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3 essential steps to a good academic essay writing

by: wheatley63 on Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 Time: 9:49 PM

3 essential steps to a good academic essay writing.

There are 3 really useful steps that you can take before writing your essay. They're designed to prevent writer's block, at the three places where it usually occurs.

Step 1: Don't decide what you're going to write until you see what information you've got.
Your essay, like all essays, is going to prove some point. But you can't prove that point before you have something to prove it with. Sound reasonable? You'd be amazed how often we start our essay with the point first, and then go looking for ways to prove it. That's disaster. See what you gather first - that's the first of my secrets on essay writing a good essay.

Step 2: Don't go hunting for information until you're sure about what question you're going to answer.
Let's be clear about this. An essay can't be about airplanes in World War Two. An essay can be about how airplanes affected the course of World War Two. One of these is a general title. The other points to an unknown answer, which your essay will furnish. There is no going forward with your essay until it's got a specific question to answer (like, 'how did airplanes affect the course of World War Two?'). It can't be a meander. That's murder to write. This is the second of my secrets on essay writing.

Step 3: Don't write differently from the way you talk.
You do have to talk in complete sentences, and it's good practice not to use any slang. But with these two cautions, don't write differently from the way you talk. Read over what you've just read here. Isn't this tone fine for talking? Sure it is. Clear and easy on the page is the same as clear and easy in your ear. Want to know why else you should write the way you talk? Because your spoken English is very good (or you wouldn't be reading this). And if your spoken English is good, your written English has to be good. And you can throw out any worries you may have about not being able write well because you have poor 'English' skills. I hear this worry all the time from students, who don't notice that the very words they're saying are in perfectly good English. This is the third of my secrets on essay writing.

To recap, remember:
1. Get the information first
2. Get the question straight and
3. Talk normally.

About the Author

I ground through 7 years of Ivy League graduate work and ended up with a PhD. Then I taught for 20 more years in a dozen colleges and schools. Come visit us to get more information about academic essay writing

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