writing essay map

Essay Mapping Tool

Instructions.

Effective writing at university is a process:

Analyse the task → Gather content → Plan → Draft → Edit

This tool may help you to bridge from planning to drafting by helping you arrange your sentences in a logical order. It also provides tips for each component of an essay – the introduction, body, and conclusion. It can be used to improve your understanding of essay writing in general or as a planning tool for one of your university assignments.

Because this tool is for your personal use only, you may decide to write in bullet points, but we recommend full sentences. Once you have filled in each section, a complete essay overview will be generated which can be printed.

1. Introduction

Three paragraphs planning spaces have been provided for you. You can add or delete as necessary.

The purpose of the body is to logically develop the points made in your thesis and outline statements. There are no rules about the number of paragraphs required in assignment, but in general, you are advised to develop one idea per paragraph. This is done with a clear and coherent structure which introduces the topic in a topic sentence, defines or clarifies which aspect of the topic you are going to discuss, develops and supports your discussion and (optionally) concludes your discussion.

A topic sentence generally has two parts. You may refer to the overall essay topic and also introduce the specific aspect you plan to discuss in this paragraph. This is referred to as topic + controlling idea . You can also use a topic sentence to link to or contrast with the previous paragraph. This is an effective strategy to use with the second body paragraph onwards. You may choose to conclude the paragraph with a summary sentence; however, you are advised not to overuse this type of sentence as it may seem repetitious.

Cohesion and coherence refer to how effectively sentences are connected and how smoothly the writing flows. This is not simply achieved by following a logical paragraph structure, but also by using linking words (e.g. however/furthermore/consequently ) and referring words (e.g. this/that/these/those )

When you develop your argument, remember to use a range of support. You can use examples, logical reasoning, speculation, statistics and citations

Paragraph 1

Write the topic and controlling idea (one sentence).

Support your controlling idea using evidence, examples, elaboration or explanations. Do not go off topic. Do use in-text references.

Sum up the paragraph and link to your thesis OR link to the next paragraph (one sentence).

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 3, 3. conclusion.

The purpose of the conclusion is to summarize the key points you have discussed; however, it often contains a paraphrase of the thesis statement. This helps link the whole essay together. A conclusion may also contain a statement which links the essay to the broader topic or suggests a future action.

You can begin with the phrase ' In conclusion, ' but there are other phrases you could consider: In summary/This assignment has…/In this essay, I have… . Avoid Finally/Briefly/

Remember to reference any sources you have used. Refer to CDU Library for more information on referencing.

Introduction

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Graduate Writing Center

Introductions, thesis statements, and roadmaps - graduate writing center.

• Citations / Avoiding Plagiarism
• Critical Thinking
• Discipline-Specific Resources
• Generative AI
• iThenticate FAQ
• Types of Papers
• Standard Paper Structure

Introductions, Thesis Statements, and Roadmaps

• Body Paragraphs and Topic Sentences
• Literature Reviews
• Conclusions
• Executive Summaries and Abstracts
• Punctuation
• Style: Clarity and Concision
• Writing Process
• Writing a Thesis
• Quick Clips & Tips
• Presentations and Graphics

The first paragraph or two of any paper should be constructed with care, creating a path for both the writer and reader to follow. However, it is very common to adjust the introduction more than once over the course of drafting and revising your document. In fact, it is normal (and often very useful, or even essential!) to heavily revise your introduction after you've finished composing the paper, since that is most likely when you have the best grasp on what you've been aiming to say.

The introduction is your opportunity to efficiently establish for your reader the topic and significance of your discussion, the focused argument or claim you’ll make contained in your thesis statement, and a sense of how your presentation of information will proceed.

There are a few things to avoid in crafting good introductions. Steer clear of unnecessary length: you should be able to effectively introduce the critical elements of any project a page or less. Another pitfall to watch out for is providing excessive history or context before clearly stating your own purpose. Finally, don’t lose time stalling because you can't think of a good first line. A funny or dramatic opener for your paper (also known as “a hook”) can be a nice touch, but it is by no means a required element in a good academic paper.

Introductions, Thesis Statements, and Roadmaps Links

• Short video (5:47): " Writing an Introduction to a Paper ," GWC
• Handout (printable):  " Introductions ," University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Writing Center
• Handout (printable): " Thesis Statements ," University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Writing Center
• NPS-specific one-page (printable)  S ample Thesis Chapter Introduction with Roadmap , from "Venezuela: A Revolution on Standby," Luis Calvo
• Short video (3:39):  " Writing Ninjas: How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement "
• Video (5:06): " Thesis Statements ," Purdue OWL

Writing Topics A–Z

This index links to the most relevant page for each item. Please email us at [email protected] if we're missing something!

A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J   K   L    M    N    O    P    Q   R    S    T    U    V    W   X  Y   Z

A clear, arguable thesis will tell your readers where you are going to end up, but it can also help you figure out how to get them there. Put your thesis at the top of a blank page and then make a list of the points you will need to make to argue that thesis effectively.

For example, consider this example from the thesis handout : While Sandel argues persuasively that our instinct to “remake”(54) ourselves into something ever more perfect is a problem, his belief that we can always draw a line between what is medically necessary and what makes us simply “better than well”(51) is less convincing.

To argue this thesis, the author needs to do the following:

• Show what is persuasive about Sandel’s claims about the problems with striving for perfection.
• Show what is not convincing about Sandel’s claim that we can clearly distinguish between medically necessary enhancements and other enhancements.

Once you have broken down your thesis into main claims, you can then think about what sub-claims you will need to make in order to support each of those main claims. That step might look like this:

• Evidence that Sandel provides to support this claim
• Discussion of why this evidence is convincing even in light of potential counterarguments
• Discussion of cases when medically necessary enhancement and non-medical enhancement cannot be easily distinguished
• Analysis of what those cases mean for Sandel’s argument
• Consideration of counterarguments (what Sandel might say in response to this section of your argument)

Each argument you will make in an essay will be different, but this strategy will often be a useful first step in figuring out the path of your argument.  

Strategy #2: Use subheadings, even if you remove them later  

Scientific papers generally include standard subheadings to delineate different sections of the paper, including “introduction,” “methods,” and “discussion.” Even when you are not required to use subheadings, it can be helpful to put them into an early draft to help you see what you’ve written and to begin to think about how your ideas fit together. You can do this by typing subheadings above the sections of your draft.

If you’re having trouble figuring out how your ideas fit together, try beginning with informal subheadings like these:

• Introduction  
• Explain the author’s main point  
• Show why this main point doesn’t hold up when we consider this other example  
• Explain the implications of what I’ve shown for our understanding of the author  
• Show how that changes our understanding of the topic

For longer papers, you may decide to include subheadings to guide your reader through your argument. In those cases, you would need to revise your informal subheadings to be more useful for your readers. For example, if you have initially written in something like “explain the author’s main point,” your final subheading might be something like “Sandel’s main argument” or “Sandel’s opposition to genetic enhancement.” In other cases, once you have the key pieces of your argument in place, you will be able to remove the subheadings.  

Strategy #3: Create a reverse outline from your draft  

While you may have learned to outline a paper before writing a draft, this step is often difficult because our ideas develop as we write. In some cases, it can be more helpful to write a draft in which you get all of your ideas out and then do a “reverse outline” of what you’ve already written. This doesn’t have to be formal; you can just make a list of the point in each paragraph of your draft and then ask these questions:

• Are those points in an order that makes sense to you?  
• Are there gaps in your argument?  
• Do the topic sentences of the paragraphs clearly state these main points?  
• Do you have more than one paragraph that focuses on the same point? If so, do you need both paragraphs?  
• Do you have some paragraphs that include too many points? If so, would it make more sense to split them up?  
• Do you make points near the end of the draft that would be more effective earlier in your paper?  
• Are there points missing from this draft?  
• picture_as_pdf Tips for Organizing Your Essay

• Ebooks & Courses
• Practice Tests

How To Write an IELTS Map Essay

IELTS map questions are the easiest to answer. There are no numbers to analyse, just 2 or 3 maps to compare. Very occasionally, there might only be a single map, but this is rare.

The maps will be of the same location at different times. This could be in the past, the present time or a plan for a proposed development in the future. You are required to write about the changes you see between the maps.

There are 5 steps to writing   a high-scoring IELTS map essay:

1)  Analyse the question

2)  Identify the main features

3)  Write an introduction

4)  Write an overview

5)  Write the details paragraphs

I must emphasise the importance of steps 1 and 2. It is essential that you complete this planning stage properly before you start writing. You’ll understand why when I guide you through it. It should only take 5 minutes, leaving you a full 15 minute to write your essay.

In this lesson, we’re going to work through the 5 stages step-by-step as we answer a practice IELTS map question.

Before we begin, here’s a model essay structure that you can use as a guideline for all IELTS Academic Task 1 questions.

Ideally, your essay should have 4 paragraphs:

Paragraph 1  – Introduction

Paragraph 2  – Overview

Paragraph 3  – 1 st  main feature

Paragraph 4  – 2 nd  main feature

We now have everything we need to begin planning and writing our IELTS map essay.

Here’s our practice question:

The maps below show the village of Stokeford in 1930 and 2010.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Step 1 –  Analyse the question

The format of every Academic Task 1 question is the same. Here is our practice question again with the words that will be included in all questions highlighted.

Every question consists of:

• Sentence 1 – A brief description of the graphic
• Sentence 2 – The instructions
• The graphic – map, chart, graph, table, etc.

Sentence 2 tells you what you have to do.

You must do 3 things:

1.     Select the main features.

2.     Write about the main features.

3.     Compare the main features.

All three tasks refer to the ‘ main features ’ of the graphic. You  do not  have to write about everything. Just pick out 2 or 3 key features and you’ll have plenty to write about.

Step 2 – Identify the Main Features

All you are looking for are the main features. Start with the earliest map. Identify the key features and look to see how they have changed in the later map, and again in the final map if there are three.

Here are some useful questions to ask?

1) What time periods are shown?

Are the maps of past, present or future situations? This is important to note because it will determine whether you write your essay using past, present or future tenses.

The two maps in our practice IELTS map question show the village of Stokeford at two different times in the past. This immediately tells us that we will need to use the past tense in our essay.

2) What are the main differences between the maps?

What features have disappeared? What new features are in their place?

3) What features have remained the same over the time period?

Although the location on the maps will have undergone major development, some features may remain unchanged.

Also, think about directional language you can use, such as:

So,  what information is contained our maps? Here they are again.

Source: IELTS past paper

There are a number of different features we could select such as, the loss of the shops, the disappearance of farmland, the enlargement of the school and the development of the large house into a retirement home.

Many maps will contain far more changes than our sample maps and the changes may be more complex. In such cases, you won’t have time to write about all of them and will need to select just 2 or 3 main features to focus on.

Our maps are quite simple so we’ll list all 4 of the major changes I’ve just identified. 

Main feature 1:  The farmland has been built on.

Main feature 2:  The large house has been converted into a retirement home.

Main feature 3:  The school has been enlarged.

Main feature 4:  The shops have disappeared.

The key features you select will be the starting point for your IELTS map essay. You will then go on to add more detail later. However, with just 20 minutes allowed for Task 1, and a requirement of only 150 words, you won't be able to include many details.

We’re now ready to begin writing our essay. Here’s a reminder of the 4 part structure we’re going to use.

For this essay, we’ll adapt this a little to write about two of the features in Paragraph 3 and the other two features in Paragraph 4.

Step 3 – Write an Introduction 

In the introduction, you should simply paraphrase the question, that is, say the same thing in a different way. You can do this by using synonyms and changing the sentence structure. For example:

Introduction (Paragraph 1): 

The two maps illustrate how the village of Stokeford, situated on the east bank of the River Stoke, changed over an 80 year period from 1930 to 2010.

This is all you need to do for the introduction.

Step 4 – Write an Overview (Paragraph 2)

In the second paragraph, you should describe the general changes that have taken place. The detail comes later in the essay.

State the information simply. No elaborate vocabulary or grammar structures are required, just the appropriate words and correct verb tenses.

For example:

Overview  (Paragraph 2): 

There was considerable development of the settlement over these years and it was gradually transformed from a small rural village into a largely residential area.

Two sentences would be better than one for the second paragraph but we’ll be getting into the detail if we say more about these maps at this point, so we’ll leave the overview as one sentence.

Step 5  – Write the 1st Detail Paragraph

Paragraphs 3 and 4 of your IELTS map essay are where you include more detailed information. In paragraph 3, you should give evidence to support your first 1or 2 key features.

In the case of our main features, 1 and 3 are closely related so we’ll write about these two together.

Here they are again:

And this is an example of what you could write:

Paragraph 3 :

The most notable change is the presence of housing in 2010 on the areas that were farmland back in 1930. New roads were constructed on this land and many residential properties built. In response to the considerable increase in population, the primary school was extended to around double the size of the previous building.

Step 6  – Write the 2nd Detail Paragraph

For the fourth and final paragraph, you do the same thing for your remaining key features. 

Here are the two we have left:

This is an example of what you could write:

Paragraph 4 :

Whilst the post office remained as a village amenity, the two shops that can be seen to the north-west of the school in 1930, no longer existed by 2010, having been replaced by houses. There also used to be an extensive property standing in its own large gardens situated to the south-east of the school. At some time between 1930 and 2010, this was extended and converted into a retirement home. This was another significant transformation for the village.

Here are the four paragraphs brought together to create our finished essay.

Finished IELTS Map Essay

This sample IELTS map essay is well over the minimum word limit so you can see that you don’t have space to include very much detail at all. That’s why it is essential to select just a couple of main features to write about.

Now use what you’ve learnt in this lesson to practice answering other IELTS map  questions. Start slowly at first and keep practicing until you can plan and write a complete essay in around 20 minutes.

Want  to watch and listen to this lesson?

Click on this video.

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Ielts academic writing task 1 – all lessons.

IELTS Academic Writing  –  A summary of the test including important facts, test format & assessment.

Academic Writing Task 1  – The format, the 7 question types & sample questions, assessment & marking criteria.  All the key information you need to know.

Understanding Task 1 Questions  – How to quickly and easily analyse and understand IELTS Writing Task 2 questions.

How To Plan a Task 1 Essay  –  Discover  3 reasons why you must plan, the 4 simple steps of essay planning and learn a simple 4 part essay structure.

Vocabulary for Task 1 Essays  –  Learn key vocabulary for a high-scoring essay. Word lists & a downloadable PDF.

Grammar for Task 1 Essays   – Essential grammar for Task 1 Academic essays including, verb tenses, key sentence structures, articles & prepositions.

The 7 Question Types:

Click the links below for a step-by-step lesson on each type of Task 1 question.

• Table Chart
• Process Diagram
• Multiple Graphs
• IELTS Writing
• IELTS Maps Essays
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• Knowledge Base
• Academic writing
• A step-by-step guide to the writing process

The Writing Process | 5 Steps with Examples & Tips

Published on April 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on December 8, 2023.

Good academic writing requires effective planning, drafting, and revision.

The writing process looks different for everyone, but there are five basic steps that will help you structure your time when writing any kind of text.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
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See an example

Table of contents

Step 1: prewriting, step 2: planning and outlining, step 3: writing a first draft, step 4: redrafting and revising, step 5: editing and proofreading, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about the writing process.

Before you start writing, you need to decide exactly what you’ll write about and do the necessary research.

Coming up with a topic

If you have to come up with your own topic for an assignment, think of what you’ve covered in class— is there a particular area that intrigued, interested, or even confused you? Topics that left you with additional questions are perfect, as these are questions you can explore in your writing.

The scope depends on what type of text you’re writing—for example, an essay or a research paper will be less in-depth than a dissertation topic . Don’t pick anything too ambitious to cover within the word count, or too limited for you to find much to say.

Narrow down your idea to a specific argument or question. For example, an appropriate topic for an essay might be narrowed down like this:

Doing the research

Once you know your topic, it’s time to search for relevant sources and gather the information you need. This process varies according to your field of study and the scope of the assignment. It might involve:

• Searching for primary and secondary sources .
• Reading the relevant texts closely (e.g. for literary analysis ).
• Collecting data using relevant research methods (e.g. experiments , interviews or surveys )

From a writing perspective, the important thing is to take plenty of notes while you do the research. Keep track of the titles, authors, publication dates, and relevant quotations from your sources; the data you gathered; and your initial analysis or interpretation of the questions you’re addressing.

Especially in academic writing , it’s important to use a logical structure to convey information effectively. It’s far better to plan this out in advance than to try to work out your structure once you’ve already begun writing.

Creating an essay outline is a useful way to plan out your structure before you start writing. This should help you work out the main ideas you want to focus on and how you’ll organize them. The outline doesn’t have to be final—it’s okay if your structure changes throughout the writing process.

Use bullet points or numbering to make your structure clear at a glance. Even for a short text that won’t use headings, it’s useful to summarize what you’ll discuss in each paragraph.

An outline for a literary analysis essay might look something like this:

• Describe the theatricality of Austen’s works
• Outline the role theater plays in Mansfield Park
• Introduce the research question: How does Austen use theater to express the characters’ morality in Mansfield Park ?
• Discuss Austen’s depiction of the performance at the end of the first volume
• Discuss how Sir Bertram reacts to the acting scheme
• Introduce Austen’s use of stage direction–like details during dialogue
• Explore how these are deployed to show the characters’ self-absorption
• Discuss Austen’s description of Maria and Julia’s relationship as polite but affectionless
• Compare Mrs. Norris’s self-conceit as charitable despite her idleness
• Summarize the three themes: The acting scheme, stage directions, and the performance of morals
• Answer the research question
• Indicate areas for further study

Once you have a clear idea of your structure, it’s time to produce a full first draft.

This process can be quite non-linear. For example, it’s reasonable to begin writing with the main body of the text, saving the introduction for later once you have a clearer idea of the text you’re introducing.

To give structure to your writing, use your outline as a framework. Make sure that each paragraph has a clear central focus that relates to your overall argument.

Hover over the parts of the example, from a literary analysis essay on Mansfield Park , to see how a paragraph is constructed.

The character of Mrs. Norris provides another example of the performance of morals in Mansfield Park . Early in the novel, she is described in scathing terms as one who knows “how to dictate liberality to others: but her love of money was equal to her love of directing” (p. 7). This hypocrisy does not interfere with her self-conceit as “the most liberal-minded sister and aunt in the world” (p. 7). Mrs. Norris is strongly concerned with appearing charitable, but unwilling to make any personal sacrifices to accomplish this. Instead, she stage-manages the charitable actions of others, never acknowledging that her schemes do not put her own time or money on the line. In this way, Austen again shows us a character whose morally upright behavior is fundamentally a performance—for whom the goal of doing good is less important than the goal of seeming good.

When you move onto a different topic, start a new paragraph. Use appropriate transition words and phrases to show the connections between your ideas.

The goal at this stage is to get a draft completed, not to make everything perfect as you go along. Once you have a full draft in front of you, you’ll have a clearer idea of where improvement is needed.

Give yourself a first draft deadline that leaves you a reasonable length of time to revise, edit, and proofread before the final deadline. For a longer text like a dissertation, you and your supervisor might agree on deadlines for individual chapters.

Now it’s time to look critically at your first draft and find potential areas for improvement. Redrafting means substantially adding or removing content, while revising involves making changes to structure and reformulating arguments.

Evaluating the first draft

It can be difficult to look objectively at your own writing. Your perspective might be positively or negatively biased—especially if you try to assess your work shortly after finishing it.

It’s best to leave your work alone for at least a day or two after completing the first draft. Come back after a break to evaluate it with fresh eyes; you’ll spot things you wouldn’t have otherwise.

When evaluating your writing at this stage, you’re mainly looking for larger issues such as changes to your arguments or structure. Starting with bigger concerns saves you time—there’s no point perfecting the grammar of something you end up cutting out anyway.

Right now, you’re looking for:

• Arguments that are unclear or illogical.
• Areas where information would be better presented in a different order.
• Passages where additional information or explanation is needed.
• Passages that are irrelevant to your overall argument.

For example, in our paper on Mansfield Park , we might realize the argument would be stronger with more direct consideration of the protagonist Fanny Price, and decide to try to find space for this in paragraph IV.

For some assignments, you’ll receive feedback on your first draft from a supervisor or peer. Be sure to pay close attention to what they tell you, as their advice will usually give you a clearer sense of which aspects of your text need improvement.

Redrafting and revising

Once you’ve decided where changes are needed, make the big changes first, as these are likely to have knock-on effects on the rest. Depending on what your text needs, this step might involve:

• Making changes to your overall argument.
• Reordering the text.
• Cutting parts of the text.
• Adding new text.

You can go back and forth between writing, redrafting and revising several times until you have a final draft that you’re happy with.

Think about what changes you can realistically accomplish in the time you have. If you are running low on time, you don’t want to leave your text in a messy state halfway through redrafting, so make sure to prioritize the most important changes.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

Editing focuses on local concerns like clarity and sentence structure. Proofreading involves reading the text closely to remove typos and ensure stylistic consistency. You can check all your drafts and texts in minutes with an AI proofreader .

Editing for grammar and clarity

When editing, you want to ensure your text is clear, concise, and grammatically correct. You’re looking out for:

• Grammatical errors.
• Ambiguous phrasings.
• Redundancy and repetition .

In your initial draft, it’s common to end up with a lot of sentences that are poorly formulated. Look critically at where your meaning could be conveyed in a more effective way or in fewer words, and watch out for common sentence structure mistakes like run-on sentences and sentence fragments:

• Austen’s style is frequently humorous, her characters are often described as “witty.” Although this is less true of Mansfield Park .
• Austen’s style is frequently humorous. Her characters are often described as “witty,” although this is less true of Mansfield Park .

To make your sentences run smoothly, you can always use a paraphrasing tool to rewrite them in a clearer way.

Proofreading for small mistakes and typos

When proofreading, first look out for typos in your text:

• Spelling errors.
• Missing words.
• Confused word choices .
• Punctuation errors .
• Missing or excess spaces.

Use a grammar checker , but be sure to do another manual check after. Read through your text line by line, watching out for problem areas highlighted by the software but also for any other issues it might have missed.

For example, in the following phrase we notice several errors:

• Mary Crawfords character is a complicate one and her relationships with Fanny and Edmund undergoes several transformations through out the novel.
• Mary Crawford’s character is a complicated one, and her relationships with both Fanny and Edmund undergo several transformations throughout the novel.

Proofreading for stylistic consistency

There are several issues in academic writing where you can choose between multiple different standards. For example:

• Whether you use the serial comma .
• Whether you use American or British spellings and punctuation (you can use a punctuation checker for this).
• Where you use numerals vs. words for numbers.
• How you capitalize your titles and headings.

Unless you’re given specific guidance on these issues, it’s your choice which standards you follow. The important thing is to consistently follow one standard for each issue. For example, don’t use a mixture of American and British spellings in your paper.

Additionally, you will probably be provided with specific guidelines for issues related to format (how your text is presented on the page) and citations (how you acknowledge your sources). Always follow these instructions carefully.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy
• Deep learning
• Generative AI
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

Revising, proofreading, and editing are different stages of the writing process .

• Revising is making structural and logical changes to your text—reformulating arguments and reordering information.
• Editing refers to making more local changes to things like sentence structure and phrasing to make sure your meaning is conveyed clearly and concisely.
• Proofreading involves looking at the text closely, line by line, to spot any typos and issues with consistency and correct them.

Whether you’re publishing a blog, submitting a research paper , or even just writing an important email, there are a few techniques you can use to make sure it’s error-free:

• Take a break : Set your work aside for at least a few hours so that you can look at it with fresh eyes.
• Proofread a printout : Staring at a screen for too long can cause fatigue – sit down with a pen and paper to check the final version.
• Use digital shortcuts : Take note of any recurring mistakes (for example, misspelling a particular word, switching between US and UK English , or inconsistently capitalizing a term), and use Find and Replace to fix it throughout the document.

If you want to be confident that an important text is error-free, it might be worth choosing a professional proofreading service instead.

If you’ve gone over the word limit set for your assignment, shorten your sentences and cut repetition and redundancy during the editing process. If you use a lot of long quotes , consider shortening them to just the essentials.

If you need to remove a lot of words, you may have to cut certain passages. Remember that everything in the text should be there to support your argument; look for any information that’s not essential to your point and remove it.

To make this process easier and faster, you can use a paraphrasing tool . With this tool, you can rewrite your text to make it simpler and shorter. If that’s not enough, you can copy-paste your paraphrased text into the summarizer . This tool will distill your text to its core message.

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How to Describe Maps for IELTS Writing Task 1

Posted by David S. Wills | Mar 17, 2021 | IELTS Tips , Writing | 0

Today, I am going to show you how to describe maps for task 1 of the IELTS writing test. I have written about this before, but this will be the first in-depth lesson on map descriptions. In this lesson, you will find out everything you need to know in order to get a great score if you encounter a map in your next writing test.

Maps and IELTS: An Overview

First of all, you need to understand the purpose of IELTS map description. In fact, it is important to recognise the purpose of task 1 of the IELTS test! This part of the exam is designed to see how well you can describe things. In that regard, it is quite different from task 2.

Maps are used in IELTS because they require you to describe the physical layout of a location in addition to showing changes over time. Normally, you will be given two maps of the same area and you will be asked to explain what changes have occurred.

It is really important to know this because otherwise you might not understand how to approach the essay. There are many misconceptions about IELTS but really it is quite simple – you are required to show that you can use the language for different purposes.

Types of Map

You will see different types of map in the IELTS writing test. There are maps of streets, towns, villages, islands, parks, and even interior layouts of buildings in some rare cases. However, they pretty much all serve the same function – there will be two maps that show changes over a period of time.

You should not think too much about the type of map as the function is basically the same – it will show a physical location . Your job is to describe that location and then highlight the changes that take place.

Vocabulary for Map Descriptions

I have a full article on vocabulary for describing IELTS maps so you should read that if you want to know the details. This lesson is quite important because it teaches you about the key things you need to know. I will summarise the important parts here.

In describing a map, you have to imagine that your reader cannot see the same image that you see. Your job is to put that image into their head. This requires you to be accurate and concise in the words that you use.

Start with cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. These will help you immensely. It is not enough to say “on the right” because that is relative. One person’s right could be another person’s left.

You need to know prepositions as well. This is incredibly important. If you get your prepositions wrong, it could lead to a totally inaccurate description of the map. That would be a huge problem.

Example of Direction and Preposition Use

Look at these two maps of a place called Felixstone:

We can see many changes but before we begin to describe them, we need to explain where those things were.

Where is the farmland?

• In 1967, there was an area of farmland in the eastern part of the map, just to the north of the road.

Where is the private beach?

• In 2001, there was a private beach in the southeast of the map. It meets the road at its northernmost point and leads all the way to the sea at the south.

Where are the wind turbines?

• By 2001, four wind turbines had been added between the dunes and the sea.

Please note that there could be other great ways to describe any of these things. These are just a few examples to show you the uses of accurate language.

Sample Answer

Here is my full description to the Felixstone map:

There are two maps of a place called Felixstone. One map is from 1967 and the other from 2001. Many changes took place in the intervening years, including the removal of a marina and pier. In 1967, Felixstone was comprised of a road with a golf course, high street, and farmland to the north of it. To the south, there were trees and dunes, a hotel and a café, and a marina and fish market. By 2001, the farmland to the north of the road had been replaced by a hotel with a swimming pool and tennis courts. Half of the shops on the main street had been converted into apartments. To the south of the road, the hotel had gained a large car park and some wind turbines were added between the dunes and the sea. However, the biggest change was the removal of the marina and pier, which were replaced by a public beach and a private beach. The fish market beside the pier was also removed.

Tenses and IELTS Task 1 Maps

One thing that people often overlook is the importance of accurate tense use in IELTS task 1. Of course, verb tenses are always important in English. They are complicated but essential for conveying meaning. However, in task 1 people often focus on just describing the physical layout. This is important, but so is capturing time.

Considering my example above, let’s look at the first sentence of paragraph three:

• By 2001, the farmland to the north of the road had been replaced by a hotel with a swimming pool and tennis courts.

Why did I use the phrase “had been replaced”?

This is the passive form of the past perfect tense . I used the passive form because it was appropriate here. In describing map changes, we do not know who made the change, so passive voice is necessary. As for past perfect, this is how we look further into the past from the perspective of a point in the past.

Let me explain more: This map referred to two points of time – 1967 and 2001. Both of these points of time are in the past. Thus, when we look at changes that have occurred by 2001, we must use look back into the past from the past! It seems so complicated, but it really isn’t.

Choosing What to Describe

When it comes to IELTS maps, you might face two potential problems about choosing what to describe:

• There are too many things to describe.
• There aren’t enough things to describe.

This can be difficult, particularly in an exam scenario. I would offer the following advice:

• If it seems that there are too many things, then begin by picking the most important and then describe it as best you can. Then pick other things logically. If you find it is taking too long, you can finish and not worry about the others. After all, you don’t need to describe everything .
• If it seems that there aren’t enough things, you are going to need to get creative. You should devote a little extra effort to giving details about the key aspects of the map. Don’t just say “there is a bridge in the north.” Say “there is a bridge in the north of the map that goes over the Severn River. It connects the towns of Dorwith and Forlsom.” This will help you to use more words. However, it really shouldn’t be a problem as IELTS maps tend to contain enough data to easily write 150 words.

Anyway, the most important thing is that you select the most important data and sequence it logically.

How to Structure an IELTS Map Description

I wrote this article on IELTS writing task 1 essay structures. You should read this because maps really don’t require anything special. The structure will basically be the same as it would for charts, tables, and so on. It should look like this:

• Introduction – say what the map is and highlight a key change
• Body paragraph one – describe the first map
• Body paragraph two – describe the second map and highlight changes

There are other reasonable ways to approach this. You may, for example, devote a paragraph to the main changes and another paragraph to lesser changes. However, it is usually best to give a paragraph on each of the two maps.

One thing is the “general trend” sentence. As you probably know, IELTS writing task 1 essays require a sentence that gives the general trend of a chart or table. However, there is no such thing for maps. You can instead highlight a significant change or try to capture the gist of the differences.

Video about Difficult Maps for IELTS

Last year, I made this video about describing difficult IELTS maps. You might find it useful given the information in this lesson.

You can also find sample map descriptions here and here . On a related note, you can find IELTS listening map skills here .

About The Author

David S. Wills

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.

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Need editing and proofreading services, 10 best ai essay outline generators of 2024.

• Tags: Artificial Intelligence , Essay , Writing Tips

Artificial intelligence (AI) has simplified the creation of engaging, information-rich content today. Not only can users create content, images, software code, and the like but also generate ideas about how this content should look and read. 

One particular area of writing where outline generators can work wonders is essays. Though AI outline generators are used for different content forms today, we will focus on essay outline generators in this article. Let us begin by discussing what outline generators for essays can do for you. 

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What is an essay outline generator?

An essay outline generator is an AI tool designed to help users create a structure and strategy for their essays. Many consider essay writing an uphill task, and AI essay outline generators can help streamline the planning process—the writing approach, style, and structure. 

As most websites offer comprehensive content creation services, an essay outline generator is one of the features available to users. These free essay outline generators can help you brainstorm and organize your content. 

Using free AI essay outline generators, you can form logically sound and cogent points about the topic you write. If you have an argumentative essay to write, an argumentative essay outline generator will do the trick quite nicely when you give it the right prompt or input.

Ten popular essay outline generators today

Here is a list of some well-known content and outline generators available online:

1. Copylime

This versatile writing tool offers extensive content generation support, covering blogs , articles, essays, cold emails, newsletters, listicles, headlines, conclusions, etc. The essay outline writer asks for the theme or subject, tone, and language. 

While the platform offers free writing tools, the paid version costs $29 a month. 

2. Perfect Essay Writer

Perfect Essay Writer is another website that provides a host of writing, grammar, plagiarism checking , citations , paragraphs, and other tools. It also offers professional essay writing services tailored to individual needs. 

The free plan gives users access to all the tools but with certain word count limitations. The paid versions, Basic, Pro, and Advanced, cost $9.99/month, $14.99/month, and $99.99/year. The Basic plan includes access to “AI Essay Writer” and “AI Essay Outliner”. 

Ahrefs is a widely used search engine optimization (SEO) toolset, with multiple features and services being made available to users. While the outline generator looks like it is built for blogs, it can generate outlines for all kinds of content, including academic papers, presentations, etc. 

The company focuses on content creation and has 4 different plans—Lite, Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise costing $129/month, $249/month, $449/month, and $14,999/year, respectively. 

4. MyEssayWriter.ai

This is an AI-powered essay writing assistant that offers essay outlines tailored to specific topics. The platform offers an artificial intelligence-based essay outline generator. 

It is a focused essay outline writing tool that generates essay outlines in minutes. This free outline generator for essays is easy to use. 

5. Custom-Writing.org

Custom-Writing.org provides personalized writing services for academic needs, comprising essays, term papers, research papers, reports, letters, etc. You can also get custom essays written on this platform. Their 24/7 customer support makes getting queries resolved easy. 

Pricing is based on the complexity and assignment deadline, with rates starting at approximately $12 per page.

6. EssayService.ai

This is a user-friendly platform that offers various tools to improve essay quality. It offers grammar feedback and input on tone and style. It gives multiple essay generation options, with a free essay outline generator for users.

The platform also offers a paid essay writing service. 

This is an AI writing tool offering multiple options for content generation, including essay generation. It allows you to create essay outlines and AI-generated essays in no time. Rytr has a paragraph generator, too, which can help with essay outlines. 

The free version allows you to generate 10K characters per month. To access advanced features, users will be required to opt for paid services. 

8. Writesonic

This is a content-creation tool, but it offers essay-writing features as well. It can generate essay outlines based on your input. The platform assures users that the content it generates is plagiarism-free. 

The free version is quite effective as it offers all the features of Writesonic.

9. Writing Lab

Writing Lab’s essay outline generator is a useful essay outline generator. When you input your essay topic, it suggests ideas and creates an organized outline. This is a great tool to brainstorm, structure your thoughts, and save time while submitting time-sensitive assignments. 

This essay outline generator also gives you grammar suggestions. The only drawback of using this tool is that it offers limited free services. 

This AI outline generator is a user-friendly tool that can help you quickly draft great essays. It can create structured outlines for various content forms, including essays. It is ideal for those struggling with organizing the content in their essays and maintaining consistency in writing. 

The “Basic” user plan starts at $49 per user per month, but the free version might just be sufficient if you are a student. 

How to use an essay outline generator

Learning how to use an essay outline generator can come in handy, particularly when you need to create a well-thought-out outline and save time while writing. 

So here’s a quick step-by-step guide on how to use an essay outline generator: 

• Identify the requirements: Outline the requirements to determine the nature and content of your prompt for the tool. Identify the essay type , length, word count, tone, title options, and other topic-specific requirements. 
• Choose an AI tool: Now, select an AI essay outline generator. Consider reviews while making this decision. You can select multiple free tools to get essay outline options. Some platforms offer subscription-based services, but free tools will get the job done. 
• Input the relevant information: Most platforms ask to input information like essay type, length, purpose, academic level, word count, etc.
• Adjust, modify, or refine the input: Once you generate an outline, check if it meets your needs. If not, change or adjust the input details to create suitable outline ideas. 
• Finalize an outline: Study the outline/s and finalize one that incorporates the best ideas. From here, you are all set to start drafting your essay. 

Benefits of using an essay outline generator

Essay outline generators familiarize people at various proficiency levels with different essay structures and writing styles . Let us go a little deeper keeping this thought in sight and understand the benefits of using an essay generator.

• New idea generation or incorporation: Using an essay outline generator, you can develop new ideas and make your essay insightful.
• Idea development and review: With a meticulously designed outline and quick reviews, incorporating ideas, research points, facts, and other relevant information is easy. 
• Strong premise creation: These tools help you create logical arguments and include well-founded statements, giving your essay a solid body and direction. 
• Efficiency: Essay writing becomes efficient with a structure in place. 
• Free templates: Essay writing can be simplified further using free templates . You can save the time and effort required to format your document well. 

Also read: Compare and Contrast Essay | Quick Guide with Examples

So, these are some reasons why you should consider using an AI essay outline generator online. 

There is no doubt that this tool helps write impressive essays. However, it is advisable to use these tools as a writing aid rather than a crutch. We recommend the use of free essay outline generators and essay writers to spruce up the content of your essay that might just help you get that otherwise elusive grade A. 

If you think your essay needs a professional review, explore PaperTrue’s essay editing and proofreading services . 

You might find the following articles helpful:

• Essential Research Tips for Essay Writing
• Top 10 Essay Editing Services of 2024
• College Essay Format: Tips, Examples, and Free Template
• 100 Best College Essay Topics & How to Pick the Perfect One!
• Guide to Essay Editing: Methods, Tips, & Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an argumentative essay outline generator create a detailed outline with multiple headings, can essay outline generators be used in conjunction with free essay templates, can i customize an outline generated by free ai essay outline generators.

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Compare & Contrast Map

About this Interactive

Related resources.

This interactive graphic organizer helps students develop an outline for one of three types of comparison essays: whole-to-whole, similarities-to-differences, or point-to-point. A link in the introduction to the Comparison and Contrast Guide give students the chance to get definitions and look at examples before they begin working. The tool offers multiple ways to navigate information including a graphic on the right that allows students to move around the map without having to work in a linear fashion. The finished map can be saved, e-mailed, or printed.

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The Persuasion Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay or debate.

The Essay Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to organize and outline their ideas for an informational, definitional, or descriptive essay.

This interactive tool allows students to create Venn diagrams that contain two or three overlapping circles, enabling them to organize their information logically.

Students explore picture books to identify the characteristics of four types of conflict. They then write about a conflict they have experienced and compare it to a conflict from literature.

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