Are you a good writer?

If not, writing may cause great anxiety. High school and college students alike, struggle with proficiency when it comes to essay writing skills.

Essays are a large part of a student’s life. They will spend countless hours writing essays for class topics, essays for college admissions, and then essays for scholarship applications.

Some students are under so much pressure to write great essays they turn to essay mills or pay others to write for them. If found out, they can face stiff penalties. Receiving a failing grade can hurt a high school student’s chances of getting into the college of their choice.

Not doing your own work in college can get you expelled.

If you struggle with essay writing, continue reading for these seven tips on how to write better essays.

1. Choose a Topic that Matters to You

The hardest part of writing is writing about something you are not interested in or don’t care about. There will be times when you will get to choose your own topics, but for those assignments where the topic is preassigned, your reasoning skills will come into play.

Essay writing is all about improving your critical thinking abilities, so don’t focus too hard on what you don’t like.

If a preselected topic is assigned, it is not always a bad thing. There are different angles on every subject. The goal is to find the direction you can take to make the essay interesting to you.

2. Research the Topic

Research, research and research some more. Learning as much as you can about your subject will help improve writing about the topic.

The more you know about the subject you are writing about the easier the ideas will flow. You can then determine how to approach the topic, what to include and what to leave out.

It is not uncommon to receive a topic and draw a blank. But after doing your research several possibilities for the essay should come to mind.

3. Choose an Angle You can Successfully Argue

Essays have a purpose beyond seeing your writing skills in action. The more you write, the more you learn how to write better. The best writers are more successful in getting the reader to understand what has been written and why.

After you have researched your topic, you will need to determine what angle your essay can be best argued. Will you be writing to educate the reader or are you looking to entertain? You can also approach the subject with the goal of trying to persuade the reader to change how they view the topic.

Choose the angle you are most comfortable using to get the essay going. You can always choose another route if you’re feeling bogged down.

4. Essay Writing Skills Include Knowing the 4 Styles

To improve writing essay structure, consider getting a book on the different styles of writing for essays and term papers. You will need to know the differences between the styles because professors have their preferences.

AP Style stands for Associated Press and is used by journalists. It is sometimes confused with APA or American Psychological Association. APA Style is common in a lot of college courses.

When it comes to publishing academic papers, the most comprehensive style is Chicago Manual.

The final style of writing, and most known to students whether in high school or college, is the Modern Language Association. It is a good idea to know at the very least how to write an essay using APA and MLA.

5. Prepare an Outline to Map out Your Essay

Once you have your instructions, the topic, word count, style, and research, it is time to start writing. Having an outline is how to start an essay.

The essay structure is comprised of three main parts. These are the introduction, body, and conclusion. Depending on the number of words or pages, the body can be comprised of one or multiple paragraphs.

Essays differ from term papers based on their length and the amount of information you will provide. An essay is a short paper and typically consists of a body with no more than three paragraphs.

In your outline, you will want to map out how to write an essay to guide the reader to your conclusion. Start with a strong introduction and close with a definitive end.

6. Write a Powerful Introduction and Conclusion

The direction of your essay will be based on your introduction. The introduction is how to start an essay and let the reader know what you will be talking about.

Your introduction will end with a final sentence referred to as a thesis statement. The thesis statement summarizes your point of view on the topic you are writing about. It also serves as a transition into the first paragraph of the paper’s body.

By the time you reach the conclusion, you should have laid out a strong argument for the paper. The conclusion will serve to show the reader why your viewpoint is important and reasonable.

7. Proofread and Rewrite Your Essay

The best way to improve writing skills is to understand that the first draft is just a guide to getting to the perfect paper.

Having an essay grammar check application will help with the process. Sometimes it is hard to catch our own grammatical errors. The checker will also help catch misspelled and misused words.

As you read your essay, you will want to strengthen sentences, omit unnecessary words and clean-up repetitive text. If you are open and honest about your essay structure, there are sure to be opportunities to rewrite passages.

Rewrites are not a bad thing. They help clarify your points and provide for a cleaner more concise delivery.

Now is the Time to Put These Tips to Use

We hope these tips will help you improve your essay writing skills. Pick a subject and put them to the test. You are sure to see great improvement in your writing abilities.

For more useful tips on an array of subjects, click here.