11 Steps to Write an Academic Essay Effectively

As a student, you are supposed to learn critical thinking and writing skills apart from several subjects. Do you know how your academy helps you with this? It helps you by asking you to write academic essays. An essay requires you do several exercises i.e. conducting research, gathering information, analysing the facts and figures and writing them in a meaningful and readable form so that your reader can understand it easily.

Submitting an effectively written essay on time ensures high grades. On the other hand, the skills learned and knowledge acquired will be useful for a lifetime after you complete your study and start your professional career. With these benefits in mind, you should do everything that you can to write a strong academic essay. To help you in your efforts, we have provided some extremely helpful tips in this article. Read on.

1. Start preparing and researching early

Almost all experienced students and professors would advise you about this. However, this is the most ignored advice and hence the most common factor responsible for the low grade or failure.

If you don’t want to run into trouble, take this seriously and start working on your essay from the day it’s assigned to you. If your professor gives you a topic, it’s good. But if you are supposed to select a topic yourself, you can choose one and start preparing around it.

Preparation and research will depend largely on the topic and subject. For an assignment with a strict deadline and limited time, you are recommended to make a well-planned schedule and follow it without fail. Writing an effective academic essay takes time so make sure you have enough time to write before the submission date.

2. Gather information before you start writing

Many students start drafting their essays from the beginning and end up editing too much and removing too many sections later. To avoid wasting your time this way, make sure you have all the necessary information ready.

Take enough time for research, surveys, and interviews to gather and organize facts and figures. Once you are done with it, you can start drafting your essay. Well-organized research work will make creating a draft easier as you don’t have to go back and forth to different sources of information while writing a section. Find more helpful tips here.

3. Filter details to keep only relevant

You will get a lot of raw information in terms of numbers, facts, suggestions, and opinions. But not all of them will be useful. So, once you are done with the first part of your academic essay writing process, i.e. research, have a quick look at what you have gathered and filter out irrelevant information.

Think from the viewpoint of your reader and include only the most relevant information that makes your argument stronger. By doing so, you will save a lot of time and reduce the chances of having irrelevant information included in your essay.

4. Craft a strong thesis statement

Whether you are required to write a statement or not, you should create a strong one. It will play the role of a central idea and all your work will be around it. By having a thesis statement, you make yourself and your readers clear about what your essay is about and what you are trying to prove. Also, it will help you stay focused while working around a large stack of details and facts. You can take paid help from an academic essay writing service provider online.

5. Collect and include all relevant information

Given the fact that you will be researching for your essay, you will be the person knowing every small thing about the topic in question. Even if information seems small and common, you should include it in your essay as it may help form a strong foundation to support your argument.

Don’t leave any information just when you expect that the reader already knows it because you may not be knowing it before. It means you have got that information after putting efforts to find it out. Most qualified readers will be knowing this and wouldn’t have any objection with it.

6. Write in simple language

It’s a common misconception that an academic essay should be written in an artistic way with the words that sound sweet and smooth. It’s also not necessary to use complex words and large sentences to create an impression that you are a seasoned writer.

The main purpose of your essay is to teach you how to gain information, how to analyse details and how to craft a meaningful and useful content using your observations, facts, and numbers. Your readers should find the final content easy to read and understand. Great post to read.

7. Have strong evidence to support your statement

An essay is after all your written document that supports your statement with arguments. And to support your arguments, you will need to have strong evidence rather than just opinions and assumptions. Depending on your topic and subject, you will need to present factual information that will prove your arguments true.

Present them in a way that your readers can imagine and understand easily as ultimately they should be agreed or disagreed and not confused or puzzled.

8. Cite information sources appropriately

While presenting strong evidence like statistics, results from other researches and facts, you also have to site them with the references listed at the end of your academic essay. Use an appropriate citation style i.e. APA, MLA or Chicago as required by your academy or professor.

9. Take care of the structure

Like an article or a book, an essay also comprises three main parts i.e. introduction, body, and conclusion. Though the introduction and conclusion are small and simple parts, the body takes extra care. Divide your writings into appropriate sections and give them appropriate headings. Use lists, illustrations, charts, and tables where necessary. A well-structured academic essay will be easy to read and the reader will stay interested till the end.

10. Read and revise

Once you complete writing, your next task is to read it again to find out the errors and faulty information. To do this effectively, leave it untouched for a day or two. Giving yourself a gap before you read it will help you have a fresh view of your work.

You should read your essay multiple times in order to reduce the chances of leaving incorrect or irrelevant information. This is an important step in polishing your work and making it error-free.

11. Get feedback, proofread and polish

Apart from revising yourself, it is highly recommended that you get your academic essay checked and proofread. Ask one of your friends or professors to have a look at it and provide feedback. If you are good at proofreading, it’s good. However, asking a professional proofreader is more advisable as he or she will catch spelling and grammar mistakes more efficiently than you.

You may also consider online proofreading services as they provide low cost and effective service. It’s better to spend a little amount rather than risk your hard work just for silly grammar and spelling mistakes. You can visit this site if you need any assistance and effective service.

These tips are used by successful students and writers and will surely bring good results when followed while writing your academic essay.

Best of luck.