Essays can always be tough to write, especially when you are really stressed out and just have such a hard time starting. But don't worry, because these writing tips will help you to sit down, concentrate and write your paper!

You should always make sure that you are relaxed before writing your essay. Grab a glass of water and maybe even a snack so if you get hungry or thirsty you won't have to distract yourself and get up to go and get it. Also, make sure that you are not IMing because, trust me, you will never get anything done if you are. Put an away message up so your friends know that you are busy.

To start your essay, just make sure that you understand exactly what you are writing. There is nothing worse than writing a paragraph and then realizing that you've written about the wrong thing!

It sometimes helps if you make an outline. It doesn't have to be anything formal, but just write down what you plan on doing your essay on so if you can't just write off the top of your head, you have something to look back to. You can write down really simple ideas, but ones that will eventually help you in crafting your paper. For example, if your essay topic is about Christopher Columbus, your outline can include ideas for your body paragraphs such as problems he had getting his trip started, his journey, his discoveries in America and his contributions to the world. If you just set something up to follow, it will make the essay writing a lot smoother!

Also, don't forget to provide specific examples and details. Teachers love it when you get creative and make up cool similes or metaphors and use really descriptive words. If you were writing a story and you were describing a tree...instead of just saying: "The tree was big and blew in the wind," you could say: "The tree stood there, tall and grand, with its leaves and branches softly blowing in the wind, creating a mystical and calming feeling."

Don't forget when you are done with your essay to do a spell check and grammar check. Once you do it, or the computer does it for you, sit down and read the entire essay start to finish to make sure it reads well and make any final edits…computers won't catch mistakes where you have spelled the word correctly, but misused it (like "their" for "they're"). When you are done, you should have a parent read it over to make sure that you haven't missed anything. Sometimes you can't catch things and your parents, or an older sibling, will be able to. Teachers take off points for mistakes like this and you don't want to lose points for a silly mistake!!