Writing is a challenging job, but following the right strategy makes it a manageable task. No one can deny the importance of high-quality content to engage your audience and convey your message. But crafting appealing and impressive content isn’t as simple as you might think.
A firm grip on grammar and prose writing are necessary to engage your targeted audience. And on top of that, there are plenty of other crucial aspects that require your attention while writing an essay.
In this post, we’ll discuss a few do’s and don’ts of essay writing. Hopefully, the tips below will help you craft quality essays that will impress your supervisors and teachers.
The Do’s of Essay Writing
Here are some prominent do’s that students pay attention to when writing college assignments, research papers, and creative essays.
Find more tips on essay writing here
Do Extensive Research
Research is the most integral part of essay writing. It comes before any of the writing and forms the foundation for the arguments you’ll go on to construct.
Spending time collecting relevant and authentic information from reliable sources will help you find unique ideas and angles to explore in your arguments.
The selection of platforms for research is another critical element. Relying purely on Google searches won’t get you far. Information could be unreliable, outdated or inaccurate, meaning your whole essay runs the risk of suffering as a result.
So, take extra time to ensure you’re using the most up-to-date sources. And, if you can, rely on sources you find in your university library or through trusted academic platforms.
Do Cite Sources
Giving credit to the source or author of the information you include is the ethical norm when it comes to essay writing. It’s also a requirement of many colleges and universities, so failing to include citations can lead you to face serious consequences and make you stand among the plagiarists.
Therefore, make sure you cite every source properly to avoid any undesired and complicated situation. Also keep a bibliography of all of your sources.
One crucial thing that every student must keep in mind is the citation style they need to take. Every college is different, and using the wrong one could see you marked down. Examples of standard citation styles include MLA, APA, and Chicago. If you’re at all unsure what to use, check with your tutor.
Do Use Suitable Vocabulary And Tone
The reason to make efforts to craft a quality essay isn’t only to show your instructors your knowledge regarding any particular subject or topic.
It also helps you demonstrate your ability to use the most suitable and attractive words to share your views. Depending on the topic your essay is on, you may have more freedom with your style and descriptions. Using sensory language and writing devices like the 5 senses can help elevate your prose, making it far more engaging for the reader.
Also, the tone of the essay plays a significant role in setting its engagement. Therefore, it’s suggested to use clear language that’s easily understood by a broad audience. This way your meanings don’t get lost.
The Don’ts of Essay Writing
So we’ve covered a few do’s, now it’s time to look at the other side and some don’t’s of essay writing.
Don’t Plagiarize
Duplicating other people’s work and ideas is a clear breach of ethical and academic standards. It’s also a complete waste of time if you’re trying to learn and better yourself and your education—nothing can be learned from cheating.
Many educational institutions operate a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism and set severe penalties for students committing this act, including expulsion from the course. It’s never worth the risk.
Therefore, checking for plagiarism is vital before sending your essays to your supervisors and teachers. Remember, it’s fine to include quotes from other sources as long as you cite them.
You can check for any plagiarism in your writing easily with a plagiarism checker online. The results you get will identify any problem areas in your essay, allowing you to make some quick fixes. There are lots of good plagiarism checkers, from Copyscape to more academic-based journals. Remember, universities and colleges will adopt their own plagiarism checkers so don’t assume it won’t be done.
Don’t Write Lengthy Sentences And Paragraphs
Writing lengthy sentences makes it hard for readers to understand your points clearly. Professional writers advise using shorter sentences to improve understandability. However, too many short sentences close together can leave the reader feeling breathless.
The key here is to strike a balance. Analyse how long each sentence is in a paragraph. If they’re all of a similar structure it could be a good sign to vary your syntax.
The same applies to paragraphs; lengthy paragraphs affect the readability of content and if done poorly, could send people away from your content.
Don’t Submit Your Essay Without Proofreading
There are strong possibilities that your writing contains typing, spelling, and grammar mistakes. An essay with such mistakes doesn’t look professional and often fails to impress its readers.
That’s why editing and proofreading content before posting or sharing it with your supervisor is essential to detect and eliminate all such mistakes. To help make the process easier, you could try a free grammar checker to discover any misspelt words or other grammatical problems in your writing easily. Many tools, like Grammarly and Hemingway are free, with paid features. You can also try specific tools to help with grammar, such as my passive voice checker and converter.
Learn More About The Dos And Don’ts Of Essay Writing
Essay writing is tough. Being aware of some of the pitfalls and some of the things that tutors like can help you massively. So hopefully this guide has provided some useful tips.
To learn more about the dos and don’ts of essay writing, check out these guides below:
- Learn all about using a rephrase tool in this handy guide, featuring a step-by-step breakdown of how to use them
- To learn more about how to make an argument in an essay, head here. You can find tips on structure and lots of useful advice on research
- If you’re suffering from writer’s block and want advice on how to overcome it, head here. You can find lots of useful tips on identifying the issues along with some suggestions on how to tackle the causes.
Most nights you can find him up into the wee hours scribbling away or watching the NBA.
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