Before you begin writing you need to gather evidence, just like a detective would. A detective can't accuse and convict someone of a crime unless they have the necessary evidence to prove that the criminal is guilty. They spend hours searching for clues, interviewing suspects, and running tests before they can make any conclusions. Likewise, a writer needs to have an idea of what they are trying to prove in their essay before they start writing it. This is why good writers need to follow these steps to be successful:
Paragraph 1: Introduction (with a general statement about your topic, background information
about your books, and your thesis statement);
Paragraph 2: First Argument (with a topic sentence, your quotes, and an
explanation of their relevance);
Paragraph 3: Second Argument (with a topic sentence, your quotes, and an explanation of their
relevance);
Paragraph 4: Third Argument (with a topic sentence, your quotes, and an
explanation of their relevance)
Paragraph 5: Conclusion (restate your thesis and end with a rhetorical
question or thought-provoking idea for the reader to think about)
Of course, you might have more than three arguments, but you should have no less than three to make your essay really strong. Usually, you should use your second strongest argument first, your weakest argument second and your strongest argument last to make a strong impression.
Your essay should be written in third person (we, they), never in first person (I, my, me).