When writing an essay for college or university, you might be staring at a blank piece of paper, wondering how on earth you’re going to get what is brewing inside your head, down into words. That blinking cursor on your laptop may be driving you mad, but luckily help is at hand.
Writing consultant, Carol Wise from Boom Essays writing service is here to share her help and tips with you, to allow you to master that top mark, and create the perfect paper.
Always brainstorm first
Carol certainly advocates emptying your brain of ideas before you start the writing process. The start is always the hardest part of the essay, and brainstorming will allow you to think more outside the box than if you are trying to write all your ideas down as you go. For instance, if you are writing and you keep having new ideas pop into your brain, you’re going to go off on a tangent and forget something important, empty your ideas out and first and sort them into some sort of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ pile, before compiling an outline plan.
Let it all flow
Your first draft is always going to be a tad bit messy, and Carol says that the first attempt should be your biggest flow. Write your essay as you think, let it all come out onto the screen or paper, and then organize it later. This is a little like the brainstorming process, because it empties your brain, and allows you to sort it all into something resembling order.
An essay is made up of three important parts
What does Carol say about this? Well, you should have an introduction, a main body of your essay, and a summary conclusion at the end. Your introduction should be a paragraph long, and should introduce the subject you’re going to talk about; the body is the longest part, and is your main argument or ideas, and plenty of examples to back up what you are saying; the conclusion should summarize everything and bring it to a close, again a paragraph should do it.
Always answer the question
Carol states that one of the biggest no nos is not answering the essay question you were given. You could talk forever about a subject, and it could be a seriously high quality chat, but if you don’t answer the question, you’re going to fail. Keep referring back to the brief, and ask yourself if you are still on the right lines; if not, steer it back to the main question and keep referring to it in your writing.
Take a break
Once you have finished your first draft, leave it for a few hours and have a break. Carol advocates breaks in the creative process, because it allows your brain to refresh itself; who knows, when you return you might have thought about a totally new angle which will breathe fresh life into your custom essay. A walk outside or an hour chatting with a friend about something different should be enough to refocus your mind.
Try and find a creative niche somewhere
A boring essay is not going to stand out, Carol says, and instead you need to try and find an angle which is creative. Examples given throughout your paper are a good way to do this, or writing in a different way, e.g. conversational, if you are allowed to do so within the brief. Basically you need to think outside the box slightly, and this will make your essay stand out among the countless others which are basically full of fact or fiction.
Check, check, and double check!
Spelling and grammar errors are one of the biggest problems with essay writing, and probably the one area which will drop your mark down completely needlessly. Carol recommends checking at least twice, once with the spellcheck on your computer, and then again with your own eyes, to pull out any potential problems, before rectifying them quick time.
Feedback is everything
Once you have completed your essay, pass it onto a trust friend, family member, teacher, or essay writer, and ask them to look at it and give you feedback. Take any comments they make on the chin, and take it as constructive criticism, Carol says. This is the tool to push your essay towards a much better mark – don’t be too precious about it!
If you can pull these tips into your essay writing process, you will not only stand a much better chance at receiving top mark on this occasion, but you will have harnessed valuable advice for future submissions.
Good luck!
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