Time Management Essay Tips: 7 Tips on Writing an Effective Essay Essays can be crucial to admissions and scholarship decisions. By The Fastweb Team November 22, 2017 Writing an essay often seems to be a dreaded task among students. Whether the essay is for a scholarship , a class, or maybe even a contest, many students often find the task overwhelming. While an essay is a large project, there are many steps a student can take that will help break down the task into manageable parts. Following this process is the easiest way to draft a successful essay, whatever its purpose might be. According to Kathy Livingston’s Guide to Writing a Basic Essay , there are seven steps to writing a successful essay: 1. Pick a topic. You may have your topic assigned, or you may be given free reign to write on the subject of your choice. If you are given the topic, you should think about the type of paper that you want to produce.