Top 10 Basics of Academic Essay Writing
Anyone can learn to write an academic essay if they start with a few basic essay-writing guidelines. Academic essays are founded on a strong yet arguable premise, backed by relevant and reliable evidence, and concluded with a concise and complete discussion statement.
By going back to basics and following the best techniques to write these essays, you can generate meaningful, compelling pieces even when you’re short on time. If you’re lost on how to create an academic essay and need some fundamental guidelines, you’re in the right post.
This article presents 10 basic ideas to aid the academic writing process and some steps along the way.
Writing an academic essay: how to start one
The thesis statement is the core of every successful academic essay. Typically, there are several effective ways to begin an essay, but few writers offer their important points right away, and you should do the same when writing your essay. Do not mix your thesis and your first sentence.
After you’ve written your thesis, you may start working on your essay. This development process will incorporate your essay’s primary supporting ideas, which will create its body. Besides having a properly structured body of ideas, essays should also have a meaningful and appealing opening and conclusion.
Why is essay writing important?
Essay writing is important for several reasons. It gives you experience in the use of English grammar and punctuation. In addition, it teaches concentration, creativity skills, and more.
Students learn important writing skills through the completion of several essays. Since the essay format for university and high school is different, writing essays at the high school level can prepare students for more gruelling writing tasks like term papers, theses, and dissertations.
Writing improves concentration and creativity by teaching students to convey information without ambiguity. Helping them organise their thoughts enables them to seek solutions to problems and undertake more tasks properly.
Academic essays format: the general structure
If you have any experience writing essays, you probably know an academic essay requires the following:
- an introduction,
- a body of relating information,
- a conclusion that condenses the evidence and main points you’ve provided.
But how can you use this basic format and make your essay stand out from the rest and what are the steps to write an essay? You’ll need some fundamental tips, which we’re getting into next.
Top 10 fundamentals of academic essay writing
If you’re wondering “what does an essay consist of” or what are the basic things I need to do to start my essay, pay attention. Below, we provide 10 basic tips and guidelines for academic essay writing:
- Research first, write second
If you concentrate on studying your topic while writing, you will most likely produce work that lacks concentration and order. Consider research at a distinct stage, and allow yourself enough time to obtain information from numerous sources. When you’re ready to write, you’ll have more than enough information.
- Develop a thesis statement
Even if some essays do not require one, write one. A thesis statement is a pointer indicating the direction your work should go. A precise thesis statement offers a good roadmap for your essay.
- Plan, outline, and organise
It is best to start with a draft to get a hold of your thoughts. It gives your academic essay writing structure and clarity. If you aren’t familiar with typical outlining strategies, learn them or look into alternate methods of organisation.
- All of your assertions must be supported
It’s not enough to assert, “The Sky is blue,” in an academic article. You must have credible proof to back up your claims. All your claims should be backed up by accurate evidence.
- Stay clear of irrelevant details
Before you begin, review your information sources and underline the key evidence to support your argument. Leave out information if it doesn’t support your main point.
- Use simple language and avoid jargon
Academic essays examine complicated concepts and material, but this does not imply that your writing must be complex. Write to educate, not to impress.
- Assume your audience is unfamiliar with your essay topic
You should have a broad understanding of your topic and its main points by the time you sit down to write. Remember that your audience may not have seen or read the same research, so ensure to cover all the fundamentals.
- Cite accurately
Always ensure that your supporting evidence is properly cited using the relevant style manual like APA, MLA, and others. Inappropriate citations make your work appear sloppy and untrustworthy.
- Revise and proofread
Never, ever submit your first draft. There’s a reason it’s called a first draft, and that’s because there’s a major room for improvement. Read your work for off-topic content, grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors, and make any necessary edits before submitting.
- Get feedback
Before you turn in the final draft of your essay, get it reviewed by someone you trust. A neutral reader can easily spot errors you overlooked and find locations where more information is required. You can get an example academic essay from credible writing sites and other platforms on the Internet.
Conclusion
Academic essay writing can be difficult for some, but by covering the basics, you can avoid silly mistakes or decisions that slow you down. Always do extensive research, have a plan, understand the format and look to essay examples to guide your writing. With all these, you should be set to get your essay going.
