What Is an Informal Essay?

The informal essay is an essay written for pleasure. Its purpose is to help you organize your thoughts on a specific topic, to reflect on readings, and to express different points of view. It can still be informative and convincing, but you’re allowed to write it with less formal expressions.

How to Write an Informative Essay

The informal essay definition is pretty straightforward. It tells you when these assignments are needed in college. But does it tell you how to write informal essays? No. That’s what we’re here for today. We’ll give you effective tips and tricks on how to handle these assignments. Otherwise you can always order the informal essay from the best essay writing service. Although they are called informal, they are still being graded. Thus, you cannot take them lightly.

When you’re writing for pleasure, you tend to express yourself in the same language you use when talking with your friends. When students speak informally, their language is full of humor and sarcasm. You may still use such expression in informal essay, but you must not go overboard. Saying “The partisans were so freakin’ rad, man” might seem normal in spoken communication between friends. When you’re writing something that your professor is going to read, however, you can’t use a language that https://www.usu.edu/markdamen/WritingGuide/01inform.htminformal.

To start with, here are few general tips to have in mind when you’re dealing with this type of task:

• Informal assignments give you some space for jokes, but you mustn’t turn them into a scenario for stand-up comedy. When you’re dealing with a serious topic, in particular, the humor will fall flat. That’s the first thing you must remember when writing informal essays.
• This is a rule: write in a language your professor can understand. That means that although this is an informal assignment, it should still be readable. What does readable mean in this situation? Just avoid slang! Your friends may understand it, but your professor doesn’t.
• Sarcasm is acceptable only if you know how to handle it way. In its definition, sarcasm is saying something opposite of what you mean, thinking that intelligent people should understand the mock. In writing, however, it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish the sarcastic tone. If you’re a master of sarcasm, you can make it work. But only in small doses!
• In informal writing, you should create a direct contact between you and the reader. That’s the main contrast between this assignment and any type of formal paper. You’re allowed to use I and you. In fact, that’s even recommended.
• You don’t know what a good informal essay should look like? Read few good personal blogs. Great bloggers know how to create that connection between them and the readers. This writing style will give you hints on how to handle an informal writing assignment.
• Informal essays are much more personal when compared to argumentative, expository, or any other type of formal essay. If, for example, the topic is abortion, you’re allowed to express your personal opinion. You may still include some facts, but you’ll be mostly talking about the way you perceive the topic. The paper should feel like a conversation between you and the professor.
• You have to show some personality in the ideas, style, and form of expression!

How to Start an Informal Essay

Now that we covered the main general tips to have in mind when dealing with informal writing, it’s time to start with the practical guidelines. How do you start this type of essay?

1. Choose a Topic

Your professor probably assigned a general theme. For example, they told you to write an informal paper on family values. You can’t take “An Informal Paper on Family Values” as your topic, though. You have to make it more specific and personal.

Some ideas for informal essay topics will help you start the essay planning and writing process. Here are few topics to get you inspired:

• How Family Values Shaped Me as a Person
• Motherhood: the Balance between Happiness and Burden
• Is Early Parenthood a Good or a Bad Thing?
• The Influence of Family Values on a Person’s Career Choice
• How Family Values Changed in the Modern World
• Could an Arranged Marriage Work Today?

You see? We came up with various options for a title you could use for a general theme like family values. To pick your perfect topic, you must choose an angle that triggers your opinions.

2. Plan the Outline

Once you have the topic, it’s time to start the essay. First, you’ll plan! The informal outline should briefly list the points you’re going to make. You don’t have to stick to the formal 5-paragraph essay structure, but your paper will still need an introduction, body, and conclusion. Plan what you’ll write in each section.

Formulate your main idea and think of the main goal you want to achieve with this essay. Are you trying to convince the reader of something, or you just want to share a personal experience? It’s important to have a focus, so the paper will maintain its logical flow.

3. Write the Intro

The introduction of an informal paper may give you a headache. You’d usually start an argumentative essay by giving some background on the topic and citing some sources. Well, that might be an overly formal start for an informal assignment. You have to make the introduction really captivating.

This is a good place to include a healthy dose of humor and a large dose of personality. To formulate your idea, you may share your personal experience or an anecdote. You may also include a quote that captures your point of view. Then, you’ll expand on it.

This essay should showcase your opinion on a specific topic, so get straight to that point. A thesis statement is still necessary at the end of the introduction. This sentence will tell the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. However, it shouldn’t be overly formal. Just tell the reader what your main point is going to be.

How to Write a Body Paragraph for an Informal Essay

In the body of the informal essay, you should express your point of view. Although it’s informal, the paper still has to be convincing. Think of the topic as a forum thread. You’re a member of the forum and you have to defend your point of view against opposing opinions. You’ll probably rely on convincing facts, right? That’s exactly what you should do when writing an informal paper: find facts and reference them, so you’ll add structure to your argument.

Keep these tips to mind when you’re developing the body of the essay:

• You should use informal language, but not slang that your professor can’t understand.
• Separate the body of your paper in shorter paragraphs, so it will be easier to read. Structure the paragraphs in accordance with the ideas you express. There must be a cohesive flow between them.
• Write short, clear sentences. Overly long formulations are not acceptable for an informal assignment.
• Give your essay a proper emotional vibe. Express your own personality, just like you would do that if you were writing this for an online forum.
• Be respectful! Although this type of assignment does not put limits on the ideas you can express, the last thing you want is to write an essay that would be offensive to someone.

How to End an Informal Essay

Finally, you came down to the conclusion. Since you’ve done so much work by now, this should be relatively easy. In the conclusion, you’ll summarize everything you’ve written in the paper. However, you don’t want to make it repetitive. Just briefly refer to your main points of discussion, so you’ll leave the reader with definite impressions. You want them to remember and consider your message.

You’re not done with the paper when you’re done with the conclusion! You have two post-writing stages to go through:

1. Editing

Professional writers get some space away from their work before they return to it with the intention to edit. Do you know why they do that? They are so attached to their own work that it’s impossible to spot all mistakes in it. When they allow at least few days to go by, they can return to the content while maintaining a reader’s point of view. This approach allows them to spot the inconsistencies, redundancy, and gaps in logic.

If you have enough time before the deadline, allow at least a day to go by before you start editing. Read the entire essay. Think: is your message clear? Is the content readable? Is the logical flow flawless? Those are the aspects you’ll have to improve during the editing stage.

1. Proofreading

Finally, you can do a final reading to make sure the grammar and spelling are perfect.

Conclusion

The concept of academic essay is too broad. Students mostly perceive it as a formal assignment, but that’s not always the case. Informal writing is another skill you’ll have to master throughout college and university. Fortunately, these essays are usually fun to write. Are you ready to start working on your informal essay?