Essays assess your critical thinking skills and ability to translate ideas into a written format. Almost all institutions and courses require students in Canada to write essays. However, the essay writing process is not easy, especially for beginners. Most of them have to practice a lot before they can write a good essay.
So, what essay writing tips can make the writing experience less stressful and more productive? Well, there is no universal template that applies to every academic essay. However, understanding some dos and don’ts of essay writing can help you craft a winning essay.
In the following post, we give you essay writing tips that you can apply to reflect on your writing and help you craft a great essay. Read on to discover ways you can smoothen the writing process using some standard rules that apply to all types of academic essays.
Essay Writing Tips for Beginners: The Dos and Don’ts of Writing an Essay
The dos of essay writing
1. Read and understand the prompt. Before you start writing, know what the essay asks of you. An effective way of understanding the essay prompt is to dissect the question into three parts: content definition, directive phrases, and limiting terms. The process helps you to understand the key concepts relating to the task, what you’re required to do, and the scope of the subject. Also, consider the required length of the essay, deadline, formatting style, and number of sources.
2. Create an outline. Before you start writing an essay, create an outline that maps out the rough structure of your paper. It will ensure that you organize your writing in a way that flows smoothly. An outline also helps to organize your thoughts and develop logical and clear arguments. By staying on track, you end up saving a lot of time during writing.
3. Make your essay easy to read. Given the large number of essays that instructors have to grade, most of them report that they skim papers to get an idea of the content and adherence to style guidelines. Therefore, it’s advisable to make key points visible when skim reading by including a clear topic sentence, a strong thesis statement, and an informative concluding sentence. Also, use immaculate grammar to discuss the ideas in the essay to ensure it’s clear and easy to read.
4. Include a strong thesis statement. The thesis statement is the most important part of your essay, so don’t neglect it. A strong thesis summarizes the main idea of the essay and supporting arguments in a concise format. One of the most important writing essay tips is to place the thesis strategically at the end of the introduction paragraph so that it can serve as a transition to the main body of the essay.
5. Develop a cohesive essay. All essays follow a specific structural guide consisting of an introduction, main body, and conclusion. Make sure your paper starts with an introduction that outlines the purpose of your essay and builds up to a strong thesis statement. Next, create body paragraphs that support the thesis with evidence and explanations. Recap the thesis and summarize the points discussed in the essay in the last paragraph. Lastly, use transitions to improve the flow of the essay.
6. Get help from a professional essay writer. If you find yourself stuck or stressed about writing an original essay, seek homework help from Canadian essay writing services online. The companies link you with an expert who has relevant academic qualifications and experience in essay writing. They will help you by writing a high-quality model essay from scratch, providing samples for reference, and helping you to research your topic. The services are available 24/7 and delivered within your preferred timeline. Thus, it’s easy to get all the help you need to write a winning essay from a professional. Visit essay writing services in Canada to talk to a professional writer who will help you with your assignment.
7. Use and cite sources. As you do your research, take note of the primary and secondary sources that you use to help you develop your argument. You must reference all the sources used in your essay, irrespective of whether you’ve used direct quotations or paraphrasing. Also, ensure you select reliable sources of information from Canada and other relevant regions to increase the accuracy of your essay. Supporting your essay with reliable sources makes it stronger.
8. Respond to the prompt of the essay. No matter how much you’re tempted to go with the flow and write content that’s inspirational at the moment, avoid it in academic essay writing. Remember that you are writing an academic paper with a specific prompt that you must follow. Always check to see if your draft covers all the points of the essay question and if you have included irrelevant details.
The don’ts of writing an essay
1. Don’t plagiarize. One of the most important tips for essay writing is to avoid plagiarism. Most schools are strict on plagiarism and punish it when detected in an essay. Since professors can easily detect copied phrases using software, write your paper from scratch to avoid plagiarism. Ensure you cite every source used in the essay. Read about the different types of plagiarism and understand how to avoid them in essay writing.
2. Don’t include too many facts and information. A good essay includes only important details relating to the topic. Some Canadian students include every detail found in research as a way of making the essay holistic. However, your writing is limited to the scope of the topic. Make sure you analyze and structure your information in a way that allows you to stick to the topic. Laos, include only the most relevant facts to support your argument.
3. Don’t submit an essay with typos and grammatical errors. Most Canadian professors view submissions with errors as disrespectful and assign a low grade irrespective of the quality of your arguments. Make sure you complete your essay early so that you have enough time to correct errors in your draft. Also, don’t rely too much on the programs since they miss some errors, which you may notice by reading the paper.
4. Don’t disregard formatting requirements. Most essay prompts specify formatting requirements, including preferred citation style, font size, number of words, spacing, and margins. Stick to the essay guidelines because ignoring them can affect your scores negatively. If you need help with applying different formatting styles, seek the help of a professional in editing your paper.
5. Don’t use first-person. First-person pronouns are considered informal, and hence not common in academic writing. They read as the writer’s personal opinion, which shouldn’t be the case in academic essays. Instead, always write from a third-person point of view to increase the credibility of your work. Also, don’t address the reader because academic papers should always be detached, analytical, and objective.
Essay Writing Can Be Easy And Enjoyable
Writing an essay is about communicating your ideas to the reader effectively. Use the chance to demonstrate your understanding of the topic as well as your ability to format correctly, express independent views, and support ideas with facts. Use the tips provided in this post to smoothen your essay writing process.