Essay Writing: The Biggest Dos and Don’ts

Essay writing is one of the first academic writing tasks students encounter. High school essay assignments lay the foundations of students’ writing abilities, making them indispensable aspects of their learning process.

Writing a good essay isn’t as easy as it may seem at first. In this age of distractions & diminishing attention spans, It takes skills to grab & hold a reader’s attention throughout. It takes genuine skills and effort to steer opinions, persuade your audience, and present ideas & arguments convincingly through a discourse.

If you wish to improve your essay-writing skills, read this article thoroughly. It presents some dos and don’ts of essay writing and is straight from the professional essay helper teams of MyAssignmentLive, Australia’s leading essay help service.

What To Do and Not to Do When Developing & Structuring Your Essay?

Let’s start with one of the most important points of them all: crafting a strong thesis statement.

• DO Craft an Emphatic & Holistic Thesis Statement

An essay’s thesis statement is akin to a concise answer to the essay question/problem. It must be concise, specific, convincing, and arguable, but not immediately obvious to the reader. The thesis statement is NOT a summary of all the points/ideas/arguments in the essay but a statement about the author’s perspective, interpretation, and approach to the essay topic and/or question.

Craft a thesis statement that 🡪

• Acquaints readers with YOUR interpretation & understanding of the essay subject;
  • Sets the tone and atmosphere for the rest of the essay;
  • Answers the essay question directly;
  • Makes an arguable claim
  • Threads all the ideas, arguments, claims, and evidence together

• DON’T be Obvious

An essay will never be able to hook any reader unless it presents something unique & interesting. Avoid stating obvious facts about the subject. Dig deeper, look at all nuances & aspects, highlight connections and present things from a unique point of view. Try to offer a unique take in every essay and on every topic you encounter.

Present vivid & minute details, in-depth arguments, well-researched & holistic analyses, and tactfully.

• DO Keep Your Focus Narrow & Specific

Essay assignments are NOT the place to conduct exhaustive discussions (unless you are specifically asked to do so). Keep the word count and available timeline in mind, as well as the specifics of the essay question. Focus on answering different parts of the essay question, and ensure that you present the main idea and all supporting ideas and arguments clearly and cohesively.

• DON’T BE Extra

Never lose focus on the main topic and go off on a tangent. Do not beat around the bush or add any extraneous information. Some people tend to drag on & on in order to build tension and/or develop context. While that is one way to keep your readers hooked, things may go awry if you overdo it. Do not spend too much time narrating, describing, and building context.

Present just enough background information to help your readers understand the context & circumstances for writing the essay.

• DO Present Unique Angles

Try to take your observations, ideas, and arguments to the next level. Most essay grading rubrics categorise excellent essays as works that present unique insights and analyse subjects from divergent perspectives. Explore the subject in light of the essay question. Craft strong arguments steeped in logic, intellect, & objectivity and supported by credible evidence. Thread your ideas, claims, and arguments together, using the thesis statement as your guide, to create a cohesive and enlightening write-up.

• DON’T Clutter

Whether it’s the introduction or a body paragraph, avoid cluttering it with anything unnecessary. Irrelevant information, platitudes, overt generalisations, or empty statements- which will lead your readers nowhere- should be avoided.

For example, sentences like “Wars do more harm than good” and “Globalisation affects lives across the world” do not add any value to a write-up. It’s best to jump right in and get to the good stuff early on.

• DO Write the Introduction LAST

Writing the introduction last makes it more appealing and in tune with the rest of the essay. You are already done with writing the main points/arguments, so you have a better idea regarding how best to introduce your audience to them and develop context. Summarise the main points and use them to build the introduction, making sure to keep it snappy, concise, and eye-catching.

• DO Look into Alternative Perspectives

Being objective and unbiased is key to crafting a piece that persuades and steers mindsets at once. This is all the more important for argumentative, rhetorical, critical, and persuasive pieces, where incorporating alternate and/or opposing perspectives is essential. A well-written essay should be receptive to varying perspectives and rebut opposing interpretations with sharp, logical analysis. 

Those were some pointers on how to craft the content and structure it in your essay. Let’s now look at some dos and don’ts of writing mechanics.

Dos and Don’ts of Mechanics & Grammar

• Do not overuse rhetorical statements and/or questions as discursive elements in your essay. Not only do they waste word count, but they can also put off readers. Use them carefully and sparingly to build interest and context and as a launching pad for presenting your main point/s. Focus primarily on articulating your point directly, clearly, and engagingly.

• Don’t present any extreme argument. Avoid using words like ultimately, obviously, surely, simply, absolutely, utterly, basically, and the like in your arguments. These words remove the formality and a substantial amount of objectivity from any argument.

• Avoid using too many contractions.

• Do not overuse the passive voice. Too many sentences in the passive can mislead and confuse readers, preventing them from following ideas clearly and understanding who’s doing what. Avoid writing in the passive voice, especially in narrative and descriptive essays—present all details and clearly specify who’s doing what.

Listen to any political speech, and you will notice the heavy use of passive sentences. This helps politicians deflect and diverge, eventually misleading the masses.

• Do revise and proofread everything before submission.

Well, that’s about it for this write-up. Hope all the information herein comes in handy for anyone looking to write their best essay. Building crack essay writing skills takes time and loads of practice. Write more and as often as possible, & in case you need some expert aid, connect with a professional essay helper from a reputed writing service.

 All the best!