Once you enroll at a college or a university, writing an essay seems like a piece of cake, right? Well, if you’re skilled with words and you know the ABCs of style it requires and how to abstract and support a good thesis, then probably yes.
But for those who need a little practice, there are a few tips and tricks on how to improve essay writing skills quickly and easily. Once you get a hold of the basics, writing about any topic becomes a rather easy assignment.
Make a Clear Outline of the Essay
Before you begin writing an essay, make sure you have a solid outline. Usually, an essay has a basic three-part structure: an introduction that includes a thesis, the body of an essay split into several paragraphs that discuss the thesis, and the conclusion that reviews your focal points.
An outline will serve you as a clear guideline and help you determine what you have to concentrate on, and how to arrange and present your arguments correctly. Without an outline, your essay can turn out messy and all over the place. You can also find a lot of free essays online and use them for inspiration.
Pay Attention to Style, Grammar, and Punctuation
After you’ve drafted a good outline, you can start writing. If you want to write a coherent and engaging essay, then you shouldn’t allow grammatical errors or incorrect punctuation to distract the reader. Your writing should be fluent and concise so you can get your point across.
Pay attention to commas, sentence structure, subject-verb agreement, articles, and pronouns. You should always use the active voice because it makes your writing more powerful, more direct, and enhances the tone of your essay. Whereas, the passive voice makes the sentences unnecessarily long and dull.
Use Proper Vocabulary
Another thing you should be attentive to when writing an essay is the vocabulary. You want to convince the reader that you are well versed in the topic of your essay. Thus, an appropriate vocabulary is crucial as it demonstrates your knowledge and use of language.
In doing this, you shouldn’t resort to using big and complicated words you don’t understand. They won’t make you sound more intelligent; if nothing, they will expose your lack of knowledge, and obscure the argument. Instead, use the vocabulary that will precisely deliver your arguments.
Round Out the Essay with a Strong Conclusion
Throughout the whole process, you shouldn’t let the main argument slip your mind. Be careful not to go off-topic because you will lose out on coherence. You could also confuse the reader and conceal the idea you want to communicate.
Finally, you should never underestimate the effect of a powerful conclusion. Make sure all of your arguments come together. Restate your initial thesis and make sure you either confirm or reject it by outlining the evidence you presented in the body of an essay.
Therefore, always create an outline. Once you do that and you start writing, pay extra attention to the style, grammar, and punctuation. Make sure you’re using proper vocabulary and commit to delivering a solid conclusion that will round out the whole essay.
[1] “5 Ways to Quickly Improve Your Academic Essay Writing Skills.” CEOWORLD Magazine [online] Available at: https://ceoworld.biz/2019/07/22/5-ways-to-quickly-improve-your-academic-essay-writing-skills/ [Accessed on: 24 Mar. 2020]