Five ways to improve your academic writing skills

Academic essays are not that easy to produce. This style has certain requirements and peculiarities and knowing them is crucial for those who want to write successful papers. As a writer, you need to deliver fresh ideas supported by research and facts from reliable sources. The main trick of academic essays is that you cannot just write whatever you want – you should mind the discourse, its history and previous findings. Your understanding and concise work with relevant materials are the solutions to all the problems.

There are some basic principles to help you produce solid and persuasive essays. Read on and learn how to create better academic texts.

Have a plan before you start writing

It is crucial to know what you are going to write about before you start. Come up with a thesis statement and formulate your main idea first. The basic structure of your text should be dictated by the main argument and support it. Be sure that you follow the general format when it comes to the structure:

• Introduction

Present the background information about your topic to let your readers have an idea about what you are going to talk about. Express your position about the main issue and end it with a thesis statement.

• Body

The body paragraphs should include arguments that support your main idea and reveal them gradually. Make sure to add one argument per paragraph to let your text flow smoothly. In general, essays should include at least three points that explain and support your thesis statement.

• Conclusion

The last paragraph summarises and connects your previous points.

Make sure that you know all the concepts

Vocabulary is important, especially when it comes to academic writing. When creating an essay, you should prove that you are a topic expert. However, you cannot do that in case you don’t know the exact meaning of the concepts you use. If you want to write like professionals from a customer writing service, don’t rely on intuition – make sure that you understand the specific terms and ideas before mentioning them in your paper. Inaccurate use of “smart words” is embarrassing and makes you sound silly.

Also, avoid blurry language – this doesn’t add reliability and clarity to your writing. Reread your sentences and critically evaluate them. If you are not sure that they sound perfectly good and relevant, change them. 

Keep your writing to the point

It is crucial to keep your main argument in mind when writing a paper. Sometimes, you might find it tempting to talk about side-questions, but if you are not sure that they reveal your main idea, you’d better avoid doing so. Whenever you make a point, ask yourself if this statement supports your thesis. Exclude everything that doesn’t unwrap your central idea, even of these points seem interesting to you.

Your task is to make your paper strong and conscious rather than entertaining and interesting. Be critical to yourself and make clear connections between the points you make.

Check grammar, punctuation, and style

Mistakes can spoil your paper, so be sure to find and eliminate all grammar, punctuation, and stylistic errors. Obviously, errors make research weak and unreliable. The problem is that people automatically assume that a paper cannot be taken seriously in case it includes mistakes.

When editing your work, pay special attention to verb and subject agreement, articles, and sentence structure. Don’t miss commas/dashes and know where to place periods. Use both long and short sentences to make your writing sound lively. Also, be mindful of the tone you are using. Avoid passive voice when possible and make your language sound concisely. Remember that your main aim is to reveal the argument, so avoid wordiness and distracting unnecessary stuff.

Conclude your essays properly

The last paragraph is no less important than your thesis statement. In this part, you tie all the points together and outline the key evidence discussed before. Don’t let your readers with the question: “So what?” Explain how your research proves the thesis statement to be right (or maybe wrong). Conclusion requires your special attention because this is the part your readers will remember after closing your paper. Don’t miss a chance to make a really great impression.

Conclusion

Becoming an academic writer might be a hard way to follow. It is a matter of understanding the basics and practising, so you can master this art with time. There are some relatively easy tricks to follow and we have listed them above. When writing an academic paper, mind the structure, language, and avoid mistakes. Reread your work a couple of times before the submission to make sure that it is free from irrelevant information and misused concepts. Be critical to yourself when evaluating your writings and delete everything that doesn’t support your main argument expressed in a thesis statement. Hopefully, these simple tips will help your orient yourself on the thorny road of academic writing.

The editorial unit