Writing is a skill that not every student owns and can be acquired through practice and dedication. School life prepares you for the challenges you encounter in high school and university life. But still, some students do not have strong analytical skills and need guidance to complete their essays. If you are one of them, do not worry, in this post, we will share some tips to help you become better at writing college assignments.
So, you got an essay writing task from your instructor, what do you normally do to complete it? The first thing any writer should do is understand the topic (if provided) or come up with one. If you get a chance to select a topic for your essay, never attempt to write about your most favorite subject right away. You need to select a matter that can positively impact your final grade.
If you get stuck, maybe you should try to get help from your friends or instructor because your educational life depends on it. Do not hesitate, it is not an embarrassing thing to do. It is what all the lecturers are here for! Once you find an appropriate topic, follow the steps shared below to get your essay to completion.
Brainstorm
Thinking about the topic and noting everything down (related to the topic) is not an easy task. It is the reason why writers prefer doing some prewriting before going for the original thing. It saves time because you do not have to think much before writing about it. Having everything in front of you gives you a chance to think about each critical point from different angles. You will even come up with arguments that can turn into points.
Use Credible Sources
Every assignment requires authentic information, and for that, you need to gather data from credible sources. You can easily avoid plagiarism by doing that and also you are not supposed to copy and paste that information. Doing that will negatively affect your final grade and there is no way you can recover from that embarrassment.
Whenever you add an argument in an essay, you should have sufficient information to back it up. Sources like journals, scholars, and books should be used to find relevant material. And any reference from magazines, encyclopedias, and unverified sources is not acceptable. Therefore, you need to be very careful while collecting details from the internet.
Write The Body Section First!
When you have all the information arranged logically, you should start by writing the body, not the introduction. Many experts follow this method because it makes the writing process easier. You can always switch if this approach does not work for you.
Writing the introduction first comes with a slight disadvantage. You will have to be very careful while writing the body section because everything needs to be relevant to your thesis statement. But if you choose to write the body section first, you can easily mend the introduction with it later.
Use Proper Formatting
Formatting is essential, you cannot ignore it! it involved a well-structured outline that keeps all the research intact. All the institutions have set a format for assignments that every student needs to follow. The standard essay format includes:
– An inch margin on all sides of a page
– Single or double line spacing (read instructions)
– A specific font style and size
– The heading of the page contains the name of the author
– Heading and sub-heading as per requirements
– Half an inch of indentation is considered necessary
The basic outline for writing an essay includes writing an introduction that shares the background information, and a thesis statement. The body section involves a supporting paragraph to your argument. It follows a pattern: reason, details, fact, and conclusion. The last section concludes the essay by recalling the thesis statement and reviewing key points.
The Finishing Touch
This step is important as well, but students tend to ignore it because they are confident. The information you add to the essay should be verified again. There can be instances where you find a specific section that does not go well with its neighboring paragraphs.
During the validation process, you can change its details and the surrounding information to adjust the new facts and figures. When you are writing you are too much focused on the details and do not think much about keeping up with the structure. Therefore, these revising the information and giving it the finishing touch is essential.
Proofread It!
The last step is to proofreading the document and fixing slipups. It can be spelling mistakes, structure problems, grammatical errors, or fixing transitions between sentences or paragraphs. These mistakes cannot be noticed while writing inflow especially the conjunctions that make your essays longer. Also, it is a good idea to let your friends or someone who understand the topic read it. An extra pair of eyes can help you find mistakes that yours would not! So, proofread your document before submission, as it can save you from getting a low score.