When it comes to writing a custom essay, it can be a struggle for some and be second nature to others. It can be a very stressful time, especially if one doesn’t know how to get started with their essay. If you are a student that has an essay that is due very soon, this article will look at the 10 steps you need to know when it comes to crafting an essay. These steps will help you not only finish your papers on time but also ensure you get a very high mark, plus these are also steps that are used by some experienced academic essay writers.
- Know the requirement of your topic
A common mistake that a top-rated professional essay writing service or students make is beginning to write an essay or panic before they understand the requirements. When a student is not sure about the requirements of the essay, it can make writing very daunting. If you find yourself in this situation, speak to your tutor and ask to have things cleared up. The last thing you need is to waste time researching and finding points you won’t use.
- Make notes
Grab a piece of paper and write down the things you know about the topic. Your notes should come from things you’ve heard your tutor and classmates have spoken about regarding the essay. Write down the main points that will be covered, and don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Write anything that comes to mind regarding the topic, no matter what it is, and connect the dots later.
- Visit reliable website
While plenty of tutors tell students to not use Wikipedia for information, it is a great place for references to some high-quality articles. For the best articles and case studies, you can check out Google Scholar. Even Google itself has some very good links to well-written pieces and books you can use to come up with your essay. Lastly, you can also use the student portal of your university or college to access lecture notes, slides, and more that will help you with your essay.
- Focus on the summary or abstract of the sources you’re using
You don’t have to read pages and pages of all the sources you’ve found. Just reading the summary or abstract is enough for you to get the main information you need. These summaries and abstracts are usually 10-15 sentences long and in this step, you need to figure out if they match the notes you’ve made. If everything matches, you can use them in your essay, if not, move on to the next source.
- Save your sources
We are very lucky to be living in a world where technology is all around us, and you can use apps such as Evernote to save your sources. If you are on a PC, you can bookmark your pages, and doing this ensures you don’t lose your sources and can always come back to them when needed.
- Come up with a draft
Your draft should be based on the sources you’ve found, and these need to be in your own words. Do not copy and paste the things you’ve read on the abstracts or summaries because this is classed as plagiarism, which is a serious offense. This is the step where you feel your essay coming to life and your creative juices start flowing.
- Edit the essay
After your draft is complete, there are a few questions you’ll need to ask yourself. Is the paper flowing properly? If it’s not flowing how you want, rearrange things by copying and pasting the work and putting certain information where you feel they belong. Is there anything that can be made simpler or taken out? Keep an eye out for repetition and filler content because these will reduce the quality of your work.
- Write the essay conclusion and introduction
The introduction and conclusion should be written last because you should base them on your finding. You should paraphrase things you’ve put in the main body to draw up both the introduction and conclusion.
- Check the grammar and spellings
An essay that is filled with spelling and grammar mistakes lets tutors know that a student doesn’t take the art of writing very seriously. An app or website that is highly recommended by many people, including reliable professional writing services, is Grammarly. It will not only check any grammar mistakes you’ve made and let you correct them on the fly, but you can check plagiarism too if you have the premium version.
- Reference your work
No essay should be completed with a reference because failure to put them at the end might raise some red flags when your essay is being marked. Not only will your tutor feel like you didn’t follow the proper referencing format, but they will think your work has been plagiarized. Many students fail their essays due to plagiarism, and it is an offense that should be avoided at all costs, as it is taken very seriously.
If you don’t know how to use citation in your essay, don’t stress, speak to an expert professional essay service writer, and they will recommend many wonderful websites you can use, but the best ones are citation machine and BibMe. With these websites, you can create citations in different writing styles like Chicago style, APA, MLA, and more. Simply copy and paste them to your paper after you’ve finished creating them.
Final thoughts
Affordable expert writing services are always quick to point out that the word “essay” doesn’t have to be traumatizing. The word essay should be embraced, looked at as a way to get better, to improve, and progress in academics even though it has tormented students for many years no matter the country that one is in. Following the 10 steps above will put you in a position where you never have to fear your essay ever again. You will grab the bull by the horns and face the challenge head-on, no matter how complicated the topic is.
