How to write a good essay? It is indeed a bewitching question, one that is often googled by students. While learners struggle to meet the professor’s requirements and deadlines, an essay often becomes all about meeting the word count rather than crafting an excellent piece.
It is true that not everyone has a flair for writing. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t write a decent essay. It is all about presenting your ideas, as well as an understanding of the subject. If it’s not your cup of tea, there is an easy way out. With the help of the writers from https://essaywriterservice.com/, you will have no trouble in improving your essay writing skills.
Now, let us look at essay writing purely from the academic perspective and start from here. What mistakes can you avoid while writing an essay? Here you go.
Not Following a Structure
Having an outline is necessary to organize your thoughts before and after you put them on paper. The proper essay structure will guide your flow of ideas and how you articulate them. It will give your reader a direction and a flow while one moves from one paragraph to another.
Students often review the topic in general terms, making the essay too broad. In such compositions, the lack of planning is obvious. Your professors want to see your unique viewpoint presented in the paper, not just a bunch of cliches. You need to stick to the thesis statement and structure the essay to articulate your arguments clearly.
Forming Complex Sentences
Your topic might deserve a couple of complex sentences. Those might even be necessary. However, while putting down what comes to your mind directly onto the paper, it is possible that you end up with long and unnecessary sentences, just like this one.
Instead, go for short and concise sentences. They read well and break up your writing into legible paragraphs.
This habit is not merely due to the writing style. Many students think that academic writing requires sophistication. They tend to overuse professional jargon and technical terms to make texts appear more academic.
Instead of impressing the reader, this might have the opposite effect. Your goal should be forming short and succinct sentences that serve just the right purpose.
Not Using Credible Resources
The age of the internet gives you access to innumerable information sources. However, that doesn’t mean that all the search results are credible or suited for your essay. When you are researching, make sure that you refer to reliable sources exclusively.
There are dozens of academic databases that you can use to find peer-reviewed publications and academic journals like https://www.test-done.com. Citing credible resources will definitely contribute to your essay’s authenticity. It will also reflect on the hard work that went into the paper.
Not Working on Citation
Along the lines of the previous point, it is equally significant that you acknowledge the resources you have used in the paper. It is your responsibility as a student to appreciate the contributions made by others. The bibliography will also help readers to find references.
Though citing sources throughout your paper might seem like a dull task, neglecting it might cost you some points. Whether explicitly specified or not, you need to ensure that a decent bibliography always accompanies your essays.
Turning In Plagiarised Essays
One can’t stress enough the implications that plagiarism can have on your future. In some colleges, it is the ground for suspension or, even worse, expulsion. It will also haunt you as a permanent black mark on your career. No professor or college will appreciate a plagiarized paper.
You have to be cautious even when you are copying definitions and quotes from another source. If you do not cite them with proper references, this could also get flagged as plagiarism. We highly recommend using a plagiarism detector to ensure that your paper is entirely authentic before submitting it.
Not Editing and Proofreading
Stephen King once said, “To write is human, and to edit is divine”.
It couldn’t be more accurate. Good writing that reads well comes after many revisions. It is particularly crucial for essays, as these papers need to be more concise and to the point.
If you do thorough proofreading, it is likely that you might end up with an essay half the length you began with. This is one of the reasons why students prefer to skip the part of proofreading.
Unfortunately, avoiding this stage could mean you are risking leaving spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. And those can undermine the quality of your essay. Today, this step is much more efficient with editing tools available online.
Once you have eliminated the obvious errors, that is when the real work comes. And this step can make quite a difference in the quality of your essay. You might be using superfluous words, adjectives, and adverbs that you thought best fit the context. Though they might have sounded perfect at the time of writing, you need to read to understand whether they contribute to the essay.
Consider whether you can add more brevity into the sentences. Look whether you are using active or passive voices. See whether you have repeated adjectives or phrases. In the end, when you remove them, the content’s value might remain the same. So, do you really need those?
The One in Charge: Procrastination
Probably, one of the reasons that you are unhappy with your essays is that you are rushing through the process. You are not allocating sufficient time to do the research or structure the paper. All these steps can influence your approach to the argument and the evidence you show in support.
The trained eyes of the professor can easily identify an essay that has been well-thought and well-structured. So if you find yourself waiting for the last couple of days to get to writing a paper then this is the first habit to address.
As you are well aware, working on your habit of procrastination can improve not only your essays but also every other aspect of your life.