Study social theory and sociological concepts. The first requirement in writing in specific style is to understand and appreciate the genre. This requires more than the ability to mimic a certain style. There are different types of sociology and sociologists use different writing styles, but there is a basic set of concepts and terminology that sociology uses. Your essay needs to demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of sociological concepts.
Select a topic for the essay. Developing an idea for an essay requires preliminary research. The first part of the task involves deciding what counts as an important question. This doesn't occur in a vacuum. Sketch out ideas and outlines for topics as you read various sociological writers. The sources involved in making a good argument are threefold: empirical evidence, familiarization with social theorists, and your own analytical skills.
Write a rough draft. Once you have a basic idea for the essay it is time to start writing. The writing process is itself creative and the act of writing will help you think thought the arguments. Make an outline of the possible arguments and solutions to the problem. Arguments in sociology are not black and white. There are multiple points of view to take into consideration. Sociology is a critical discipline that questions ordinary everyday assumptions that we take for granted. Gathering empirical evidence is a necessary step but the role of sociology is to provide a critical assessment of explanation of the empirical data.
Fine tune the rough draft. A well-written essay has a logical structure that helps to make the essay both readable and persuasive. Write a concise introductory paragraph with a thesis statement and a summary of the argument. The thesis statement introduces the problem and explains its relevance. The summary presents the steps of the argument. The body of the essay presents the arguments in detailed form. The final paragraph is a conclusion of the argument. Remind the reader of the topic and convince her that your arguments have answered all the questions. It is also a good strategy to anticipate possible objections and provide a short response.
Proofread the rough draft and write the final paper. Look for weaknesses in the argument and edit out things that are too repetitive. Judge the paper in terms of both its content and logical structure.