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GED Essay: Where to Begin?

17th November 2008

GED Essay: Where to Begin?

posted in GED Essay, GED Writing, Getting Started Writing |

Hi, everyone! Hope the studying is going great! I get a lot of comments that ask, how do you start? How do you even begin writing a GED essay? Here’s one:

I need help starting my essay.My mind go blank when I have to write anything let alone an essay please tell me where to begin thanks

Here’s my advice…

1) Begin with the essay prompt. Look at the prompt, and try to think about things in your life that have to do with what it’s asking. Make notes. Note down everything you can think of, and write it in whatever way makes sense to you. Don’t reject an idea because you think it’s dumb!!! Hey, too many people have been programed to think their ideas are dumb. Forget that. You’ve got to get the ideas started, and you’re programmed with a bunch of stumbling blocks. But now I’m rambling.

2)  Okay. Now you’ve thought about it some, and you’ve got some ideas. So, look at the question again. Write it in your own words. Think about how you’d answer the question, in just a short answer, and write down your answer.

3) Now you’ve got a basic answer to the question, and a bunch of ideas. Instead of a blank page, you’ve got some stuff to organize. And that’s all you need to do! Organize. Say you’re going to write 4 paragraphs. That’s a good start. Make 4 boxes on a page, and start putting things in different boxes. Don’t worry about writing the essay yet!

Box 1: Introduction

–write down your overall answer

–write down any ideas about an interesting way to begin

Box 2: Paragraph 2

–write down an example from your life that relates to the introduction.

–what does it mean to you?

Box 3: Paragraph 3

–write down a second example from your life (something that happened to you) that relates to your introduction.

–what does it mean to you?

Box 4: Conclusion

–why is this an important topic?

–how could this apply to the world, other people, or other parts of your life?

4) Now you’ve got a bunch of notes to write from. That’s much easier. Make each box into a paragraph… and you’ve got an essay!

I hope this helps,

Liz

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

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  1. 1 On December 9th, 2008, Tanya said:

    Im takeing my test next week,and I have a question about,how I start out an essay.Im also a little nervouse about,when they give you a topic,you have to write about it,my brain kinda freezes up.what if I can’t think of anything?How do I go about this? Please help!

    posted on December 9th, 2008 at 11:48 am

  2. 2 On December 9th, 2008, Elizabeth said:

    Hi, Tanya! I know the essay can be a little intimidating. Here are some things to help…

    1)Try to think of some things in advance, that you might use on your essay. You don’t know what the question will be, but you can think of some things that might help, like:
    –Who are some people you admire, and why?
    –What’s important to you in life? What are your goals?
    –What are some important events that happened to you, that really made you think or taught you something?
    –What’s an important world event that has a special meaning or memory for you?

    Thinking about these kinds of questions gets your juices going… you might find that you can use them in your essay, or else it’s just good practice!

    Also, here are some techniques you can use to brainstorm while you’re in the test. Practice these before the test on some of the questions above, or other practice GED prompts…

    1) Freewriting… write down the question and just write for 3-4 minutes, whatever comes into your head. Don’t even worry if it’s a good idea!

    2) Listing… write a list of as many things related to the idea as you can think of.

    3) Word Web… write the main idea in the center. Then, draw 3-4 lines from the center, connecting to 3-4 related ideas. Write 3 details or new ideas about each related idea.

    4) Questioning… write 3-4 questions about the topic, and then try to answer them.

    5) Try answering these questions about the topic (and add more if you can think of them!):
    –What’s my feeling or opinion about this topic?
    –Who’s a person I know who taught me something about this topic?
    –What’s a memory I have about this topic?
    –How is this topic related to my life?

    That will give you some ideas to start organizing into an essay. Some techniques work better for some people, so try these out to see what works best for you. Practicing beforehand really helps, so you’ll have your essay-writing muscles all flexed and ready to go!

    Also, it’s really important to try to relax. That means, eat a good breakfast. Get plenty of sleep the night before. Bring some good snacks and water along. Wear comfortable clothes. And don’t worry! Just concentrate on your essay.

    Good luck!
    Liz

    P.S. I’ll make this a separate post, too.

    posted on December 9th, 2008 at 1:09 pm

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