Many individuals are scared of writing, especially those who do not write for a living or daily. They prefer to get help from Custom Assignment Writing Service rather than to improve it. The good news is that writing doesn’t have to be painful. Virtually anyone with a bit of discipline and a willingness to learn can improve their writing skills.
Academic writing is an essential skill that all students must learn. You must be able to communicate your ideas with grace, clarity, and power to succeed in the competitive world of academics. Do you want to improve your writing skills? Here are the top ten tips to improve your writing skills (professionalessayservice, 2019).
Top 10 Tips for Improve Your Writing Skills
These ten tips can help you improve and polish your academic writing to amaze your peers, professors, and even publications.
- Brush Up on the Basics
Before creating excellent content, you must first have a basic understanding of writing principles.
This does not mean that you must enroll in a distinguished creative writing course. You must have knowledge of the basics of grammar and spelling. Every student should have many books on their bookshelf. This small but vital book is one of the most comprehensive resources on correct grammar use and other helpful topics.
- Write to the intended audience’s level.
Academic writing is typically intended for highly educated and well-informed persons who already understand the basics of the topic at hand. These readers do not require a detailed introduction or explanation of the topic. It is generally preferable to focus on the main points of the treatise rather than waste your readers’ time by repeating information they already know.
- Get to the point
The paper’s first paragraph should swiftly outline the essential points that will be covered throughout the document. This gives the paper structure and instantly highlights the main issue for the reader. Some scholarly writings include a concise abstract that serves the same primary goal as the heading and describes the entire paper in a few paragraphs.
- Make use of topic phrases and transitions.
A topic phrase introduces the central concept of a section. The purpose of the opening sentence in a paragraph is to set the tone and express the main idea of that section.
Meanwhile, transition words and sentences can help your writing flow more smoothly and keep it from looking choppy and abrupt as you move from one paragraph or concept to another.
Both elements will help you to keep your arguments on track, make more cohesive points, and create links between your thoughts and concepts.
- Use formal tune
Academic writing requires formality, but this does not mean you should be pompous and overbearing. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind. In general, keep an eye out for the following:
Abbreviations: using shortened forms of words such as “i.e.,” and “e.g.,” Unless used within a parenthesis, these words should be spelled completely.
Contractions are the use of shorter versions of words such as “can’t,” “don’t,” “they’re,” “kinda,” and “going to.”
First-person point of view: writing from the writer’s perspective rather than the reader’s.
- Create multiple drafts
The purpose of your first draft is to get rid of all the “poor” writing. There’s a reason first drafts are called “rough” – they’re just a rough sketch of what the final product will look like. At this point, you’re putting your ideas on paper, following your initial outline, and making room for all your research and ideas. It’s a giant puzzle piece that’s just starting to come together.
You may also find yourself writing pieces in a non-chronological order as inspiration hits. This could help you to make new connections, build stronger arguments, and better-fit material together. But keep in mind that there is no requirement for perfection right now because it would prevent you from finishing your first draft; instead, avoid editing each sentence and tolerate imperfections — including typos and terrible word choice — as your final version will edit these out.
Create a new draft and start fitting all these pieces together more clearly and logically, revising sentences and correcting formatting. Repeat this process several times until you have a refined and coherent final version incorporating all your ideas and points along the route.
- Pay attention to formatting.
Formatting is essential in academic writing. Of course, your paper’s format will depend on the referencing system you use, your academic institution and department, and your discipline.
Generally, you should choose a 12-point serif font, set the line spacing to 1.5 to 2.0 lines, and allow space between paragraphs rather than indenting the first line of each.
To ensure that your work is presented correctly, pay close attention to how you structure headings and titles, tables, illustrations, and graphs.
- Deeply research
Before you start writing, consider what you want to write about. Consider your thesis, list your essential ideas, and construct a solid structure with which you can work from start to finish.
You will also need to discover credible primary sources to back up your theses, such as research, reports, essays, interviews, and dissertation papers that you may use to create your line of argument. The writing process will go much more smoothly if you have this knowledge (Ives and Castillo-Montoya, 2020).
Keep all this information in one place and decide where it fits into your outline from the start so you can refer to it throughout the writing process.
- Use the correct referencing system.
Each academic discipline has its own recommended way of referencing. Education, Psychology, and Sciences use the APA (American Psychological Association) referencing system, whereas the Humanities use the MLA (Modern Language Association) style. Each system prioritizes distinct elements and influences how information is presented and cited.
You must use the correct referencing style for your university and discipline.
- Proofread your writing
Proofreading is one of the most important steps you should take before submitting your work, and it should go without saying.
Start by reading your writing aloud and detecting grammatical errors, such as syntactic flaws, odd phrases, poor punctuation, and different words.
The next stage is to have an expert proofread your dissertation from Dissertation Help UK-based services and provide feedback on the overall flow, coherence, and structure. While something may make sense to you, it may lack the context required for your point to be complete to an outside reader. This will allow you to fine-tune portions that may require more clarification.
Wrapping Up
Academic writing is commonly used in various disciplines to explain complicated ideas, complex themes, and extensive thinking.
Academic writing, like any of her writing styles, has its own set of conventions, norms, and principles. You should follow to attract and capture your readers’ attention.
At the college level, academic writing is a skill that takes time to perfect. However, as you practice, you will get more familiar. The conventions and features of this writing style improve your writing style.
Reference
PES, 2019. 5 Tips To Improve Your Academic Writing Skills. Online available at https://www.professionalessayservice.co.uk/5-tips-to-improve-your-academic-writing-skills/ [Accessed date: 22-june-2019]
Ives, J. and Castillo-Montoya, M., 2020. First-generation college students as academic learners: A systematic review. Review of Educational Research, 90(2), pp.139-178.