It’s common to see university students getting inundated with coursework like essays and assignments. In fact, essay writing is obligatory academic work for every university or institution. Writing essays is a skill that students need to inculcate if they want to get ahead in their studies. But it can be a bit challenging to understand its intricacies. Writing a constructive essay demands you to focus on specific critical elements. Only then can you find the writing process less intimidating and stressful. In this article, you’ll find some dos and don’ts for writing essays that’ll ensure you are always making progress.
Key Dos and Don’ts of Writing Essays
Writing an essay is a task replete with complexities. But these dos and don’ts will make the writing process less stressful and easy for you.
#1. Do
Create an essay that’s highly readable. Refrain from using complex jargon or vocabulary in your essay. It will diminish its readability. It implies that it will become hard for people to comprehend your message. So, the very first thing is to ensure that your essay has short sentences, tables, diagrams, and bullet points. These things will make it easier for the reader to navigate your information.
Don’t
Don’t overwhelm your reader with facts and information. Your essay shouldn’t bombard the reader with too many ideas. To make them clearly understand your argument, ensure that every paragraph conveys a single idea. If you put too many views and facts in a single para or section, your readers will lose interest in it.
#2. Do
Reference every single source in your essay. Clearly identifying credible sources will increase the quality of your write-up. So reference your sources either in the footnotes or in the body section. Give due credit to those pieces of work that are not yours.
Don’t
Never plagiarize at any cost. You should never use those pieces of work that are created by others in your essay without giving them credit. Plagiarism is cheating. So always run your essay in plagiarism checker software and make it wholly unique. To get high-quality non-plagiarized academic work, you can also connect with an essay writing service.
#3. Do
Include a thesis statement in the introductory portion of your essay. A thesis statement is a crucial part of the introduction and shouldn’t ever be overlooked. This statement reveals the central idea of an essay clearly and concisely. It will guide both the reader and the writer. It provides direction, and you will find the rest of your writing process becoming much more manageable.
Don’t
Don’t neglect the creation of a thesis statement. In its absence, it will become difficult for you to progress with the rest of your essay. You’ll not be able to define your main idea clearly. It will impact the quality of your essay, making it appear vague.
#4. Do
Format your essay correctly. Your professors want to view an essay having proper style and structure according to the topic you are tackling. So pay due attention to font size, spaces, paper size, and page numbers. An effective essay structure consists of headings for various paragraphs, including your introductory para and concluding portion. Every supporting section should also have the essential points you want to highlight.
Don’t
Don’t neglect formatting details when you are creating an essay. Use the correct formatting according to your essay type. For example, if you are assigned a narrative essay, you need to describe it in the first person. In contrast, you don’t write in the first person while creating argumentative essays. If you are confused about correct essay structuring, you can seek a cheap essay writing service.
#5. Do
Always use transition words between paragraphs. Your paragraphs should not feel like you’ve put separate pieces of text together. For your essay to be smooth and coherent, you should use transition words and phrases. They help connect every new idea with the prior one.
Don’t
Don’t complicate your sentences. If you see that you’ve written a long sentence, it’s a wise practice to break it up. Stop filling your writing with conjunctions and semicolons. Effective essay writing entails crisp sentences that are to the point.
#6. Do
Use examples in your essay. Examples not only are a source of evidence for your points, but they also help to make your writing clearer. They also give more information and minimize the chances of wrongly applying a fact.
Don’t
Don’t make your essay unclear and muddy by not using examples. It will create more work for your instructor. When you successfully integrate examples into your text, it adds more value to your writing. It also provides more possibilities for the reader to understand the context of your essay.
#7. Do
Do make sure that your essay does not contain any typos. For it, you need to scrutinize your thesis and scan it for any typos carefully. Their presence will increase the chances of your essay losing considerable marks.
Don’t
Don’t rely on spellchecker software for correcting typos. Although it may seem tempting to use such software and get the job done quickly, you will regret it later. It’s because such software cannot notice errors that the human eye can catch. So, please don’t depend on it.
#8. Do
Always revise and proofread your essay before submitting it. It will eliminate all typos, spelling mistakes, style, and sentence construction errors. It will also help you know that you have followed the correct essay structure. Thus, you will increase your chances of getting good marks.
Don’t
Do not submit your essay before proofreading it thoroughly. Your instructor doesn’t want to find errors in your text. When you neglect to proofread, you ruin all the hard work you have done. Spelling and punctuation mistakes, formatting, and sentence consistencies can be easily fixed when you take time to proofread them.
Final Words
These dos and don’ts of essay writing will make your academic tasks quite convenient. Implement them, and you’ll surely notice an improved academic score. Don’t forget that you can also reach for professional essay writers if you find the task of writing lengthy essays a challenge.