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.
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.
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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.