Writing an essay may be simple, and many people (especially students) focus on simply answering the question and making the word count. Read our top tips to take your essays to the next level and write consistently impressive essays.

  1. Read other essays.

Reading a variety of essays can help you develop and build on your own essay-writing style. Try to read a range of other essays, including those of your peers and of academics. As you read other essays, treat them as things to be tested, challenged, and questioned. Be critical and assess what you like about them, and what you dislike about them. Try to extract the argument from the essay and assess if the points are good, and what can be improved.

  1. Plan your essay

As you gather resources for your essays, your thoughts should flow. Think about how you would string this information together in a cohesive flow. At this point you can further organize your thoughts into an outline format that can help to gather your thoughts and the argument of the essay as a whole. Think of it as an opportunity to brainstorm what you know about the topic. It can help you map out the structure of your essay and prioritise the points you want to develop and the evidence you are going to use. It is important not to get into too much detail – writing keywords and phrases are the best solution.

  1. Spend effort in your introduction

Condense what you’re trying to say into a short introduction. Your first few sentences should be an ‘Elevator Pitch’ style summary of what the essay topic is on and why readers should be interested in it. Your introduction for your essay should sell the idea of it to a reader, leaving them wanting to read the essay in question.

  1. Conclude with a strong statement

The conclusion brings closure of the topic and sums up your overall ideas while providing a final perspective on your topic. Your conclusion should consist of three to five strong sentences that reinforces the point you have brought up in your introduction, and link everything together.

  1. Proofread your essays and ensure that it flows well.

Check the order of your paragraphs and ensure that your strongest points and ensure that your paragraph order makes sense. If your essay is describing a process, make sure that your paragraphs fall in the correct order. Reread your paper and check to see if it makes sense. Make sure that sentence flow is smooth and add phrases to help connect thoughts or ideas. On the other hand, remove sentences that do not add value to your essay. Finally, check your essay for grammar and spelling mistakes.

Writing an essay and making the most of these tips require time. If you are short on time, perhaps buying an essay could be an option for you.