essay writing ten tips

Essay Writing Tips: 10 Steps to Writing a Great Essay (And Have Fun Doing It!)

by Joe Bunting | 118 comments

Do you dread essay writing? Are you looking for some essay tips that will help you write an amazing essay—and have fun doing it?

Lots of students, young and old, dread essay writing. It's a daunting assignment, one that takes research, time, and concentration.

It's also an assignment that you can break up into simple steps that make writing an essay manageable and, yes, even enjoyable.

These ten essay tips completely changed my writing process—and I hope that they can do the same for you.

Essay Writing Can Be Fun

Honestly, throughout most of high school and college, I was a mediocre essay writer.

Every once in a while, I would write a really good essay, but mostly I skated by with B's and A-minuses.

I know personally how boring writing an essay can be, and also, how hard it can be to write a good one.

However, toward the end of my time as a student, I made a breakthrough. I figured out how to not only write a great essay, I learned how to have fun while doing it . 

And since then, I've become a professional writer and have written more than a dozen books. I'm not saying that these essay writing tips are going to magically turn you into a writer, but at least they can help you enjoy the process more.

I'm excited to share these ten essay writing tips with you today! But first, we need to talk about why writing an essay is so hard.

Why Writing an Essay Is So Hard

When it comes to essay writing, a lot of students find a reason to put it off. And when they tackle it, they find it difficult to string sentences together that sound like a decent stance on the assigned subject.

Here are a few reasons why essay writing is hard:

• You'd rather be scrolling through Facebook
• You're trying to write something your teacher or professor will like
• You're trying to get an A instead of writing something that's actually good
• You want to do the least amount of work possible

The biggest reason writing an essay is so hard is because we mostly focus on those external  rewards like getting a passing grade, winning our teacher's approval, or just avoiding accusations of plagiarism.

The problem is that when you focus on external approval it not only makes writing much less fun, it also makes it significantly harder.

Because when you focus on external approval, you shut down your subconscious, and the subconscious is the source of your creativity.

The subconscious is the source of your creativity.

What this means practically is that when you're trying to write that perfect, A-plus-worthy sentence, you're turning off most of your best resources and writing skills.

So stop. Stop trying to write a good essay (or even a “good-enough” essay). Instead, write an interesting  essay, write an essay you think is fascinating. And when you're finished, go back and edit it until it's “good” according to your teacher's standards.

Yes, you need to follow the guidelines in your assignment. If your teacher tells you to write a five-paragraph essay, then write a five-paragraph essay! If your teacher asks for a specific type of essay, like an analysis, argument, or research essay, then make sure you write that type of essay!

However, within those guidelines, find room to express something that is uniquely you .

I can't guarantee you'll get a higher grade (although, you almost certainly will), but I can absolutely promise you'll have a lot more fun writing.

The Step-by-Step Process to Writing a Great Essay: Your 10 Essay Writing Tips

Ready to get writing? You can read my ten best tips for having fun while writing an essay that earns you the top grade, or check out this presentation designed by our friends at Canva Presentations .

1. Remember your essay is just a story.

Every story is about conflict and change, and the truth is that essays are about conflict and change, too! The difference is that in an essay, the conflict is between different ideas , and the change is in the way we should perceive those ideas.

That means that the best essays are about surprise: “You probably think it's one way, but in reality, you should think of it this other way.” See tip #3 for more on this.

How do you know what story you're telling? The prompt should tell you.

Any list of essay prompts includes various topics and tasks associated with them. Within those topics are characters (historical, fictional, or topical) faced with difficult choices. Your job is to work with those choices, usually by analyzing them, arguing about them, researching them, or describing them in detail.

2. Before you start writing, ask yourself, “How can I have the most fun writing this?”

It's normal to feel unmotivated when writing an academic essay. I'm a writer, and honestly, I feel unmotivated to write all the time. But I have a super-ninja, judo-mind trick I like to use to help motivate myself.

Here's the secret trick: One of the interesting things about your subconscious is that it will answer any question you ask yourself. So whenever you feel unmotivated to write your essay, ask yourself the following question:

“How much fun can I have writing this?”

Your subconscious will immediately start thinking of strategies to make the writing process more fun.

The best time to have your fun is the first draft. Since you're just brainstorming within the topic, and exploring the possible ways of approaching it, the first draft is the perfect place to get creative and even a little scandalous. Here are some wild suggestions to make your next essay a load of fun:

• Research the most surprising or outrageous fact about the topic and use it as your hook.
• Use a thesaurus to research the topic's key words. Get crazy with your vocabulary as you write, working in each key word synonym as much as possible.
• Play devil's advocate and take the opposing or immoral side of the issue. See where the discussion takes you as you write.

3. As you research, ask yourself, “What surprises me about this subject?”

The temptation, when you're writing an essay, is to write what you think your teacher or professor wants to read.

Don't do this .

Instead, ask yourself, “What do I find interesting about this subject? What surprises me?”

If you can't think of anything that surprises you, anything you find interesting, then you're not searching well enough, because history, science, and literature are all brimming   over with surprises. When you look at how great ideas actually happen, the story is always, “We used  to think the world was this way. We found out we were completely wrong, and that the world is actually quite different from what we thought.”

These pieces of surprising information often make for the best topic sentences as well. Use them to outline your essay and build your body paragraphs off of each unique fact or idea. These will function as excellent hooks for your reader as you transition from one topic to the next.

(By the way, what sources should you use for research? Check out tip #10 below.)

4. Overwhelmed? Write five original sentences.

The standard three-point essay is really made up of just five original sentences surrounded by supporting paragraphs that back up those five sentences. If you're feeling overwhelmed, just write five sentences covering your most basic main points.

Here's what they might look like for this article:

• Introductory Paragraph:  While most students consider writing an essay a boring task, with the right mindset, it can actually be an enjoyable experience.
• Body #1: Most students think writing an essay is tedious because they focus on external rewards.
• Body #2: Students should instead focus on internal fulfillment when writing an essay.
• Body #3: Not only will focusing on internal fulfillment allow students to have more fun, it will also result in better essays.
• Conclusion: Writing an essay doesn't have to be simply a way to earn a good grade. Instead, it can be a means of finding fulfillment.

After you write your five sentences, it's easy to fill in the paragraphs for each one.

Now, you give it a shot!

5. Be “source heavy.”

In college, I discovered a trick that helped me go from a B-average student to an A-student, but before I explain how it works, let me warn you. This technique is powerful , but it might not work for all teachers or professors. Use with caution.

As I was writing a paper for a literature class, I realized that the articles and books I was reading said what I was trying to say much better than I ever could. So what did I do? I quoted them liberally throughout my paper. When I wasn't quoting, I re-phrased what they said in my own words, giving proper credit, of course. I found that not only did this formula create a well-written essay, it took about half the time to write.

It's good to keep in mind that using anyone else's words, even when morphed into your own phrasing, requires citation. While the definition of plagiarism is shifting with the rise of online collaboration and cooperative learning environments, always  err on the side of excessive citation to be safe.

When I used this technique, my professors sometimes mentioned that my papers were very “source” heavy. However, at the same time, they always gave me A's.

To keep yourself safe, I recommend using a 60/40 approach with your body paragraphs: Make sure 60% of the words are your own analysis and argumentation, while 40% can be quoted (or text you paraphrase) from your sources.

Like the five sentence trick, this technique makes the writing process simpler. Instead of putting the main focus on writing well, it instead forces you to research  well, which some students find easier.

6. Write the body first, the introduction second, and the conclusion last.

Introductions are often the hardest part to write because you're trying to summarize your entire essay before you've even written it yet. Instead, try writing your introduction last, giving yourself the body of the paper to figure out the main point of your essay.

This is especially important with an essay topic you are not personally interested in. I definitely recommend this in classes you either don't excel in or care much for. Take plenty of time to draft and revise your body paragraphs before  attempting to craft a meaningful introductory paragraph.

Otherwise your opening may sound awkward, wooden, and bland.

7. Most essays answer the question, “What?” Good essays answer the “Why?” The best essays answer the “How?”

If you get stuck trying to make your argument, or you're struggling to reach the required word count, try focusing on the question, “How?”

For example:

• How did J.D. Salinger convey the theme of inauthenticity in  The Catcher In the Rye ?
• How did Napoleon restore stability in France after the French Revolution?
• How does the research prove girls really do rule and boys really do drool?

If you focus on how, you'll always have enough to write about.

8. Don't be afraid to jump around.

Essay writing can be a dance. You don't have to stay in one place and write from beginning to end.

For the same reasons listed in point #6, give yourself the freedom to write as if you're circling around your topic rather than making a single, straightforward argument. Then, when you edit and proofread, you can make sure everything lines up correctly.

In fact, now is the perfect time to mention that proofreading your essay isn't just about spelling and commas.

It's about making sure your analysis or argument flows smoothly from one idea to another. (Okay, technically this comprises editing, but most students writing a high school or college essay don't take the time to complete every step of the writing process. Let's be honest.)

So as you clean up your mechanics and sentence structure, make sure your ideas flow smoothly, logically, and naturally from one to the next as you finish proofreading.

9. Here are some words and phrases you don't want to use.

• You  (You'll notice I use a lot of you's, which is great for a blog post. However, in an academic essay, it's better to omit the second-person.)
• To Be verbs (is, are, was, were, am)

Don't have time to edit? Here's a lightning-quick editing technique .

A note about “I”: Some teachers say you shouldn't use “I” statements in your writing, but the truth is that professional, academic papers often use phrases like “I believe” and “in my opinion,” especially in their introductions.

10. It's okay to use Wikipedia, if…

Wikipedia is one of the top five websites in the world for a reason: it can be a great tool for research. However, most teachers and professors don't consider Wikipedia a valid source for use in essays.

Don't totally discount it, though! Here are two ways you can use Wikipedia in your essay writing:

• Background research. If you don't know enough about your topic, Wikipedia can be a great resource to quickly learn everything you need to know to get started.
• Find sources . Check the reference section of Wikipedia's articles on your topic. While you may not be able to cite Wikipedia itself, you can often find those original sources and cite them . You can locate the links to primary and secondary sources at the bottom of any Wikipedia page under the headings “Further Reading” and “References.”

You Can Enjoy Essay Writing

The thing I regret most about high school and college is that I treated it like something I had  to do rather than something I wanted  to do.

The truth is, education is an opportunity many people in the world don't have access to.

It's a gift, not just something that makes your life more difficult. I don't want you to make the mistake of just “getting by” through school, waiting desperately for summer breaks and, eventually, graduation.

How would your life be better if you actively enjoyed writing an essay? What would school look like if you wanted to suck it dry of all the gifts it has to give you?

All I'm saying is, don't miss out!

Looking for More Essay Writing Tips?

Looking for more essay tips to strengthen your essay writing? Try some of these resources:

• 7 Tips on Writing an Effective Essay
• Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement

How about you? Do you have any tips for writing an essay?  Let us know in the  comments .

Need more grammar help?  My favorite tool that helps find grammar problems and even generates reports to help improve my writing is ProWritingAid . Works with Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and web browsers. Also, be sure to use my coupon code to get 20 percent off: WritePractice20

Coupon Code:WritePractice20 »

Ready to try out these ten essay tips to make your essay assignment fun? Spend fifteen minutes using tip #4 and write five original sentences that could be turned into an essay.

When you're finished, share your five sentences in the comments section. And don't forget to give feedback to your fellow writers!

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Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

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Tips for Online Students , Tips for Students

How To Write An Essay: Beginner Tips And Tricks

Updated: July 11, 2022

Published: June 22, 2021

Many students dread writing essays, but essay writing is an important skill to develop in high school, university, and even into your future career. By learning how to write an essay properly, the process can become more enjoyable and you’ll find you’re better able to organize and articulate your thoughts.

When writing an essay, it’s common to follow a specific pattern, no matter what the topic is. Once you’ve used the pattern a few times and you know how to structure an essay, it will become a lot more simple to apply your knowledge to every essay. 

No matter which major you choose, you should know how to craft a good essay. Here, we’ll cover the basics of essay writing, along with some helpful tips to make the writing process go smoothly.

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

Types of Essays

Think of an essay as a discussion. There are many types of discussions you can have with someone else. You can be describing a story that happened to you, you might explain to them how to do something, or you might even argue about a certain topic. 

When it comes to different types of essays, it follows a similar pattern. Like a friendly discussion, each type of essay will come with its own set of expectations or goals. 

For example, when arguing with a friend, your goal is to convince them that you’re right. The same goes for an argumentative essay. 

Here are a few of the main essay types you can expect to come across during your time in school:

Narrative Essay

This type of essay is almost like telling a story, not in the traditional sense with dialogue and characters, but as if you’re writing out an event or series of events to relay information to the reader.

Persuasive Essay

Here, your goal is to persuade the reader about your views on a specific topic.

Descriptive Essay

This is the kind of essay where you go into a lot more specific details describing a topic such as a place or an event. 

Argumentative Essay

In this essay, you’re choosing a stance on a topic, usually controversial, and your goal is to present evidence that proves your point is correct.

Expository Essay

Your purpose with this type of essay is to tell the reader how to complete a specific process, often including a step-by-step guide or something similar.

Compare and Contrast Essay

You might have done this in school with two different books or characters, but the ultimate goal is to draw similarities and differences between any two given subjects.

The Main Stages of Essay Writing

When it comes to writing an essay, many students think the only stage is getting all your ideas down on paper and submitting your work. However, that’s not quite the case. 

There are three main stages of writing an essay, each one with its own purpose. Of course, writing the essay itself is the most substantial part, but the other two stages are equally as important.

So, what are these three stages of essay writing? They are:

Preparation

Before you even write one word, it’s important to prepare the content and structure of your essay. If a topic wasn’t assigned to you, then the first thing you should do is settle on a topic. Next, you want to conduct your research on that topic and create a detailed outline based on your research. The preparation stage will make writing your essay that much easier since, with your outline and research, you should already have the skeleton of your essay.

Writing is the most time-consuming stage. In this stage, you will write out all your thoughts and ideas and craft your essay based on your outline. You’ll work on developing your ideas and fleshing them out throughout the introduction, body, and conclusion (more on these soon).

In the final stage, you’ll go over your essay and check for a few things. First, you’ll check if your essay is cohesive, if all the points make sense and are related to your topic, and that your facts are cited and backed up. You can also check for typos, grammar and punctuation mistakes, and formatting errors.  

The Five-Paragraph Essay

We mentioned earlier that essay writing follows a specific structure, and for the most part in academic or college essays , the five-paragraph essay is the generally accepted structure you’ll be expected to use. 

The five-paragraph essay is broken down into one introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a closing paragraph. However, that doesn’t always mean that an essay is written strictly in five paragraphs, but rather that this structure can be used loosely and the three body paragraphs might become three sections instead.

Let’s take a closer look at each section and what it entails.

Introduction

As the name implies, the purpose of your introduction paragraph is to introduce your idea. A good introduction begins with a “hook,” something that grabs your reader’s attention and makes them excited to read more. 

Another key tenant of an introduction is a thesis statement, which usually comes towards the end of the introduction itself. Your thesis statement should be a phrase that explains your argument, position, or central idea that you plan on developing throughout the essay. 

You can also include a short outline of what to expect in your introduction, including bringing up brief points that you plan on explaining more later on in the body paragraphs.

Here is where most of your essay happens. The body paragraphs are where you develop your ideas and bring up all the points related to your main topic. 

In general, you’re meant to have three body paragraphs, or sections, and each one should bring up a different point. Think of it as bringing up evidence. Each paragraph is a different piece of evidence, and when the three pieces are taken together, it backs up your main point — your thesis statement — really well.

That being said, you still want each body paragraph to be tied together in some way so that the essay flows. The points should be distinct enough, but they should relate to each other, and definitely to your thesis statement. Each body paragraph works to advance your point, so when crafting your essay, it’s important to keep this in mind so that you avoid going off-track or writing things that are off-topic.

Many students aren’t sure how to write a conclusion for an essay and tend to see their conclusion as an afterthought, but this section is just as important as the rest of your work. 

You shouldn’t be presenting any new ideas in your conclusion, but you should summarize your main points and show how they back up your thesis statement. 

Essentially, the conclusion is similar in structure and content to the introduction, but instead of introducing your essay, it should be wrapping up the main thoughts and presenting them to the reader as a singular closed argument. 

Photo by AMIT RANJAN on Unsplash

Steps to Writing an Essay

Now that you have a better idea of an essay’s structure and all the elements that go into it, you might be wondering what the different steps are to actually write your essay. 

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Instead of going in blind, follow these steps on how to write your essay from start to finish.

Understand Your Assignment

When writing an essay for an assignment, the first critical step is to make sure you’ve read through your assignment carefully and understand it thoroughly. You want to check what type of essay is required, that you understand the topic, and that you pay attention to any formatting or structural requirements. You don’t want to lose marks just because you didn’t read the assignment carefully.

Research Your Topic

Once you understand your assignment, it’s time to do some research. In this step, you should start looking at different sources to get ideas for what points you want to bring up throughout your essay. 

Search online or head to the library and get as many resources as possible. You don’t need to use them all, but it’s good to start with a lot and then narrow down your sources as you become more certain of your essay’s direction.

Start Brainstorming

After research comes the brainstorming. There are a lot of different ways to start the brainstorming process . Here are a few you might find helpful:

• Think about what you found during your research that interested you the most
• Jot down all your ideas, even if they’re not yet fully formed
• Create word clouds or maps for similar terms or ideas that come up so you can group them together based on their similarities
• Try freewriting to get all your ideas out before arranging them

Create a Thesis

This is often the most tricky part of the whole process since you want to create a thesis that’s strong and that you’re about to develop throughout the entire essay. Therefore, you want to choose a thesis statement that’s broad enough that you’ll have enough to say about it, but not so broad that you can’t be precise. 

Write Your Outline

Armed with your research, brainstorming sessions, and your thesis statement, the next step is to write an outline. 

In the outline, you’ll want to put your thesis statement at the beginning and start creating the basic skeleton of how you want your essay to look. 

A good way to tackle an essay is to use topic sentences . A topic sentence is like a mini-thesis statement that is usually the first sentence of a new paragraph. This sentence introduces the main idea that will be detailed throughout the paragraph. 

If you create an outline with the topic sentences for your body paragraphs and then a few points of what you want to discuss, you’ll already have a strong starting point when it comes time to sit down and write. This brings us to our next step… 

Write a First Draft

The first time you write your entire essay doesn’t need to be perfect, but you do need to get everything on the page so that you’re able to then write a second draft or review it afterward. 

Everyone’s writing process is different. Some students like to write their essay in the standard order of intro, body, and conclusion, while others prefer to start with the “meat” of the essay and tackle the body, and then fill in the other sections afterward. 

Make sure your essay follows your outline and that everything relates to your thesis statement and your points are backed up by the research you did. 

Revise, Edit, and Proofread

The revision process is one of the three main stages of writing an essay, yet many people skip this step thinking their work is done after the first draft is complete. 

However, proofreading, reviewing, and making edits on your essay can spell the difference between a B paper and an A.

After writing the first draft, try and set your essay aside for a few hours or even a day or two, and then come back to it with fresh eyes to review it. You might find mistakes or inconsistencies you missed or better ways to formulate your arguments.

Add the Finishing Touches

Finally, you’ll want to make sure everything that’s required is in your essay. Review your assignment again and see if all the requirements are there, such as formatting rules, citations, quotes, etc. 

Go over the order of your paragraphs and make sure everything makes sense, flows well, and uses the same writing style . 

Once everything is checked and all the last touches are added, give your essay a final read through just to ensure it’s as you want it before handing it in. 

A good way to do this is to read your essay out loud since you’ll be able to hear if there are any mistakes or inaccuracies.

Essay Writing Tips

With the steps outlined above, you should be able to craft a great essay. Still, there are some other handy tips we’d recommend just to ensure that the essay writing process goes as smoothly as possible.

• Start your essay early. This is the first tip for a reason. It’s one of the most important things you can do to write a good essay. If you start it the night before, then you won’t have enough time to research, brainstorm, and outline — and you surely won’t have enough time to review.
• Don’t try and write it in one sitting. It’s ok if you need to take breaks or write it over a few days. It’s better to write it in multiple sittings so that you have a fresh mind each time and you’re able to focus.
• Always keep the essay question in mind. If you’re given an assigned question, then you should always keep it handy when writing your essay to make sure you’re always working to answer the question.
• Use transitions between paragraphs. In order to improve the readability of your essay, try and make clear transitions between paragraphs. This means trying to relate the end of one paragraph to the beginning of the next one so the shift doesn’t seem random.
• Integrate your research thoughtfully. Add in citations or quotes from your research materials to back up your thesis and main points. This will show that you did the research and that your thesis is backed up by it.

Wrapping Up

Writing an essay doesn’t need to be daunting if you know how to approach it. Using our essay writing steps and tips, you’ll have better knowledge on how to write an essay and you’ll be able to apply it to your next assignment. Once you do this a few times, it will become more natural to you and the essay writing process will become quicker and easier.

If you still need assistance with your essay, check with a student advisor to see if they offer help with writing. At University of the People(UoPeople), we always want our students to succeed, so our student advisors are ready to help with writing skills when necessary. 

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Baby Steps: 10 Proven Tips to Write Better Essays in English

If writing an essay sounds a little bit scary, just think of it as a chance to improve your writing skills .

Nobody expects your first essay to be perfect. Just make sure you learn something new every time you write an essay, and you will  grow your abilities.

We’re going to help you out with ten tips for writing better essays while you’re learning English .

1. Create a Word Bank

2. act like a reporter, 3. create topic sentences, 4. argue both sides, 5. read backwards, 6. use an online thesaurus and a dictionary, 7. combine and separate sentences, 8. have a native english speaker edit your essay, 9. review the whole essay with your friend, then rewrite it, 10. use online apps, and one more thing....

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This is an interesting approach to writing your essay. First, choose a topic and write a thesis . A thesis is the main argument of your essay. For instance, if your topic is reading, your thesis might be “Reading makes you smarter.”

Once you have a thesis, think about your main topic and find words that relate to it in different ways. Then, branch out (broaden, diversify) your list to words that aren’t as closely related to your main topic.

For the example above, your primary list might include words like “books,” “reading” and “intelligent.” Your other “branched out” list might include “Harry Potter,” “reading by a fire” or “test scores.”

This process will help expand your vocabulary over time. Using these words when you write will also make your essay more vibrant (energetic, colorful).

When you are first assigned the topic, go ahead and really explore the possible options for your thesis. Ask questions. Get curious. The more questions you ask before you start writing, the more information you will have to use in the essay.

A strong essay is one that covers a lot of content in a succinct (short, to-the-point) way. This process of acting like a reporter will give you valuable quotes, resources and vocabulary to begin the writing process.

For instance, if you’re writing about a new diet plan , you might ask questions like, “Who is the best candidate for this diet plan?,” “How can someone get started?” and “What is the hardest part of this plan?”

A topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph, and it summarizes the rest of the paragraph. You can create them first to help you stay on track when writing your essay.

For the thesis “Reading makes you smarter,” one paragraph’s topic sentence might be, “Newspapers make you more aware of current events.” Another paragraph’s topic sentence could be, “Reading plays and classic literature will make you more cultured.”

If you’re writing about the three main issues facing writers today, you could write three full sentences that each address one main issue. Set these aside. Then, when you start writing the essay, refer to your topic sentences to create a solid structure that begins at point A and ends at point C.

If you have to write a longer or more complex essay, it might help to outline both sides of the argument before you start writing. When you write the essay, you will need to choose one side to focus on. But as you prepare, having a side-by-side list of points can be helpful in developing your thesis.

Also, by arguing for the opposite side of your opinion, you will learn which points you need to better address in your essay. You will learn more about the topic, and you will gain more vocabulary words to enrich the essay.

As an example, you might be writing an essay arguing that people should drink less coffee. To argue both sides, you’ll need to consider the opposite side: the benefits of coffee. How will people quit if they are addicted? What about the antioxidants in coffee? Aren’t those good for you? Really explore the entire concept (both sides of the argument) before you write.

Proper grammar is difficult for even the most fluent English speakers. Because you are learning English, you actually have an advantage. Many native speakers learned improper grammar from the start. It’s difficult to undo the damage caused by a lifetime of writing improperly.

As you learn the English language, make a serious effort to practice your grammar and sentence structure. One way to spot improper grammar in your own English writing is to read each sentence backwards (start with the last word and end with the first). This way, you won’t be fooled by how the words sound when you read them in your head.

Is everything in the correct tense (past, present, future, etc.)? If you’re writing about plurals, are the possessive nouns plural? Are the apostrophes in the right places? Does every sentence end with a punctuation mark (period, question mark, exclamation point)? Reading the text backwards makes you focus on the rules of grammar instead of the flow of the sentence.

You might have learned a large number of fancy words when studying for an entrance exam. But before you start using them in academic essays, be very sure you know what they mean in the context of your essay. This is where the dictionary can come in handy .

A thesaurus is another valuable tool when writing an essay. A thesaurus tells you synonyms, or words that have the same or a similar meaning to the word you look up. It’s important because it can add some volume to your essay and increase the impact of your words.

For example, if you’re writing about cooking, the words “stir” and “add” might come up a lot. This repetition is boring for a reader.

So instead of constantly saying, “Add the tomato” and “add the eggs,” a thesaurus will teach you to say things like “whisk in the eggs” or “gently fold in the tomatoes.” See? It sounds a lot better and adds interest to your essay.

Visual Thesaurus is a resource that works just like a regular thesaurus, but it also shows you the connections between the words. For example, if you type in the word “stir,” you’ll immediately see a whole circle of other words connected to “stir” with lines. From there, you can click on any of the words in the circle (like “move,” in this case) and then see all the words related to that word. This helps you find and learn new words quickly, and it’s also fun!

Once the essay is written, go back through the writing to find any sentences that seem too long or wordy. Break these into two or more sentences.

For example, the following sentence is too long, which makes it unclear:

If you want to write in another language, you need to practice writing in creative ways, like writing on a blog, writing fun poems or texting a friend who speaks the language you’re learning every day.

Instead, you could write it as two clearer sentences (with less repetition of the word “writing”):

If you want to write in another language, you need to practice in creative ways every day. For example, you could start a blog, create fun poems or text a friend.

Do the opposite with sentences you find too short.

Also, look for sentences that are very closely related to one another. If two sentences seem like the thoughts are connected, you can combine them with a semicolon ( ; ).

For example, the following sentences are very closely related:

Learning to write in another language can be really difficult, especially when you’re first getting started. That’s why it helps to practice every day.

That’s why you could write it this way:

Learning to write in another language can be really difficult, especially when you’re first getting started; daily practice is helpful.

Meet up with a friend who is fluent in English (or, at least, more fluent than you). This friend can edit your essay and point out any repetitive errors.

If they find mistakes that you make often, you will be able to watch more closely for that error as you write future essays. This friend will also be able to point out grammatical or spelling errors that you might have missed.

If you don’t have any friends who are fluent in English, you can use a website like Conversation Exchange . This is a free site where native English speakers will correct your writing. In exchange, you correct the writing of someone learning your native language.

Once you and your friend have both reviewed your essay and marked any mistakes, rewrite the whole thing. This step is important. Just noting that you made some mistakes will not help you learn how to avoid them in the future.

By rewriting the essay with the corrections in mind, you will teach yourself how to write those sections properly. You will create a memory of using proper grammar or spelling a word correctly. So, you will be more likely to write it correctly next time.

Lastly, there are some fantastic online resources that can help improve your writing. For instance,  Hemingway Editor  can review your document to find any confusing or wordy sentences. You can rewrite these to make them easier to understand.

You could also head over to  Essay Punch  to find resources, tools and support that can help improve your writing skills.  Grammar Book  is a great resource for practicing proper grammar and spelling.

If you need some practice with words and grammar, but you learn better from audio and video, it can be challenging to improve your writing ability. One way to improve your English skills with a multimedia approach is using a language learning program like FluentU .

Since many online resources are readily accessible, feel free to experiment with your options. Try to find the ones that cater best to your learning habits and needs.

The advice in this post is mainly for improving your essay writing over time. However, if you want a more professional opinion for an important essay, you can also use Scribendi . Scribendi is an online essay editing resource that helps with academic and admissions essays. If you’re applying to a school or are writing an important paper, you may want to consider their services to make sure your essay is the best it can be.

Learning a new language is certainly an ambitious (challenging) task. There are so many small details to learn, and the process takes a lot of time and commitment. But with practice and study, you will improve.

It takes even more effort to become a strong writer in a new language, but these tips will help you get started.

Hopefully, you were able to find one or two tips that you believe will help you improve your essay writing abilities. Over time, try to use all of these strategies (or at least more than one) in your writing routine. Good luck!

If you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out FluentU. FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny commercials , as you can see here:

If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.

The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.

FluentU lets you learn engaging content with world famous celebrities.

For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you see this:

FluentU lets you tap to look up any word.

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.

FluentU helps you learn fast with useful questions and multiple examples. Learn more.

The best part? FluentU remembers the vocabulary that you’re learning. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a truly personalized experience.

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September 9, 2020

10 Effective Tips to Help You with Essay Writing

by Nicholas Walker , under Writing skills

The writing process is complicated. You can easily get into a flow and churn out thousands of words in a couple of hours. On the other hand, it can also happen that you suffer from writer’s block for months. When you’re a student who needs to submit essays regularly , it’s important that you find a constant source of motivation and productivity and not jump between these two extremes.

In this article, we’re bringing you 10 tips that will help you write faster, better, and more often. Apply these tips to improve your academic performance, upgrade your writing, and start learning and thinking more clearly!

1. Read other essays

This is a well-known bit of advice for any activity or skill. If you want to get better at something, look at how other people are doing it, especially professionals. However, make sure you focus on actual essays. Today, we are bombarded with tons of different types of content.

Reading a lot in just one category can actually divert you from clear and effective essay writing. For example, if you read a lot of news, you might be swayed into their writing style full of jargon, sensationalism, and cliché phrases.

2. Do plenty of research beforehand

Research is the mother of preparedness when it comes to writing. If you are well-informed about a particular topic, writing should be a breeze. When you feel like you can’t structure your thoughts well or you’re not really sure whether you’re on-topic, continue researching and then come back to the text itself.

3. Learn about the structure

Most essays have a fixed structure. This is not meant to hinder your creativity and freedom. Rather, fixed structures serve as a guideline to direct both you and your reader through different sets of ideas. The general outline for an essay is:

• Introduction – where you spark interest in the topic and pose some of the general questions you will be dealing with
• Body – where you lay out your central points, arguments, and examples
• Conclusion – where you sum up everything you have explained in the body of the essay

4. Take advice and learn from experts

Get yourself a teacher. For example, you could try MyEnglishKit.com for help with your IELTS writing and speaking.

5. Use writing prompts and exercises

When you’re feeling stuck, or you don’t know how to start writing, try using prompts or vocabulary exercises. Merely thinking and reading about writing can help you improve your writing process. Online, you can find a lot of great essay introduction prompts that can help you get those first few sentences down to paper. After you see that scary blank page is no longer so empty, it will be much easier to continue writing in a more relaxed manner.

6. Don’t be a perfectionist

If you want to write an essay fast, perfectionism is your number 1 enemy. Don’t set the bar too high when it comes to quality. This doesn’t mean that you should be satisfied with poor text quality. What we mean is that you shouldn’t allow these high expectations to block you from writing in the first place.

7. Don’t do real-time editing

A common symptom of perfectionism in writing is real-time editing. It’s the type of editing where you stop mid-sentence and start editing what you have written so far. Also, you might stop after every sentence you write and edit what you’ve just written. This is excruciating, both time and motivation-wise.

8. Get feedback and critique

A great way to improve your writing and step out from some of your common patterns and mistakes is to hear what someone else thinks of your essay. Of course, you shouldn’t take any negative remarks personally, but rather as helpful suggestions of what you could improve. A second set of eyes is a great writing improvement tool.

9. Find your own tempo and flow

The quality and enjoyment of the writing process are heavily influenced by external factors. You might find that you write better as soon as you wake up, or in the middle of the night. You might find that coffee helps you concentrate or that it makes you too jittery to sit down and write. Also, you might experiment and find that different environments, such as a coffee shop, help stimulate you for writing.

Finding the perfect formula among all these things is crucial if you want to improve your essay writing in the long-term. It’s like the Pareto principle : when you’re fresh and motivated, you will do 80% of your writing work in 20% of the time. It’s definitely more valuable to find when and why these most productive 20% periods come than to waste time when you don’t actually feel like writing.

10. Battle procrastination and writer’s block

Finally, we have come to one of the most important aspects of improving your writing. Namely, if you want to start writing faster, better, and smarter, you have to learn how to fight the common issues of procrastination and writer’s block.

Whether you like it or not, these periods will happen. However, there will be moments in your life when it’s highly unadvisable to procrastinate, but you choose to do just that. To combat this bad habit, you need to get down to its roots. Find out what’s causing your procrastination and writer’s block before you continue working on the deeper levels of your writing process. (Hint: A common cause of procrastination is perfectionism.)

As you can see, there are plenty of techniques you can use to improve your essay writing. Work on your vocabulary and style, read a lot, experiment, and you will find the perfect formula for working in no time.

Which of these tips have you heard about before? Have you applied any of these into your writing process?

About the author: Daniela McVicker has a master’s degree in English Literature, and she is truly passionate about learning foreign languages and teaching. Daniela works with the students helping them to reveal the writing talent and find the true calling.

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• How to structure an essay: Templates and tips

How to Structure an Essay | Tips & Templates

Published on September 18, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction , a body , and a conclusion . But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body.

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Table of contents

The basics of essay structure, chronological structure, compare-and-contrast structure, problems-methods-solutions structure, signposting to clarify your structure, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about essay structure.

There are two main things to keep in mind when working on your essay structure: making sure to include the right information in each part, and deciding how you’ll organize the information within the body.

Parts of an essay

The three parts that make up all essays are described in the table below.

Order of information

You’ll also have to consider how to present information within the body. There are a few general principles that can guide you here.

The first is that your argument should move from the simplest claim to the most complex . The body of a good argumentative essay often begins with simple and widely accepted claims, and then moves towards more complex and contentious ones.

For example, you might begin by describing a generally accepted philosophical concept, and then apply it to a new topic. The grounding in the general concept will allow the reader to understand your unique application of it.

The second principle is that background information should appear towards the beginning of your essay . General background is presented in the introduction. If you have additional background to present, this information will usually come at the start of the body.

The third principle is that everything in your essay should be relevant to the thesis . Ask yourself whether each piece of information advances your argument or provides necessary background. And make sure that the text clearly expresses each piece of information’s relevance.

The sections below present several organizational templates for essays: the chronological approach, the compare-and-contrast approach, and the problems-methods-solutions approach.

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The chronological approach (sometimes called the cause-and-effect approach) is probably the simplest way to structure an essay. It just means discussing events in the order in which they occurred, discussing how they are related (i.e. the cause and effect involved) as you go.

A chronological approach can be useful when your essay is about a series of events. Don’t rule out other approaches, though—even when the chronological approach is the obvious one, you might be able to bring out more with a different structure.

Explore the tabs below to see a general template and a specific example outline from an essay on the invention of the printing press.

• Thesis statement
• Discussion of event/period
• Consequences
• Importance of topic
• Strong closing statement
• Claim that the printing press marks the end of the Middle Ages
• Background on the low levels of literacy before the printing press
• Thesis statement: The invention of the printing press increased circulation of information in Europe, paving the way for the Reformation
• High levels of illiteracy in medieval Europe
• Literacy and thus knowledge and education were mainly the domain of religious and political elites
• Consequence: this discouraged political and religious change
• Invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg
• Implications of the new technology for book production
• Consequence: Rapid spread of the technology and the printing of the Gutenberg Bible
• Trend for translating the Bible into vernacular languages during the years following the printing press’s invention
• Luther’s own translation of the Bible during the Reformation
• Consequence: The large-scale effects the Reformation would have on religion and politics
• Summarize the history described
• Stress the significance of the printing press to the events of this period

Essays with two or more main subjects are often structured around comparing and contrasting . For example, a literary analysis essay might compare two different texts, and an argumentative essay might compare the strengths of different arguments.

There are two main ways of structuring a compare-and-contrast essay: the alternating method, and the block method.

Alternating

In the alternating method, each paragraph compares your subjects in terms of a specific point of comparison. These points of comparison are therefore what defines each paragraph.

The tabs below show a general template for this structure, and a specific example for an essay comparing and contrasting distance learning with traditional classroom learning.

• Synthesis of arguments
• Topical relevance of distance learning in lockdown
• Increasing prevalence of distance learning over the last decade
• Thesis statement: While distance learning has certain advantages, it introduces multiple new accessibility issues that must be addressed for it to be as effective as classroom learning
• Classroom learning: Ease of identifying difficulties and privately discussing them
• Distance learning: Difficulty of noticing and unobtrusively helping
• Classroom learning: Difficulties accessing the classroom (disability, distance travelled from home)
• Distance learning: Difficulties with online work (lack of tech literacy, unreliable connection, distractions)
• Classroom learning: Tends to encourage personal engagement among students and with teacher, more relaxed social environment
• Distance learning: Greater ability to reach out to teacher privately
• Sum up, emphasize that distance learning introduces more difficulties than it solves
• Stress the importance of addressing issues with distance learning as it becomes increasingly common
• Distance learning may prove to be the future, but it still has a long way to go

In the block method, each subject is covered all in one go, potentially across multiple paragraphs. For example, you might write two paragraphs about your first subject and then two about your second subject, making comparisons back to the first.

The tabs again show a general template, followed by another essay on distance learning, this time with the body structured in blocks.

• Point 1 (compare)
• Point 2 (compare)
• Point 3 (compare)
• Point 4 (compare)
• Advantages: Flexibility, accessibility
• Disadvantages: Discomfort, challenges for those with poor internet or tech literacy
• Advantages: Potential for teacher to discuss issues with a student in a separate private call
• Disadvantages: Difficulty of identifying struggling students and aiding them unobtrusively, lack of personal interaction among students
• Advantages: More accessible to those with low tech literacy, equality of all sharing one learning environment
• Disadvantages: Students must live close enough to attend, commutes may vary, classrooms not always accessible for disabled students
• Advantages: Ease of picking up on signs a student is struggling, more personal interaction among students
• Disadvantages: May be harder for students to approach teacher privately in person to raise issues

An essay that concerns a specific problem (practical or theoretical) may be structured according to the problems-methods-solutions approach.

This is just what it sounds like: You define the problem, characterize a method or theory that may solve it, and finally analyze the problem, using this method or theory to arrive at a solution. If the problem is theoretical, the solution might be the analysis you present in the essay itself; otherwise, you might just present a proposed solution.

The tabs below show a template for this structure and an example outline for an essay about the problem of fake news.

• Introduce the problem
• Provide background
• Describe your approach to solving it
• Define the problem precisely
• Describe why it’s important
• Indicate previous approaches to the problem
• Present your new approach, and why it’s better
• Apply the new method or theory to the problem
• Indicate the solution you arrive at by doing so
• Assess (potential or actual) effectiveness of solution
• Describe the implications
• Problem: The growth of “fake news” online
• Prevalence of polarized/conspiracy-focused news sources online
• Thesis statement: Rather than attempting to stamp out online fake news through social media moderation, an effective approach to combating it must work with educational institutions to improve media literacy
• Definition: Deliberate disinformation designed to spread virally online
• Popularization of the term, growth of the phenomenon
• Previous approaches: Labeling and moderation on social media platforms
• Critique: This approach feeds conspiracies; the real solution is to improve media literacy so users can better identify fake news
• Greater emphasis should be placed on media literacy education in schools
• This allows people to assess news sources independently, rather than just being told which ones to trust
• This is a long-term solution but could be highly effective
• It would require significant organization and investment, but would equip people to judge news sources more effectively
• Rather than trying to contain the spread of fake news, we must teach the next generation not to fall for it

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Signposting means guiding the reader through your essay with language that describes or hints at the structure of what follows.  It can help you clarify your structure for yourself as well as helping your reader follow your ideas.

The essay overview

In longer essays whose body is split into multiple named sections, the introduction often ends with an overview of the rest of the essay. This gives a brief description of the main idea or argument of each section.

The overview allows the reader to immediately understand what will be covered in the essay and in what order. Though it describes what  comes later in the text, it is generally written in the present tense . The following example is from a literary analysis essay on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

Transitions

Transition words and phrases are used throughout all good essays to link together different ideas. They help guide the reader through your text, and an essay that uses them effectively will be much easier to follow.

Various different relationships can be expressed by transition words, as shown in this example.

Because Hitler failed to respond to the British ultimatum, France and the UK declared war on Germany. Although it was an outcome the Allies had hoped to avoid, they were prepared to back up their ultimatum in order to combat the existential threat posed by the Third Reich.

Transition sentences may be included to transition between different paragraphs or sections of an essay. A good transition sentence moves the reader on to the next topic while indicating how it relates to the previous one.

… Distance learning, then, seems to improve accessibility in some ways while representing a step backwards in others.

However , considering the issue of personal interaction among students presents a different picture.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

• Choosing Essay Topic
• Write a College Essay
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• College Essay Format & Structure
• Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

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The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

An essay isn’t just a loose collection of facts and ideas. Instead, it should be centered on an overarching argument (summarized in your thesis statement ) that every part of the essay relates to.

The way you structure your essay is crucial to presenting your argument coherently. A well-structured essay helps your reader follow the logic of your ideas and understand your overall point.

Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:

• The alternating method, where you compare your subjects side by side according to one specific aspect at a time.
• The block method, where you cover each subject separately in its entirety.

It’s also possible to combine both methods, for example by writing a full paragraph on each of your topics and then a final paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric.

You should try to follow your outline as you write your essay . However, if your ideas change or it becomes clear that your structure could be better, it’s okay to depart from your essay outline . Just make sure you know why you’re doing so.

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Essay writing is an obligatory academic assignment, regardless of course of study and institution.

However, few students find the essay writing process easy. Of course, practice makes perfect and by the time students hit their senior year in college, most of them can write an essay in their sleep.

However, no one wants to learn from their own mistakes so knowing the most important dos and don'ts of essay writing will help make this experience less stressful and more productive.

There is no universal template that can solve every college essay trouble.

However, the following rules of writing are standard and applicable to all types of academic essay, no matter what the course and topic:

The Do's of Essay Writing

Do make your essay easy to read.

Because of the large number of essays that have to be graded, many instructors admit that they skim read essays to get an idea if a student is competent in the topic and how well they have adhered to the style guidelines. Therefore, it is a good idea to structure your essay so the key points are visible when skim reading and are clear enough to get the message across.

Get rid of extra words and phrases, use clear constructions and stick to the point.

Do Include a Thesis Statement in the Introduction

A thesis statement is an important part of introduction and the essay in general, so it should never be neglected. The thesis statement should reveal the main idea of the essay in a concise format.

Although it is an obligatory part of the introduction, never make your thesis statement the opening sentence of your essay. It is a good idea to place it at the end of the introductory paragraph so it serves as a transition to the main body of the essay.

Do Use Transitions Between Paragraphs

Sometimes paragraphs sound like separate pieces of text put together. This is the wrong approach to writing.

Your essay should be smooth and coherent, leading the reader from one point to another. This is why you should use transitions – the phrases that help to connect each idea with the previous one, serving like bridges between paragraphs.

Examples of phrases you can use for transitions include:

• Despite the previous arguments…
• Speaking about this…
• Regarding this…
• With regards to this…
• As has been noted…
• To put it briefly…

Do Cite Examples

Any example you use – from literature, scientific work, etc. - should be cited.

Only examples from your own experience do not have to be cited. If you want to include mention of something that you have read, even if you are not using a direct quotation,  it is best to reference the source of the information. This way, your examples will be more convincing and form more reliable evidence of the points you wish to prove.

The key to easily finding relevant examples is to build a collection of valuable texts in your field. With the help of your collection, you will save a lot of time searching for suitable examples on the Internet or other sources. Organize your files into folders and subfolders to easily find the text you're looking for. If your library becomes large, use these tips to easily search for text in your files.

Your text library can also help you diversify your writing style. Take a cue from the best writers in your field, and explore the variety in style and sentence structure they use.

Do Discuss Literature in the Present Tense

When writing literary reviews or essays based on literary works it is advisable to use present tense – historical present or narrative present, as it is called. It makes the storytelling more engaging and real, increasing the feeling of presence.

For example:

‘Romeo and Juliet experience true love the moment they see each other. Love makes them forget everything else. From the very beginning they are somehow aware that they are doomed to die – they have given up their lives to love. Not only love, but every emotion in the play is heightened and leads to terrible consequences.’

Book Reviewed by Amrita Dutta.

Do Use Advanced Vocabulary

The aim of an essay is to not only to reveal your knowledge of the topic, but to show your ability to choose appropriate vocabulary and show your language expertise.

You should show that your vocabulary has progressed since high school. That means using advanced vocabulary and replacing ‘good’ and ‘nice’ with more appropriate synonyms to reflect the shades of meaning.

Do Respond to the Prompt of the Essay

The prompt of the essay is intentional.

No matter how much you want to ‘go with the flow’ and write whatever your inspiration dictates, you should remember you are writing an academic assignment and, as long as it has a prompt, you should stick to it.

If the prompt is complicated and consists of several parts, analyze your final draft and check if you covered every point of the essay prompt.

Do Use Simple Sentences

Complicated sentences may be confusing, not only for the person reading and grading your essay but for the students themselves.

Writing complicated sentences doesn’t indicate elaborate writing style. Rather it may show your inability to convey information in a simple and readable format, or to break the sentences in a logical way. What’s more, complicated sentences increase the risk of grammar errors and stylistic mistakes. Famous writers, like Hemingway or Fitzgerald, wrote simply and that didn’t make their writing any worse.

Do Choose Proper Type, Style and Format

A good essay is not about style and formatting, of course, but style influences the first impression your paper makes.

First and foremost, professors want to see the correct essay style and structure depending on the topic and essay type students have to tackle. In many cases, the style meant to be used in the essay is laid out in the directions or has been established beforehand. You may easily figure out the style based on the type of essay.

Do Choose the Right Language

The language you use in the paper indicates your ability to research and analyze the topic, prove your opinion, and explain your points clearly and vividly.

It also shows the level of your language proficiency, knowledge of grammar and syntax, and ability to develop rich vocabulary. It is important to remember the academic style of writing and use the appropriate language. The following phrases work well to introduce and support your points:

• There seems to be no compelling reason to argue that …
• The argument can be made …
• Current research on [your topic] shows …
• The most common argument in favor of (or against) is …
• There is a growing body of evidence to support …

Do Revise your Writing Thoroughly

Before you hit ‘Save’ and print the final version, check your essay thoroughly to avoid spelling mistakes, typos and incorrect sentence constructions. Apart from language mistakes, check if you followed all the requirements: number of words/pages, text formatting, essay structure, etc.

See our page: Assignment Finishing Touches for more information.

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The Don'ts of Essay Writing

Now that you’ve learnt the major Dos, let’s move to some Don’ts – the things you’d better avoid in essay writing.

Don't Overwhelm your Essay with Information and Facts

Though essays should be meaningful and detailed, learn to filter the information and choose only important points.

There is a temptation to include every single detail of your research to make the essay holistic and complete. However, your aim is to narrow the topic, show that you are able to analyze and structure information, and choose only the most relevant facts to prove your points.

Don't Neglect Formatting Details

No matter what your style and formatting requirements are, you should not forget to pay attention to the following points: paper size, spaces, font size, margins, and page numbers.

Also do not forget about narration types. For example, narrative essays tell stories from first person while persuasive or argumentative essays require that you leave emotions out and base your views on the solid facts, so no first person narration is appropriate.

Don't Use Too Many Clichés

While using set phrases, avoid overwhelming your essay with clichés.

Remember that not all clichés are good for every type of essay. What's more, professors expect your work to be original and truly value students with fresh ideas and views. Also, beware of using informal language. This doesn't mean that your writing should be reminiscent of a scientific thesaurus rather than real speech, but academic writing requires a certain level of formality.

See our page: Avoiding Clichés for more.

Don't Let Typos Ruin your Essay

Although typos do not indicate your language proficiency or grammar knowledge, they may show your professor that you are not attentive enough or do not care enough to proof read your essay.

Submitting a paper that looks like a draft can be interpreted by a professor as disrespectful.

Don’t Rely Only on Spell Checkers

Though spell checkers are good way to automatically proof read your writing, don’t rely on software alone.

These programs may miss a lot of spelling errors that that human eye will definitely notice. So, take time to proof read your essay. It is better to print out the final version on paper as spelling mistakes can be missed when reading from the screen. It is a good idea to ask someone else to have a fresh look at your essay and to proofread it for spelling mistakes.

Do Not Plagiarize

This rule should be clear for every student.

Plagiarism is a form of cheating, and when detected it is always punished.

Do not risk your reputation and your place in higher education. Plagiarism is easily detected today with the help of software and Google, so be honest with yourself and your educators and write on your own.

Reference every source to make sure you are not committing plagiarism, even unintentionally. It is a good idea to ‘know your enemy’ and read about the kinds of plagiarism possible and best ways to avoid it.

See our page: Academic Referencing for more information.

Do Not Address the Reader

No matter what type of essay you are writing, academic writing rarely reveals the author nor engages in the conversation with the reader. Addressing the reader is more a mark of fiction than an academic essay. While writing a college essay you should be detached, objective and analytical rather than appeal to the reader’s emotions and personality.

Don’t Start an Essay with “ in this/my essay ” Phrase

The introduction has to present the main idea of the essay and reveal what you are going to talk about.

Writing an effective introduction and including a thesis statement is enough to lead the reader into the context of your essay topic without using this meaningless high school phrase ‘In my essay I’m going to focus on…’

Don’t Use Negative Language

Negative language doesn’t mean vulgarisms. It means words with negative suffixes, phrases with negation, etc.

For example, painless is not a negative word in its meaning. However, using it makes the reader focus on pain instead of its absence. So it is better to replace so called negative language with more positive, synonymous expressions, like using economical instead of inexpensive, or comfortable/pleasant instead of painless.

When writing an essay you should walk a fine line between presenting a clear idea of the established knowledge and proving that you understand it well enough to make an independent assessment.

Show your professor your ability to format an essay correctly, choose the right style, express your point of view and prove it with facts. Learn to balance the form and meaning and essays will no longer be challenging for you.

About the Author

Tracy Collins is a writing instructor, education enthusiast and author.

Continue to: Writing a Dissertation or Thesis Academic Referencing

See also: Common Mistakes in Writing The Writer’s Toolkit: Essential Elements of Outstanding Essays Study Skills

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the 13 best college essay tips to craft a stellar application.

College Essays

In many ways, the most labor-intensive part of your college application process is the essay. It’s not just about forwarding transcripts or entering a list of extracurricular activities—you have to craft something personal and compelling to show the admissions committee who you are beyond your resume.

In this article, we’ll go over our 13 best tips for writing college essays. We’ll give tips for every step of the process including planning, writing, and editing your essay, as well as some quick and easy tips to boost any essays you already have written! With these college essay tips, you’ll be that much closer to the best admissions essay ever!

5 Tips for College Essay Planning

Doing a good job planning makes the college essay process that much easier. These five college essay tips will help you get started and pave the way for a great final product.

#1: Make a Plan of Attack for Your Essays

The first thing you’ll need to do is identify all the essays you’ll need to write and their deadlines. It may help you to make a spreadsheet with the essay guidelines for each school, the word count, the prompts, the due date, and any special instructions. This will help you figure out:

How many essays you’ll need to write, and how long those essays need to be.

Whether you can reuse any essays: In general, you can reuse essays for prompts that are about your life, broadly similar in theme, and have a similar word count. You probably can’t reuse essays that are very specific to the college, like “Why This College” essays .

Which essay you should write first: You’ll probably want to start first on the essay with the earliest application deadline. Alternatively, if you have plenty of time or the deadlines are close together, you could start with the longest essay (which will take the most time) or the essay that will be used for the most schools (like a Common Application essay). Do what you feel most comfortable with.

With all this information gathered, you’ll be able to make a plan of attack for your essays and make sure nothing gets lost in the application shuffle. (In fact, I actually advise keeping track of all necessary components of your application in a spreadsheet for the same reason).

#2: Start Early

You want to start writing way before the deadline. If possible, give yourself at least two months, and maybe even more time if you can. This will make sure that you have enough time to adequately plan your essay, draft it, and edit it.  

And, of course, the more essays you have to write, the earlier you should start!

#3: Choose the Right Topic

Choosing the right topic has two facets: first, choosing the right prompt (if there’s a choice) and second, choosing the right topic to write about for that prompt.

The Right Prompt

If there’s a choice of prompts, you may want to actually start by brainstorming the specific topic or thing in your life that you want to write about, and then reverse-engineer back to the most appropriate prompt. Most college essay prompts are pretty vague, so a broad range of topics and issues can be applied.

You can also use prompts to help you brainstorm if you’re having a hard time figuring out what to write about. Think about the prompt that seems most appealing to you at first. What intrigues you about it? What do you think you could communicate about yourself through that question?

Here’s some tailored guidance on some of the most common college essay prompt types . And if you’re writing a Common Application essay, here’s advice on how to choose the right Common App prompt for you .

The Right Topic

When you’re trying to choose something about your life to write about, consider the following:

What are you excited to write about? A good college essay can be about a wide variety of topics, but it should show that you’re passionate about something. This could be anything from a hobby you have to your favorite book or even your most beloved stuffed animal, just so long as you can make it memorable and positive. Also, your writing will be a lot better if you are writing about something you care about and are interested in!

Whatever you write about should be primarily about you. You should be the focal point. Even if you’re writing about someone who has influenced you, for example, you need to relate it back to yourself. What does this tell admission officers about you?

What makes you stand out? This should be something that goes beyond what’s in the rest of your application. Your test scores and GPA are already there. What really shows something unique about you?

Choose a topic you can be honest about . If you’re not being genuine, it will end up coming through in your writing. So don’t write about how much your membership in Youth Group meant to you if you only went to make your mom happy and you actually didn’t care that much.

In general, you should avoid topics that are overly controversial, like things that are politically charged, doing things that are illegal, or anything involving graphic descriptions of any bodily function. So if you’re going to write about recovering from hip surgery, probably leave out the gory details of you being constipated and your oozy scars.

Check out our 35 brainstorming techniques for college essays for even more help coming up with a topic!

If you’re really stumped, consider asking your friends and family what they think could be good topics. They may help you figure out something memorable and interesting. But also, don’t feel like you have to write about a topic just because someone else thinks it would be great. You need to be genuinely interested in what you’re writing about to write an engaging essay!

#4: Decide on Your Approach

In general, there are two main approaches you might take to write your essay. It might primarily take a narrative format, or it might take a thematic format.

In a narrative format, you’ll be relating a particular anecdote or experience and what it means to you. In a thematic format, you’ll present a particular theme—say, your love of parakeets or your secret talent for balancing books on your head—and expound on that theme in a descriptive way to reveal more about you and your personality.

Sometimes your approach will be determined by the prompt or topic that you choose. For example, if a prompt says to relate a particular event or anecdote, you’ll probably use a narrative approach. By contrast, if you want to write about how your favorite book changed your life, that will probably be a thematic essay.

#5: Write an Outline

Doing a little bit of outlining before you put fingertips to keyboard to write your essay is always a good idea. You don’t necessarily need to make a super-detailed plan before you starting writing, but a general idea of where you are going and the points you want to make will be very helpful when you start drafting. Otherwise, you may find yourself spending a lot of time staring at a blank Word document.

Yes, good, very detailed essay plan. 

4 Top College Essay Writing Tips

Here are four tips for writing college essays and making sure your work  stands out in a good way:

#6: Use Specific Details

The more details you use, the more your writing will come alive. Try to use words that are vivid and specific, instead of ones that are vague like “nice,” “good,” and so on. This will really flesh out the scene and help the reader picture what’s going on.

So take something like this:

One of my biggest accomplishments in life was teaching my little brother to ride a bicycle. I encouraged him to keep going when he fell down. Now he’s a great cyclist!

To something more like this:

One of my biggest accomplishments in life was teaching my eight-year-old brother to ride the racy red bicycle he got for his birthday. He wanted to give up when he took a tumble and skidded across the sidewalk. But while I bandaged up his knees with Batman band-aids, I convinced him to give it another try. I told him to think about how he would be able to bike all around the neighborhood exploring. Now I smile whenever I see him zooming down our street—wearing his helmet, of course!

See the difference? Wouldn’t you rather read the second one?

#7: Be Genuine

It’s important to get beyond the superficial in your personal statement. You should be writing about something that’s genuinely important or significant to you, so try to get beyond the surface. Instead of writing vague platitudes about how you really like the violin but it’s hard, really get at the meat: did you ever think about quitting? What’s frustrated you the most? What really keeps you going?

This means you shouldn’t try to write about things where it’s too painful to be honest. So if your parents got a divorce last year, it may be too raw to write about, which is perfectly fine. If, however, they got divorced when you were 5 and you can honestly reflect on how it changed your life, go for it.

Of course, you want to be honest in a reasonable and appropriate way. If you overshare, it will make it seem like you have bad judgment or don’t understand social norms—not good impressions to give the admissions committee. So probably don’t write about how much you despise your mother and think she is evil since she had an affair with your school librarian. It’s fine to feel how you feel, but there are some things that are a little too charged to write in your college essay.

#8: Be Unique, but Not Bizarre

You definitely want your writing to set you apart—but you want it to set you apart in a good way. This means you want high-quality writing about unique experiences and qualities you bring to the table that aren’t covered elsewhere in your application.

This does not mean you should get really avant-garde with your essay formatting. Don’t send in a piece of art instead of an essay, or make a video, or write a poem instead of an essay, unless those things are explicitly allowed.

Similarly, while your essay doesn’t have to be 100% deadly serious in tone, you should be careful with humor. This doesn’t mean absolutely no jokes or tongue-in-cheek moments or that your essay should read like an 18th-century book of sermons. But if your essay relies too much on humor, you’ve got a lot riding on whether or not the person reading your essay “gets” it. They may well be annoyed. So deploy humor carefully and selectively.

#9: Avoid Cliches and Platitudes

The more cliches you use in your writing, the more boring and less insightful your essay will be. Cliches are phrases that are so overused that they are essentially meaningless, and they are likely to make any reader roll their eyes. Phrases like “a dime a dozen,” “outside the box,” “cold as ice,” “dirt cheap,” “flash in the pan,” and so on are frequently deployed in conversation because they convey a common idea quickly. But you don’t want your essay to be common, so avoid cliches. Try to think about how you can communicate the same idea in a more specific and interesting way.

Here’s a list of over 600 cliches . But for the most part, you won’t need a list; you’ll know something is a cliche because you will have heard it a million times already.

You should also avoid platitudes or sweeping generalizations about life. These are statements that are so broad and far-reaching as to be both obvious and completely uninsightful.

So avoid making statements like “And that’s how I learned that hard work pays off,” or “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” You may think you sound sage or wise, but the truth is, platitudes are going to sound immature and poorly-formed to the reader. Similarly, don’t say things that sound like they could come from an inspirational quote account on Instagram. (See, ahem, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take,” “Shoot for the moon,” and so on.)

How do you avoid the platitude problem? Try to keep what you’re saying specific to you. So instead of saying “And that’s how I learned that hard work pays off,” try, “This experience helped me to realize that when I put concentrated effort into something that’s important to me, I can accomplish it even when there are roadblocks.” Keep the focus on what you can and will do in your own life.

Avoid  trite sayings like this one.

2 Tips for Editing Your College Essay

You may think that once you’ve gotten a draft done that you’re good to go. Not so! Editing is one of the most important parts of writing the best college essay possible, and here are two essential college essay tips for editing.

Tip #10: Ask for Help

It’s always wise to get another set of eyes on your college essays. In fact, several sets of eyes is even better! Other people can help you make sure your essay flows, you have enough detail, that everything is relevant, and that you sound as engaging and interesting as you really are! They can also help you catch typos and other minor errors—although you’ll want to double and triple-check for that yourself before submitting.

Here’s advice on how to ask for help with all parts of the college essay process , including editing.

Tip #11: Be Prepared to Cut a Lot

Brace yourself for cutting up your initial draft into tiny little ribbons and rearranging the remaining pieces Frankenstein-style. A first draft is really just a starting place to get your ideas down before you revamp the entire thing into a more streamlined, better organized, highly polished version. So you have to be ready to let go of pieces of your essay, no matter how much you love a particular turn of phrase or analogy. The ultimate goal is to turn the rough stone of your first draft into a polished and clear piece of writing—and that’s going to take a lot of chipping and sanding!

2 Final Tips for College Essay Success

Here are two quick but essential college essay tips you can implement easily.

Tip #12: Have a Standout First Sentence

One thing you can do to give any essay a boost is to make sure that your first sentence is attention-grabbing. If you can pique the interest of the admissions counselor right away, you’ll help keep their attention throughout your essay.

Here’s our guide to getting that perfect first sentence!

Tip #13: Triple-check for Typos and Errors

The most important quick thing you can do for your essay is to make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors. It will make your essay look sloppy and unfinished, and that’s the last thing you want! College admissions officers expect a polished product, and there’s nothing less polished than misspelled words and comma splices.

13 College Essay Tips: Key Takeaways for a Great College Essay

To recap, here’s our 13 tips for the best college essay ever:

College Essay Planning Tips:

• Create a plan of attack for all of your essays so you can keep track of everything.
• Start early—at least two months before the due date, if not more.
• Choose the right prompt and topic for you.
• Decide between a narrative or a thematic approach to the topic.
• Outline before you start writing!

College Essay Writing Tips:

• Use vivid, specific details.
• Be genuine—get beyond the superficial.
• Be unique, but not bizarre.
• Avoid cliches and platitudes; they are boring and unimaginative.

College Essay Editing Tips:

• Get other people to look at your essay.
• Be prepared to change, cut, and rearrange a lot!

Final Tips for College Essays:

• Make sure your first sentence is stellar.
• Triple check for typos and grammatical errors!

What’s Next?

You’ve read our tips for success—now see 10 college essay mistakes to avoid .

Looking for some college essay examples? See 133 essay examples and expert analysis here , along with 11 more places to find great college essay examples .  

Check out our complete guides to ApplyTexas essays , UC Personal Insight questions , and the Common Application essay !

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Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

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Undergraduate Writing: Top 10 Writing Tips for Undergraduates

Top 10 writing tips for undergraduates.

Most undergraduate students at Walden have been out of high school or college for several years, so academic writing can feel unfamiliar. Just like anything else, though, writing is a skill you will learn to develop with practice. Below are the Writing Center’s top undergraduate writing tips to help you get started.

1. Plan Your Time

Walden courses are fast-paced, often with a paper assignment due every Sunday night. No matter how hard you try, you cannot write a perfect, polished essay at the very last minute. Schedule studying and writing times throughout the week, taking into account your work and family responsibilities. You might find that writing a little bit each day, in chunks, helps manage your assignment load. For more planning tips and tools, see the Academic Skills Center’s page on Managing Time/Stress and the Writing Center’s Assignment Planner .

2. Know the Academic Writing Expectations (AWE)

The School of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Studies created the AWE to help you build your writing skills with each course level. In early courses, you practice writing compelling sentences and paragraphs and integrating evidence. Later on, you learn more about citations and references in APA style, as well as essay-level skills. Consult the AWE for your current course level. Do your abilities match the expectations listed? Use the AWE to create goals for yourself.

3. Use the Assignment Instructions and Rubric

Within your courses, there are several powerful tools to help focus and develop your writing. First, the assignment instructions give you important information about the length of the assignment and the topics you should cover. Use these instructions as an outline as you are writing. Second, the rubric tells you how your work will be assessed. If a certain part of the assignment is worth more points on the rubric, you know you should devote a lot of attention to it. For more tips on writing and revising using your assignment materials, listen to this podcast episode or view our Revising webinar .

4. Get Comfortable With Writing

At Walden, most communication with peers and professors occurs in writing. You are also assessed on your writing via discussion board and essay assignments. This attention to writing can be scary, especially for students who have been away from an academic setting for some time. You might need to start journaling or find a writing buddy to feel more comfortable. See our Writing Through Fear blog post for more tips.

5. Read Your Professor's Feedback

One of the fundamental ways to learn is through the written feedback from your professor. This might seem like a simple statement, but some students do not ever access this written feedback, and so they miss out on a valuable opportunity. When you receive your grades in Canvas, click on the individual assignment title to bring up the professor’s general comments. In those comments, you should see your attached submission with specific feedback embedded. Read our page on Using Feedback for more tips and download a feedback journal as a way to keep track of suggested improvements.

6. Make an Argument

In most assignments, you need to discuss a topic and have a reason for discussing that topic. Rather than just summarizing, you need to analyze and convince your reader of something. For example, if your topic is electric cars, your purpose might be to convince the reader that electric cars are an efficient alternative to gas cars. This means that every paragraph will be part of your overall goal to argue this point. Kayla explores the importance of argument in her blog post Argue Is Not a Dirty Word .

7. Practice Academic Integrity

As an academic writer, you use information from books, journal articles, and trusted websites to support your argument. To present this information ethically and with integrity, you need to give credit to the original source. At Walden, students give credit through APA citations in the text. Citations should accompany any ideas, information, or phrasing from others. You will gain familiarity with citing sources as you progress through your program; for now, see our  Using and Crediting Sources playlist  for an overview.

8. Organize Your Ideas

All of your discussion posts and papers should have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. An introduction provides background on the topic and includes your thesis statement. In essence, the introduction prepares the reader for all of the main points you will be making in the body. The body is where you develop your argument, paragraph by paragraph . Your conclusion acts as a summary and helps the reader understand the significance of the information presented.

9. Develop an Academic Voice

A formal, direct, and precise voice is expected in college-level writing. This means that you should avoid informal language such as colloquialisms, slang, metaphors, clichés, and jargon, as well as questions and contractions. Instead of having a conversation with the reader, you are an authority building an argument. The reader needs to trust in you.

10. Revisit Grammar and Sentence Structure

Because the goal of academic writing is to clearly communicate, you should ensure that your writing follows proper American English grammar and sentence structure rules. Otherwise, a reader might become confused. The Grammar page of our website provides explanation on many common grammar concerns. You might also find Grammarly helpful; Grammarly is an automated program that identifies potential sentence errors and offers revision tips.

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10 Essay Writing Tips and Tricks to Write the Perfect Essay

by team@blp

In miscellaneous.

Essay writing is an important part of every student’s academic life. Professors and teachers assign essays to students studying in different classes.

Unfortunately, not every student likes to write essays. They consider such an assignment a boring task. They feel reluctant to develop an interest.

Do you have an essay due soon? Are you looking for the perfect tips and tricks?

Feel good, you have come to the right place! You can make your essay writing task entertaining and full of interest simply by following these amazing essay writing tips and tricks. So, let’s discover without anything further.

In this Article

Be Mentally Prepared

Avoid disruptions, select theme of your essay, expand intro when needed, thesis statement, make an outline, consider ideas for each section, proofread to ensure consistency, check it for errors, write a great conclusion.

Make sure you are mentally prepared to write an essay even before getting on it. Feel confident and stop thinking about the negatives. Students who let their fears overcome their abilities can’t do well.

Writing an essay should be a piece of cake if you stay confident and resilient to complete the task in due time. Be organized and complete your essay writing assignment by dividing it into steps. Once you are all ready, it’s fine to move on to the next step.

Being focused helps a lot while writing an essay efficiently. To be perfectly attentive to your topic, try to avoid distractions. Some of the common disruptions could be your smartphone, laptop, television, and Wi-Fi connection. Turn these devices off and make sure nothing stops you from being absorbed in your subject.

You might need the internet for research and references. Just keep the device on for the period you need them and turn them off when you are done.

Close the door and window if you hear noise from outside. If you have kids at home, wear your headphones and start listening to your favorite music. Still, if you are not able to concentrate, going to the nearest library can be a good idea. Remember, you will not be able to deliver your best until you are completely involved.

Have you been assigned a topic already? If yes, then don’t waste time reading stuff under this heading and proceed to the next one. If not, then you should give your best to select a topic.

Think of choosing a theme that can grab attention. People feel encouraged to read on after seeing just the title. It’s the right to brainstorm and end up finding a topic that you think can do the magic.

Have you been assigned a difficult Essay? Do you have a list of instructions in hand? If yes, then you must be looking for expert assistance. Professional essay writers take on essay writing tasks and write impeccable papers according to university and college requirements.

Teachers often ask students to write an essay either to persuade or educate readers. Figure out what your purpose is. If the purpose is to educate, then prefer picking a topic that you are already experienced in. On the contrary, an essay to persuade should be based on your passion.

No matter what’s the purpose, select a topic that’s relevant to your college assignment. Make sure you can find enough references, citations, and sources to support your write-up.

Write a Killer Intro

The introduction of an essay is where you can tempt readers to read further till the end. Try to put in great efforts to write a persuasive intro. Don’t panic! You don’t have to work harder. Writing a killer introduction is super easy. Just write a brief about the essay topic and add some interesting facts from authentic sources.

It doesn’t need to be that long, just a few catchy sentences should do the job. Hook your readers with thought-provoking sentences and facts that they haven’t seen before. If you do it right, nothing can stop them from reading further.

Don’t hesitate to expand the intro when you feel unjustified. Adding a few more sentences in the next paragraph should give strength to what you have mentioned. Just try to be relevant and prove your verdict with facts. Try not to make your readers feel in the middle of the way. Give necessary information to cover things nicely.

Write a thesis statement right after the introduction.

Not sure what is it?

A thesis statement is a summary to explain the main concept of your essay. In other words, you can say it’s a one-sentence telling reader what you are going to prove through your essay.

Try to make it simple, specific, and clear.

If you are the kind of student who gets confused while deciding the writing pattern, get this sorted by creating an outline. A good outline works as a clear roadmap that you can follow through the writing task. It will help you in staying highly organized during the entire writing process.

Plan your entire write-up by dividing the essay into paragraphs and required headings. Although you are free to choose the outline that you feel comfortable with, yet the standard practice can be a good practice to follow.

Generally, essays have one opening paragraph or introduction, up to six paragraphs covering the body, up to six supporting points to support thesis declaration, and one paragraph of conclusion.

If you are writing a 7-paragraph essay, then it should include one introduction, five body sections, and one conclusion.

Usually, teachers don’t impose restrictions on lenghty essays as long as they are relevant and support the thesis statement. However, try to discuss instructions and requirements with your teacher before starting an essay. It will help you save time and effort.

Once you have an outline ready, the next thing is to write a couple of sentences about what each section should talk about. You don’t have to be elaborative here, just mention key points. You can also use bullets to keep points short and relevant.

Have a clear idea about the intro and decide how you will be starting your essay. Include facts to make your intro exciting. If you are going to write five paragraphs in the body, decide concepts for each paragraph. You can note down references and sources in advance so that you don’t have to switch to research while writing the essay. It will help you keep the momentum going.

Your essay will be interesting to read if you treat each paragraph as separate but related. If you have planned to write five paragraphs in the body, think as if you are writing five short essays on a given topic. People just love reading essays that have a distinct yet connected tempo.

It’s okay to create an outline using a pen and a piece of paper. However, you should consider typing an essay when it comes to creating the final draft. You should be able to save a lot of time while typing an essay on your personal computer.

Finding mistakes and correcting them becomes easy when you have a typed draft. You can use MS word to facilitate the typing work. It should give you access to all tools and features that you need to write an essay impeccably.

  On the other hand, you might have to face difficulties in making the right adjustments to a hand-written essay.

Compare your completed essay with the outline. It should discuss all the points that you mentioned in the outline. No essential element should be missing.

The next step is to ensure consistency and organization. Don’t just rush to publish your essay. Spend time on it and check the flow. Start reading from top to bottom and see if something sounds weird. If you spot a dissimilarity, take a moment to make it consistent with the rest of the text.

Being a smart student, you should make sure that the essay is easy to read. It gives clear information to the reader without making them feel awkward. Try to construct short sentences because they are easy to understand. Complex sentences can give vague meaning.

No matter how smart you are, errors come along the way when you start writing an essay. It happens with everyone, so nothing to be scared of. If you typed an essay on a computer, you can easily check it for potential errors, grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes.

Try reading it aloud so that you can easily spot mistakes. Don’t just rush to finish the task. A few minutes of proofreading can help you make your essay flawless. There are different software programs that you can use to remove all types of errors from your essay. Consider using them to clear the remaining doubt.

Finally, you are going to end your essay. Why not make it sound great? The best way to write a conclusion is to make it a mix of introduction and body. However, make it unique and interesting. The conclusion is where you can leave a nice impression on readers. Write a conclusion of an average length, neither too verbose nor too truncated.

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A (Very) Simple Way to Improve Your Writing

• Mark Rennella

It’s called the “one-idea rule” — and any level of writer can use it.

The “one idea” rule is a simple concept that can help you sharpen your writing, persuade others by presenting your argument in a clear, concise, and engaging way. What exactly does the rule say?

• Every component of a successful piece of writing should express only one idea.
• In persuasive writing, your “one idea” is often the argument or belief you are presenting to the reader. Once you identify what that argument is, the “one-idea rule” can help you develop, revise, and connect the various components of your writing.
• For instance, let’s say you’re writing an essay. There are three components you will be working with throughout your piece: the title, the paragraphs, and the sentences.
• Each of these parts should be dedicated to just one idea. The ideas are not identical, of course, but they’re all related. If done correctly, the smaller ideas (in sentences) all build (in paragraphs) to support the main point (suggested in the title).

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Most advice about writing looks like a long laundry list of “do’s and don’ts.” These lists can be helpful from time to time, but they’re hard to remember … and, therefore, hard to depend on when you’re having trouble putting your thoughts to paper. During my time in academia, teaching composition at the undergraduate and graduate levels, I saw many people struggle with this.

• MR Mark Rennella is Associate Editor at HBP and has published two books, Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders and The Boston Cosmopolitans .  

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Ten Tips for Writing An Essay

Start early . Starting early buys you the luxury of revising and rewriting the essay. You can write it, put it away for a few days, then take a fresh look at it later. Walking away and then coming back brings a fresh perspective to the work—without the pressure and stress that comes with a time crunch.

Choose a specific topic . Many colleges ask applicants to describe a special interest, an experience that changed their life, or a person who influenced them. An essay on why you participated in the extra-curricular activities you chose in school, as well as what you learned from those choices, can be an excellent topic.

List a number of essay topics and then add some key points for each one. Decide which topic has the most potential; your topic should be something that you feel strongly about so that it really comes alive as you write.

Outline what you want to cover . Use the brainstorming process. Make a list of all the ideas you want to include; don't rule anything out. List everything you can think of. Then go back over the list and check off or circle the major points you want to cover.

Work on the opening paragraph . Think of the myriad of different ways to begin. There are many approaches that can be used. Warm up by using a meaningful quote or definition. Starting off with a rhetorical question that fits your situation is also a good way to get started. You might open your essay with a detailed description of the setting of an important experience you've had so that readers feel they were really there.

Pick the opener that best draws the reader in with an unusual, entertaining, or thoughtful hook.

Compose a rough draft . Use the outline you created to address each of your key points—as if you were having a conversation with someone. Try to be personal; add humor.

Concentrate on content, use descriptive language, and give clear examples. Imagine that you're talking to a close friend when writing your essay. This technique should help the real you shine through. Remember, a rough draft doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be a start.

Review what you've written . This time use a more critical eye. Is the essay interesting and well organized? Does it give a good picture of who you are? If it isn't as interesting as you'd like, add more examples and details.

Read your essay out loud to see if the essay flows. Make sure you're writing about yourself, not the person you imagine the admissions counselor will find interesting.

Rewrite your essay . Writing the essay the first time is hard enough, but taking time to write another draft is well worth the effort. Show your essay to an adult, or anyone who can give you an honest critique. Read your essay to your parents. Other people can often tell if there isn't enough being revealed, whether the essay rambles, or if the humor is falling flat.

Edit your final draft . While we covered a lot about content, this time really look at the mechanics of the essay. Grammar, spelling, sentence structure, style, and tone all count. Double check everything so that nothing detracts from the finished product.

Proofread, proofread, proofread . When it comes to proofreading, don't do it alone. Ask someone else to read your essay. Spell check programs on computers can only go so far in ensuring that everything is correct.

Take a last look for details . Is the essay clean? Is the typing, printing, and handwriting clear? Make sure your name and social security number is on the essay so that if it's separated from the application, it can quickly be matched up again. Pretend that you are reading the essay for the first time. Does it make the impression you want it to?

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June 3, 2022

10 Tips for Better Essay Writing

Let’s take your writing up a notch–or two! 

Ready to up your game in the writing department? Since you’re probably eager to show the adcom that you’ve got the “write” stuff and can relate your significant experiences and insightful ideas eloquently, these 10 tips are for you: 

• Think about writing as a conversation on paper. It’s very common for people to tense up at the thought of writing their application essays . Unfortunately, writing when tense is likely to result in stiff and stilted prose. You’re likely to miss the flavor and colorful details that you need to make your essays pop in a compelling and memorable way. These details are in your head and would come naturally if you were telling your story to a colleague over lunch. Your essays are very important, of course, but your writing needs to sound natural and have some personality. That’s why we advise thinking of your essay as a “conversation on paper,” letting it flow in your own voice , not some foreign, formal tone you are borrowing as an Applicant to a Big-Name School. Don’t worry about overwriting at first – you will and that’s fine. Get everything down on paper that you want to say. The editing process comes later. A final suggestion: Before you begin, take a walk, stretch, and take some slow, deep cleansing breaths. These will help clear your head, relax, and jump start your writing.
• Vary your sentence structure and styles. Add interest to your writing by mixing simple, complex, and compound sentences. Don’t make all your sentences around the same length, either. Occasionally, write a very short sentence: “And that was the end of that job.” Or, “Suddenly, I knew what to do.” Occasionally, ask a question. Instead of, “I wasn’t sure what to do,” try, “What was I supposed to do?”

• Write in clear, direct, straightforward language. Similar to our advice in Tip 1, avoid using “fancy” or overly sophisticated words in your essays. You’re not writing to impress the admissions staff with your hifalutin’ vocabulary, but to reveal yourself through your most notable achievements , formative experiences, and your vision for the future. If you’re using a word that is new to you, look it up and make sure you understand it and that it’s the right word for your purpose. While you don’t want to write in a style that is overly casual, a style that is natural and simply stated will be most effective and work to your advantage.
• If you are using the same word repeatedly, look for synonyms in a thesaurus. Here’s an example: Depending on the context, the word “training” might be switched to “coaching,” “sharpening,” “tutoring,” or “grounding.” Seeking alternatives to an otherwise overused word is another way to add variety to your prose (Tip 2). It is also good exercise for your brain, which will make you a better writer.
• Avoid the passive voice to tighten your writing. Compare the following sentences: • “During my sophomore and junior years, there was significant development of my maturity and markedly improved self-discipline towards school work.” • “During my sophomore and junior years, I matured and my self-discipline improved tremendously.” The first example uses twenty words; the revision, only thirteen.  The shorter sentence not only reads better but gives you more room to offer the evidence that you really did mature and grow in self-discipline! As an aside, we do not recommend a wholesale excommunication of all passive voice. Sometimes it is necessary and sometimes, it works well stylistically. Use your best judgment for each situation.
• Think about your essay as a building where you are the architect. Your opening paragraph lays the foundation and introduces your storyline. That foundational opening should be attention-getting , setting a scene for your readers and placing them smack dab in the middle of an important moment in your life. With each additional paragraph you build on that foundation, adding new information and context so that readers appreciate the experiences you are sharing and how they shaped you. And within each paragraph, make every sentence and every word count.
• Avoid weak filler words. They are so easy to use, yet so utterly useless. They include words such as “rather,” “quite,” “somewhat,” “probably,” and “possibly ,” as well as phrases such as “to make a long story short,” “needless to say,” and “to be honest.” Go on a search-and-delete mission for any of these words and phrases that flatten your prose. We predict that you’ll be delighted to see how cutting them strengthens your writing 1,000%.
• Beware of grammar check programs Grammarly is widely considered the best of the bunch in these programs and it does many things well. It will flag problems in spelling, punctuation, and grammar and alert you to awkward sentence construction. But as corporate communications trainer Elizabeth Danziger wrote on her Writamins blog , “Grammar checkers’ suggestions might tighten your document yet steal the flavor of your message.” She observes, “If Abraham Lincoln had run the Gettysburg Address through Grammarly, it would have offered suggestions like: • Rewrite the sentence • Choose a different word • Rephrase sentence • Choose a synonym “A grammar checker cannot intuit the flow and style of your whole document and determine if the stylistic problems it sees are essential to the message you are trying to convey,” Danziger cautions. Grammar checkers also lack “cultural awareness,” offering identical advice to everyone. So, use with caution. Benefit from the way these programs can catch outright errors, but protect your unique writing voice.
• Read and reread Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White . Failing to follow basic writing rules may make you appear sloppy, casting doubts about your communication skills – two things you want to avoid at all costs when trying to make a good first impression. This gem of a book can help you avoid these errors. It remains a classic because it succinctly offers basic rules of grammar, punctuation, composition, and style. Available in paperback, this indispensable writer’s tool is only 85 pages long.

Ensure that your essays display your communication skills at their best–without you going cross-eyed reviewing them over and over and over. Check out our admissions consulting and application services to see how Accepted can critique and polish your essays till they shine.

But don’t take our word for it, read what our clients have said about Accepted.

Related Resources:

• Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Applications , a free guide
• 4 Tips for Highlighting Your Strengths in Your Application Essays
• Identifying the Ingredients of a Winning Essay
• 7 Simple Steps to Writing an Excellent Diversity Essay

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• Essay Writing Center

General Essay Writing Tips

Despite the fact that, as Shakespeare said, "the pen is mightier than the sword," the pen itself is not enough to make an effective writer. In fact, though we may all like to think of ourselves as the next Shakespeare, inspiration alone is not the key to effective essay writing. You see, the conventions of English essays are more formulaic than you might think – and, in many ways, it can be as simple as counting to five.

Steps to Writing an Essay

Follow these 7 steps for the best results:

• Read and understand the prompt: Know exactly what is being asked of you. It’s a good idea to dissect the prompt into parts.
• Plan: Brainstorming and organizing your ideas will make your life much easier when you go to write your essay. It’s a good idea to make a web of your ideas and supporting details.
• Use and cite sources: Do your research. Use quotes and paraphrase from your sources, but NEVER plagiarize.
• Write a Draft: Ernest Hemingway once said, “The first draft of anything is always crap.” While the truth behind this statement is debatable, drafts are always a good place to get any of your “crappy” ideas out of the way and are often required by professors and instructors.
• Make a strong thesis: The thesis (main argument) of the essay is the most important thing you’ll write. Make it a strong point.
• Respond to the prompt: Once you have worked out any kinks in your draft, you can start writing the final draft of your essay.
• Proofread: Read your response carefully to make sure that there are no mistakes and that you didn’t miss anything.

Of course, every essay assignment is different and it’s important to be mindful of that. If one of these steps isn’t applicable to the essay you are writing, skip it and move to the next one.

The Five Paragraph Essay

Though more advanced academic papers are a category all their own, the basic high school or college essay has the following standardized, five paragraph structure:

Paragraph 1: Introduction Paragraph 2: Body 1 Paragraph 3: Body 2 Paragraph 4: Body 3 Paragraph 5: Conclusion

Though it may seem formulaic – and, well, it is - the idea behind this structure is to make it easier for the reader to navigate the ideas put forth in an essay. You see, if your essay has the same structure as every other one, any reader should be able to quickly and easily find the information most relevant to them.

The Introduction

The principle purpose of the introduction is to present your position (this is also known as the "thesis" or "argument") on the issue at hand but effective introductory paragraphs are so much more than that. Before you even get to this thesis statement, for example, the essay should begin with a "hook" that grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read on. Examples of effective hooks include relevant quotations ("no man is an island") or surprising statistics ("three out of four doctors report that…").

Only then, with the reader’s attention "hooked," should you move on to the thesis. The thesis should be a clear, one-sentence explanation of your position that leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind about which side you are on from the beginning of your essay.

Following the thesis, you should provide a mini-outline which previews the examples you will use to support your thesis in the rest of the essay. Not only does this tell the reader what to expect in the paragraphs to come but it also gives them a clearer understanding of what the essay is about.

Finally, designing the last sentence in this way has the added benefit of seamlessly moving the reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper. In this way we can see that the basic introduction does not need to be much more than three or four sentences in length. If yours is much longer you might want to consider editing it down a bit!

Here, by way of example, is an introductory paragraph to an essay in response to the following question:

"Do we learn more from finding out that we have made mistakes or from our successful actions?"

"No man is an island" and, as such, he is constantly shaped and influenced by his experiences. People learn by doing and, accordingly, learn considerably more from their mistakes than their success. For proof of this, consider examples from both science and everyday experience.

The Body Paragraphs

The middle paragraphs of the essay are collectively known as the body paragraphs and, as alluded to above, the main purpose of a body paragraph is to spell out in detail the examples that support your thesis.

For the first body paragraph you should use your strongest argument or most significant example unless some other more obvious beginning point (as in the case of chronological explanations) is required. The first sentence of this paragraph should be the topic sentence of the paragraph that directly relates to the examples listed in the mini-outline of introductory paragraph.

A one sentence body paragraph that simply cites the example of "George Washington" or "LeBron James" is not enough, however. No, following this an effective essay will follow up on this topic sentence by explaining to the reader, in detail, who or what an example is and, more importantly, why that example is relevant.

Even the most famous examples need context. For example, George Washington’s life was extremely complex – by using him as an example, do you intend to refer to his honesty, bravery, or maybe even his wooden teeth? The reader needs to know this and it is your job as the writer to paint the appropriate picture for them. To do this, it is a good idea to provide the reader with five or six relevant facts about the life (in general) or event (in particular) you believe most clearly illustrates your point.

Having done that, you then need to explain exactly why this example proves your thesis . The importance of this step cannot be understated (although it clearly can be underlined); this is, after all, the whole reason you are providing the example in the first place. Seal the deal by directly stating why this example is relevant.

Here is an example of a body paragraph to continue the essay begun above:

Take, by way of example, Thomas Edison. The famed American inventor rose to prominence in the late 19th century because of his successes, yes, but even he felt that these successes were the result of his many failures. He did not succeed in his work on one of his most famous inventions, the lightbulb, on his first try nor even on his hundred and first try. In fact, it took him more than 1,000 attempts to make the first incandescent bulb but, along the way, he learned quite a deal. As he himself said, "I did not fail a thousand times but instead succeeded in finding a thousand ways it would not work." Thus Edison demonstrated both in thought and action how instructive mistakes can be.

A Word on Transitions

You may have noticed that, though the above paragraph aligns pretty closely with the provided outline, there is one large exception: the first few words. These words are example of a transitional phrase – others include "furthermore," "moreover," but also "by contrast" and "on the other hand" – and are the hallmark of good writing.

Transitional phrases are useful for showing the reader where one section ends and another begins. It may be helpful to see them as the written equivalent of the kinds of spoken cues used in formal speeches that signal the end of one set of ideas and the beginning of another. In essence, they lead the reader from one section of the paragraph of another.

To further illustrate this, consider the second body paragraph of our example essay:

In a similar way, we are all like Edison in our own way. Whenever we learn a new skill - be it riding a bike, driving a car, or cooking a cake - we learn from our mistakes. Few, if any, are ready to go from training wheels to a marathon in a single day but these early experiences (these so-called mistakes) can help us improve our performance over time. You cannot make a cake without breaking a few eggs and, likewise, we learn by doing and doing inevitably means making mistakes.

Hopefully this example not only provides another example of an effective body paragraph but also illustrates how transitional phrases can be used to distinguish between them.

The Conclusion

Although the conclusion paragraph comes at the end of your essay it should not be seen as an afterthought. As the final paragraph is represents your last chance to make your case and, as such, should follow an extremely rigid format.

One way to think of the conclusion is, paradoxically, as a second introduction because it does in fact contain many of the same features. While it does not need to be too long – four well-crafted sentence should be enough – it can make or break and essay.

Effective conclusions open with a concluding transition ("in conclusion," "in the end," etc.) and an allusion to the "hook" used in the introductory paragraph. After that you should immediately provide a restatement of your thesis statement.

This should be the fourth or fifth time you have repeated your thesis so while you should use a variety of word choice in the body paragraphs it is a acceptable idea to use some (but not all) of the original language you used in the introduction. This echoing effect not only reinforces your argument but also ties it nicely to the second key element of the conclusion: a brief (two or three words is enough) review of the three main points from the body of the paper.

Having done all of that, the final element – and final sentence in your essay – should be a "global statement" or "call to action" that gives the reader signals that the discussion has come to an end.

In the end, then, one thing is clear: mistakes do far more to help us learn and improve than successes. As examples from both science and everyday experience can attest, if we treat each mistake not as a misstep but as a learning experience the possibilities for self-improvement are limitless.

Taken together, then, the overall structure of a five paragraph essay should look something like this:

Introduction paragraph.

• An attention-grabbing "hook"
• A thesis statement
• A preview of the three subtopics you will discuss in the body paragraphs.

First Body Paragraph

• Topic sentence which states the first subtopic and opens with a transition
• Supporting details or examples
• An explanation of how this example proves your thesis

Second Body Paragraph

• Topic sentence which states the second subtopic and opens with a transition

Third Body Paragraph

• Topic sentence which states the third subtopic and opens with a transition

Concluding Paragraph

• Concluding Transition, Reverse "hook," and restatement of thesis.
• Rephrasing main topic and subtopics.
• Global statement or call to action.

More tips to make your essay shine

Planning pays.

Although it may seem like a waste of time – especially during exams where time is tight – it is almost always better to brainstorm a bit before beginning your essay. This should enable you to find the best supporting ideas – rather than simply the first ones that come to mind – and position them in your essay accordingly.

Your best supporting idea – the one that most strongly makes your case and, simultaneously, about which you have the most knowledge – should go first. Even the best-written essays can fail because of ineffectively placed arguments.

Aim for Variety

Sentences and vocabulary of varying complexity are one of the hallmarks of effective writing. When you are writing, try to avoid using the same words and phrases over and over again. You don’t have to be a walking thesaurus but a little variance can make the same idea sparkle.

If you are asked about "money," you could try "wealth" or "riches." At the same time, avoid beginning sentences the dull pattern of "subject + verb + direct object." Although examples of this are harder to give, consider our writing throughout this article as one big example of sentence structure variety.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

In the end, though, remember that good writing does not happen by accident. Although we have endeavored to explain everything that goes into effective essay writing in as clear and concise a way as possible, it is much easier in theory than it is in practice.

As a result, we recommend that you practice writing sample essays on various topics. Even if they are not masterpieces at first, a bit of regular practice will soon change that – and make you better prepared when it comes to the real thing.

General Do's and Don'ts

Do: use transitions to start new thoughts and paragraphs., don’t: start a new thought without a transition or overuse transitions., do: use paragraph structure to organize thoughts and claims., don’t: write one big paragraph without any sort of organization., do: use quotes and paraphrase to back up your claims., don’t: plagiarize., do: use active voice, meaning verbs and action words., don’t: use passive voice or i/my. try to avoid words like “have” or “be”, and never use i or my unless the essay is being written in the narrative form., do: use vivid and descriptive words to bring your essay to life., don’t: misuse words that you don’t know the meaning of., related content:, get the international student newsletter.

10 quick tips to improve essay writing skills

M any students struggle to hone their writing skills for years if not decades. While it might seem straightforward, the reality is that many learners fail because it’s demanding. However, there’s no cause for alarm. Writing hardly comes naturally even to the most gifted authors. It takes hard work, practice, and dedication. In this article, we’ll share with you a few secrets to improve essay writing skills in college. Read on to understand.

The importance of essay writing skills

If you didn’t know it, essay-writing skills are vital for academic and professional success. Their potential to open doors of opportunities is almost unmatched. Below are some benefits of honing your writing skills:

• Enhances critical thinking
• Improves communication skills
• Develop researching skills
• Inspires and enhances creativity
• Boosts your analytical skills
• Makes you a better planner
• Improves academic performance
• Improves your chances of career success
• Promotes lifelong learning

Tools and resources to improve writing skills

Undeniably, technology has completely revolutionized our education system. Whether we like it or not, it’s here to stay and we must embrace it or risk being left behind. Today, there are numerous Edtech programs to help students write essays better. We believe each college student should consider the following three resources. First, if you struggle with brainstorming, use Evernote to capture ideas and notes for writing inspiration. Secondly, try online help if you’re overwhelmed with work, education, and family responsibilities. A same day essay writing service like FastEssay has a team of highly qualified individuals providing quick essay writing services for students like you. They can help you with both business and academic writing services. Lastly, try Textero, an AI platform that can assist you in generating texts in minutes!       

From mediocre to masterful: 10 tips to get better at writing essays

Learn to plan.

Failing to plan is planning to fail – nothing could be truer. If you want to master a skill, you must develop a clear plan for learning, practicing, and conquering it. Writing isn’t any different. Many students fail to hone their writing skills because of poor preparation. We’d advise you to develop a flexible practice schedule to help you master new words and phrases. Most importantly, you must recognize that learning doesn’t happen overnight. Therefore, follow your plan with patience and discipline.

Read widely

Just as an iron sharpens another, you’ll learn a lot from accomplished authors in your area of interest. It’s improbable to become a great writer if you’re a lazy reader. You must be willing to read widely and pick a few tips along the way. You can learn new phrases, vocabularies, idioms, and expressions from simple newspaper cutting, magazines, books, or blog articles. Moreover, it’s not just about the positives, you’ll also learn what to avoid in your own articles. For example, if the material you’re reading has a flat and uninspiring introduction, you can learn to make yours catchy to improve readership and engagement.   

Understand the process

Essay writing is a process. It’s structured. You can’t write winning essays haphazardly. It’s critical to understand this basic concept. Otherwise, it would be impossible to accord the process the respect it deserves. Too many students crafting an essay can take any direction and shape. In some cases, it’s the case of putting the cart before the horse. Employing such tactics often proves counterproductive. However, if you want to improve your essay writing skills, you must recognize the stages involved, i.e., brainstorming, drafting, revising, and editing, and follow them. Understand that they’re all critical to a winning paper.  

Use the right structure

The structure of your essay is just as important as the writing process. It’s unsurprising, therefore, that most educators emphasize it in their teachings. While a typical essay has three parts, introduction, body, and conclusion, each of them demands different skills and organization. For example, you must understand that the introduction will require a special touch with a solid thesis statement. In addition, your body paragraphs must flow logically and provide irrefutable evidence. Most importantly, your conclusion should come last and highlight all your major arguments. Ignoring any of these parts could lead to a failing grade.

Choose the right topics

Even though some lecturers insist on select topics, many allow students to choose subjects that interest them. Therefore, if you have the freedom, please focus on your interests. Writing about subjects, ideas, and topics that pique your curiosity is likely to unlock your creative genius, making the process seamless and enjoyable. The reverse is true for issues that hardly interest you. Remember that your keen interest in a subject will make you dedicate more of your time to it, research deeply, and explore its controversies, which can only spice up your work.

Incorporate evidence

Writing an essay is like drawing on an empty canvas. You can model it the way you want, creating a masterpiece or trash. However, with each stroke, you make permanent marks that expose your thought pattern and mental state. So, avoid babbling, and instead craft a logical paper by incorporating supporting arguments. Don’t take your audience on a guessing trip, wondering if your claims are factual or mere hearsay. Instead, support every claim with evidence from reliable and credible sources. To become better at writing, you must be accountable to your audience.

Embrace simplicity

Sometimes we try too hard to impress our audiences. In fact, many students try too hard to capture their teachers’ attention. While this isn’t a crime, they run the risk of crossing the line. This shouldn’t happen if you intend to improve your writing skills. Be simple in your approach.  Avoid using complex vocabulary and phrases. Additionally, be wary of incorporating ideas that are beyond your scope. For example, when writing an English essay about the disadvantages of smoking, don’t change it into a medical opinion piece, digging deeply into the complex interlink between tobacco and cancer. Keep it simple.

Follow instructions

The simple things are often the hardest to adhere to. This partly explains why teachers occasionally include trick questions in their exam papers. It doesn’t matter how well-structured and polished your essay is if you don’t follow your lecturers’ instructions.  For instance, if your teacher wants a 500-word paper, don’t surprise them with a 1000-word article. Otherwise, they’ll be more likely to mark you down, reject your submission, or fail you than praise you.

Editing and proofreading your essay

No one is perfect. If it would help, you should know that even the most accomplished authors make mistakes. However, writing better papers demands that you work on your errors constantly until they no longer define you. Don’t be the writer known for structural, stylistic, or grammar issues. Once you’re done with your first draft, let it settle for a few hours, then proofread and edit it to eliminate all errors. This is the surest way to get better at writing essays.

Maintain timeliness

You’ll be surprised to learn the number of students who’ve failed their courses for late submissions. The introduction of the Education Management Information System has made it impossible for learners to submit their papers after the deadline by automatically locking the submission pane. It doesn’t matter how great your essay is if you can’t submit it for marking. The best strategy is to start working on your paper early and complete it with days to spare.  

Read widely and excel in essay writing!   

As captured in the short article above, there are numerous strategies for improving your essay writing skills. While these aren’t the only ways to write better essays, they can surely set you on the right path to honing your skills. With the right attitude, adherence to all instructions, timeliness, and simplicity, you can conquer most hurdles on your way and become an accomplished writer. But most importantly, READ!

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• School Education /

10 Steps on How to Write an Essay in English: Format, Samples, and Tips

• Updated on  
• Feb 10, 2024

Essay writing is an important part of our academic and professional life. Every student must learn how to write an essay in English, for it is important for their academic and professional life. Whether it’s an essay on India, social media, or any trending or even social awareness topic, essay writing allows students to express their thoughts, and share experiences and ideas.

On this page, we will be discussing what essay writing is, and then there are 10 steps on how to write an essay in English with its format, samples, and tips. 

Table of Contents

• 1 What is Essay Writing?
• 2.1 1. Understand Your Topic (s)
• 2.2 2. Have A Strong Opening Line
• 2.3 3. Follow the Structure
• 2.4 4. A Compelling Introduction
• 2.5 5. Have a Structured Body Paragraph
• 2.6 6. Write Clearly
• 2.7 7. List Down Your Sources
• 2.8 8. Give A Thoughtful Conclusion
• 2.9 9. Make Sure to Edit/ Revise
• 2.10 10. Finalize Your Essay
• 3 Essay Writing Format
• 4 Essay Writing Samples
• 5 Top 20 English Essay Topics for Students

What is Essay Writing?

An essay is a writing where an individual expresses his or her views on a particular topic. Essays are divided into two categories; formal and informal essay writing. Our schools, academic institutions, and professional fields use formal essay writing where the tone is serious, objective, and professional. Informal essays, on the other hand, are written to express personal views. They are written for enjoyment, personal reflection, or to share opinions and experiences. Humour and contractions are some important and frequently used elements of informal essay writing.

Also Read: 200+ English Essay Topics for Students

How to Write an Essay in English?

Like any other academic task, essay writing can sound boring too. But what if I say ‘Essay writing is a lot more fun than any other academic task?’ Essays are an important part of our academics and writing an expressive essay can significantly improve our overall writing and academic performance.

The essay writing process is divided into many parts, popular ones being it’s preparation , writing and revision . Let’s check out some of the best essay-writing tips to make your essay perfect.

1. Understand Your Topic (s)

Do not just jump off the cliff. Give your brain some time to process and understand the topic. Then conduct your research according. You have to give time to your preparation, as it will lay the foundation of your essay writing. Take help from your teacher or colleague in case of any difficulty.

2. Have A Strong Opening Line

Choosing a strong thesis statement is very important to guide your audience or reader about the topic. Your opening statement will indicate the main point or argument of your essay. It helps the audience to understand the purpose and focus of your writing.

3. Follow the Structure

Once you have understood everything about your topic, start writing your essay with basic details. Every essay follows a basic structure: Introduction, Body and Conclusion. You highlight all the basic details of your topic in your introduction, then come to the body paragraphs where all the facts and figures are to be listened and then end your essay with a short and easy-to-understand conclusion.

4. A Compelling Introduction

Like any popular TV commercial or social media advertisement, you must come up with a hook or attention-grabbing statement to engage your reader. Present your thesis statement in the introduction and provide a brief overview of what the essay will cover.

For example: ‘The Earth, our only home, is burning and we must do everything to save it.’

In this statement, I’ve made it clear the issue I’ll be addressing and how it will be discussed.

5. Have a Structured Body Paragraph

The main idea of the essay must be reflected in the body paragraph of your essay. For example, start each paragraph with a topic sentence that relates to the thesis statement. Go with the flow and try to maintain it.

6. Write Clearly

To enhance your essay’s readability, use clear and concise language. Clear expressions reduce the risk of misinterpretation. It can keep the reader engaged and there are higher chances that the reader is likely to stay interested in your essay.

Here are some important things to consider when writing an essay:

• Clearly highlight your argument in the introduction.
• Each paragraph must highlight the main idea of the topic.
• Make sure to avoid redundancy and repetition.
• Avoid grammar and spelling mistakes.
• Check the overall structure of the essay.

7. List Down Your Sources

This is a professional attitude where you are acknowledging the ideas and work of others. It can also help you avoid plagiarism and establish your credibility as it shows that your ideas are grounded in established research.

8. Give A Thoughtful Conclusion

After discussing the entire essay, now is the time to summarize all the main points discussed above. Remember, this is a summary and not a discussion. It is like restating your thesis differently and providing a thoughtful conclusion for future research.

9. Make Sure to Edit/ Revise

Once you have finished writing your essay, take time to edit and proofread your essay. Check for any grammar or spelling errors, as well as the overall coherence and flow of your writing. It will work like a charm if you seek feedback from your classmates or teacher.

10. Finalize Your Essay

Make necessary revisions based on feedback from your colleagues or teacher. Ensure that all the steps you drafted have been successfully implemented and then create a polished final draft for submission.

Essay Writing Format

Whether you are writing a formal or informal essay, a basic writing format is to be followed. If you have written an essay with proper formatting and well-organized paragraphs, it will enhance the readability, clarity, and overall effectiveness of your writing. Below we have discussed the entire format of essay writing.

• Introduction

The essay introduction involves generalised information about the topic. Here you are required to start your essay with a short and detailed overview of the topic in one of two statements. Try to answer the question with a thesis statement. Highlight a road map of your essay with all the main points.

• Body Paragraphs

Essay body paragraphs involve all the details of your topic. Here, you are required to elaborate on all the points you mentioned in your introduction. It can include 3 to 4 short paragraphs where answers are written in discussion format. Consider this as your knowledge arena where you have discussed all the points about your topic. Whatever details you write here, try to provide evidence to support them and use relevant examples from official sources.

Essay conclusions require you to restart your answers and summarise all the main points you’ve discussed. To make your essay expressive, add a broad statement with a positive conclusion and possible implications. 

Essay Writing Samples

Below we have discussed some essay writing samples for school children. 

Topic – ‘Essay on Animals’

Topic – ‘Essay on My Hobby’

Topic – ‘Essay on Students’ Life’

Topic – ‘Essay on Teachers’ Day’

Also Read: Story Writing Format for Class 9th to 12th

Top 20 English Essay Topics for Students

Here are the top 20 essay topics for school students.

• Essay on Water Pollution
• Essay on Climate Change
• Essay on my country
• Essay on Chandrayaan 3
• Essay on Women Empowerment
• Essay on Animals
• Essay on Tiger
• Essay on my pet
• Essay on New Year
• Essay on Student’s Life
• Essay on Indian Independence Day
• Essay on Teachers Day
• Essay on love
• Essay on My Hobby
• Essay on Human Rights
• Essay on Mahatma Gandhi
• Essay on Rabindranath Tagore
• Essay on Winter Vacation
• Essay on Childhood Memories
• Essay on My Favourite Season

Ans: Start your essay with a basic introduction to your topic. For example, if your essay topic is about Climate Change, then elaborate on what it means, the latest developments in its fields, and how it can harm the environment. All the details about the topic are to be highlighted in the body of your essay, which is considered as the ‘heart of the essay’ . Once you have entered all the relevant information in the body of your essay. Conclude it with a positive statement.

Ans: Here are some tips on how to write an essay: understand your topic, do a brief research, brainstorm and outline, and then start writing your essay. Try to elaborate on all the basic details of your topic in your introduction, and then gradually highlight details in the body and conclude it.

Ans: The structure of an essay is divided into three parts: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion.

This was all about essay writing, its format, samples, and tips. We hope you understand all the basic details involved in essay writing. For more information on essays and speech topics, visit our school education website and follow Leverage Edu .

Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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Ten Awesome Tips for the Writing Section of the TOEFL® Test

Ten Awesome Tips for the Writing Section of the TOEFL Test

We asked our team of TOEFL experts for their best TOEFL Writing tips. Here they are. 

We know it can feel impossible to write two complete essays in 30 minutes!

But today, we have some awesome TOEFL writing tips that will help you feel cool and confident on test day.

The first five tips are for the TOEFL integrated writing question, task number one. The last five tips are for the TOEFL Writing for an Academic Discussion question, task number two.

Here's a quick summary of our top 10 TOEFL Writing Tips

• Tip #1 – Pay careful attention to the reading passage because the listening passage will argue against each point made in the reading.
• Tip #2 – Practice taking short, but precise notes during the listening passage. You will only get to listen to it once.
• Tip #3 – Paraphrase the passages. One of the grading criteria on the TOEFL is vocabulary, and you will earn zero points if you simply quote the material.
• Tip #4 – Use lots of transitional words and phrases. They will help you develop your essay and connect your ideas.
• Tip #5 – Manage your time wisely. You only have 20 minutes to construct an essay of at least 250 words.
• Tip #6 – Be sure to add to the discussion. Do not repeat points and ideas from the discussion in your response.
• Tip #7 – Stick to a few simple verb tenses.
• Tip #8 – Try to include multiple sentences with more than one clause.
• Tip #9 – Plan to edit your essay for at least one minute at the end. There is no spellcheck on the TOEFL.
• Tip #10 – Practice writing at home and ask a teacher or trained TOEFL expert to give you a grade and point out your weakness.

TASK 1 (The Integrated Writing Task)

Tip #1: read, then listen.

Task one provides you with two passages, a reading passage, and a listening passage. The reading passage will appear first. You will have three minutes to read the passage and take notes. After that, the reading passage will disappear, and then the listening passage will play for two or three minutes. Then you have 20 minutes to write your essay.

Here is a breakdown of task one:

For writing task #2, you have ten minutes to read the discussion and then write a response of 100 words or more.

In the example above, the professor poses a question about whether or not globalization has a positive or negative effect on society. Bryan believes globalization is positive because it brings people and cultures closer together, while Alex thinks globalization leads to the exploitation of developing countries. When it is time to write, be sure to ADD to the discussion. Do not just repeat the same points made by the other students.

Look at the sample response below. The points highlighted are additional ideas that contribute to the discussion.

In my opinion, globalization is a positive force in the world today.  My personal belief is that when nations interact together, it leads to less suffering. For example, people who suffer from natural catastrophes can import goods and services to help mitigate their losses and recover quickly. Citizens of nations who may be going through war or famine can flee to neighboring countries for shelter . I understand Alex’s concern over cultural homogenization, but I believe she misses another critical point. Much of the food found in grocery stores around the world is imported. Our very diet is due to the international trade partnerships and alliances forged over the last half of the 20th century. International trade and travel are not possible in a world without globalization, which is why I believe it is crucial to maintain our current global policies for a safer world with a higher standard of living .

On test day, it is fine to agree or acknowledge the points made in the discussion; just be sure that the majority of your response to the Writing for an Academic Discussion question further develops the online conversation.

TIP #7: Stick to a few simple verb tenses

Test-takers tend to think they have to use complicated grammar in the TOEFL Writing section to earn a high test score.

This isn’t true.

In fact, for the new Writing for an Academic Discussion task, you only need three verb tenses:

• Simple present
• Simple past
• Present perfect

I have highlighted all of the verb tenses used in my response to the question about globalization, and almost all of them are in the simple present.

In my opinion, globalization is a positive force in the world today.  My personal belief is that when nations interact together, it leads to less suffering. For example, people who suffer from natural catastrophes can import goods and services to help mitigate their losses and recover quickly. Citizens of nations who may be going through war or famine can flee to neighboring countries for shelter. I understand Alex’s concern over cultural homogenization, but I believe she misses another critical point. Much of the food found in grocery stores around the world is imported. Our very diet is due to the international trade partnerships and alliances forged over the last half of the 20th century. International trade and travel are not possible in a world without globalization, which is why I believe it is crucial to maintain our current global policies for a safer world with a higher standard of living.

But hold on a second.

Your grammar in the TOEFL Writing section can’t be too simple, and there is one more tip to keep in mind.

TIP #8: Try to include multiple sentences with more than one clause

According to Michael Goodine at Test Resources , the TOEFL Writing e-rater likes writing samples that include sentences with subordinating and/or coordinating conjunctions.

A subordinating conjunction is a word or phrase that links a dependent clause to an independent clause, and a coordinating conjunction joins two elements of equal importance.

Check out the table below for a handy list of both.

Subordonating Conjuctions

• by the time
• even though
• in order that
• in the event that
• provided that
• whether or not

Coordonating Conjuctions

• nevertheless

It is not required to include these conjunctions in your response, but it will help you craft sentences with two or more clauses, which will have a positive impact on your score.

I have highlighted the sentences from the globalization example response that include multiple clauses.

In my opinion, globalization is a positive force in the world today.  My personal belief is that when nations interact together, it leads to less suffering. For example, people who suffer from natural catastrophes can import goods and services to help mitigate their losses and recover quickly . Citizens of nations who may be going through war or famine can flee to neighboring countries for shelter. I understand Alex’s concern over cultural homogenization, but I believe she misses another critical point . Much of the food found in grocery stores around the world is imported. Our very diet is due to the international trade partnerships and alliances forged over the last half of the 20th century. International trade and travel are not possible in a world without globalization, which is why I believe it is crucial to maintain our current global policies for a safer world with a higher standard of living .

TIP #9: Take the Time to Edit!

One of the best TOEFL Writing tips I could possibly share here is to leave yourself time to edit. Plan on finishing your essay around the 9-minute mark so you have at least a minute to edit your essay.

It’s annoying, I know.

Especially since, at this point, you will have taken the test for almost two hours.

Remember, there is no spellcheck on the exam. That’s right, you will be responsible for finding spelling and grammar mistakes yourself. Also, be sure to pay special attention to spacing and punctuation.

There is no automatic spellcheck on the TOEFL exam. You will be responsible for typing and correcting spelling and grammatical mistakes.

So, always give yourself a minute or more to proofread your essays and practice writing with spellcheck turned off !

Here are some common mistakes that are easy to spot:

• Spelling errors
• Capitalization and spacing mistakes
• Problematic introduction sentence
• Personal areas of weakness (article usage, subject-verb agreement, etc.)
• Proper verb tense

Read your response aloud quietly. Listen to hear if your sentences sound correct. If part of your response sounds strange, you may have some awkward grammar that needs to be fixed.

TIP #10: Get Feedback

While preparing for the TOEFL writing section, it is crucial for you to get your hands on some practice questions.

And to get valuable feedback from a qualified TOEFL instructor who knows exactly what you need to write to earn a high score in the writing section. Relying on yourself or a teacher you know will certainly help, but you will not be able to reach your full potential without advice from an experienced instructor.

Therefore, the last tip while preparing for the TOEFL is to get help from a trained professional at TST Prep.

If you haven’t already, be sure to download TST Prep’s Complete Test #13  where you can see these sample essays and more.

Was there anything we missed?

If you have more TOEFL Writing tips, please don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments section below.

And, as always, we are here to help if you have any questions or concerns, [email protected]

Other articles

Topics and Sample Essays for the Writing Section of the TOEFL Test

100 Reading Questions for the TOEFL Test

Check other articles on TOEFL

68 Comments

Thanks for this invaluable article🙏🏻.

Hi Josh. Thank you a lot. This post was very useful for me.

Hi Josh, The sample for Task 1 provided on the ETS website is a bit different from the one you wrote. It solely focuses on the lecture while only saying, “That refutes that point from reading.” Could you have a look and recommend me some tips?

Hi, thanks for your question. To add length to your essay, we suggest including a bit more from the reading section. It can also help you in making sure each point from the listening matches a point referenced in the reading.

Hi Josh, First, thanks a million for this intelligent and helpful content; you are a great tutor. I found that the time management section has a small mistake with summing the minutes suggested for each step. 2 minutes outline + 3 minutes introduction + 11 minutes body + 2 minutes conclusion + 3 minutes editing = 21 minutes!

Hi Inman, thanks for pointing that out. We will have a look. I would maybe say 2 minutes for an introduction would be better. 🙂

Great! Thanks again.

Hey Josh Thanks a lot for your time and effort. You have got a heart of gold. Lots of love from Afghanistan♥️🇦🇫

Point 7 isn’t true (but perhaps you needed just one more to make 10 tips instead of 9?) I took both sides all the time when I took the TOEFL, and got a 119 (and the reason I missed one point was the speaking, where I forgot to mention two specific examples). Cheers!

Hi Ruth and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Congrats on your score, that’s incredible. In regards to your opinion on tip #7 ” HAVE A CLEAR OPINION AND STICK TO IT”, it is not put there arbitrarily to inflate the number of tips. We have found that students who fail to have a concrete opinion tend to have difficulty developing the topic and writing with clarity. This is not always the case and you can write a perfect essay by arguing both sides of the argument, generally speaking, however, it is easier to write a clear and well-developed essay when taking one clear side of an issue.

Hello Josh. What do “int” and “ind” mean? You used these in the TOEFL Writing Transitional Phrases table without explaining them. Thanks.

Hi Rob, and my apologies. I should clarify that. The “int” stands for “integrated writing (task 1),” and the “ind” stands for independent writing (task #2).

Hello, I’m preparing for TOEFL, and I found a weird subject for the independent subject. “The average global life expectancy went from 29 years old in 1800 to 71 years old in 2015. According to you, what is the main cause for such a change?”. Do you know if it is possible to have a question like this? Thank you for your help.

Hi there and thank you for your question. This does indeed sound like a reasonable topic since anyone could have an opinion on it. It is a bit strange but definitely possible. (I’ve seen weirder). This would also be difficult because you would have to use past unreal unconditional forms and sentences like “It could have been” “might have been because”, etc. Hope that helps!

Hello Josh! How are you? Please where can I find the TOEFL Writing 24+ Guide to download?

Here is the link. Hope that helps you find what you are looking for. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j-fGt9rvjklnU4v-ENUA2cE6d1fp2mt1/view?usp=sharing

Hi Josh, I’m taking my test in a few minutes. Thank you so much for the free material on the website. It has definitely helped me make my own template!

Thanks for leaving a comment Nikitha. How did the test go? I’m always interested to hear if anything was surprising/interesting/etc.

The test was alright! I haven’t received my scores yet, except for Reading (26) and Listening (29). The questions asked were congruent to the examination pattern. I couldn’t really relate to the personal opinion question asked in the speaking section. I found the reading section quite tough compared to everything else. In the end, it wasn’t so bad considering I started prep 24 hours before the exam. If I had put in the effort, I would’ve been able to do well.

Hi Josh. I’m preparing to write the TOEFL exam as a deaf test taker. I have practiced a lot, but the problem is the reading section. I can’t figure out how I answer to the reading section questions.

Have you considered seeing if perhaps you can be allowed extra time? I know in certain situations it is possible, but I’m not sure it would pertain to the Reading section. It might be worth you checking with ETS. Outside of that, have you thought about maybe taking the group reading course? I think it might really help you.

Thanks a lot for sharing the tips and the analysis, I really appreciate it!

Hello Josh, How can I have this post in PDF format? Is it possible to send me the PDF file of this post ??

Hi Erfan and thank you for asking. Unfortunately, we do not have this post in PDF format but we have our TOEFL Writing Guide which includes tips like this, along with a lot of other useful information. I think you will find this document even more helpful. Here is the link – https://drive.google.com/file/d/12JWgyMLAAUM2z4GDDpTDbMXCXelkYS0h/view?usp=sharing

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Estelle Erasmus

How to Resist the Temptation of AI When Writing

Whether you're a student, a journalist, or a business professional, knowing how to do high-quality research and writing using trustworthy data and sources, without giving in to the temptation of AI or ChatGPT , is a skill worth developing.

As I detail in my book Writing That Gets Noticed , locating credible databases and sources and accurately vetting information can be the difference between turning a story around quickly or getting stuck with outdated information.

For example, several years ago the editor of Parents.com asked for a hot-take reaction to country singer Carrie Underwood saying that, because she was 35, she had missed her chance at having another baby. Since I had written about getting pregnant in my forties, I knew that as long as I updated my facts and figures, and included supportive and relevant peer-reviewed research, I could pull off this story. And I did.

The story ran later that day , and it led to other assignments. Here are some tips I’ve learned that you should consider mastering before you turn to automated tools like generative AI to handle your writing work for you.

Identify experts, peer-reviewed research study authors, and sources who can speak with authority—and ideally, offer easily understood sound bites or statistics on the topic of your work. Great sources include professors at major universities and media spokespeople at associations and organizations.

For example, writer and author William Dameron pinned his recent essay in HuffPost Personal around a statistic from the American Heart Association on how LGBTQ people experience higher rates of heart disease based on discrimination. Although he first found the link in a secondary source (an article in The New York Times ), he made sure that he checked the primary source: the original study that the American Heart Association gleaned the statistic from. He verified the information, as should any writer, because anytime a statistic is cited in a secondary source, errors can be introduced.

Jen Malia, author of  The Infinity Rainbow Club  series of children’s books (whom I recently interviewed on my podcast ), recently wrote a piece about dinosaur-bone hunting for Business Insider , which she covers in her book Violet and the Jurassic Land Exhibit.

After a visit to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Malia, whose books are set in Philadelphia, found multiple resources online and on the museum site that gave her the history of the Bone Wars , information on the exhibits she saw, and the scientific names of the dinosaurs she was inspired by. She also used the Library of Congress’ website, which offers digital collections and links to the Library of Congress Newspaper Collection.

Malia is a fan of searching for additional resources and citable documents with Google Scholar . “If I find that a secondary source mentions a newspaper article, I’m going to go to the original newspaper article, instead of just stopping there and quoting,” she says.

Your local public library is a great source of free information, journals, and databases (even ones that generally require a subscription and include embargoed research). For example, your search should include everything from health databases ( Sage Journals , Scopus , PubMed) to databases for academic sources and journalism ( American Periodical Series Online , Statista , Academic Search Premier ) and databases for news, trends, market research, and polls (t he Harris Poll , Pew Research Center , Newsbank , ProPublica ).

Even if you find a study or paper that you can’t access in one of those databases, consider reaching out to the study’s lead author or researcher. In many cases, they’re happy to discuss their work and may even share the study with you directly and offer to talk about their research.

For journalist Paulette Perhach’s article on ADHD in The New York Times, she used Epic Research to see “dual team studies.” That's when two independent teams address the same topic or question, and ideally come to the same conclusions. She recommends locating research and experts via key associations for your topic. She also likes searching via Google Scholar but advises filtering it for studies and research in recent years to avoid using old data. She suggests keeping your links and research organized. “Always be ready to be peer-reviewed yourself,” Perhach says.

When you are looking for information for a story or project, you might be inclined to start with a regular Google search. But keep in mind that the internet is full of false information, and websites that look trustworthy can sometimes turn out to be businesses or companies with a vested interest in you taking their word as objective fact without additional scrutiny. Regardless of your writing project, unreliable or biased sources are a great way to torpedo your work—and any hope of future work.

Author Bobbi Rebell researched her book Launching Financial Grownups using the IRS’ website . “I might say that you can contribute a certain amount to a 401K, but it might be outdated because those numbers are always changing, and it’s important to be accurate,” she says. “AI and ChatGPT can be great for idea generation,” says Rebell, “but you have to be careful. If you are using an article someone was quoted in, you don’t know if they were misquoted or quoted out of context.”

If you use AI and ChatGPT for sourcing, you not only risk introducing errors, you risk introducing plagiarism—there is a reason OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is being sued for downloading information from all those books.

Audrey Clare Farley, who writes historical nonfiction, has used a plethora of sites for historical research, including Women Also Know History , which allows searches by expertise or area of study, and JSTOR , a digital library database that offers a number of free downloads a month. She also uses Chronicling America , a project from the Library of Congress which gathers old newspapers to show how a historical event was reported, and Newspapers.com (which you can access via free trial but requires a subscription after seven days).

When it comes to finding experts, Farley cautions against choosing the loudest voices on social media platforms. “They might not necessarily be the most authoritative. I vet them by checking if they have a history of publication on the topic, and/or educational credentials.”

When vetting an expert, look for these red flags:

• You can’t find their work published or cited anywhere.
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• Their research is funded by a company, not a university, or they are the spokesperson for the company they are doing research for. (This makes them a public relations vehicle and not an appropriate source for journalism.)

And finally, the best endings for virtually any writing, whether it’s an essay, a research paper, an academic report, or a piece of investigative journalism, circle back to the beginning of the piece, and show your reader the transformation or the journey the piece has presented in perspective.

As always, your goal should be strong writing supported by research that makes an impact without cutting corners. Only then can you explore tools that might make the job a little easier, for instance by generating subheads or discovering a concept you might be missing—because then you'll have the experience and skills to see whether it's harming or helping your work.

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