How To Use ChatGPT To Write An Essay That Impresses

Ever found yourself staring at a blank screen (or paper), grappling with writer’s block, and wondering how to tackle that daunting essay?

Well, say hello to your new secret weapon: ChatGPT!

In this blog post, I’m going to dive into the art of using ChatGPT to craft compelling essays effortlessly.

Trust me; it’s like having a knowledgeable friend who’s always ready to brainstorm ideas, research, and even polish your prose.

So, let’s find out how you can use ChatGPT to write an essay that impresses your professor.

How to write an essay with ChatGPT?

1. Use ChatGPT to generate essay ideas/topics

Before you dive into writing your essay, you need to start by finding some interesting topics or ideas, and, even more importantly, decide on the angle you want to take for your essay.

Usually, your professor will give you a broad topic to work with, but it’s up to you to narrow it down to a specific sub-topic that excites you.

For instance, if your professor asks you to write about marketing, you can get creative and pick a niche like content marketing or digital marketing.

ChatGPT is here to help you brainstorm a bunch of ideas in just a few seconds. Just share some details, let it know your preferred angle and any specific examples in mind, and you’ll be on your way to crafting an excellent essay!

As a content marketer, ChatGT is my go-to tool for finding new content ideas. Writer’s block is the biggest challenge for any writer, be it a content marketer or a scholar trying to write an essay.

Here’s a ChatGPT prompt you can use:

“Yo ChatGPT! Can you help me come up with 5 unique topic ideas on the main subject of digital marketing? I want these topics for writing a research paper/essay. Also, I want the topics to be highly related to the current marketing trends.“

Just plug this prompt in and see how this incredible tool leads the way.

2. Use the chatbot to create an outline

You have your topic ready. Are you going to start writing the essay right away?

Not yet! Before you dive into writing, it’s essential to create an outline. Take the time to list out the various subheadings that will form the structure of your essay. To be honest, this step can be quite tedious, even more so than brainstorming topics.

But the good news is, with the assistance of ChatGPT, you can effortlessly generate a comprehensive outline for your essay, complete with the key subtopics.

You can either choose to write on each of these topics or add or remove the ones you want.

Here’s a simple prompt for this:

Hey ChatGPT! I want you to create an outline for an essay on the topic “Influencer Marketing in the Post-Pandemic Era”

There you go! ChatGPT will generate an outline that covers key topics followed by 2-3 bullet points for each key topic.

If you don’t like the outline, ask it to generate an alternative one.

3. Use ChatGPT to find sources for your essay

in order to fill those sub-topics generated by the chatbot, you need to do some in-depth research. You need to make sure that everything you write in the essay or paper is backed by proper research.

Surfing the internet for each and every topic and looking for reliable sources takes up a lot of your time and effort. To make it easier, just ask ChatGPT to give you reliable sources for conducting research on the topic.

Continuing the above conversation with the chatbot, ask it:

Based on the topic and outline, find me 10 reliable sources that I can use to further research my content. Make sure these sources are legitimate and provide only true facts.

Note that ChatGPT will refuse to provide any facts directly. It will tell you the sources which you can use on your own to research the topic further.

4. Use the AI chatbot to write a sample essay

That’s not all ChatGPT can do. It can even write a complete essay for you, without compromising the quality one bit.

It is important to note that I never advocate blindly relying on AI to generate content without any consideration or editing.

AI tools are your assistants, not your butlers. You get the difference?

They are here to make your life easier; not take over your tasks or jobs.

In order for ChatGPT to write the entire essay for you, use this prompt in continuation of the above convo:

“Now, I want you to write a sample essay based on the outline. Make sure it aligns with the topic, and includes information from the data sources above.

5. Use ChatGPT for Examples and Breakdowns

Bland writing is boring to read and might fail to impress your professor. It is always a good idea to provide interesting examples and break down complex topics.

Whether you have written the essay or the chatbot has written it for you, it is always a good idea to support your writing with interesting examples to explain complex concepts.

Here’s the prompt in continuation of the convo:

“I want you to provide examples for explaining some of the complex concepts included in the essay”

You can even ask for examples for any specific topics or concepts you want.

6. Use ChatGPT to edit your essay

Writing and editing are closely intertwined skills. In my line of work (content writing), editing actually holds greater significance than the initial writing process.

But what exactly does editing mean? Essentially, it involves meticulously fact-checking the content and scouring for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.

If you aim to make your essay truly impressive, you must approach the editing phase with utmost seriousness.

Our buddy ChatGPT is here to lend a helping hand in ensuring your content is edited effectively.

The prompt:

“Can you help me edit the following piece of writing? Look for any grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and most importantly conduct a thorough fact-check.”

<<Paste your writing>>

7. Polish the style and tone with ChatGPT

Your writing could take up any style or tone you want, depending on the subject and topic. It could be formal, semi-casual, business casual, funny, friendly, or anything else you want it to be.

Just input this prompt:

“I want you to rewrite the following to make it sound friendly”

<<Paste your writing>>

Don’t forget to edit the AI-generated text

While ChatGPT is an awesome tool that can certainly assist you in improving your essays, it’s important to remember that adding your personal touch is key.

Just copying and pasting its output can result in plagiarism and a loss of the essay’s essence.

I’d suggest using the tool sparingly. Relying too heavily on it can stifle your creativity and hinder your own thought process.

Here’s a handy guideline: Aim to rework at least 70% of the essay to ensure it’s unique and can truly impress your professor.

Try to strike that balance between AI assistance and your own unique input!

FAQs about ChatGPT