How to Write an Informative Essay: 7 Simple Steps

Your head doesn't have to hurt when you're writing an informative essay. You just have to explain something in a way that keeps the reader interested. The best advice on how to write an informative essay is to have a clear game plan:

• Choose a strong topic
• Research reliable sources
• Create a clear outline
• Write an engaging introduction
• Develop well-structured body paragraphs
• Craft a solid conclusion
• Revise and proofread carefully

This guide will walk you through the seven main steps of informative writing so you can submit a strong and polished paper. If you ever struggle with completing any of your academic tasks, EssayHub's paper writing service will take all the stress off of your shoulders; all it takes from you is a few clicks!

What Is an Informative Essay?

An informative essay does exactly what it sounds like: it informs. There are no personal opinions or arguments presented here, nor are you trying to convince the reader of anything. Informative writing only states clearly explained facts, so the reader walks away knowing something they didn't know before.

So, what's the goal of writing an informative essay? It aims to:

• Teach the reader something new without boring them to death
• Stick to facts
• Break things down so complicated topics make sense.

How to Start an Informative Essay?

Before you jump into the actual writing process, you need to come up with a well-thought-out plan to save yourself a lot of frustration. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of what needs to be taken care of before you start typing.

1. Choose a Compelling Topic - If you’re not passionate about the topic you’re researching, chances are you won’t be able to convince the reader why it matters, either. 
2. Know Your Audience – Will the topic you chose be interesting? What do they already know? What do they need to know?
3. Do Solid Research – Stick to facts that can be backed up by credible sources.
4. Craft A Strong Thesis – Come up with one clear sentence that sums up your main idea.
5. Outline Your Points – This keeps you from rambling (or worse, getting lost mid-essay).
6. Ace the Introduction – A shocking fact, a bold statement, or a thought-provoking question will hook the reader right from the get-go.
   

How to Write an Informative Essay: 7 Essential Steps

An informative essay requires you to keep things clear, structured, and, most importantly, anything but boring. To do this, you should follow these 7 simple informative essay steps; trust us, the process will be way easier and your reader will be engaged, too!

Choose a Great Topic

Any writing process starts with picking the right topic. It sets the stage for the entire essay, so it’s better to spend a little more time on this step and choose the topic wisely.

• Go with something that actually interests you. It makes researching and writing so much easier. Plus, the reader can always tell if you’re actually passionate about what you’re saying.
• Your topic should be broad enough to find sufficient information but not so narrow that you can’t find credible sources to back it up. 
• Consider your audience. Think about what they would find useful, surprising, and relevant.

Conduct Research

An effective informative essay can’t be written without solid research. Each one of your arguments must be backed up with concrete evidence. You should always do a quick preliminary research right after you choose your topic, and then look for evidence for each one of your points. Here’s how you should handle the research process:

• Stick to credible sources! Books, academic journals, and reputable websites can all be used in your paper. Wikipedia is fine for general ideas, but don’t use it as a main source.
• Notes can be lifesavers when you’re organizing your essay later on. Jot down the most important facts, statistics, and supporting details.

Create a Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement is the first building block of your essay. It should be a concise and effective sentence that will tell the reader exactly what they’re about to learn. To come up with a strong thesis, you should:

• Keep it clear and specific. A vague thesis statement will do nothing but confuse you and the reader.
• Make it brief: one or two sentences max. 
• Stay factual. Contrary to an argumentative essay, informative essays should stick to facts rather than opinions. 
• Ask yourself, “Why does this matter?” Your thesis should answer that question.

Outline the Essay

You can easily avoid wasting a ton of time by simply creating a simple plan for your essay. A well-thought-out informative essay outline will keep you on track and will prevent you from rambling on about something irrelevant. The outline for an informative essay should include:

• Introduction
• Body paragraphs
• Conclusion

Write the Introduction

We can’t overstate the importance of a strong introduction. You’ll be surprised at the power one sentence can have on the reader. But the difficult thing is writing something that grabs attention that fast. Here's how to ace your informative essay introduction:

• Create an engaging opening. Start with a surprising fact or a question that pulls the reader in.
• Give background information so the reader understands the context around the topic.
• End with a short and clear thesis statement that sets up the rest of your essay.

Develop the Body Paragraphs

At this point, you're already starting to break down your main ideas into more digestible pieces. Each paragraph of your informative essay should:

• Introduce separate ideas and arguments.
• Kick-off with a clear topic sentence for a brief overview of the section.
• Include relevant evidence to back up the facts.
• Use transitions to keep things flowing smoothly between paragraphs.

Write the Conclusion

When writing the concluding paragraph, you should manage to find a balance between wrapping things up and not repeating yourself. An informative essay’s conclusion should:

• Restate the thesis statement without copying and pasting. It should sound fresh and should reinforce the importance of the topic.
• Summarize the key points from your body paragraphs.
• End with an effective final thought or call to action. But make sure that whatever you write makes sense for your topic.

Cite Sources Properly

You've done your research, found the facts, and wrote a killer informative essay. But you shouldn't call it a day just yet! Unless you properly cite your sources, you might risk an unprofessional look or, far worse, plagiarism trouble. Depending on your assignment and the professor's instructions, you should use one of these formatting styles for your reference page:

• MLA (Modern Language Association) – The go-to for humanities and literature. You should use in-text citations with the author's name and the page (Francis 45) with a Works Cited page at the end.
• APA (American Psychological Association) – Popular in social sciences. It requires you to list the author's name and the date of publication in-text (Francis, 2023) and a References page at the end.
• Chicago Style – Most commonly used in history and humanities fields. You'll either have to use footnotes/endnotes (for historians) or an author-date system (for social sciences).

Revise and Edit

First drafts are never perfect. In fact, you shouldn't even be aiming for perfection with your first draft, just to put your thoughts on paper so you can clean them up later on. If you're wondering what should be considered when revising a research-based informative essay for readability? Here's the game plan:

• Check for clarity and logical flow. Your essay should be structured in a coherent manner so it actually makes sense instead of jumping around like a bad movie plot.
• Delete the sentences that don't add value. Less is more! Repeating the same idea in different words might work in the conclusion, but not when it comes to the main points.
• Don't skip fixing sentence structure and grammatical errors. Typos and messy sentences will make even the best ideas look bad.
• Get a second opinion. Feedback from your peers will help you make sure no stone’s left unturned, and grammar tools can spot the mistakes your eyes missed. 
• Make sure the formatting is on point. Improper formatting might cost you your much-needed points. Check the margins, spacing, font size, and citation style.

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Informative Essay Structure

A proper informative essay outline follows a simple structure, one you will find in almost any academic paper. Your writing must have a clear introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. There are rules on how to write each section of your essay, so let's not waste time and get right to it!

Introduction

The first sentence of your essay sets the tone for the entire paper, so you have to get it right. Your reader will check out before they even get to the body paragraphs if the informative essay introducton is weak. Here's what makes a great introductory paragraph:

• Grab attention: Start with something that will catch the reader off guard. You need a sentence that makes them think, 'I just need to know more!'.
• Give some background: Provide just enough context so they know what’s coming, but they're not drowning in details, either.
• State your thesis: Write a clear sentence that sums up your main idea. It should be a solid, focused thesis statement, so avoid any vague ideas.
• Keep it short: The introduction paragraph is the opening act, not the main event. It has to be engaging, but leave most of the information for the body paragraphs.

Body

This is where you'll have to do the actual heavy lifting. Every paragraph should talk about a separate important point, each backed up with solid evidence. Don't forget to make sure one idea smoothly connects to the text. Otherwise, your entire essay will feel out of place. Here's what to focus on:

• Lead with a topic sentence: Your reader should know what the paragraph will be about right away.
• Back it up: Facts, statistics, professional opinions; whatever helps you prove your point, you should use it in your essay. Just make sure your sources are legit.
• Explain why it matters: Don't bombard the reader with cold hard facts. Connect the dots and make sense of everything you write.
• Keep it organized: Each paragraph should flow naturally into the next. A choppy essay will not be informative, just confusing.
• Stay on track: Each paragraph should have one main idea. No wandering off-topic!

Conclusion

You're close to the finish line! All that's left to do is wrap things up and leave your reader with something to reflect on. Your conclusion shouldn't just be a recap of what you've already talked about, it needs to tie everything together and make a final point.

• Restate your thesis: Remind the reader what your essay was all about without being repetitive.
• Summarize the key points: Write a concise summary of the most important takeaways from your body paragraphs.
• End with impact: Choose your final sentence wisely. It must be something to leave your readers thinking.
• Keep it tight: The conclusion shouldn't have any new information. It's just a satisfying ending that wraps everything up.

Recognizing the often overlooked significance of an outline, students can leverage this tool for efficient research direction and organization. By dedicating a little extra time to crafting a well-thought-out outline, you can substantially streamline the subsequent writing process. Or simply buy essays as many as you need across a wide variety of disciplines on our website. 

Informative Essay Format

Content makes the essay. But do you think you'll get a good grade if you turn in a sloppy, all-over-the-place paper, even if it checks all other boxes? Any academic paper has to be polished and professional, that's why formatting guidelines exist. Take a look at the ABCs of essay formatting below; trust us, it will only make the process easier:

Informative Essay Example

We’d like to present a tangible example that encapsulates the process of selecting a topic, conducting thorough research, crafting a well-structured outline, and ultimately producing a coherent and compelling essay. Study this practical illustration to gain insights into presenting objective information with clarity and precision. If you want to get your own writings of the same quality, pay for essay online right now!

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Wrapping Things Up

Informative essays aren't about making readers suffer through a wall of facts. Your informative writing should present facts in a clear and coherent manner so the reader actually wants to keep reading. The process becomes a whole lot easier if you break it down into more manageable steps:

• Find a topic that won't bore you or the reader
• Do your own research through credible sources
• Keep your thesis statement strong and brief
• Create a well-structured outline with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion
• Give credit where it's due - cite your sources properly

If all else fails, EssayHub will be ready to jump in and take over. Our professional writers will guide you or even handle the entire essay so the deadlines don't breathe down your neck.