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Last Updated on January 21, 2021 by Team Spinfuel
Writing is critical for students to improve their marks in any field. As every learning process has its own stages, writing also has vital consistency requirements. Today many students suffer when writing their essays, and they think the reason is just their dislike for writing. Actually, we are ready to destroy this myth and convince otherwise. Therefore, get acquainted with our step-by-step guide on how to write an engaging essay even if you think you hate writing.
1. Get a clear understanding of the essay’s question.
Some students are in a hurry to complete the task, so they often miss reading the essay’s question more thoroughly. The readiness to answer it comes only after a clear understanding of the question, which helps build a strong thesis statement later on. Then, if you notice some inconsistencies, it is better to clarify them with your teacher. Try to define to what extent you agree or disagree with the essay question and consider it as a starting point to the entire process.
2. Start your essay by paraphrasing.
Usually, new writers make mistakes when paraphrasing, so they answer the essay’s question with the same wording. For example, when you have such an issue (or topic) as, “telling lies is one of the most common causes of losing bonds in human relationships,” it doesn’t mean your essay should be started like the following: “I agree (or disagree) that telling lies is one of the most common causes of losing bonds in human relationships, because…” Instead, show your ability to phrase it differently, without copying someone else’s wording.
To cope with a lack of creativity, many students use special services with essay examples. There, you can read how others write or buy an essay for cheap to prepare an essay on your custom topic. Find out what else you can benefit from services like this by reading feedback from students at the EssayShark review page. Learn how to preserve the meaning while changing words and sentence structures using a broader vocabulary.
Come up with an outline.
Many first-year students don’t make a plan for their essay because they think it wastes time. However, it will actually save you time because you will go through the actual essay’s structure much faster. Use short points, jotting down only the crucial ideas from your research. Divide an outline into a few points for each paragraph of the essay. For example, a standard essay has three parts: an introduction, body, and conclusion, where the body is divided into three sub-paragraphs. So, your outline should have five short points for every part of the essay. We also recommend creating topics for each individual paragraph, so each part should have the main idea. When you move on in writing, you will use them to complete the essay effortlessly.
Research for supporting details.
Whatever your main essay question is, you need to prove your statement regarding it. To find reliable information, you need to search for it among trustworthy sources, and traditional library research is here to the rescue. Indeed, the evidence you find for each topic sentence in body paragraphs can be proved by citations from recommended literature, videos, or articles. Here students need to stick to the proper formatting style they are assigned in the teacher’s instructions. These styles could be one of the following: MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, or other applicable ones.
Through this evidence, you demonstrate to your readers how valuable your viewpoint is. Establish that your argument is balanced with opposite ideas. Ensure each paragraph is relevant to the topic sentence, so you don’t let superfluous details side-track you from the main idea. Consider general sources first because they save your time and lead you to more narrow paths of scholarly research. It means that only after reading big works you can find less popular ones that are still related to your essay topic.
Conclude wisely.
If you deliver your essay context clearly in body paragraphs, your summary will come up naturally. Try not to add anything new in this last paragraph because it will surprise your reader and make them thirst for a new essay from you. The final section concludes what you’ve been writing and summarizes all previous topics and ideas.
To make this step more manageable, you need to remember why you write an essay. Many students understand the importance of essay writing because it makes their ideas more valuable, generate feedback, and develop a new context for further research.
Edit based on peer feedback.
Every student needs to find someone who will read their essays after finishing the first draft. In any case, the first draft is rough, and it shouldn’t be shown to a teacher instantly. Having an extra pair of eyes saves an essay from redundant quotations, overwhelmed sentences, and common grammatical mistakes.
Believe it or not, but even the most perfect essay has room for improvement. Still, it is challenging to find real personal support, especially if you are short on time. To not leave your essay adrift without revision, we recommend using such online grammar checkers as Ginger, Hemingway, or Grammarly. They will help you with corrections on punctuation and spelling.
Organize a list of cited sources.
Citations are vital for a great essay not because it shows the result of significant research but because it saves the text from plagiarized content. Just imagine if all the content you’ve taken from your references stays as it is. It merely gives cause for complaint both for the audience and the author of the source (if they are still alive), and your entire essay will be considered as borrowed content.
Due to the formatting style assigned to your essay, you need to name the sources you’ve used in your work correctly. Many online services simplify the quotation process and creating a list of cited references. Therefore, why shouldn’t students benefit from it? Pay attention to such great tools as Citation Machine, EasyBib, Scribbr, Cite This For Me, and BibMe. Using one of these citation generators, you will easily understand each style’s principle and can name each source in the list independently later on.
In Conclusion
As you can see, writing essays is not as displeasing as it it seems. Using our ultimate guide to write an astonishing essay will help you enjoy writing and more free time. Don’t forget to split significant parts of the work into smaller ones because it simplifies this task and encourages you to do your best. Try not to concentrate only on A-grade results, even if it is essential to you – also focus on the entire writing process. After finishing your first essay, you will understand that this is actually not for your teacher but for the benefit of your knowledge!
