These handout from Purdue's OWL offer good advice for planning an essay.  Emphasis is on developing a strong thesis.

1. Planning and Invention

2. Planning (invention): When you start to write

3. Planning (Invention): Thought Starters (Asking the Right Questions)

Great resource for self-quizzes to test your ability to identify problems with thesis statements and correct thesis errors.  Also covers developing opening hooks and sequencing sentences in an introductory paragraph.

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Great guide to developing a thesis statement.  Dr. Charles Darling, the developer of the Grammar Guide, encourages students to develop a provisional thesis when drafting, and to think about issues such as scope and placement.

You may also want to check out other links on this site on the writing process, including planning, freewriting, clustering, outlining, and overcoming writer's block.

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The Paradigm Online Writing Assistant site provides extensive step-by-step coverage of the writing process. Topics include moving from subject to thesis, stating a thesis, supporting a thesis, developing supporting paragraphs, revising a thesis, and writing introductinos & conclusions.

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Nice coverage of "How to generate a thesis if the topic is assigned," "How to generate a thesis if the topic is not assigned," and "How to tell a strong thesis statement from a weak one."

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This site is worth looking at for its numerous examples of good thesis sentences. The authors also offer a good explanation of how one knows if a thesis is strong or not.

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This site is definitely worth checking out if you are concerned about whether or not you have a good thesis.  The authors focus on the qualities of a good thesis and offer examples of thesis sentences that don't work alongside versions that do.  They also expose several myths about thesis statements.

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An excellent handout on developing a thesis.  Covers the importance of a good thesis, focusing a thesis, developing a "tentative" thesis and a "definitive" thesis.

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