Ten Little Pieces Of Advice On How To Make Your Essay Better
Great academic writing comes with a lot of practice and perseverance. It’s rare that someone jumps right out of the gate composing professional quality papers, but there plenty of things one can do to improve the chances of earning a top grade. Here are ten little pieces of advice on how to make your essay better:
Choose an interesting topic. You’ve probably heard that choosing an original topic is important, but so is choosing one that is interesting to you. Your enthusiasm towards a topic will come through in the writing and make it a more enjoyable essay to read.
Research background information. Before you start composing your assignment, you should do a little bit of background research. Finding content online will make you familiar with a lot key terms and information that is commonly known in your subject area.
Look for academic resources. Next, start with in-depth research. Go to the library to speak with a reference librarian. He or she should be able to direct you to relevant academic resources that are current and credible.
Take great notes and citation info. When you’re doing your research it’s important to take detailed notes with complete citation information. This will save you lots of time and will make the process of writing much easier.
Create a draft outline and thesis. Gather your notes and organize them in a draft outline. It’s a good idea to compose a draft thesis as well in order to help guide the content of your argument in your first draft.
Write a first rough draft quickly. A great method for getting all of your ideas down efficiently is to write the first draft as quickly as possible. This means getting past all of the little mistakes you make along without feeling the urge to make corrections and risk losing your flow of thought.
Revise the content of the draft. Set your essay aside for a few days so that you can return to it with a critical eye and spot the places in which it could be improved through revision.
Thoroughly edit the content. The best kind of writing is concise and direct. There is no need to use overly complex structures when simple sentences can effectively convey your ideas. Edit for clarity and academic style.
Completely proofread the content. Even the best writers will make mistakes from time to time. Spend ample time proofreading for errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation. Having a spotless paper is sure to raise your grade.
Put in the finishing touches. Lastly, check to make sure your margins, line spacing, page numbering, indentations, quotations, etc. are consistent throughout the paper. While these may seem unimportant to you, an instructor may find inconsistencies distracting and will be more likely to penalize you for them.
