If you’re reading our today’s article, chances are you’re struggling to cope with the academic burden placed on so many young learners. Feel overwhelmed with your college life with its never-ending homework? Well, you’re not alone. Essay writing is one of the most popular and, truth be told, complicated assignments students need to deal with in college. We want to alleviate this burden at least a little bit and offer some helpful tips on how to craft the best essay effortlessly. Let’s go over how to write a strong essay from the beginning to planning stage all the way to the final product.
Brainstorm
Experienced college teacher often hear their students complain, “I don’t really know what to write about,” “Nothing big or interesting has ever happened to me,” etc. But in reality, they just don’t where to start to find that “interesting,” “big,” or “significant” that can help write an effective essay.
No matter whether you need to pick the essay topic yourself or are given a concrete prompt, it’s essential to do some brainstorming to figure out what thoughts, ideas, and facts should be developed in your paper. Of course, you may find it difficult to start generating worthwhile ideas from the get-go. While some students need just a couple of minutes to hit on a brilliant writing strategy or interesting ideas, while others would need days, not to say weeks, to do the same. Brainstorm or use a mind map to play your narrative.
First things first, read through the prompts carefully. Once you’ve dissected your options, you know what you’re up against. Furthermore, you may want to brainstorm without considering your prompt and isolate your best stories. It’s time to collect your tentative ideas, no matter good or bad. Then, make sure to fit your story to the prompt. This will come pretty naturally if you choose a proper topic.
Create an Outline
It’s not a secret that many students get stuck in their first sentence or run out of ideas shortly after commencing writing. And whatever they write after that no longer run smoothly with the rest of their argument. Not to find yourself in a writing predicament, be sure to make an outline.
We know that lots of students abhor the very idea of doing some extra writing, which is is not required by their instructors or essay prompts. We also bet you feel the same way. But try to think of an outline not as some extra work but the thing that will significantly ease your way into creating an essay and reduce the amount of time spent on pulling yourself and your paper together.
If don’t want to create a formal outline for your essay, you may get by with a list of ideas, main argument, and a couple of supporting sentences for each paragraph. Jot down a few phrases or sentences that lead up to the logical conclusion and confirm your thesis statement. Alternatively, you may create a diagram or an idea map that will help you throughout the writing process.
Be Clear on the Structure
It’s possible to compare the structure of your formal essay with a hamburger. There’s an introduction and conclusion that just like buns hold your paper together. But it all comes down to the body paragraphs of the essay, which are akin to meat, cheese, and vegetables.
This is what actually gives your essay hamburger its flavor. Moreover, any academic essay requires a thesis generally stated in your introduction. The thesis is a central message of your paper, and your whole argument should reflect that idea. However, you may not know your thesis until you have all of your points. This is why we recommend that you always start by reading and analyzing the text you’re writing your essay on.
Find the key points of the author backed up by quotes on the text. Put all the important points that you locate into dot points and compile these into a document. Make sure to gather your points from all over the text not just the beginning. Then you can reorder these points in a way such that they flow better.
Once you’re done picking the key points, all that remains is to put them in a sentence format and make sure they flow on from one another. To do this, you can use words like “furthermore,” “additionally,” “on the other hand,” etc. After that you’ll need to add a topic sentence and a concluding phrase to each paragraph. This will be a lot easier to do now as you already know the key points of what you’re actually talking in your body paragraphs.
Revise and Proofread
Before finalizing your essay, be sure to read through, revise, and make appropriate changes to it. Ensure that no important points have been overlooked. Also, remove any information that doesn’t pertain to your topic. Check your work for the flow, spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation. Use descriptive words and appropriate transitions between your paragraphs.
Don’t be overly repetitive. Make sure to eliminate redundant phrases, words, and sentences. Also, try to avoid tautologies in your writing. To do it, pay your special attention to the logic of what you’re writing. Also, keep in mind that repeated words can be replaced with different words with similar meanings.
It’s also a good idea to ask another person, for example, a friend or a mentor, to go over your essay. That way, you’ll know how your paper looks to a potential reader. If certain sections seem not up to par, you may want to make some edits or changes to your work.
The article was contributed by the academic writing expert at PapersOwl, the online custom essay writing service.
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