Tips for writing essays

[Juniiii]

What are some tips for writing essay? My tip is to use grammarly, if you see you’re using a word too much it can provide similar words to replace it with, It also helps with puncuation, what are things you do that help you write essays? 

[Dash Lambda]

Talk.

 

Most people write really awkwardly, the point jumping suddenly, obligatory elements being introduced with token phrases that break the style, etc... But they don't talk like that.

 

I write small paragraphs, use a ton of interjections (either parenthetical or with a dash, sometimes with a semicolon), and use a lot of informal language and conventions. But you know what? It flows, and I've never had a professor knock me down for it.

 

EDIT: Actually, no, I have been marked down for it before. The professor's comment was "avoid the dramatic one-sentence paragraph."

[Juniiii]

27 minutes ago, Dash Lambda said:

Talk.

 

Most people write really awkwardly, the point jumping suddenly, obligatory elements being introduced with token phrases that break the style, etc... But they don't talk like that.

 

I write small paragraphs, use a ton of interjections (either parenthetical or with a dash, sometimes with a semicolon), and use a lot of informal language and conventions. But you know what? It flows, and I've never had a professor knock me down for it.

Another thing that could help is writing the body paragraphs and then do the intro and after the intro the conclusion, you’d have a better idea how to intro, and the conclusion is last because it’s literally restating the intro.

[Teddy07]

Do not write your real opinion. Find out what your teacher believes and confirm it with your essay.

[wasab]

I bullshit all my essays. 

[Juniiii]

36 minutes ago, Teddy07 said:

Do not write your real opinion. Find out what your teacher believes and confirm it with your essay.

Not a opinion, some of the tips are from formal teachers of mine, but I’m currently writing one and want to know how others do it

[Crunchy Dragon]

1 hour ago, Juniiii said:

what are things you do that help you write essays? 

Depends on the essay.

 

I'd usually spend a good while figuring out what I want to talk about in the essay, and then spend a good 1-2 hours looking up information and sources related to those, and  then explain it all in the best way I could.

 

That tactic usually never failed me when writing essays, most of the stuff I got marked down on were minor errors with citations and punctuation. Still good enough to get at least an A on the papers.

[Juniiii]

Just now, Crunchy Dragon said:

Depends on the essay.

 

I'd usually spend a good while figuring out what I want to talk about in the essay, and then spend a good 1-2 hours looking up information and sources related to those, and  then explain it all in the best way I could.

 

That tactic usually never failed me when writing essays, most of the stuff I got marked down on were minor errors with citations and punctuation. Still good enough to get at least an A on the papers.

I would also refrain writing about things you know a lot about, it would distract you to write things down without a credible source which can be turmoil in a essay

[Crunchy Dragon]

2 minutes ago, Juniiii said:

I would also refrain writing about things you know a lot about, it would distract you to write things down without a credible source which can be turmoil in a essay

I've written lots of papers on stuff I know a lot about.

 

Being that informed on a certain topic has helped me get better grades, since I can express through the detail that I went into on the paper and the extensiveness of said details that I'm clearly informed on the topic, which is a very good thing to have.

 

If you ever go into public speaking or take a class on that, being informed or at least being able to sound informed will help you out a lot.

[Guest]

Essay structure is very important. I think we were taught SEXY paragraphs. You add an initial statement; Explain it a little; eXtrapolate your point; then You add your own point of view. 

 

Pretty useless to me now, I haven't done an essay since 100-level. 

[airENOwevEr778]

Prevent writing too long-winded sentences (and you're right, grammarly can fix that). So if you're more concerned with the technical aspect, grammar & punctuation, etc., using an app will be good. But if you wanna improve on brainstorming, organizing the ideas and then outlining, a few free online writing courses will do.

 

[Mira Yurizaki]

Say only what needs to be said and stay on topic.

 

At least that's what I think got me above average for the upper-level writing assessment that I had to take for school.

[Guest]

grammarly

 

[Guest]

On 3/28/2019 at 10:55 AM, Juniiii said:

What are some tips for writing essay?

Intro, 3 examples, conclusion. Introduce example, expand on the example.

On 3/28/2019 at 10:55 AM, Juniiii said:

My tip is to use grammarly, if you see you’re using a word too much it can provide similar words to replace it with,

Thesaurus.

On 3/28/2019 at 10:55 AM, Juniiii said:

It also helps with puncuation,

I read the Wikipedia entry on punctuation for English.

On 3/28/2019 at 10:55 AM, Juniiii said:

what are things you do that help you write essays? 

Don't stress word count. You either cover the subject matter sufficiently, or you don't.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Print out your essay to review. You would be surprised how many little grammatical errors and spelling mistakes you'll miss from proof-reading directly from your computer display. Print it out, go to a quiet location away from your computer and make corrections by pen. Also, for best results, take a break between writing your paper and reviewing it. When your paper is still fresh in your mind, you'll tend to go into autopilot mode and your mind will just "autocorrect" the errors you see. So go out and take a walk or if your due date is still far away, come back the next day to review it. You want to be able to approach your review with an open mind that's not primed in anyway.

[Andreas Lilja]

Don't stray too far from the prof's prejudices if it's about politics.