We see why it is hard to consider essays the most enjoyable task in school. Paper writing is often time-consuming and tiresome, but the problem is that you can’t skip such assignments simply because they are too important. Essays play a crucial role in students’ final grades, and if you want the latter to be high, you need to pay close attention to writing tasks. Below is a brief guide to help you handle such assignments and secure their sound quality.
Familiarize Yourself with the Requirements
The first rule of successful essay writing: learn what you need to do beforehand. Surprisingly, many students have been falling into the same trap for years. They don’t read the instructions and then get shocked when receiving low grades for their essays. Skipping the requirement sheet is a big no-no if you want to compose good papers effectively and quickly. Go through the requirements slowly and carefully and try to understand your teacher’s request. Ask yourself whether you know the question and the keywords included. Once you are well aware of that, you are good to proceed with the next step.
Brainstorm and Plan Your Writing
Keep in mind that brainstorming may be the most exhausting task in the essay writing session, so you need to reserve enough time for this undertaking. Otherwise, your work will end up weak and basic. The brainstorming procedure includes researching the topic and generating thoughts for the paper. While clear with the research part (a hint: use ResearchGate and Jstor to find relevant sources), brainstorming has several strategies. The effectiveness of each depends on your approaches, so ensure to choose the one that suits you the best. These typically are freewriting, clustering, rapid ideation, and mind mapping.
Regarding planning, it’s best to divide your writing into small units and reserve time for them. This way, you will manage to work productively and deter disturbances.
Speed Up the Process with an Outline
Composing an outline is the thing you mustn’t overlook when writing papers. A layout is an effective tool to lead you through the writing process fueling your effectiveness in the same way the gas allows the car to move. An outline will show you the thoughts you need to develop, simultaneously preventing you from deviating from the path and including unnecessary information.
Make Use of Drafting the Piece First
Drafting is helpful because it lets you focus on the progress and not on the quality of your paper. There is no need to watch your writing and fix every error once it pops up. The draft’s primary purpose is to be written asap. After you build the paper’s first version, take a step back and get ready for editing.
Edit with Extreme Attention
Despite students’ thoughts that editing is something easy and quick to do, it’s important to state that editing is equally critical and challenging. Editing is a standalone task that must not be underestimated.
Try to analyze every paragraph as attentively as possible when checking your work. Don’t hesitate to use Grammarly to correct grammar blunders, but don’t rely too heavily on the tool, as it may sometimes be inaccurate.
Conclusion
Once you complete these steps, nothing is left except for re-reading the paper and polishing its format: paragraphs and citations (if any). Hopefully, this guide will help you get through academia and meet your essay writing endeavors.
