than satisfied if you offer enough arguments against just\none perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As soon as you\nhave decided on the main points you will cover in your essay, you can move on\nto organizing the paper and giving it the correct structure. You will use the\nclassic essay structure for your ACT paper, which includes an introduction,\nbody paragraphs (usually three), and a conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The introduction\nto your ACT essay should always contain the thesis statement at the end. You\nwill then use the thesis statement to get your point across the paper. If you\ncannot word the thesis statement perfectly at the moment, you can make a rough\ndraft of it and come back to this part later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first stage\nof the ACT essay writing process should not take you more than 10 minutes so\nthat you have enough time to write the paper and follow the remaining stages.\nYou will have about 30 minutes left for the next steps of the writing process,\nso make sure to use every minute wisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The introduction\nto your ACT essay will not be long, but since it\u2019s the first experience the\ngraders will have with your paper, it is very important for the introduction to\nmake the right impression. The introduction should be on-point and extremely\nrelevant to the rest of the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A good way to\nstart the introduction is to use a hook, or a strong introductory sentence that\nwill instantly elevate the writing. However, it may not be easy to come up with\nsomething witty and relevant in a stressful environment of a test. You can\nalways leave the introduction part blank in your paper and come back to it when\nyou have better ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The compulsory\npart of the introduction is the thesis statement. Your thesis statement should\nexplain your perspective and how it relates to the other perspectives from the\nessay prompt. This part comes at the end of the introduction, but it is the\nmost crucial part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to\ncreate a cohesive narrative in your essay, each body paragraph should contain a\nreference to the thesis statement. Each body paragraph should contain the\narguments supporting the opposing point of view and then the counterarguments\nthat further reinstate the perspective you chose earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on\nwhether you compare your perspective to one or two of the perspectives given in\nthe essay prompt, the content of your body paragraphs may differ. However, the\ngeneral rules for writing each paragraph don\u2019t change too much: they need to be\nclosely connected to the thesis statement, the essay prompt, and each other. Strong\nevidence is necessary for successfully proving your point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The conclusion to\nan ACT essay does not have to be long: in most cases, you can get away with\njust a one-sentence conclusion. Still, it needs to be a convincing sentence that\nsums up everything you have written before and serves as a final reminder to\nthe readers that your position has been successfully proven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By now, you have\nsomewhere between 3 to 5 minutes to finish your ACT essay. The best way to use\nthat time is to make sure your writing is absolutely spotless. You can\ncarefully read your essay and correct any possible grammar and spelling\nmistakes. If you are not happy with some of the words you have chosen for your\nessay, there is still time to improve your vocabulary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have done everything right, you will be rewarded with a strong ACT essay that will increase your chance of success. In case you still have plenty of time to prepare for the actual ACT writing test, Mcessay writers<\/a> recommend practicing to successfully plan the writing process in under 8 minutes \u2014 then you will have enough time remaining to write and revise your essay before it\u2019s due.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Writing essays is something most students struggle with, but while you can do an adequate job with most regular essay assignments, an ACT essay is particularly …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":575,"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162\/revisions\/575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcessay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Step 3: Brainstorming other perspectives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 4: Organizing your essay<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Stage 2: Writing The Essay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 5: Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 6: Body paragraphs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 7:\nConclusion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 8: Revision<\/h3>\n\n\n\n