When writing a scholarship or college essay it is important to pick a topic that grabs your attention and one that goes along with your field of study. If for example you are studying Business Management, you would more than likely write about Managing Employees, Stabilizing your business in an unstable economy or the benefits of being a sole proprietor.

It is important to systematically put all your thought and research in order. The use of an outline is a helpful tool for this. You would not want to write a paper where the thoughts are a mumble jumble of information. Each paragraph should have a single idea or subject matter and should flow easily into the next paragraph. Your first paragraph should hold your thesis statement and your last paragraph should contain your conclusion.

You need to write your paper to a targeted audience making sure that you are not writing over the heads of the audience. Think and write as if you were writing to a sixth grader. By writing at a level just below the education level of the audience, they will retain 90% of the information that they read. Take a stand on an issue and then write on the pros and cons stating the significance of each.

Using the proper writing style guidelines such as APA or MLA will give your paper the proper appearance.

The use of correct grammar, punctuation and spelling are paramount. You would not want to write your paper in the first person. Avoid words like I, I'll or I'm. Make sure you have the proper words for example, then vs. than, right vs. write and personal vs. personnel etc.

Another thing to remember is the formatting of your paper. Here is a partial list of requirements.

1. The type of paper must be 8 ½ x 11, 20 lb. weight white bond.

2. All fonts should be the same size and easy to read. Use something like Courier or Times New Roman. Font size is a mandatory 12 points.

3. Use only one side of the paper.

4. Margins should be 1-inch on all sides of the page with a left justification.

5. Spacing is as follows, the first line of each paragraph is indented five to seven spaces. Spacing between words is one space and one space after all punctuation except apostrophes, dashes and hyphens. Double-spacing is required through out your essay.

There are many more things to remember about the formatting and appearance of your thesis, but I will discuss them at a latter time.