Secrets for Writing a High-Quality Essay or Paper

As an ambitious student, you probably constantly seek ways to improve your final grades and GPA. Apart from preparing well for your finals, a proven way to become a top student is to write excellent essays. Teachers and professors rarely have a chance to read a great piece of writing created by the student. And if you manage to impress them with strong argumentation, original thinking and flawless writing skills, you’ll get the highest grade and earn the reputation of a top student.

Writing a good essay or a research paper is hard, otherwise there wouldn’t be such a fuss about this type of assignment. To help you cope with your academic struggles, experts of our essay editing service are going to share the 12 tips for quality essay writing. And, if you are having troubles meeting deadlines, our reliable academic writers can help. We create high-quality essays for all disciplines and will be happy to assist with a particularly complex or urgent assignment.

12 tips for writing an outstanding essay

Understand the assignment before you start writing

This advice might sound trivial. Yet, some essay topics can be interpreted from different perspectives and it’s better to clarify any unclear parts of the assignment in advance. No, it won’t make you look stupid. Just the opposite – it will show your initiative and the fact that you care for the assignment. Also check the grading rubric, use the mandatory sources and follow all the direction. The relevance of your paper increases your chance to get the highest grade.

 Avoid over-researching

Writing of a good essay starts with the research of primary and secondary academic sources: books, journal articles, newspapers, and encyclopedias. However, it’s on the research stage that students often procrastinate. You might get stuck in the library or at your laptop for hours analyzing the sources for a 2-page analytical essay. Writing experts recommend spending around 30 minutes of research per page of the final essay. Setting a time limit will help you work productively.

Find a comfortable working environment

Don’t underestimate the importance of a quiet and comfortable environment for composing a strong essay. It’s hard to put your thoughts together in a crowded dorm room or shared flat. Go to your room if you live with parents, or work from a library or a cozy coffee shop. Put your phone in a silent mode and turn off notifications. Grab a cup of tea, some water or your other favorite drink so that nothing distracts you in the process, and immerse in the assignment completely.
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Create an outline

In fact, writing an outline is optional. For some, it helps focus and structure thoughts and you might feel comfortable writing a paper without it. What we are trying to say is that an outline can exist in any form you like as long as it helps you focus on writing. You can write down the list of ideas and arguments in random order or to briefly describe what you’d like to include in each paragraph. You can also use quotes from the sources as points of your outline or even organize it in the form of mind map, with charts and facts. Work the way it’s comfortable for you. You can add that fancy outline the teacher expects to see after the paper is written.

Develop an argument

An argument, also known as thesis statement, is the main idea of your essay. Your introductory paragraph should state this main idea so that the reader knows what the paper is about. The thesis statement is your response to the problem of the essay, and the rest of the paper should be built around it. However, do consider multiple views on this problem to show you’ve studied the issue comprehensively: one-sided arguments aren’t going to impress anyone.

Don’t plagiarize from other authors

Plagiarism is one of the worst sins in academia. It means passing off somebody’s ideas or work as your own. Plagiarism has unpleasant consequences, from losing the grade for assignment to failing the course and spoilt academic reputation. Students don’t typically copy and paste the entire paragraphs from a book or online article, yet they might forget to reference someone else’s idea. As you write, make sure that every idea or statement which isn’t yours is referenced properly to avoid accusations of plagiarism.

Simplify your writing

Sophisticated language constructions and long words won’t make your essay better. Most likely, they are going to show that you’re trying too hard to impress the reader. No matter what subject, keep your language as simple as possible. Using ‘conception’ instead of ‘idea’ isn’t the kind of writing improvement that your teacher expects from you. It’s your analysis of the subject and views on the essay topic that should be complex, not your language. So, replace the big words with simpler ones and get rid of wordiness so that your sentences read simply and quickly. 

Avoid superfluous details

The best papers are extremely focused. They don’t go back and forth on the subject. Each paragraph reflects on the paper thesis and conveys a completed idea. To focus your writing, separate the relevant facts from the irrelevant details. Cross out lengthy introductions and secondary information so that your essay doesn’t look watery.
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Write the introduction last

The introduction is the common stumbling point for college students. Consider writing the introduction last when the rest of the paper is already written. When the paper is already written, you’ll find it easier to effectively introduce its main points to the reader. The best introductions follow ‘general to specific’ structure: at the beginning, you introduce the context for your study, then outline your thesis statement and the main supporting points of your argument. To write correct introductions, avoid these top mistakes in present tenses.

Use a citation generating software

After you’ve developed an introduction and conclusion, your work on the paper is not over. Now you have to cite all sources used, and this process is a huge pain in the neck for most students. At this point, you can use technology to ease your life. There is plenty of bibliography software solutions that help you add and manage references. Such tools as Zotero and EasyBib can be used for free and offer citations in all referencing styles. EasyBib also has a premium subscription with advanced options such as suggestions to improve writing and plagiarism checker. However, don’t rely on the software solely – double check all citations manually.

Use the appropriate formatting

In addition to creating a reference list, you need to format the entire paper according to the writing style used in your university. This issue seems minor, yet it contributes to your final grade for the paper. Study the style guide carefully and follow directions regarding font, idents, cover page and citations. It might seem overwhelming at the beginning, yet as soon as you get familiarized with all rules of the style guide you’ll do these things automatically without giving it much thought.

Edit carefully

The final stage of polishing your essay is editing and proofreading. Put your essay away for a few hours and then come back to it to check for incomplete sentences, grammar, spelling errors, word misuse and other issues. Pay special attention to punctuation – keep these English punctuation tips at hand for reference. However, the best thing you can do for the success of your essay is to have someone else to edit it. You’ve been watching on your draft for too long and can skip some errors that can make not the best impression about you. A trusted friend or a professional editor can spot more mistakes and help improve the quality of your writing. 

To create an outstanding essay, you need to come up with an original idea and clearly articulate your ideas in writing. Try looking at the essay topic from the different angle and come up with the arguments that you didn’t discuss in class. Teachers value non-trivial approaches and originality of research, so such an essay will definitely grab their attention. And if you present it in flawless academic English, the highest grade is guaranteed.

Get your essay polished by a professional

Writing original essays is hard, and this mastery is learned through practice. If you don’t feel like getting bad grades and learning from your mistakes, get some help from a qualified paper editor. At Getessayeditor.com you can have your essay checked by an experienced professional. Your editor will fix all kinds of mistakes, correct the word choice, awkward phrases and improve the flow. The ideas are still yours, but the quality of writing will be taken to the next level. In the tracked version you’ll see what has been fixed and avoid such mistakes in the future.  

We provide cheap essay editing service which is accessible for everyone. So, don’t risk your grade. Get your essay polished by a professional and avoid losing points for it. Check out our prices for essay editing and don’t miss your chance to become a better student.