Tips to Improve Your Essay Writing Skills

1. Tips to Improve Your Essay Writing Skills Academic writing is a key aspect of the educational system and to write a good essay, you need to master certain techniques. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810 MOS Legal Transcription Company 8596 E. 101st Street, Suite H Tulsa, OK 74133

2. Academic essays are in the news. With the rise in plagiarism cases, university officials in the United Kingdom are calling for a ban on the so-called essay mill companies. According to a BBC report, buying an academic essay and passing it off as your own is a form of plagiarism known as “contract cheating”. Students should know better than to submit work which is not their own – if caught, they will end up facing serious penalties, including been thrown off their university course. Writing a good academic essay is easy when you master the techniques. Academic transcription services are available to help you transcribe audio and video recordings of interviews for your essay writing assignments. Here are some tips to improve your essay writing skills: • Learn to think critically: Critical thinking is a central aspect in academic writing. Students need to analyze previous work in the area, critically evaluate it, and form their own understanding. Following that, they should assess their own arguments, find the flaws in them, and try to respond to them. An article in the Guardian cites Bryan Greetham, author of the bestselling How to Write Better Essays, as saying, “You need to be using your higher cognitive abilities.You’re not just showing understanding and recall, but analyzing and synthesizing ideas from different sources, then critically evaluating them. That’s where the marks lie”. • Do your research and cite your sources: It won’t do if you skimp on the research if you want to write a really good essay. To save time, identify the gaps in your knowledge and focus your research on that. Research all sides of your arguments and take notes as you read. To avoid risks of plagiarism, make sure you cite the references you used to write your essay and avoid copy-paste from the reference paper. Moreover, giving credit to your sources will give your essay more authority. If you need to conduct interviews as part of your research, you can rely on professional transcription services for accurate documentation. • Develop an outline: Once you decide on the topic, develop an outline for your essay. The essay should have an introduction to the topic, the body where the arguments are presented and supported with evidence, and the conclusion. Things should be presented in a logical sequencewith solid information to support the main ideas. The easiest way to do this is to write down and map your ideas to answer the basic questions of what, how, and why. Modify your essay map as your ideas evolve. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810

3. • Ensure correct use of punctuation, style and grammar: Proper punctuation, style and grammar are important when writing an academic essay. Understand the use of commas and semi-colons, dashes and hyphens, etc. As far as possible, avoid using the passive voice. Use concise language and avoid unnecessary words. Make sure there are no grammatical errors with subject and verb agreement, and proper use of pronouns and articles, and correct sentence structure. Write in complete sentences with a subject and a verb. • Pay attention to vocabulary and language: Academic essays require more formal language than standard essays. Students should learn new words and how to use them correctly and eloquently to express their ideasin their essays. For instance, words to indicate further information include: “moreover, in addition to, likewise, and furthermore”. Using the thesaurus is the best way to find the exact word to express an idea. Make sure not to misuse words as this can detract from the clarity of your work. Avoid informal language which liberally uses colloquial expressions. • Introduce the topic with an effective beginning: Well begun is half done! Start with specific facts and information, a keynote quotation, a question, or an anecdote. “I have a box to catch all of those small things – a figure, a quotation, something interesting someone says –I’ll write them down and put them in the box so I don’t lose them. Then when I come to write, I have all of my material,” says Greetham. The Harvard College Writing Center offers the following tips on beginning the academic essay: - Explain the topic and the central issue - Clearly present the direction your idea will take - The length of the introduction should match the length and complexity of the whole essay - Revise the beginning till you’re sure it provides the necessary clarity, establishes your authority, and engages the reader • Write a thought-provoking conclusion: The two essentials for the conclusion are: restating the central idea and briefly summarizing the information that supports it. However, to convince the reader of your point of view, you need to ensure a thought-provoking conclusion that provides a sense of the broader implications of your views. Including forecasts is a good idea. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810

4. Academic writing is a key aspect of the educational system, but effective writing is a skill that takes time to perfect. The above-mentioned tips can help you hone your academic writing skills. Outsourcing your academic transcription is a practical option as you devote more time and energy to your writing assignments. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810