Hello, most of us are in trouble when it comes to writing essays. Thinking to reply to a question, I came up with some points that I thought would be helpful for most, so here they are. I must confess; however, that I am not an English teacher or an authority on the subject in any way. This is how I write my essays and what I have learnt. The tips are to be followed and practiced on ones own risk.
To write better, start writing.

1. Make a Mindmap
Think over the given topic, bring out its definition, importance, implications, and your views on it along with all the things that you think might be relevant. Number your points with regards to their relevance with the given topic and impact. For example, it is democracy, so you should first have an introduction, followed by democracy in the past, perhaps show difference between democracy and its opposite forms of government, talk about the basic principles of democracy (its positives), it's negatives and the alternatives that might be available, and finally conclusion. The mindmap can have anything and everything, then for an outline you select the most suited points.

2. Make an Outline
This is pretty simple and self-explanatory. Enlist the points that you brought out in your mindmap. So, from our example, we shall bring out an outline something like this,

• Introduction
• History
• Democracy or Despotism?
• Misconception of Equality
• Flaunt of Democracy
• Alternatives: Monarchy, Aristocracy, Polity.
• Conclusion

3. Write the Introduction
This is, in my view the most important part. If you can catch the attention of your reader in the first paragraph, nay, in the first line, only then can you expect or should I say hope? that they will read through the whole. The introduction is important for more than just that; however, it includes a thesis statement, besides a brief introduction of the topic ofcourse. A thesis statement should talk about all the points (your outline) in the exact order as you have mentioned.

4. Constructing the Main Body of the Essay
So, you have written the introduction, the last line of that paragraph should hint towards your first point, which will be your first paragraph after the introduction. Talk about all the points in your outline in different paragraphs. Remember, one paragraph must have ONE point, ending with a hint of what your next para would talk about.

5. Concluding The Essay
After you have talked about the points given in your outline, and you have reached the conclusion, you should once again repeat (in different words) the thesis statement that you gave in the introduction. You should remind the reader of all the major points that he/she has gone through briefly in your conclusion, before finally closing your essay.

Note: The example outline is from my own essay on democracy written when I was preparing for the exam in 2009. If anyone needs to see these whole steps implemented on the same example, follow here;
http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-compu...democracy.html