The Missing Manual for Writing Essays

Practical, easy-to-follow steps to improve your essay marks.
A step-by-step instruction manual for writing better essays.
While there may not be one single right way to write an essay, there are wrong ways and, with a structured approach, you can learn how to avoid these. There are also good ways and bad ways to write essays, depending on the essay title - and these, too, can be learned, practised and honed. It doesn't have to take years, it just takes the right method.

In this respect, essay writing is really no different from maths or science: if you use the right method, you get the right results. Equally, somebody who follows the same method each time, should get the same results each time.

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The Missing Manual is an easy-to-follow system for making essays cohesive, persuasive and stress-free, every time. It shows how learning to write an essay should not simply be a process of trial and error, where error means losing marks by trying to accommodate examiners' past comments. 

The core principles of The Missing Manual are explained throughout this website, but there is much more detail on the way in the form of a full eBook. This downloadable and printable essay guide offers structured examples of how to order your ideas logically and present them in a way which is persuasive and compelling for readers and examiners alike.

Essay writing made easy
Coming Soon: The Missing Manual for How to Write an Essay

Essay Writing Guide
With a clear, step-by-step structure, The Missing Manual offers practical solutions to common essay-writing problems which most students will encounter at some stage during their studies, but for which tutors' answers can often seem vague. Have you ever found yourself wondering...


The Missing Manual goes beyond general essay-writing tips and offers an easy-to-follow set of instructions for how you can construct persuasive and compelling essays which earn the marks you deserve. You can find out more by viewing our online overview of the ten essay-writing stages. 

Is it just me or did nobody teach us how to write an essay?
Teachers and lecturers can seem very reluctant to say: "Do it like this, my method works." There may be good reasons for this, and there is some merit to the thinking that, at degree level, it is your responsibility to find an essay-writing method that works for you individually. But that doesn't mean you have to find it by trial and error.

Part of the problem is that most of the guidance we receive about how to write good essays is piecemeal, coming primarily from examiner feedback which we receive a little at a time with each essay we submit. If we're lucky, we take these comments on board and, very gradually, our essay writing improves. But wouldn't it be better if we just got all the information in one go — a set of clear instructions, all in one place?

The Missing Manual presents a clear and concise set of instructions for how an academic essay can be constructed from start to finish. Getting away from the trap of trial and error, the Manual puts all the information you need in one place, offering practical examples and case studies throughout. No ambiguity, no second-guessing, no stress.

How to Start an Essay

For many students, getting started is the most difficult part of the process. Generally, this difficulty is symptomatic of some other underlying problem, such as an under-developed essay plan or simply not taking enough breaks. Find out how to write an introduction without the stress.
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Improve your Essay Marks

You can add 30% or more to your essay marks just by planning, presenting and proofing more effectively. The question of how to write better essays is at least as much about planning and presentation as it is about sound arguments and diligent research.
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How to Conclude an Essay 

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of writing an academic essay is offering a powerful and persuasive conclusion. You don't just want to repeat your old arguments, but you can't add anything totally new either. With the right method, ending your essay can be very straightforward.
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