The Art of Writing an English Essay

You may think it is very difficult to write an English essay, especially if you are a non-native English speaker. However, if you keep dreading the task, you will never get better at it. To improve, you need to understand the art of writing an essay. There are a few simple tips that will help you write a better essay:



1. Do some research on the topic

Once you know the essay topic, thoroughly research it. You can start by searching for relevant information on the Internet, but make sure it is a credible source. Aside from that, books are always good sources. Some may think spending time researching a topic is a hassle. However, it will give you the ability conduct a deeper analysis and allow for extensive insight into your essay. The main thing is that to be able to write well, you must do a lot of reading first!



2. Create an outline before writing

Too often, people like to directly put their ideas into writing. This is not a very effective way to start. Even if you have planned out your essay, it is still necessary to create an outline. Outlines help you keep track of important points and maintains the order of ideas in the essay. It also becomes your editing guide that helps you finish the essay.



3. Make sure each paragraph is consistent with the next

Writing is putting your ideas into words in a way that lets other people understand them. Therefore, it is important that your essay is coherent to other people. Readers need to be able to understand your train of thoughts. Coherence means that the transitions between one paragraph to another are logical, consistent, and connected. This is another place outlines play a role! It is much easier to proofread for consistency using outlines.



4. Be careful with references and citations

Do not ever think that your effort in doing research on a topic is in vain. In fact, it will help you to strengthen your essay! References and citations are great ways to add supporting theory or evidence to your ideas. Nevertheless, plagiarism needs to be avoided. So you need to make sure you use the right citations and references in the right way. You should also make sure you use the correct citation style such as APA or Chicago Manual of Style.



5. Re-read and edit; re-read and edit!

Grammar, vocabulary, citations, and references are what you need to pay attention to. Writing, editing, and finishing in one go is not enough. This process needs to be done repetitively to make sure that there are no more mistakes in your essay. It is okay and even better to clear your mind before re-reading the essay so that you can edit it with fresh eyes and new insights. Try to sleep on it and take a look at your essay the next day.

6. Have other people read it? Or use ChattingCat to make it even better!

Hearing other people’s opinions actually does not hurt. It gives you a new perspective to make the essay better. You can ask colleagues, friends, or tutors to review your essay. But sometimes they are just as busy as you and have no time to do it, so the best alternative is to use ChattingCat! When you upload your essay, it will be reviewed by more than 800 native English speaking tutors from around the world. It only takes three minutes to get corrections and feedback too, sometimes even faster. Not only will you get trusted corrections and feedback, but you will also save your precious time to get other things done. It really is a lifesaver!



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