USEFUL ESSAY WRITING TIPS YOU CAN NOT DO WITHOUT

To some, writing is an innate ability, a luxury they cannot afford especially since they detest the process of crafting something creative. It is often relegated to a challenging skill as it takes a lot of research, time, and concentration. However, essay writing is an assignment that can be quite enjoyable. You can take comfort knowing that like mathematics, essay writing has its technique and once the framework is learnt, the same formula can be applied to almost any piece of academic writing. With the right tips, the writing experience will be more productive and less stressful. Below are some of the tips to be considered before delving into any write-up: 

Understand the topic

A great essay was once a mere topic, a line built with words. Although it might sound insane, but failing to understand the question is one of the reasons many struggle to come up with a great essay. What does the essay demand? A comparison, evaluation, or analysis? An in-depth review of the topic opens the ability to perceive the topic in diverse ways and narrow the essay to the best possible approach. Better still, highlight the key terms in the essay, dissect them and proceed. This will lay a structure for the essay and help foster creative work.

Plan

This may appear time-consuming, but a good plan ensures amazing results. Like the adage, ‘practice makes perfect’, this is applicable to writing as it helps prepare the work. Planning the essay makes it easier when writing, as you already know what you want to write, the form your essay will take, and the direction of your work. And it’s okay to be confused at the beginning, lost even, but jot fragments of the ideas, and the chances are the rest will follow. Brainstorming and organizing your ideas will make it easier when you write your essay.

Read

Writing may be the key task, but reading is essential. Before you commence your writing, ensure you conduct a critical literature review. Learning how to sift through enormous data might be quite tasking, but it helps to find relevant information. Once you find an article that looks promising, read through thoroughly to get the best information out of it. Start from the abstract and read through to get an insight into the research. If you are unsure whilst reading the work, you might want to consider skipping to the conclusion as it is the detailed summary of the study. This will help you clearly determine whether the article is what you want or not. Once you find an article that resonates with your work, go through their references to take note of those they cited and correlate whether or not those citations will prove useful to your work. Remember to use quotes and paraphrase from the sources to avoid plagiarism.

Write a draft

Write. Write. Write. It doesn’t have to be perfect at first. The first writing usually comes out flawed, unedited, and crappy but in those craps are the useful words waiting to be edited. Let the ideas form a web of sentences and from there, you get the perfect essay required by your professors and/or instructors. Also, ensure to be creative and original while you write. Sound like yourself. Anyone and everyone can write a perfect essay but everyone cannot view the same thing in a particular way. Own your perspective and be free to explore it. Let your take on the topic you are discussing be unique and that uniqueness will stand out only if you make it do. If you’ve noticed something different in your reading, point it out. If you think it stands out, chances are those reading the context of your work will notice it too.

The body of your Essay

Here is the soul of the essay. Not to worry, if you have fully observed the previous tips, this should come with a bang as it will only be a re-edit of your draft. The draft will be structured to fit in a particular form that will match your essay. However, ensure that you respond to the aim of the essay, as this is where you answer all the questions regarding your essay. Besides, the body of the essay is where you give strong assertions to your essay and let the uniqueness you observed in the topic be evident.

Proofread

Here is the final part of your work. Read carefully and ensure nothing was left out of the work. Ensure that the full concept of the topic is elaborated in your work. Check for mistakes; grammatical errors, spelling errors, punctuation marks, etc. Also, having a study group can prove handy at a time like this, to help review the work. Most importantly, ensure it is free from plagiarism.