WRITING TIPS

5 Tips On Writing A Good Essay

Because nobody wants 5 tips on writing a bad essay

Essays.

They’re pretty much what every student loves to procrastinate on.

That mad dash to the library three days before the deadline to claim your camping spot in your subject aisle.

I’ve been there.

If you happen to be one of those procrastinating students (or if you’re someone who’s just interested in writing better essays) allow me to offer you a helping hand.

Without further ado, here are my five top tips:

1. Write with clarity

I’m going to be frank: nobody wants to spend hours decrypting the meaning of your sentences.

This doesn’t mean you need to “dumb down” your work. If your ideas are sophisticated, you won’t need to strain for extravagant language to present them.

Your job as the writer is to do the hard work of research, reading and evaluating, then deliver your findings in a concise and comprehensive manner.

Always define any esoteric terms and specialist jargon with which your reader might be unfamiliar with. Stay away from purple prose, ambiguous phrases and bombastic vocabulary.

More than often, these “crutches” indicate that you aren’t confident in your own ideas.

And confidence is key if you want to convince your reader to accept your argument.

2. Cite your sources

When writing your essay, imagine you’re a lawyer in a courtroom. You have a case which you must defend with a series of strong and compelling arguments.

When making an argument, always cite your evidence from reliable, peer-reviewed sources; Wikipedia won’t do.

Use the work of experts, critics and academics to strengthen and advance your own argument. Don’t recycle and regurgitate their ideas, and don’t let them argue for you.

Instead, argue with them.

Don’t be afraid to assert your own expertise. This is your work after all. In academia, you are being judged on the strength of your arguments, not on the position you take.

Take responsibility for your claims by being frank.

3. Test every claim

As Socrates remarked: “Good thinking constantly questions itself”.

How well do your arguments stand and can they be disputed with? Are there any counterarguments or objections against your thesis?

Always ensure you explain your argument in full. Danielle Lamb’s Doing Philosophy (2013) explains the importance of doing so:

“When you are set a problem in mathematics, you do not just give the answer, but you write out the steps by which you arrive at the answer. You may get the answer wrong because of a slip in calculation, but you will still get high marks if the method is right i.e. your reasoning is plausible.”

The same is true of any other subject.

Don’t just state an argument without showing the method by which you arrived at it. Every idea comes from somewhere. Whether this is from another source or the result of your own thinking, you must make this clear to the reader.

Doing so will encourage them to have more faith in your central argument.

4. Write with structure

Like scaffolding, your essay’s structure should support your central argument.

Each paragraph should develop your central argument in a logical fashion. The way paragraphs connect to one another reveal how sound your central argument is overall. Paragraphs that hop around disconnected ideas suggest that your argument is weak.

Use topic sentences to signpost your readers through your key ideas. The security of your argument becomes visible through these, so ensure that they contribute to your central argument.

Make good use of sub-headings too when mapping out your writing. However, refrain from following too rigid and methodological a structure.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with the writing style that works for you.

5. Address a gap

Your work does not exist within a vacuum. Why is your essay topic important today? What problem are you addressing?

Ideally, a good essay will address a gap in research through contributing fresh and original ideas.

Look at the bigger picture by positioning your work in conversation with contemporary scholarship.

Your ideas do not need to be anything ground-breaking or revolutionary. Choose an issue in need of discussion or approach an old topic from a new angle.

Overall, be creative.

Ultimately, good essay writing takes patience, practice and dedication to master, as any skill does. Reading the works of experts both within and outside your discipline should also help in refining your craft.

I hope these tips help you.

Do you have any you’d like to share with me? :)

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