Choose a topic that interests you, unless you are assigned one. Write down ideas associated with your topic that have the potential to form an argument.
Organize all of your ideas into a concept map or a list, and focus on those that will allow you to form the strongest argument. Determine your stance on these arguments, and pick the best one that you can support with sufficient evidence.
Conduct research for information that supports your argument, as well as information that opposes your argument. Take notes and cite examples of instances in which your argument is supported and opposed. Use your supportive research to argue why the opposing position and evidence are weak.
Create a list of all of your sources so you can write a bibliography later on.
Write an outline to organize your paper. Include your topic and your argument in the introductory section of the outline. List the major points you'll make to prove your argument, as well as background information that will give your argument a foundation.
Write short ideas and examples in the secondary section, called the body, that will help develop and support your argument. Include facts you gathered during your research in your outline to support these ideas.
In another section of the outline, list the arguments of the opposing side along with examples and research to discredit or weaken them.
In the conclusion section, reiterate your argument in a brief sentence. List your reasons for choosing this side of the argument and the reasons the opposing view is incorrect.
Compose a bibliography listing each source you used during your research. The format will depend on your professor's preference.
Construct your essay in the same format as your outline. Follow the path of reasoning the outline mentions, and explain and argue in your essay the points listed in the outline. Give each section enough paragraphs to thoroughly develop your argument. Provide examples and cite research that strengthens your argument and weakens the opposing view. The essay should be a highly researched, argued, extended version of your outline.
Proofread your paper extensively, and have someone else read it over to catch mistakes. Write your second draft and edit it again. Finalize your draft when all errors have been corrected.