The first words of an essay can be torture to write. With no clear idea as to the direction of the paper, a frustrated writer will struggle, either writing a short, vague introduction or a long, rambling one. Neither of these outcomes is desirable. An introduction needs to be robust, both an engaging hook to get the audience invested as well as a successful preview of the essay's main points and thesis. However, it is often difficult to write a successful introduction until you know exactly what your body paragraphs will cover. This problem may be frustrating for those who write linearly (that is, straight from beginning to end). Breaking the habit of writing linearly may be the first step in writing a better paper. A natural way to accomplish this is to use placeholders.

Placeholders help writers change up the order in which they compose their essays. For many writers, there is something profoundly unsettling about writing paragraphs out of order. Writing linearly is a habit that can be difficult to break. Plugging in a placeholder helps satisfy this need to fill the essay in "top-down" without the disadvantages of starting with the introduction. A placeholder for an introduction paragraph can be as simple as [introduction here] or as complex as an outline. Both these strategies have advantages and can be employed in different ways for different results.

Using a bracketed [intro here] placeholder is immensely useful for getting ideas down on paper as quickly as possible. This strategy does not give the introduction or title a second thought, but rather skims over them so you can jump headfirst into writing the body paragraphs. Some writers may find this technique appealing just on the face of it, but it also has utility in specific circumstances. When a writer is fresh off their research, it can be useful to “strike while the iron is hot” and formulate thoughts around the primary sources.

On the other hand, a short outline can make for an excellent placeholder. Instead of beginning with typing the full paper, a writer can start by constructing a few lines that describe each part of the paper and what each part will be about. This can help generate ideas about the focus of the essay and what pieces of information it will cover. The outline of the introduction paragraph might even contain a rudimentary thesis to guide the flow of thoughts. Keeping it in outline form, however, frees the writer from having committed to anything concrete and allows the essay to adapt as the body paragraphs are filled in.

Using placeholders can help break bad habits and introduce a new rhythm to writing. It is a valuable tool, but it is ultimately just space, a bit of room for your ideas to breathe before being filled in with carefully chosen, effective sentences.

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Nathan Estrick is a history and political thought major with a theology minor. He is a senior working toward an education credential. As someone involved with the forensics debate team at Concordia, he loves working on argumentative essays and sharpening their format and content. However, he is also quite comfortable with research essays, especially those written in Chicago and MLA style. He also enjoys reviewing poetry and short stories!