Effective Strategy For Writing Essays
You are going to have to write essays all the way through your academic career. If you have an effective strategy for writing them, you are going to write a good essay. You may feel as if your writing skills are not the best, but as the old adage goes, “Practice makes perfect!” The more you practice the better you will become at writing them. Here are 5 amazing tips to stick to when writing an assignment.
- Make a plan
- A powerful introduction
- Structure
- Critique the essay
- Always refer back to the question
- Final thought
- Sum your argument up in one sentence
- Write your notes into the document
- Write your introduction and your conclusion last
- Write out your references as you go along
- Don’t over quote, be as original as possible
Before you start writing, it is essential that you have a plan. You may have the title or the question prepared which is good, however there is another step that you need to take. Think about the main aim of the assignment, why are you writing it and what do you hope to achieve? You will then need to map out how you intend on reaching your final destination through the points that you intend on making in your main body.
The introduction is the most important part of the paper. It must be concise and clear and compel the reader to want to keep reading. Make sure that you cast light on the main point of your paper and then round it off with a small discussion of your conclusion. One thing an essay is not is a story; the reader needs to know what to expect. As a general principle the introduction should be 10 percent of the total word count, so if your assignment is 2000 words, the introduction will be 200 words.
You might have some great ideas but if your structure is wrong they are not going to be presented in the best light and the reader may get the wrong idea all together. Your sentences should be simple and your ideas as clear as possible to make it easy for your reader to understand.
You will need to paint a double sided picture with your paper; simply put you will be telling both sides of the story. You will need to inject several critical opinions and theories. Make sure that they are relevant to your discussion and be sure to add your own opinion, your opinion is valued your teacher wants to examine your critical thinking skills through what you write.
Sometimes you can get so carried away when writing an essay that you go off topic and don’t realize it. Make sure that you keep on reminding yourself of the purpose of the assignment. Asides from referring back to the title, you should also make sure that you don’t contradict yourself. That will throw the reader off completely and ruin your chances of getting a good grade because you have displayed inconsistency.
So you have successfully completed your paper! Congratulations! Make sure that you proof read your work before handing it in. A third eye is always best, you can swap papers with a friend and you can go over each others, that way you can get an objective opinion about your work and make changes if necessary. You also want to make sure that your spelling and grammar are accurate. Use spell check but make sure you make the final check.
Here are some closing tips to assist you further with your writing skills: