Essay writing may be one of the few elements of the educational process students have to deal with regardless of their major, university, or country. Sometimes it is the easiest and the most complicated thing at the same time.
Students need to express their ideas, which is great, but they cannot always choose topics or sides, they need to find reasonable argumentation and make sure they aren't misunderstood.
Other people are reading: 3 Essay Writing Tips to Get You through College Admission
If you don't like writing essays, there is one thing you should know: learning new methods of paper writing helps to improve diverse skills.
It is a complex exercise for your brain that will result in more than just a high grade.
Different ways of expressing your idea
In most cases, paper type and subject are assigned by a professor.
An approach to the topic is often defined in the task.
There are several essay writing techniques students have to deal with the most frequently:
- In a persuasive essay, you pick a side on the controversial issue and prove (persuade readers) that you are right by using reasonable argumentation, both appealing to rational and emotional aspects.
- An expository essay is focused on illustrating or explaining an idea, requires to investigate an issue and clarify it for readers.
- In a narrative essay, you don't have to analyze a lot or focus on controversies. It is enough to tell what happened without any specific conclusions about the situation; leave that to readers.
- An informative essay also aims to provide as much information on the subject as possible. You just cover different aspects of the issue as if preparing the background for an expository or persuasive essay.
You will use them in business emails, in craft resumes prepared for every job application, during interviews, while speaking to a manager in a shop, negotiating household issues with your neighbors - everywhere, actually.
Different ways to start writing
Students often face difficulties with paper writing because they cannot organize the writing process properly.
Some are waiting for inspiration, which often is a waste of time.
Enlightenment can happen, but it shouldn't be the driving force of the process.
LITHUB shares tips for writers who cannot start the first draft of a novel, and some of those methods will be useful for college students as well.
- Refinery method: outline a plan, write down the main ideas, and use these notes for writing a text.
- Jigsaw method: if you don't have a good idea for your thesis statement, move to paragraphs and finish them at first, then come back.
- "Nugget in the dump" method: write down everything that comes to your mind, then read it and improve.
- Spurt method: schedule an hour for writing, turn off a connection with an outside world, and just write. Repeat every day until a paper is ready.
- Perfectionist method: write a part of the text and revise it immediately so later you can assemble a puzzle by using these perfect pieces.
If it is a content strategy, a test task for job application, a draft for website design, a sales project or something else, you can use any approach described above for completing a task or project in time.
Find out what works the best with paper writing and apply this strategy to other activities.
How essay writing improves other skills
In fact, you don't have to do anything special to improve skills by writing.
The improvement comes as a positive side effect, a pleasant bonus, or maybe a reward the universe gives you for all the hard work.
If you want to see a list of skills as proof, here are 10 good examples;
#1. Literacy
Flawless grammar, correct punctuation, cohesion and coherence, text structure and logic - all these things are included in essay evaluation criteria.
To get a high grade, students need to work on every aspect. Meanwhile, their vocabulary becomes richer.
#2. Research skills
Students need to find credible sources for information to use in papers.
Later, these skills help in data mining, in particular, monitoring the news on your interests, learning about competitors, and digging information that is difficult to find.
#3. Analytical skills
This is about bringing facts together and arranging the information.
Students find several sources for every essay, and they are to make conclusions based on the information learned.
You will often need to analyze the data you get or learn in the future.
#4. Critical thinking
Critical thinking is the key to fact-checking, which is extremely significant in the age of information overdose.
If you can think critically, you are less prone to mass panics caused by fake news.
#5. Domain knowledge
When you write a paper, you learn theory.
Things don't always work the same way on practice, but they become a solid background for important hard skills, later perfected by application the domain knowledge in your work.
#6. Expressing ideas clearly
You always start with a thesis statement, expressing the main idea of a paper.
In the following paragraphs, you provide supporting evidence to explain this idea. Finally, there comes a strong conclusion.
Although this formula gets shorter outside a paper, it still works in business, online, and personal communication.
#7. Staying organized
Back to writing methods, choosing a way to write your essay in time and do it well can help with organizing other tasks and activities.
#8. Effective communication
The key to effective communication lies in literacy, knowledge of the subject, and expressing ideas clearly - the things already mentioned above but worth repeating.
#9. Storytelling
According to Pixar's philosophy, great stories are universal.
They have a clear structure and purpose.
And storytelling isn't about movies or books only - it is a communication strategy that drives attention to social projects, raises awareness about urgent issues, and just helps with boosting sales.
#10. Presentation and oratory
The best way to check and review an essay is to read it aloud.
Besides some mistakes you are going to find during this process, you'll find out that your declamatory skills aren't as good as you've hoped.
Perfecting a text helps to make it effective and reach the target audience (no matter if it is a professor, potential customers, or electorate), and reading it aloud helps to sound confident and pleasant.
If you have any question, feel free to ask me via comments.
If you find this article interesting, don't forget to share it with your friends and family.
Why?
Because, Sharing is Caring!
Don't forget to like us FB and join the eAskme newsletter to stay tuned with us.
Other helpful guides to the impact of writing;
