Effective strategies involve asking questions about your topic, your thesis, your arguments, your evidence, your intro, your body and conclusion. First determine what is asked of you, then you can determine the format of the essay. Establish your topic/thesis and ask your first question. So What?, to see if your topic or thesis is interesting, Next come up with a outline to see how your ideas flow. While writing question the process. Do my intro and conclusion lead to and follow my thesis? Do my arguments support my topics and my thesis? Can I write this sentence more clearly? How might someone argue against my sevidence.