How to Write a Stonkingly-Good Essay Introduction

The most difficult part of any piece of writing is always the introduction, and that’s true whether you’re learning English as a second language or a native speaker. That’s particularly the case with academic essays, where you can easily spend half an hour or more writing the first few lines.  

But don’t worry, that’s not necessarily a sign of things to come. Once you’ve got the introduction right, the body of the essay usually flows more easily, until you reach the conclusion at least, and that’s a topic for another day. 

So how do you write a good essay introduction? Here are our top tips. 

1. Have a plan 

   
   

If you take just one tip from this article, make sure it’s this: always have a clear essay plan in mind (and preferably on paper) before you start writing. 

Having a clear plan for your essay will give you a readymade outline. You can then use your introduction to summarise your essay plan, explain your position and set out the approach you intend to take. Your plan should also help to keep you on track throughout the rest of the essay. 

1. State your position 

   
   

An academic essay is not like a four-season Netflix series. You don’t need to worry about giving too much away too early on. Quite the opposite, in fact. You should give away everything at the start by stating clearly what your position is - your ‘mega argument’ or thesis. You can then fill the body of your essay with the ‘mini arguments’ that support your position.    

1. Set the scope of your essay 

   
   

No essay can cover every aspect of a topic, and if you do, you wouldn’t be able to do so in enough detail to get high marks. So, use the introduction to tell your reader how you plan to narrow down your topic and what you hope to achieve. You can then set out your position as we’ve explained above.   

1. Keep it short and sweet 

   
   

Your introduction should only be used to outline the points you plan to cover later on. As soon as you start making arguments in your introduction, you’ve written too much. As a guide, your introduction should be around 8 to 10% of your total word count. For a 2,000 word essay, that’s between 160 and 200 words.   

1. Start strong 

   
   

While staring at a blank piece of paper never feels good, taking some time over your introduction is not a bad thing. Taking as long as you need (within reason) to craft a concise, nicely written essay introduction with a clear position and a good hook will make the reader interested to find out more and can make a big difference to the quality of your work.  

Essay writing dos and don’ts  

Here are a few quick takeaways to keep your essay introductions on point. 

The dos 

• Make a plan before you start writing and always keep your purpose in mind 

• State your position from the off 

• Keep it short and concise - if your introduction is longer than two short paragraphs then you’ve written too much 

• Make it engaging - the topic might be technical or dry but a well-written introduction can still bring your essay to life 

  
  

The don’ts 

• Include too much background information  

• Repeat yourself or include any unnecessary sentences 

• Include cliches, dictionary definitions or generalisations 

• Start arguing your case in the introduction