Essay for dummies: 5 basic writing tips

It is a fact of life for all students that the skill with which they write represent their intelligence. Being able to express thoughts and ideas in an essay format is an important part of the academic process. There are going to be essay assignments for class, essays as a part of organized assessment and even essays to apply to college. Since writing essays are such a vital part of any students academic lives , time should be spent mastering the basics of the essay writing process. To make understanding simple, here are five basic writing tips for writing great essays for any assignment, evaluation or application.

Start with Organization

Great essay writing is going to start with knowing how to organize information. Look at the question to be answered and take a moment and create a short outline. This should be a working outline that can change and manipulate the facts, information and experiences that have to be presented to effectively answer the question. The short amount of time spent organizing will allow a writer to maintain the focus throughout the essay. This is particularly important if the essay question is a timed one.

Keep the Answers on Topic

There are many instances when a writer will be presenting a great essay answer but lose focus as the writer wants to include all of the interesting information that they can. However many times the information is not needed in the essay and has no relevance. Personal interests, biases can make sticking to the topic difficult but the focus must remain laser sharp on the topic of the essay to make sure that the question asked is answered clearly and concisely.

Use Paragraphs

When a student first learns about the writing process, adding proper paragraphs in your formatting are always used. Keep this in mind when you are writing an essay and use them often. A paragraph is supposed to be implemented whenever a new thought is introduced. In practical matters, a paragraph allows for a reader to pause, and take in the information that they just read. Rather than twenty sentences all bunched together in one paragraph, a writer should use four paragraphs of five sentences. This punctuation really can’t be used too much.

Get Specific

A writer should always use specific examples to help support their response to the essay question. These examples will display the student’s in depth knowledge of a particular subject and provide more depth to a student’s answer.

Quality and Quantity

Writing an essay is about providing information to answer a question for a purpose. Whomever is asking the question, feels it is important. Writing a longer essay, shows them that the student feels it is important as well. Be realistic, especially if there is a time limit, but otherwise, you should really write as much as is realistically possible on any topic. Although not entirely true, more words portrays a greater understanding of a topic to the reader. Perception is reality and will be reflected in your grade.