Seven Castles

Improved Essay Writing

                                      

October 6, 2007

 

Writing skills are essential for succeeding in high school, college and on the job. If essays and papers stress you out, keep in mind that writing is not just an end result, but also a process that helps you develop your ideas and think logically.

 

When you get started, you begin by brainstorming topics, collecting information, taking a lot of notes and asking a lot of questions. Keep your notes and sources organized as you go. When developing your topic, look for patterns and relationships. See what conclusions you can draw. Try discussing your ideas with others. A new perspective can help shake up your thinking and keep your momentum going.

 

You should develop an outline to help you stay on track as you write, identifying your main points and your conclusions. You may find, as you write, that you end up with a different idea from the one you began with. If your first topic or conclusion does not hold water, be open to changing it. If necessary, rewrite your outline to get yourself back on track.

 

You should know what you wish to write and always have a goal in mind – i.e. what message do you want to convey to the audience. You must consider who your target audience is and keep your audience in mind.

 

It is important to get acquainted with the vocabulary. But, do not focus on using bombastic words because it is always the expression that counts. Try to vary your sentence structures and do not ever, ever ignore your imagination.

 

When you are done with the rough draft, take a break so you can come back to your writing with fresh eyes. You have to proofread your essay yourself. To make sure your essay flows, you can make sure you have a topic/transition sentence from one paragraph to the next. It really helps the organization of your essay.

 

Read widely and allow yourself to be exposed to different writing styles so that yours is diverse and varied. What you read influences how you write and can become your teacher without your being aware of it. Reading is also a great way to conquer writer's block. Reading helps exercise your mind and get your ideas moving again.

 

Of course, a great way to prevent writer's block is to write more. This advice never gets old: practice makes perfect. The more writing you do, the better you will get, even under time pressure. And as your skills improve, so will your enjoyment. 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2007年10月6日 星期六 10:05】【注册】【打印】