How to Write Essays Better?
Learn the art of writing essays with our step-by-step guide to improving your essay writing skills. 5 proven tips for writing better undergraduate and college student essays in English.
5 Ways to Always Write Essays Better
Essay writing is a crucial element of your school/college years. So, what steps can you take to improve your essay writing abilities? Here are five helpful suggestions:
- Analyze the essay question to ensure you comprehend the task.
- Make an essay outline to gather your thoughts and compose your essay.
- Conduct research to gather information and sources to back up your arguments.
- Before submitting your essay, use your outline in the first draft of your essay to improve it.
- Make sure your essay is clear and mistake-free by having it edited.
- Continue reading to understand how to develop your academic writing skills.
1. Study the Essay Topic
Understanding the topic is the most fundamental part of writing an essay. Try to find the following important words once you’re set with your essay topic:
- Content terms will help you determine your essay’s topic. These keywords in the essay topic will indicate which key concepts should be included in the essay’s body. The important content words in “Examine the negative effects of Internet addiction,” for example, are “negative effects” and “Internet addiction.”
- Instructional verbs can help you figure out how to structure your essay. Explaining and analyzing an idea, for example, are two quite different things. Look in the essay prompt for what you’re supposed to do, and let that drive your essay writing.
- Limiting words can help you figure out what you should concentrate on so that you only cover the topics that have been requested. For example, the statement “Discuss the impact of World War 2 on American society” limits the scope of the essay topic (i.e., while World War 2 has many other consequences, the focus here should be on American society).
Highlighting or underlining these words in your essay prompt will help you understand exactly what you need to do.
2. Make a rough outline
Outlining your work before you begin writing is another excellent essay writing technique. The outline is the backbone of your essay, and it will be rather easy to flesh your paper out if you have done enough studying and brainstorming. Most essays have a basic framework that you can use to do your outline:
- The introductory paragraph introduces the topic, your key points, and any relevant background data for the reader.
- Each of the body paragraphs (2 or 3) should focus on a specific topic, example, or concept that reinforces your core argument.
- A summary of how your argument supports your thesis in conclusion.
When drafting an essay, you can use the above method to divide it down and write annotations about what each section will say.
3. Make Effective Use of Information Sources
It’s acceptable to have a point to discuss or a statement to make, but a strong essay will also employ evidence and sources to back up the arguments it offers. After you’ve decided on a stance to argue for, conduct research and gather evidence to back it up. This can include things like quotes, stats, and diagrams.
You’ll need to assess this evidence and illustrate how it supports your ideas in addition to incorporating it into your essay. Establish a clear link between the evidence and the argument you’re trying to make, whatever method you choose.
Also, remember to reference your sources properly! You must indicate where you obtained your evidence. This statement usually entails citing sources in the body of your essay and including a list of references or bibliography at the conclusion of your work, where you should list all of the sources you used. Read your style guide or ask your professor if you’re unsure how to reference sources.
4. Make a Draft of Your Essay
When writing an essay, the most common mistake is simply writing the whole text just once! Instead, you should always rewrite at least once to improve your first draft. After you’ve completed a draft, take a pause. Once you’re ready, read through your essay again and search for ways to make it better. This could be as simple as ensuring that your words are clear. However, you may notice opportunities to improve your arguments, such as by providing more evidence. If you want to be sure your writing is flawless, you should rewrite it again.
5. Get Your Essays Edited
Okay, technically speaking, it does not work the same way as the other criteria mentioned as far as “essay writing skills.” However, having your essay reviewed by a professional is one of the best decisions you can make before submitting it. You can request help from the professional essay writer. They can review your writing to ensure that it is readable and fluent, correcting any grammar mistakes and punctuation issues that may have crept in throughout the writing process. They may also provide you with ideas on how to improve your writing.