Essay Writing: 5 Mistakes You Must Avoid
Wondering why you couldn’t score your desired grades even after submitting a thoughtful essay? What went wrong? What do you need to improve while writing college essays? Students often miss out on the basics of essay writing. Here are five common essay mistakes to avoid while doing your paper.
Missing or Unclear Thesis Statement
One of the major mistakes that students make is an unclear thesis or missing it altogether. A thesis statement states the central idea of an essay. Also, it helps control the ideas within the essay. Therefore, it is crucial to craft a thesis statement that successfully conveys the key idea of the write-up. Besides, it must set a direction for your entire piece. For instance, if your topic is about the challenges you have overcome, choose two key challenges and indicate them in the thesis.
Additionally, you may also include the strategies you used to overcome those challenges. This will help indicate to the reader what your write-up is all about. The details of those challenges and strategies will, of course, be in your body paragraphs. Therefore, state your thesis properly so that it gives the right direction to your write-up. However, if you feel stuck and wonder who can write my essay for me, always opt for reliable, professional help.
Repetition
The topic must be written intriguingly to captivate the reader’s interest—recurrences of words and phrases dull your writing style. For writers, it’s one of the crucial elements which obviously must be avoided. Some students repeat the same wording in the conclusion. Or something they state in their essay prompt as in their introduction. Always remember to rephrase your prompt or question.
Moreover, never repeat your words in the conclusion. Yes, you should summarize the entire draft but with a different vocabulary. To avoid this mistake, read your draft after finishing it. Remove all repetitions or replace them with better words.
Articulating the topic in a flow must have a real feel and value. Not necessarily, the ideas and thoughts only. But, the language used should be fresh and genuine. So, for the unique projection of your ideas, these essay mistakes need to be avoided.
So while inscribing your essay, keep these points in mind:
- Choose words that are important and worth stressing.
- Repute those words in a way that looks memorable.
Remember overusing your words will lose their impact.
Not Creating an Outline
One of the most common college essay mistakes students make is to start writing without first outlining the essay. Many students think creating an outline is an unnecessary step. However, it is one of the crucial steps that help you write a great piece. An outline allows you to jot down all your key ideas and arrange your draft perfectly. A good outline includes:
- Thesis statement.
- Key arguments or ideas.
- Examples of evidence to support your ideas.
- Your concluding point.
Once you have this outline, it will be easier for you to write down the entire draft. Also, having an outline helps you stay on track and avoid irrelevant information. It also helps you to not forget any important information. Besides, you will know beforehand what evidence you have in hand. Therefore, creating an outline is essential. Never underestimate this important step, especially when you have to submit your writing for a college application. No one wants to take a risk when it comes to something as important as college admission, right?! So, why skip a step that looks unimportant but is extremely helpful?
Plagiarism
Written beautifully, evaluated perfectly, but oh, it suddenly clicked to the reader that they have read it before. And, the reader may doubt the originality of the topic. Hence, you could easily jeopardize your credibility. Besides, the teachers do not only read your write-up, but they also check its plagiarism through software programs such as Turnitin. Therefore, a compelling essay must be:
- perfectly articulated.
- not copy-pasted from anywhere.
- Ideas and opinions must be original.
Presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own is highly unethical. You may take references from credible sources but remember to cite them. Plagiarism will imprint the impression of a genuine lack of knowledge. And it will inculcate the idea of your dishonorable intentions. Above all, it will cost you your reputation. Many students search for sample essays online and take a few contents from them. They don’t even bother rephrasing it properly in their own words. As a result, they face rejection in the admissions or fail in their assignment. Thereby, the writer must write with well rethreaded, searched, and fresh thought of the topic. Unique and valuable style is always appreciated and welcome.
Basic Grammar and Spelling Mistakes
Another basic rule to produce a top-notch essay is to ensure errorless writing. You certainly don’t want to ruin your thoughtful essay with common mistakes. Basic grammar mistakes and spelling errors are considered sinful for essay writing at the college level. You can’t afford to misspell words or use the wrong vocabulary. At this level of college writing, you are bound to produce a high-quality paper to score high grades. A thorough editing drill will help you improve the quality of your paper. Use grammar corrector software that filters such errors and makes your piece worthy of scoring high grades. Ask your friend or senior to go through your essay for errors and to fix grammatical glitches. At times the writer is unable to scrutinize their writing, which is a natural phenomenon.
Moreover, read your essay out loud at least three times for a smooth flow and cohesion. Editing an essay is a full-time exercise and essential to producing top-quality paper. So, try to be very attentive while reviewing your essay. Students also seek help from different language software and applications available online. You may also use a spell checker to avoid silly spelling mistakes. Create a word bank to use synonyms for words with similar meanings while editing the final draft of the essay. Remember, editing makes or breaks your essay. This part needs extra attention and requires you to be vigilant.
To conclude, you can write a perfect essay all by yourself if you pay attention to the common mistakes mentioned above. When you ensure all of these mistakes are avoided, your final copy is sure to leave an impression. And, this is exactly what you want to submit and what the officer wants to see.