Do you know the right answer to the question about an effective essay? What does it mean to compose an effective essay? Is it about quality? Grades? Or the time spent on that writing?
You can admit that an educational process is a fully individual practice, which is different for everyone. Thus the standards and requirements for the assignments are different, too. In fact, an effective essay writing is something very common for a lot of students. It is the right combination of quality and time, which you spend on the writing process itself. Thus, a good essay doesn’t mean the one, which you compose for a couple of days or weeks. At the same time, a good essay is not obligatory the one, which you write overnight. Everything depends on the efforts you put and the results you get in the end. We consider a perfect essay to be that kind of writing which is not too overwhelming and time-consuming, but which is qualitative enough for you to get the highest grades from the teacher. As you have already understood we’re going to talk about the principle of creating a qualitative college essay, unless you consider getting it from one of essay writers from customwriting.com or any other professional service.
Improve Your College Essay Writing Skills in 10 Steps
- Think of what exactly you want to write about. Usually, the students are provided with the list of questions to choose from. What we recommend is not rushing with your choice. Don’t pick the first topic you come across. Consider what exactly will be interesting enough for you to compose the whole essay about. At the same time, don’t pick too general questions, which are literally about everything. Such topics are too vague. Be specific.
- Start as early as you can. Even if a topic seems to be easy enough to complete your assignment in an hour, don’t postpone the writing process. While working on your task, you’re going to understand there are more than just a couple of aspects to work on. Make sure you have plenty of time.
- Decide where and when you’re going to write. Find a place without any distractions. Be fully concentrated and focused on your work only. Avoid browsing the Internet, checking your email, and posting on Instagram while writing an essay. Be fully dedicated to what you’re doing at the moment. In other cases, you risk losing some really good ideas, which come across your mind during a writing process.
- Create a plan. Having a plan speeds up the writing process at times. Spend 30-40% of your overall writing time on creating a detailed plan only. It’s worth it;
- Respond to the topic of your essay with the reference to the works, which you’re talking about. In other words, make sure you have a clear argument. Point it out or highlight if you’re not sure during the writing process. Support the argument with the evidence.
- Have a balanced structure. Your essay should have an introduction, conclusion, and paragraphs. Don’t make the introduction and the conclusion bigger than the paragraphs. At the same time, paragraphs should be balanced with topic sentences, evidence and references.
- Don’t use contractions. When you compose an academic essay, avoid contractions such as don’t, can’t, isn’t, haven’t, hasn’t, etc. The short forms of the phrases are not for any kind of formal writing, in general.
- Avoid words such as really, very, a lot. They only weaken your work. Replace them with stronger words. For example, very hard – difficult, a lot of – many, much, etc.
- Passive voice is not recommended for most subjects and disciplines. Write in active voice instead.
- Always use strong verbs. Instead of a verb and a noun, use a verb only on its own if it is possible. For example, to make an objection – to object, to conduct an investigation – to investigate, to have a chat – to chat, to go for a run – to run, to have a decision – to decide, to give advice – to advise, and so on. Be accurate and precise.
That’s all for the basic tips and tricks to improve your writing skills in a moment. Try to use at least several of the risks mentioned above to see how easy writing an essay can be.
