Different types of writing requiring different skill sets. If you are a student, odds are good you’ll need to develop the skills necessary for strong academic writing. Some students are comfortable with this task. Others, who may be otherwise very bright, can feel intimidated by it. Luckily, you don’t have to be. It’s entirely possible to build these skills. You just need to know what they are, and how to develop them independently. For the best results, focus on the following key areas.
Citing Research
Most academic essays will require you to do some degree of research to support your argument. Thus, it’s important to focus on this skill. You can do this by asking a professor to supply you with a sample essay topic. You want to practice on an assignment that won’t be graded. You can also find sample essay topics on the internet. Once you have a sample topic, begin conducting the research you would need to do if you were actually writing the essay. Even if you’re able to find all the supporting evidence you need from a single type of source, like books, it helps to practice finding multiple types of sources. That means you should spend some time at the school library looking through not only books, but academic databases, periodicals, and other sources as well. You can also find citation generator tools online. While your goal should be to reach a stage where such tools are not necessary, during this phase of the process, you can use them to get a better sense of what a proper citation would look like.
Being Concise
Don’t make the mistake of assuming your instructors want you to use as many words as possible when writing an essay. Contrary to what some students believe, longer papers are not exactly considered to be better by most instructors. In fact, they’d much rather you use as few words as possible to make your point. To develop the ability to write with concision, draft a few sample paragraphs using the research you’ve already conducted. Try to make your argument as effectively as possible. Then, simply go through the paragraphs line by line and ask yourself if there are words that you can remove, or other ways of phrasing each sentence, to get your message across with clarity while not being too wordy. This is the same approach you should take later on when revising your actual academic papers that you’ll be submitting to your instructors.
Creating an Outline
It’s much easier to write a strong paper when you already have an outline that includes all of the basic information you will be including in the actual paper. This serves as a roadmap you can refer to when you’re ready to complete the first draft. To create a strong outline, gather all your sources, and take notes about how each one can help you make a point that will support your overall argument. Next, determine what order these points should be arranged in to build an argument that makes clear sense. This will help you better understand the proper order of paragraphs in your outline. Now it’s time to create an actual outline. This is where you break down your essay into the various paragraphs you plan to include. For the outline, use bullet points to explain what arguments you’ll be making in each paragraph, and what sources from your research you’ll be using to support those arguments. It’s best to make several different outlines during this process. Although you may feel confident that you understand the right way to arrange your points, it can still be helpful to try different ways of organizing your paragraphs. The more you experiment, the more you’ll understand how to develop a strong argument that flows logically.
Proper Formatting
This is an academic writing skill you should not overlook. Even if you make an otherwise strong argument, backed by strong research, you won’t receive a high grade if your paper is not formatted correctly. That’s why it’s a good idea to study samples from other writers who may be more confident in their academic writing skills than you are. If you can supply them with samples of your own work, even better. They’ll help you identify the formatting issues you may not have properly addressed in your original draft.
Avoiding Repetition
Instructors have to read many papers over the course of an academic year. Thus, it can be very difficult to impress them if you make unoriginal arguments or rely on repetitive language to make your key points. This is another skill you can develop by drafting your own samples and studying samples from other writers. They may show you how it is possible to phrase certain sentences in different ways, allowing you to still get your main point across while avoiding the kind of repetitive language and thinking that can make the wrong impression on an instructor. Keep in mind, your friends might be too biased to help you with this task. They may not want to point out all your mistakes. That’s why you should get in touch with a cheap academic writing service. They’ll have the expertise you need to truly develop these skills. At this service, you’ll find plenty of help from people who can draft custom written papers for you.