Learn Academic Writing:

19 Simple Essay Writing Rules to Writing a Great Essay

Simple Essay Writing Rules

Mastering the basic rules of academic writing is key to crafting insightful, clear, and well-structured essays. Understanding these essential essay writing rules can transform your writing, improving clarity and professionalism while helping you develop strong, persuasive arguments. Understanding and applying these rules will help you write a great essay. Do you want to learn the rules for writing a great essay? Here’s a simple guide to the essential rules for essay writing.

It is important to note that these are general essay writing rules or rules of essay writing and not all of them will apply when writing all essays. Your instructor or client may, for example, require you to go against one or more of these rules. In such a case, the instructions given by your instructor, professor, institution, or client will override one or more of these rules.

1. Do not plagiarise

The first rule to writing a great essay is avoiding plagiarism. Copying other people’s content without crediting them with their effort or without paraphrasing their words is technically referred to as plagiarism. Engaging in plagiarism is arguably the worst form of mistake in academic essay writing. Not engaging in plagiarism is therefore one of the important academic essay writing laws or rules. When writing an academic essay, research information from other sources but write the essay content in your own words. The words you use and how they are arranged should not be similar to how someone else has written them. This means do not copy-paste other people’s words. There are software such as Copyscape and Turnitin that are used to detect when you copy someone else’s work or content. These software will almost definitely detect the content that you have copied directly from another source.

2. Use continuous prose

Essays are normally written in continuous prose. This means you have to write complete sentence and write in paragraph form – not in point, bullet, or numbered form. In other words, avoid numbering your points or using bullet points. There are a few exceptions where the use of numbering is acceptable. Such as in dissertations, theses, and research proposals. When writing a dissertation, theses and proposals, you may number your headings, objectives, tables, and figures. However, the body of these works is normally done in continuous prose.

Inappropriate (bullet points and numbering):

There are many ways of making money. These include:

Farming
Business
Employment

There are many ways of making money. These include:

Farming
Business
Employment

There are many ways of making money. These include: 1. farming, 2. business, 3. Employment.

Appropriate (sentence form/continuous prose)

There are many ways of making money including farming, business, and employment.

3. Present professional definitions and opinions

Writing one or more definitions to a concept is a common thing in academic writing. When defining a term, concept, or construct, present professional definitions and not definitions based purely on your own thoughts. You may come up with a definition that combine elements of the definitions of two or more professionals.

4. Avoid hanging sentences

Avoid writing sentences that are incomplete or sound incomplete is one of the core rules for essay writing. Ensure that all your sentences make complete sense on their own. In other words, ensure all statements are a complete sentence. Each of your sentences should have a subject, verb and object (subject+verb+object). Software such as Grammarly and Hemingway Editor can help you detect and correct hanging or incomplete sentences.

Hanging sentence example

Throughout her period of study at the university, Mary wrote.
Although James, Peter, and Jane had just arrived at the bus station.
After completing their assignment, they went.

5. Provide relevant information

This means that the information you write should appropriately respond to the essay prompt, question asked, or topic given. Avoid providing irrelevant information – information that adds very little or no value to your essay.

Suppose you’re writing an essay on “The Impact of Climate Change on Marine Life.” Here’s an example of irrelevant information:

“Many people enjoy beach vacations and recreational activities like surfing, swimming, and sunbathing. Popular beach destinations like Hawaii, the Maldives, and the Caribbean attract millions of tourists each year. These places are also known for their unique food, culture, and music festivals, which add to the attraction.”

This information, while interesting, is irrelevant because it doesn’t contribute to the main focus of the essay: how climate change affects marine life. The passage about beach tourism and local culture doesn’t advance the discussion about ocean temperature, pollution, or the impact on marine species—points that are critical to the topic.

Instead, the essay should include relevant information, such as the effects of rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, or the decline of fish populations, as these directly address the impact of climate change on marine life.

6. Rely on other sources and cite them

Essay writing normally involves research. Never rely purely on your own knowledge to do an academic paper. You have to read widely relying on multiple sources. Generally, do not rely on only one or a few sources to come up with a research paper. Relying on more sources will likely present you with more points of view, more ideas to write on, and provide you with deeper understanding on the subject you are writing on. Find information from multiple sources, analyse, synthesize and bring them together.

7. Use quality sources for your research

Always rely on high quality sources for your research; books, journals, and reputable/ authoritative websites. Not every source you come across will be a good source to rely on for your research. For example, websites that market products or that offer certain services may not present an objective point of view as their main interest is selling their products or services.

8. Maintain objectivity

Always present different points of view, not just present the views that you favour. Always present both sides of an argument in your essay. For example, provide the advantages and disadvantages of something, not just advantages. If you are writing about whether abortion should be legalised, for example, present both arguments supporting its legalization and those that oppose its legalization.

9. Use unbiased and respectful language

Writing a great essay

Use neutral language and be gender sensitive. Do not be biased against certain groups of people. Even when presenting a position that you do not agree with, do not use confrontational or dismissive language. Be careful when using words and avoid bias against certain groups of people. For example do not use “man” or “mankind” to refer to both men and women, instead use “humans”, “humankind”, “people”, or “human beings”. Also, when referring to a person (who could be male or female) remember to take both gender into consideration by writing for example he/she. To be on the safe side you can use “they”. Only use pronouns that depict persons of male gender such as “he” “man” only when specifically referring to a male person.

Inappropriate

When a doctor is treating a patient, he should prescribe the right drugs – This sentence is gender biased (not all since doctors are male).

Appropriate

When a doctor is treating a patient, he or she should prescribe the right drugs – neutral (this is okay).

When a doctor is treating a patient, he/she should prescribe the right drugs – neutral (this is okay).

When a doctor is treating a patient, they should prescribe the right drugs – neutral (this is okay).

Note: It is correct and preferable to use “they” like has been done in this last example. “They” in this case includes both male and female doctors.

Inappropriate:

For a long time in history, man has desired to visit other planets – This sentence is bias against women.

For a long time, man has desired to explore the moon and the sun.

Appropriate:

For a long time in history, humankind has desired to visit other planets

For a long time, humans have desired to explore the moon and the sun.

Additionally, avoid using derogatory, abusive, hurtful, or offensive remarks or names in your essays. For example, people who are mad will be persons with schizophrenia. Referring to someone as being “mad” is considered offensive in the academic world.

Inappropriate – Offensive language	Appropriate
Lucy is a mad person	Lucy is a person with schizophrenia
Lucy is a schizophrenic	Lucy is a person with schizophrenia Lucy is suffering from schizophrenia
Jacob is an AIDS victim	Jacob is a person with AIDS

10. Avoid informal and emotive language

Avoid informal (colloquial) language, clichés, figures of speech, emotive remarks, and sweeping statements. Maintain a neutral voice and a formal tone.

Examples of informal and emotive language

“more or less”
“time is money”
“at the end of the day”
“When all is said and done”
“cost an arm and a leg”
“Gonna”
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat”

Here is an example of a paragraph in which emotive and informal language has been used.

I had nice time during my internship; my mentors were great and the patients lovely. I realised that undergoing a surgery costs an arm and a leg. I also realised that to save more lives, we were gonna have to work fast. We had to attend to many many patients; one hundred patients more or less. Although we did the best we could, the workplace was a disaster because of the manager whose style of management was absolutely absurd.

11. Keep yourself out of the picture

In academic essay writing, generally avoid using first and second person pronouns (“I”, “we” and “our”); remove yourself from the picture and present the professional point of view. Use of these pronouns is acceptable in special cases such as when writing personal journals or reflections. The use of third person pronouns (he, she, it, they) is the norm in academic writing.

12. Organize your ideas and points in a logical way

Ideally, your essay should have introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs. Where relevant, present a strong thesis at the beginning of your essay. Always arrange your ideas in a logical progression. One way to do this is by presenting your strongest point first and moving down to your weakest point, or the other way round. This strategy is especially ideal when you are writing an argumentative essay. Another way of doing this is by presenting your points step by step. This strategy is especially effective when writing a cause and-effect essay.

Another way of achieving this goal is by grouping related points together within the same paragraph or section. For example, when discussing the advantages and disadvantages of a topic, you may discuss the advantages in one or more paragraphs and then proceed to discuss the disadvantages in one or more paragraphs. Of course there is no harm in starting with the disadvantages and then proceeding to the advantages. The main thing is ensuring that you don’t mix unrelated points that may confuse the reader.

After presenting an idea or argument, provide evidence, such as data, quotes, or examples, to substantiate it. Make sure each piece of evidence is relevant to the paragraph’s main idea. Creating and following an essay outline can help you organise your essay effectively.

13. Stick to one language

In your essay, choose one language or language variant and stick to it. For example, do not mix American and British English in one research article/paper. Choose one language and use it consistently in your essay. Here are a few examples of differences in spellings between American and British English.

American	British	American	British
Favor	Favour	Learned	Learnt/learned
Color	Colour	Diarrhea	Diarrhoea
Capitalize	Capitalise	Anemia	Anaemia
Marvelous	Marvellous	Center	Centre
Canceled	Cancelled	Savior	Saviour
Meter	Metre	Theater	Theatre
Fiber	Fibre	Savor	Savour
Dreamed	Dreamed/Dreamt	Gray	Grey
Analyze	Analyse	Honor	Honour

14. Do not ask rhetoric questions

rules for essay writing Avoid asking questions that you expect the reader to answer. Understand that you are supposed to be answering a question, not asking your reader or instructor questions. Research questions which are always presented in research proposals, research reports, theses, and dissertations are not considered to be rhetoric questions since it is you who will be answering the questions through your research work.

Examples of rhetoric question:

What good can you expect from this government that has ruined the economy?
What can be done to revive the country’s economy?
Getting a good grade requires hard work, right?

Here is an example of a rhetoric question in an essay paragraph:

Every sober college student desires to excel in their studies and achieve good grades. This desire is especially driven by the general appreciation that good academic achievement has a positive correlation with ease of finding gainful employment and achieving success in life. There are several factors that influence academic performance as measured by academic grade, one of which is hard work. Getting a good grade requires hard work, right?

15. Make use of transition words

Transitions are words such as: first, secondly, lastly, in addition, because, next, although, in contrast, in summary. Transitions help the reader understand your line of though and the relationship between your ideas. In addition to serving as signposts to the reader, transitions make the flow of ideas from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph smooth.

16. Avoid contractions

Avoid the use of contractions or shortened word forms in your essay. Instead use the long word or phrase forms. For example, instead of using “shouldn’t”, in your essay, use “should not”. Likewise, instead of writing “don’t”, write “do not”.

Long form	Short form/ Contraction
Should not	Shouldn’t
Do not	Don’t
Are not	Aren’t
Cannot	Can’t
Will not	Won’t
I will	I’ll
He will	He’ll
That is	That’s
What is	What’s

17. Do not over-use words or phrases

Overusing certain words or phrases can make your essay sound boring and may indicate your lack of creativity and limited vocabulary. Here is an example of a paragraph where certain words or phrases have been overused:

I did my internship at ABCD hospital. My internship began at the outpatient department where I attended to patients with different illnesses. The next department I went to during my internship was the surgical department where I attended to patient who were being prepared to undergo major surgeries. The next department I went to during my internship was radiology. At the radiology department is where I learnt about different radiology machines including x-ray during my internship. Overall, I had a nice experience during my internship as I learnt a lot and interacted with many professionals.

In this example, the phrase, “during my internship” has been used so many times.

18. Avoid fluff in your essay

Fluff is any content (word or group of words) that serves to unnecessarily increase the number of words in your essay. Including fluff in your essay can make your essay boring to the reader, difficult to understand, irrelevant, or unprofessional. Always aim to pass your message as simply and quickly as possible.

Fluffy: In the year 2024, the United States conducted its presidential election. The presidential election candidates were two very strong opponents representing two very strong parties. Donald Trump represented the Republican Party while Kamala Harris represented the Democratic Party.

Better: In 2024, the United States conducted its presidential election. The presidential election candidates were two opponents representing two parties. Donald Trump represented the Republican Party while Kamala Harris represented the Democratic Party.

Fluffy: The University has extensive equipment and facilities that may be used by students in case they desire to gather first-hand information on the principles that they learn in class.

Better: Students can use the university facilities to further explore the topics they learn in class.

19. Thoroughly proofread your work

Always ensure you proofread and edit your work before submitting it. This way you rid your essay of any obvious errors such as spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes, formatting mistakes, factual mistakes, lexicon mistakes, and tautologies.

Summary

Mastering the basic rules of essay writing is essential for crafting clear, persuasive, and impactful essays. From understanding avoiding plagiarism to developing a solid thesis to organizing ideas logically and maintaining a formal tone, each step in the writing process contributes to the essay’s overall effectiveness. By following these academic writing rules, including proper citation and thorough editing, you can elevate the quality of your work and ensure it meets academic standards. With consistent practice and attention to detail, applying these rules for essay writing will help you build strong writing skills that are valuable in both academic and professional settings.

How Much Do I Need to Know to Write an Essay?

A common question in the minds of many college students and novice writers is: how much do I need to know to write an essay, post, or story on a given subject or topic? For college students and budding professionals, the concern of how much to know to write or “know how much to write” often becomes real when they are required to write an essay or research paper on topic, concept, or subject that they may not have even heard of. For people engaged in creative writing, their concern about “how much knowledge to write” may stem from their need to create a narrative or picture in the mind of the reader that is more realistic and not too far-fetched. In this article, we focus on answering the question: How much knowledge do you have to have to write?

Amount of Knowledge Required for Essay Writing

If you are a college student and your assignment requires you to write an essay on a topic, subject, or concept that you have almost no knowledge on, you may be wondering whether your lecturer or professor gave the assignment by mistake. This is especially the case if you were expecting your lecturer or professor to teach you something first and thereafter assess you on what they have taught, and not the other way round. There is no doubt that experiencing a situation in which you have to write an essay, story, or content on a topic or subject that you have little or no information or knowledge on can be quite frustrating and a cause for anxiety. If you are facing such a situation and are wondering how much knowledge you need to have for essay writing, be sure you are not alone. You have a genuine concern.

Will I be able to write an essay on a subject or topic that I do not have prior or adequate knowledge in? The answer to how much knowledge is required for essay writing depends on three main factors; the level of complexity of the essay, the type of essay you are writing, and the circumstances under which you are writing the essay. However, before focusing on the three main factors, you probably are wondering if there is a simple yes or no answer to the question.

To answer this question, consider this situation: Everyday newspapers and radio and television stations report news that their representatives or journalists did not personally gather on the ground. A newspaper in Kenya may, for example, report in depth about a terrorist attack that has occurred in the U.S. or the destruction caused by a massive earthquake in Haiti without having a journalist in the location where the event has taken place. What the journalists working with the media house will typically do is search what other media houses and people are reporting about the event, and based on these, come up with their own news article on the story. They can search for relevant information on the Internet, social media, or any other relevant source. It is, however, important that the journalists draw their information from credible sources or verify the accuracy of the information they get from the other (secondary) sources. As a reader or viewer of the news article/ item, you will probably not realise that the media house had no journalist(s) on the ground to capture the news first hand. From this illustration, you realise that the journalist in Kenya writing or reporting on an event that occurred in the US or Haiti did not have prior or first-hand knowledge of what happened. He or she is relying on what others have stated, written, or reported about the event.

Academic writing involves researching (reading what other people have written, professional thoughts and opinions, and facts) and then coming up with content based on what you have read and learnt. Since a lot of what you will write in an academic essay is based on the information you get from your research, you need not have prior knowledge, information or training on a subject to write a research paper or essay on it. This implies that you need not to have undertaken a course in psychology, for example, to write an essay or research paper on a topic in psychology. Similarly, you don’t necessarily need to have attended law classes to answer a question in law. You can be a mechanical engineer by training and yet be able to write an excellent essay on a topic in business, psychology, biology, or strategic management – subjects not directly related to engineering. What you need to do in this case is read what other people (especially experts or scholars) have written or are saying on the subject, digest this information and come up with relevant content for your essay. Likewise, you may not need to be a subject expert to write an excellent blog post or marketing copy. In any case, majority of bloggers and content creators are not experts in the field they are writing on. You simply need to read extensively what others have written on the subject or product, understand the main issues, and come up with your own content.

In the college and university setting, it is common for students to be required to write on a topic or subject they have not been taught on. This is because they are actually expected to engage in research, which is part of the process of building their knowledge and developing into a well moulded professional. Lecturers and professors understand that one way of ensuring that you engage in own learning is by subjecting you to a situation where you have to accomplish a task that you have to start from a point of not knowing. From this point, the way to know is to research about the subject by finding relevant sources, evaluating the sources, and getting the information that will allow you to write your essay.

Complexity, Essay Type, and Situation

Although it is very possible to write an excellent academic essay, blog post, or marketing copy without any prior knowledge on a given topic or subject, this may not always be the case. There are some subjects or topics that you may not be able to effectively write on without some relevant background education or knowledge. For example, if you have no background knowledge in solid mechanics, you may not be able to effectively write an essay on bending stress analysis especially where calculations are involved as part of the essay. Likewise, if you have no background knowledge about hypotheses and hypothesis testing, you may not be able to handle an essay that requires you to develop and test your own hypotheses on an issue. These two examples indicate that the level of complexity of your essay topic or subject dictates “how much knowledge to write essay”.

While personal reflections, descriptive essays, and narrative essays are relatively easy to write and may not require high level of know how to write, other types such as dissertations and systematic reviews are complex and require a high “level of know to write”. With regard to the circumstances under which you are writing an essay, factors such as the deadline that you have and whether or not you can refer to external sources dictate how much you need to know to write an essay. If you have an extremely short deadline and are not allowed to consult other sources, such as in an examination environment, you really need to have a considerable amount of background knowledge to write a quality essay on the given subject. On the other hand, if you are not constrained by time and are allowed to refer to other sources, such as when writing an ordinary research paper or term paper, you don’t really need to have a lot of background information on the topic or subject. This is because in the latter case, you have the opportunity to research and gain as much knowledge as is relevant during the essay writing process.

Summary

So if you’re asking, “How much knowledge do I need to write an essay?” or “How much do I need to know to write well?”— the answer is, it depends. In many cases, you don’t really need to have any background knowledge on the subject, topic, or course to write a great essay. You can start from a point of not knowing anything at all on the subject and end up with an absolutely amazing essay or piece. What you need to do is engage in extensive research to learn about the subject you want to write on. That said, the amount of knowledge required for essay writing often depends on the topic’s complexity, the essay type, and the circumstances under which you are writing the essay. A more detailed piece will need extensive research, while a personal reflection might rely more on your personal experience and insights. But remember, you don’t need to be an expert to write an essay—you just need a solid grasp of the main points and some supporting details to bring your ideas to life.

10 Essential Skills for Essay Writing: Learn Academic Writing

Writing a high quality academic essay or paper requires a mix of important skills for essay writing. Whether you are tackling an essay, research paper, dissertation, or any other type of academic paper, the outcome will be measured by three main things; content quality, organisation, and timely delivery.

skills for academic writing With respect to quality content, your essay should answer the question that you are supposed to answer, which means that the content of your essay should be relevant. The content of your essay should also be based on sound reasoning or logic, founded on sound research, and should present different viewpoints and arguments. No one wants to waste their time reading a boring essay and so your essay should be interesting to read. Your essay should also be so organised that it flows naturally or logically, is easy and comfortable to read and understand, and is well presented. If the content, organisation, and structure of your work is top notch and yet you deliver the work well after the deadline that you were given by your professor, superior, or client has passed, your work may ultimately be rejected. Delivering your essay or academic paper within time is one of the ways of avoiding a poor score in college and university. In any case, you never want the effort you have applied towards coming up with a high quality paper to go to waste just because you could not deliver in time.

In order to succeed in academic writing or be able to write a good essay, there are certain skills that you need possess or develop. If you wish to learn academic writing, you definitely wish to pay attention to these skills. Once you develop these skills, you will probably find writing an academic essay or paper to be an easy exercise. What skills do you need to write an essay that stands out? Here’s a look at the skills needed for essay writing that every student should develop and why they matter.

Language proficiency

Academic writing involves communicating ideas. For you to effectively communicate, you should be proficient in the language you will be using in your academic writing work. This means that you have to have adequate knowledge of the language you in terms of grammar and syntax. In simple terms, you should have adequate vocabulary, be able to compose correct sentences, and be able to use punctuation. Having proficiency in the language you are using to write your essay helps you choose the right words, ensuring your ideas are clear and precisely conveyed. This reduces misunderstandings and keeps the reader engaged.

Being able to communicate effectively in the language will help you avoid errors that can distract or confuse those reading your work. Having language proficiency helps you be able to express complex ideas, which is important in persuasive and analytical writing. Having strong vocabulary can help you avoid repetition and add sophistication to your writing, making your arguments more compelling and engaging. Language proficiency also helps you adapt an appropriate tone – whether persuasive, formal, creative, or analytical. Adopting an appropriate tone can render your essay more appealing and appropriate for its intended audience. Language proficiency also contributes to the logical organization of ideas, such as through the use of transition words, sentence variety, and paragraph structure, which contributes to smooth reading.

How to improve writing skills in this area? Read books and literature written in the language, read the dictionary to learn new vocabulary and how to correctly use them, listen attentively when others speak in the language. Having conversations in the language frequently and practicing writing in the language are equally effective ways of gaining language proficiency.

2. Paraphrasing skills

Closely related to language proficiency is paraphrasing skills. Academic writing involves drawing information from different sources and writing this information in your own words. The ability to understand what others are communicating and express the same ideas in your own words is, therefore, an invaluable skill. Paraphrasing involves analysing and reinterpreting other people’s ideas. Your ability to effectively paraphrase the information that you have gotten from other sources can help you avoid or reduce the risk of plagiarism. Avoiding plagiarism is crucial in academic writing as originality and proper source attribution are required. Being able to rephrase what others sources have stated demonstrates your understanding of the material, which often leads to better insights and stronger arguments. Having effective paraphrasing skills additionally helps you seamlessly blend sources into your narrative, which translates to better essay flow, and helps translate complex ideas into powerful statements that support your arguments and thesis.

How to develop essay writing skills like paraphrasing? Build your vocabulary, practice writing in your own words using synonyms and by changing the order of words, and practicing summarising text.

3. Computer skills

Academic writing mostly involves researching online and typing your work on a word processor (such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs). It is, therefore, important that you have at least basic knowledge of how to use the computer and the Internet. This means you need basic knowledge on how to use a word processor and a browser – such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Internet Explorer – to access and find information on the Internet. Having knowledge and experience in using word processing software can make drafting, editing, and formatting your work easier and helps you work more efficiently. Tools such as spell check, grammar suggestion, formatting options, review options, QuillBot, Grammarly and Hemingway help save time, avoid or correct certain errors, and enhance the clarity, readability, and professionalism of your essay. Proficiency in the use of other software (such as statistical, spreadsheet, project management, computer programming) can be an added advantage to you especially if your essay work requires complex data analysis or decision making.

Writing a good academic essay often requires that you access and read a lot of information from multiple sources. With computer skills, you can quickly access a wealth of online resources including databases, libraries, journals, books, and websites which increase the depth and quality of your research. Today, many essays require specific formatting styles (such as APA, Harvard, MLA). Having computer skills makes it easier to apply the specific formatting and presentation styles through the use of formatting tools within the word processor and advanced formatting tools such as MyBib and Mendeley.

Developing your computer skills can be as simple as using a computer regularly, seeking necessary help when using a computer, and searching online for solutions on how to accomplish specific functions or tasks when using computer programs. You can also improve your computer skills by enrolling in a computer course or tutorial.

4. Typing skills

Time is a limited resource that should be used prudently. The existence of deadlines and the fact that several important things compete for your time brings to focus the need to work fast when writing an essay. Having good typing speed allows you to type quickly which makes it easier to capture ideas as they come to your mind or as you paraphrase. It also helps you avoid interruptions, stay focused, and write more efficiently as you write without struggling with mechanics of typing. Your ability to type well often translates to fewer errors and greater accuracy, which in turn helps you spend less time on proofreading and corrections. Your ability to type efficiently can help reduce strain and fatigue especially when you are working on longer essays and projects that require prolonged working periods. Typing faster can help you save time that you can then use for researching, organizing, revising, and polishing the essay.

You can improve your typing skills by practicing to type. The more you type, the faster you will be able to type. You can also improve your typing speed by learning touch typing. Applications such as Typing Master and TypingClub are excellent options for learning touch typing.

5. Research skills

Strong research skills are important skills for essay writing, as academic essays require credible, well-researched sources. In academic writing, you will not just engage in superficial Internet search. The level of research you engage in will ultimately impact on the quality and credibility of your essay. Having good research skills will enable you find several and diverse sources that will deepen your understanding of the topic and make you aware of the different perspectives that you can include in your essay. Having good research skills also allows you to locate reliable and relevant evidence that you can use to support your claims and arguments.

Not all sources that you encounter in the process of essay writing will be credible. Having research skills allows you to quickly screen sources and to identify credible, reliable, and up-to-date sources which you can rely on in writing your essay and boosting strength and validity of your arguments. Having strong referencing skills also help you efficiently organise the information you have, save time thus allowing you to put more focus on writing and analysis. Practicing how to search and find sources online, from databases, and from libraries and how to evaluate sources is a sure way of learning research skills.

6. Critical thinking and analytical skills

Coming up with an excellent essay requires the application of critical and analytical thinking skills. Critical thinking is the kind of thinking which involves questioning, analysing, interpreting, and evaluating the information or ideas you get come up with or get from other sources. Researching only provides you with the information or ideas that you may write. Thereafter, you need to analyse that information and form an opinion based on your findings. This is where critical thinking comes in. Critical or analytical thinking helps you go beyond surface-level observations to analyse concepts, arguments, and data in detail. The result of this is deeper insights and a more thorough exploration of the topic. Critical thinking also enables you analyse issues objectively, taking into consideration multiple points of view leading to quality arguments and conclusions. Critical thinking also enables you to break down a complex topic into smaller parts that are more manageable, analyse relationships, and come up with logical solutions or interpretations. Additionally, critical thinking enables you to develop intellectual independence as you develop the ability to form your own reasoned opinions and conclusions rather than relying on those of other people. This happens as you question assumptions, explore alternatives, and consider different viewpoints.

Learning to question assumptions, appreciating different points of view, being objective when engaging in different activities, and engaging in reflection are important ways you can apply in improving your critical thinking skills. Reading research articles and academic essays written by other people are also potent ways of improving your critical thinking and analytical skills.

7. Argumentation skills

Academic writing often involves argumentation — making claims, providing reasons or evidence to back up or refute those claims, drawing conclusions, and applying the conclusions to the case you are discussing. Argumentation helps you construct a clear, persuasive thesis backed by strong evidence. It also enables you influence the reader’s perspective by presenting compelling reasons and solid support for your position. Strong argumentation skills is fundamental when considering what skills does essay writing give you as it encourages you to develop critical thinking as you analyse sources and consider alternative points of view. This helps you build a more nuanced and robust argument rather than relying on weak or one-sided claims.

Good argumentation skills involve acknowledging and addressing opposing views. This shows that you have considered multiple perspectives, strengthening the overall argument and showing respect for differing opinions. When arguments are well-reasoned, backed by credible evidence, and acknowledge counterarguments, the credibility of your essay increases. Your reader is more likely to take you seriously if you present a balanced and thoughtful perspective.

You probably want to improve your argumentation skills by learning to appreciate different points of view, reading widely, and through academic writing practice.

8. Formatting skills

Formatting is another one of the several skills needed for essay writing. Formatting has to do with the organisation and presentation of your essay. An essay that is well formatted is well organised, easy to read and understand, has good flow and looks professional. Having formatting skills requires attention to detail and demonstrates respect for formatting guidelines and conventions. Having good formatting skills helps you properly organise and format your essay or paper enhancing its readability, flow, and presentation, and appeal to the reader.

Your ability to format a document or file will likely be influenced by your computer skills. Learning how to format will thus be easier if you have at least basic computer skills, giving you a good reason to invest in gaining basic computer skills. You can learn and improve on your formatting skills by reading relevant formatting style guides, practicing how to format in a style that is relevant to you, and by searching for solutions online when you face a formatting challenge. Some of the most commonly used formatting styles in academic writing include APA, MLA and Harvard.

9. Referencing skills

Researching is a crucial and natural element of academic writing. It is through research that you get ideas to write on, alternative viewpoints to consider, and data and evidence to back up your statements and claims. Researching involves reading and understanding other people’s ideas, expressing these ideas, and crediting other people for their ideas. It is important to credit other people with their ideas, views, work, and contributions. Referencing is a means through which you will credit other people for their works, ideas, and contribution to science. Referencing skills help you paraphrase, quote and cite sources correctly. They further help you ethically integrate into your essay the information you have gotten from other sources, avoid plagiarism, and maintain the integrity of your work.

By reading on and practicing how to cite and reference sources from referencing guides and other resources, you will learn how to reference using the referencing styles that may be relevant to you. Learning and practicing how to use one or more referencing managers, such as MyBib, Mendeley, and Cite This For Me can also help you improve your referencing skills.

10. Time management skills

How you manage your time dictates how much time you have to accomplish the different activities involved in essay writing. It also determines the quality of these activities, and whether or not you will deliver your work in time. Good time management allows for thorough research, ensuring that you have enough time to find credible sources, analyse information, and build a well-informed argument. Without sufficient time, the quality of the research may suffer. Writing is a process, and the best essays require multiple drafts and revisions. Effective time management means you will have adequate room for editing, refining arguments, and fixing any mistakes, resulting in a more polished final draft, better quality work, and a more enjoyable writing process. In the work or academic setting, you will probably need to manage multiple assignments and deadlines. Good time management skills help you prioritize tasks, allocate time appropriately, avoid wasting time on tasks that could be completed faster, and avoid missing deadlines. As you can see, time management is crucial for students learning how to improve writing skills.

You can develop your time management skills by always prioritising tasks – performing more urgent or important tasks first and less urgent ones later. Other strategies for developing this skill include always setting realistic goals and deadlines, breaking down large tasks into manageable pieces, taking measures to minimise distractions, and delegating work where this is possible. By focusing on these skills, you can learn how to develop essay writing skills that result in clear, polished, and professional academic papers.

Learn Academic Writing: Introduction to Essay Writing

Introduction to Essay Writing

Academic writing is one of the skills that people and especially students, scholars, and professionals should develop. What is academic writing and is it important to learn academic writing? These are common questions asked by many people, including college, university students, and professionals. Other common questions that people ask are: “Can I learn academic writing”, “where can I learn about writing”, “where can I learn to write an essay?”. If you are interested in learning academic writing or want to learn essay writing, or how write a paper, you better read on. This article serves as your introduction to essay writing and provides essential insights for anyone eager to learn about writing academically.

Learn academic writing

Before diving into academic essay writing and learning how to write a paper, it’s helpful to understand the general concept of writing. Writing is the act of communicating or passing information in written form or using text. Writing can be categorised in different ways. For the purposes of easy essay learning, we may categorise writing into fiction writing, content writing, general writing, and academic writing. Fiction writing involves writing about things mostly drawn from one’s imagination, rather than real life events. In fiction writing, the writer or author invents the characters, setting, plot, dialogues, and themes of the story. Stories included in story books, novellas, and novels are often works of fiction and thus fall under fiction writing. Fiction writing is mainly aimed at providing entertainment to readers. Compared to the other types of writing, fiction writing often requires the highest level of creativity.

Content writing involves writing information that people read online, such as a website copy, blog article, social media post, and email content. When you create a website or blog, you probably need to create and publish content. In other words, you want to make the information you have written available for other people to read so that they can be informed about something (such as products you are selling), entertained, or take some action (such as purchase a product or service that you or someone else is selling).

General writing involves writing information that target a general audience. A general audience includes people with advanced knowledge in some subject or field as well as those with little or no advanced knowledge. The general public is an example of a general audience. Examples of general writing are news articles found in newspapers and popular magazines. You don’t need to be a professional or expert in any field to read the articles in a newspaper. The articles written in the newspaper are often written using simple language that even people with basic education can understand. Such articles are written to be read by the general public; both professionals and people with no professional knowledge in any area.

Academic writing, which is the focus of this article, may also be referred to as scholarly writing, academic essay writing, academic research writing, research writing, or essay writing. Academic writing involves writing content of academic nature. Academic writing is usually done to inform readers, demonstrate knowledge in an academic area, offer evidence for an argument, examine data, or assess existing body of knowledge or viewpoints.

Most colleges and universities require their students and scholars to engage in academic writing as part of the process that leads to their graduation with a certificate, diploma, or degree. This is the case since in most learning institutions, students are required to write essays, research papers, or term papers – all of which fall under academic essay writing – as part of their assignments or examinations. If you have ever done an essay, term paper, or research paper in school, college, or university before, you have actually engaged in academic writing. This is regardless of your performance in the exercise that you engaged in. Academic writing is also used for publications that are read by teachers, scholars, researchers and professionals or presented at conferences.

What is Academic Writing?

Having provided a brief description of writing generally and an introduction to essay writing, it is time to delve a little deeper into the subject of academic writing. What does academic writing involve? Academic writing mostly involves essay writing. This is the reason, academic writing is often referred to simply as essay writing in college and university. Essay writing is the process of sharing complex ideas, opinions, or thoughts in written form. From this description of essay writing, it is clear that if you want to learn academic writing, you need to develop the ability to construct complex arguments and explanations. What this essentially means is that you need to develop the ability to present your views by combining sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into an essay. You also need to develop the ability to express ideas, explanations, and reasoning clearly and make readers understand the topic and the claims or arguments you are making in the essay.

For many people who wish to learn academic writing, the fact that essay writing is at the centre of academic writing makes academic writing scary and something they would rather avoid. This should not be the case for you as you can learn how to write an essay by learning the basics of essay writing, reading how to write different types of essays, and engaging in essay writing practice. Fortunately, we are dedicated to presenting a lot of information on academic writing from which you can learn essay writing for free. Before discussing the basics of academic essay writing and how to write different types of essays, let’s continue with the broader subject of academic writing by focusing on the characteristics of academic writing.

Characteristics of Academic Writing

For those who wish to learn about writing academically, here are the main characteristics of effective academic writing: It is widely agreed that academic writing is well planned and focused, structured, formal in tone and style, and is backed up by evidence.

introduction to essay writing

Planned and focused – Academic writing answers a question and demonstrates an understanding of the subject. An important purpose of academic writing is to aid the reader’s understanding.
Structured – An academic essay is written in a coherent manner and follows a logical order, such as following the general format of introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. As such, an academic essay is well organised and brings together related material and points.
Applies formal tone and style – In academic writing, there is careful use of language and tenses. Academic writing involves clear, concise, and balanced communication and arguments. Additionally, in academic writing, we aim to be neutral, formal, and unbiased.
Evidenced –Academic writing aims to demonstrate knowledge of the subject area you are writing on. It thus involves research, which is referring to other sources of information – such as text books, websites, journal articles, or people – and providing evidence for the information that you provide. It is worth pointing out at this point that even in fiction, general, and content writing, some level of research is often involved as the author may consult other sources of information to get ideas, facts, or even inspiration. Evidence (such as references) is used to support opinions and arguments and work must be accurately referenced.

You need not worry if you still don’t understand what these four main characteristics of academic essays entail. There’s more to these characteristics and we can’t explain them all in one article. You will make sense of the characteristics as you read on and proceed to the basics of academic essay writing. For now, let’s briefly touch on the concept of formal tone with an example.

Let’s compare two sentences to understand tone:

James Abraham Academy teaches learners what they need to know to excel in their exams.
At James Abraham Academy, we do our best to ensure you learn what you need to excel in your exams.

These two statements are generally trying to convey the idea that the academy is focused on teaching learners what they need to learn for them to excel in their examinations. Please read the sentences again and try answering this question: Which of the two statements sounds more friendly, inviting, or personal?

If you chose Statement 2, you are right. But what makes it sound more friendly or personal? Well, it’s because the sentence makes use of first person and second person pronouns (I, we, our, you, your). It sounds like someone is really addressing or talking to you at a personal level. It also sounds like the person is marketing the academy. When we use first and second person pronouns, we tend to create a personal connection between the author and the reader by grouping the author and the reader together. On the other hand, when we use third person pronouns (he, she, it, they), however, like in Statement 1, we sound more formal, neutral and less friendly (we are concerned only with presenting what we think is a fact). We are not really concerned about creating or fostering a personal relationship with our audience. In the table below, we present some of the first, second, and third person pronouns that are commonly used in everyday life.

	First Person	Second Person	Third Person
Singular	I, me, my, myself, mine,	You, your, yours, yourself	He, she, his, hers, herself
Plural	We, us, our, ours, ourselves	You, your, yours, yourselves	They, themselves

In academic writing, we are not concerned with marketing or selling a product but in presenting facts as they are. We are not concerned with pleasing our audience, sounding friendly, or appearing to be welcoming. Rather, we aim to convince our audience (the reader) that our argument or point of view is valid. In academic writing, formal (as opposed to informal) language and tone is used. Statement 2 (above) illustrates the kind of language used in academic writing as it demonstrates the use of formal and neutral tone. As you may notice from the two statements, the choice of words that you use when writing potentially shapes the tone and style of your academic essay.

Academic writing is not necessarily complex and you do not have to use complex or complicated vocabulary and overly long sentences, especially when you are a beginner. You can write good academic essays by using simple, short sentences and everyday vocabulary. In fact, by using simple, straightforward language and sentence structure, you may avoid grammatical and other errors while still presenting your arguments effectively.

It is important to note that when writing an academic essay or paper in a given discipline, you will need to use relevant vocabulary and conventions. For example when writing a paper in biology, you will need to use relevant biological terms (such as osmosis, genes, organisms, tissues, genome, organelles, biosphere, ecosystems, species etc). The use of discipline-relevant terms not only shows your knowledge of the subject you are writing on but also contributes to the conciseness, clarity, and professionalism of your work.

Why is it Important to Learn Academic Writing?

If you’re still asking, “Is it important to learn academic writing?”, the answer is a resounding yes. There are several reasons why you should learn academic writing or develop academic writing skills. With good academic writing skills, you will be able to write strong essays and thereby greatly improve your chances of getting good grades in school or college. This is because academic writing helps you develop strong communication, language, reasoning and critical thinking, and research skills, all of which are necessary for good or excellent academic performance. In addition, by engaging in academic writing, you develop the ability to understand audiences and reach them better and increase your knowledge on different subjects. Knowledge of academic writing is not only important for your life in college or university. Good essay writing skills increase your chances of getting a good job and advancing in your career, especially if your career involves researching, strong written communication, and critical thinking. Additionally, mastering academic essay writing can open up freelance opportunities, enabling you to earn by writing or training others in essay, report, or research writing. Overall, academic writing can greatly contribute to your success as a student, person, and professional.

Types of Assignments in Academic Writing

There are several types of assignments that fall under the umbrella of academic writing and that you’ll likely encounter as a student or someone who wants to learn academic writing well. Some of the types of academic writing works are listed in the table below. Each assignment type provides an opportunity to practice how to write a paper or how to write an essay, both of which are critical skills.

Types of Assignments in Academic Writing

Article critique	Business plan	Poster design/creation
Article review	Application essay	Presentation/Podcast
Book review	Personal journal	Qualitative analysis
Business Report	Literary analysis	Content/ thematic analysis
Case study	Literature review	Discussion board post
Course work	Research paper	Dissertation/ Thesis
Critical review	Movie critique	Research report
Essay	Scholarship essay	Personal reflection
Grant proposal	Marketing plan	Questionnaire design
Lab report	Personal statement	Research proposal
Memo	Statistical analysis	Research proposal
Movie review	Literary analysis	Systematic review
Poster	Research report	Rhetoric analysis
Questionnaire	Book Summary	Scholarship essay
Speech	Business proposal	Case briefs (law)
Term paper	Article summary	Annotated bibliography

Most of the work that is done in academic writing is done in essay form. In college or university, an essay writing assignment may be referred to a “essay”, “term paper”, “research paper” or “academic paper. These terms are often used interchangeably and may be used to mean the same thing – an essay.

Introduction to Essay Writing Summary

In summary, this article offers an introduction to essay writing for those interested in learning academic writing or essay writing for college and university. The article has answered the question “what is academic writing” and has highlighted the characteristics that should be presented in your academic essay. With the knowledge of the characteristics of academic writing in mind, when doing academic writing, you should ensure that your essay or academic writing work is well planned and focused, properly structured, applies formal tone and style, and your ideas and arguments are supported by evidence (mostly in the form of references). When writing an academic essay, you do not necessarily have to use overly long sentences or complex and complicated vocabulary – you can write an excellent paper by keeping it simple. The article has also answered the question, “Is academic writing important”? This article has also presented some of the types of assignments you may encounter as a college student, professional, freelance writer, or consultant. Developing academic writing skills can improve your academic performance and provide a foundation for career success.