Writing an informal essay is an art form that requires you to have the right combination of creativity, structure, and organization.
The goal of an informal essay is to inform your reader without having to adhere to a strict outline or structure.
You can give your essay a casual feel while still providing the necessary information in order to get your point across.
In this guide, will well discuss how you can write an effective informal essay that will help you earn a top grade.
Let’s start with defining an informal essay:
What is an informal essay?
An informal essay is a type of writing that covers everyday topics like family, hobbies, and other personal experiences. It’s often written in a conversational style with a casual tone to make the writing more enjoyable for the reader. While informal essays are sometimes used to entertain readers, they can also be used to inform or persuade them.
Audience
When indulging in any writing experience, it is essential to consider who will read your work. This way, you will understand what information to include and how to convey it. Most informal essays appear like the writer is talking to friends or acquaintances. Some informal essays are meant solely for individual use, making the writer the audience as well. If, on the other hand, you intend to have your work read by someone else, you will write differently. An informal essay you are submitting to your professor will differ from one directed to friends. The way you write is also dependent on what purpose you aim at achieving with this piece of writing. Are you writing to enlighten the youth about certain fashion? Are you writing to make your audience laugh? Is your target audience a group of advanced-age people? All these types of audience mean that your essay will differ in content and seriousness
Tone
As opposed to formal essays, informal essays can use common terminologies, quotes and so forth. It is more like you are holding a conversation with your audience. You do not have to write in the third person language or write all the words in full. However, this again depends on your target audience. You can throw in some jokes in the right proportions but ensuring you remain relevant to the purpose.
Structure of an informal essay
If you are used to writing formal essays you might find yourself tempted to stick to the five-paragraph rule. However, this is not necessarily the case with informal essays. Although you can adopt this format, you do not require to arrange your ideas logically. Some crucial components that will make your essay easier include;
Topic
Despite writing in a relaxed manner, you must be writing about something specific. Therefore, it is essential to give your essay a title and focus on a given matter. In classwork, you will mainly be given a topic but for individual purposes, you have to settle on one. Your topic must be something that interests you if you are to enjoy writing the piece. Some topics that suit informal essays are;
- Is there a specific way of raising children?
- The role of social media in moral decadency
- Choosing the right attire for an occasion
Introduction
Since the informal essay is not dependent on any research work, there is no single way of writing your introduction. You can begin with a sense of humor or a story that leads to what you intend to write about. If it is fashion, you can start with an embarrassing moment when you dressed inappropriately.
The body
This is where you express your thoughts without necessarily following any order. Depending on the audience, you can include some slang. Your sentences must be short and concise; long sentences and paragraphs are discouraging to read. If this type of essay turns out boring, it beats the purpose of entertaining. You should be keen to avoid confusing the readers even if you are not required to follow a definite order. Using too many jokes makes the essay lose its meaning and look like a comedy instead (unless it is). Therefore, you should use the right doses of informal ideas.
While formal essays have a defined number of words, informal essays have some freedom. If you are submitting the paper for grading, your professor might specify the word limit. Informal essays are mostly brief and are characterized by short paragraphs too.
Conclusion
This essay allows you to provide a summary of the ideas you have discussed before. However, you should do it in a manner that leaves an impression on your reader. By ending the essay on the right note, the reader will easily remember everything you have talked about. Your conclusion does not have to be too serious since this is not a case study. Will the audience look forward to reading your next essay? Are there any emotions you have triggered in the reader?
How To Write an Informal Essay: 5 Steps
This guide will provide you with step-by-step instructions for how to write an informal essay in just 5 steps.
1. Select Your Topic
Your first step should be selecting a topic for your informal essay. Choose something that interests you and relates to your life experience or knowledge.
You may want to draw inspiration from your hobbies, family, or current events.
Once you’ve selected a topic, begin brainstorming ideas around it so that you can narrow down what you’d like to focus on in your essay.
2. Brainstorm Ideas
Take some time to think about what ideas and opinions you want to express in your essay.
You don’t need to know every detail at this point; just jot down some notes about potential arguments or points of view that interest you.
This will help give structure and direction to your essay later on.
3. Research Your Topic
Once you have chosen a topic and brainstormed some ideas, it’s time to do some research on the subject matter so that you can back up your opinions with facts and evidence.
Make sure not only to look for reputable sources but also cross-reference them with other sources if possible so as not to take anything at face value.
This will also help bolster your argument by providing more depth and context than just relying solely on personal opinion.
4. Create an Outline
Creating an essay outline helps keep your thoughts organized and on track as you write your essay.
Start by making a list of key points about your topic that you would like to discuss in the body of your essay.
Then create subpoints underneath each main point so that each point is broken down into smaller sections—this will help ensure that nothing important gets left out of your paper!
Finally, decide which points should come first, second, third and so on until all of the points have been addressed in order from beginning to end.
5. Write Your Essay
Now it’s time to start writing an essay!
Begin by introducing your topic and providing some background information about why it is important or relevant.
This introduction should draw readers in and give them an idea of what they can expect from the rest of the essay.
Once the introduction has been written, move on to the body paragraphs where you will discuss each point outlined in your outline one at a time until they have all been covered thoroughly.
Use descriptive language and concrete examples when applicable so that readers can understand why this topic matters and how it relates to their own lives or experiences if applicable.
Remember to proofread your informal essay
The fact that you are writing an informal essay does not mean it does not require re-reading. It would be embarrassing to write an essay and receive feedback on typos, poor punctuation, and grammar. Therefore, you should take some time to go through your essay before publishing or submitting it. If you feel that, something does not feel right, scrap-off some parts or add necessary ones.
How do you feel after reading the whole essay? If it does give you some level of achievement, then you have missed something. You can also have a friend read through the essay and give honest opinions or even pay online essay writing help service to help you.
Ensure that they can follow the entire essay and understand the message you intended to deliver. An informal essay is not a chance to be sloppy in your writing. Nevertheless, you do not have to follow any specific formatting style.
Final Thoughts
Writing an informal essay can be both fun and challenging! By following these steps: selecting a topic, creating an outline, and writing – you will be well on your way towards crafting an engaging and effective piece of writing about any subject matter in high school or college!