Writing essays itself is a strenuous task for someone who hates to do academic writing. On top of that, writing an opinion essay makes it even more challenging for the writer. High school, college, and university students are required to write opinion essays at least once in their academic careers. Opinion essays are used to evaluate how good students are at critical thinking and how well can they state and influence people with their opinion about a controversial topic. In this article, we have compiled the 6 basic steps to writing excellent opinion essays that stand out and score an A+ grade.
Carefully read this article from start to end to master the art of writing brilliant opinion essays.
Are you feeling overburdened by loads of essay writing assignments? Are you unsure about wiring an opinion essay? Hire a professional essay writing expert from CustomEssayOrder and get high-quality and unique custom essays on any topic in less than 3 hours.
What is an Opinion Essay?
Simply put an opinion essay is a formal piece of academic writing that is meant to present the author’s viewpoint that is supported by reasoning. Opinion writing or opinion essay writing is all about stating your opinion and then convincing readers to support your point of view. It doesn’t matter if the opinion of the author is right or wrong, what matters is that the authors clearly state their point of view. After that authors are required to add supporting arguments to support their thesis statement.
Unlike persuasive essays, the opposing viewpoint is also listed in an opinion essay. Arguments are added to show how the author’s opinion is better than the opposing viewpoint or how inconsistent the opposing opinion is. Take a look at this complete Opinion Essay Writing Guide prepared by professionals from CustomEssayOrder to know how to write the best opinion essays.
The 6 Basics Steps to Writing Opinion Essays
Step #1) Understand the Difference Between an Opinion Essay and All Other Essays
Are you wondering about how an opinion essay is different from all other essays? Or How is an opinion essay different from an argumentative or persuasive essay? Understanding this basic difference between the different essay types is the key to writing a great opinion essay. Here are some pro tips to differentiate between different essay types:
- In an argumentative essay or persuasive essay, you provide arguments to describe the essay from different perspectives. In an opinion essay, you only have to focus on your opinion and only support your point of view.
- Many students find it difficult to choose the perfect opinion. Remember that your opinion doesn’t need to be perfect, rather arguments that you add to support your opinion and research data should be good. Support the opinion that engages you and you feel a strong cause for. If you are not sure about what opinion to choose as your thesis statement then go for the popular opinion (majority vote).
- It is good to have a strong opinion of your own as the main idea. When you write an opinion essay you should use formal language and transition words in your body paragraphs. We recommend you only support one argument in one body paragraph.
Step #2) The Do’s and Dont’s of Writing an Opinion Essay
1. Basic do’s when writing an opinion essay
- Start each paragraph with the topic sentence of a supporting argument. The supporting argument should be relevant and should back your opinion.
- Do not focus on the pros and cons or uses of the main argument either for or against.
- Use the formal style of writing and don’t always be respectful of other people’s opinions.
- Avoid slang and never be disrespectful while stating arguments.
- Try to be as logical as you can. The best way to be logical is to add supporting information that backs your opinion.
- Basic dont’s when writing an opinion essay
- Don’t use colloquial expressions. Avoid slang and jargon words.
- Don’t overgeneralize your opinion or main idea. Narrow down your topic and try to be specific.
- Don’t use too short or too straightforward sentences as they are not appropriate for academic writing and essays.
- Do not address your readers as “You”, rather address your opposing opinion and not a single person or group.
- Don’t use imperative voice or emotive vocabulary.
- Try to be discreet and avoid overusing dashes, exclamation marks, or parentheses to prove your point of view. Rather use scientific evidence and references to support your opinion.
Step #3) Outline Your Opinion Essay
Make a proper outline before you start to write your opinion essay. Outline in such a way that you can grasp the reader’s attention through your topic sentences and headings. Outlining will also help you against the fear of blank spaces. Before outlining do extensive research to gather arguments that support your opinion.
While making an opinion essay outline, don’t vaguely distribute your opinion rather make a logical flow between paragraphs while outlining. Remember that your outline doesn’t need to be perfect from the get-go, you can also add info to it, later on, to make it better.
Step #4) What to Include in the Body of Opinion Essay?
While writing an opinion essay you must stay relevant to your point of view and keep on presenting logical arguments to support your opinion. Here is what you should do:
Make Your Tone As Positive As You Can:
Do not disrespect other people’s opinions or use an aggressive tone to discourage a certain action. No matter how passionate you are about your opinion don’t be sarcastic or sour about other people’s points of view. Doing this will only make your argument weak and will make you look unprofessional.
For Example:
Disrespectful/ Aggressive Tone: Poor students should not be made to suffer the headmaster’s fashion whims only because they can not afford to buy new clothing uniforms or shoes.
Neutral Tone: Poor students cannot afford to buy new clothing every now and then, therefore the school administration should respect their financial constraints.
Use Supporting Evidence to Validate Your Position
Your opinion is not enough to make your point of view seem valid. You need to have strong supporting evidence backed by logic to validate your opinion. Remember that factual statements with proper references are always better than just opinions and comments about a topic.
Step # 5) Clearly Outline Your Opinion As Thesis Statement
Your thesis statement and your opinion should match. In an opinion paper, you should make sure you list your opinion the main idea of your paper. Unlike argumentative or persuasive essays an opinion essay is all about supporting your opinion and point of view. You can also justify your opinion by pointing out flaws and errors from the opposing viewpoint.
Step #6) Edit and Proofread Your Opinion Essay
Once you are done creating your first draft, you must proofread and edit your essay to eliminate errors and mistakes. Proofreading your essay will also help you better understand what’s lacking and how you can improve your essay.
Here are some pro-tips on how to edit your essay
- Read your essay aloud with the mindset of the reader and answer the rhetorical question related to the author’s opinion. See if your arguments are strong enough to support your opinion.
- Ask a friend, relative, or your instructor to give feedback about the first draft that you created. Edit your opinion essay based on the feedback that you receive and try to fulfill the reader’s intent with your opinion.
- Look for opinion essay examples and
In conclusion, writing a great essay that reflects your opinion will certainly enhance your academic performance. Choose the best essay topic from a list of opinion essay topics. Once you have chosen a topic and decided about your opinion stand firmly with it and provide logical arguments to prove your point of view.
Are you feeling overburdened by loads of essay writing assignments? Are you unsure about wiring an opinion essay? Hire a professional essay writing expert from CustomEssayOrder and get high-quality and unique custom essays on any topic in less than 3 hours.
FAQ’s About 6 Steps to Writing an Excellent Opinion Paper
How to Start an Opinion Essay?
To start an opinion essay by providing high-quality background information and an overview of the topic statement. Don’t start your essay with sentences like ” I think” or “I believe” as it will distract your reader.
How to state your opinion in an essay?
If you are writing about human history then you start your opinion with a statement like “human history has taught the modern human how to peacefully co-exist with nature and everything around us”. We recommend that you don’t use “I” too much as it will weaken your argument.
