Tips for improving your essay writing

In almost every subject you study at university you will have to write an essay at some point

Writing an essay can be a daunting task - you need to demonstrate to your lecturer that you have understood the question, done your research, thought about what you read and then critically evaluated it.

That's a lot of work - but it's not as impossible as it may seem at first if you follow these simple tips to help you improve your writing and get better grades.

You might be asked to discuss the implications of violating copyright laws in 2,000 words or less.

That's a very broad question with a fairly strict word limit!

You need to find out from whose point of view are you meant to be discussing the implications. A publisher's? A student's? The government's? You should also ask what implications you are expected to focus on. Legal? Commercial? Social?

Ask for an explanation from your teacher or lecturer if you don't understand the question, or how you are supposed to answer it.

A lot of students feel shy or embarrassed to discuss an assignment with their lecturers out of fear that they may be perceived as poor students. But that's not the case!

If you are having difficulties understanding what is required, you need to see your lecturer. They are there to help you learn and asking questions is part of the learning process.

Don't rely on what your friends say - remember that it's the lecturer that sets the assignment and marks your essay.

For example, most lecturers will look for evidence of research and critical thinking, and clear and concise arguments.

After you have written the first draft of your essay, mark yourself using the marking guide.

Try to be as objective as possible and pretend it's not your own essay that you are marking.

Take out a blank piece of paper and jot down ideas that come to your head. You will probably think of some examples or personal experiences that you could use in the essay.

Don't worry too much about how to structure your essay while you are brainstorming. You will work on that later.

Identify some key words or concepts which you can use as a basis for doing some research.

During your brainstorming, you will no doubt come up with some key words that relate to your essay topic.

For example, if you are writing an essay about the implications of copyright violations, you will have probably written down some of the following words or concepts: copyright, piracy, copyright law, copying, books, music, movies, profit and internet.

These words are a useful starting point for doing your research. They will save you time and narrow your searching field.

This is an excellent place to start your research. Most textbooks will have references which will point you to other relevant readings about a particular topic. Think of these references as one link in the chain of research literature.

Once you have found them in your library and read through them, they will lead you to other references and so on.

When you have found a sufficient number of readings and references to answer the essay topic, you need to stop following the chain, otherwise you may get distracted by irrelevant information.

For example, a 2,000 word essay about copyright violations will probably require about 10 to 15 references.

Even though the essay is relatively short, copyright is a topic about which there is lots of information and research.

Give yourself enough time to read and think about what you have collected. Don't underestimate the time you need to read a reference - it may only be five pages, but the content could be quite complex to follow.

Take notes while you are reading and relate them to the key words or concepts you identified in your brainstorming.

This will help you structure your ideas and your essay.

A set of good notes (based on the relevant research) means that your essay is two-thirds complete.

Your friends or family may also have some useful suggestions or interesting examples (anecdotes) that you could quote in your essay to support your arguments.

You should also have a fairly good idea about how to approach the essay having spoken to your lecturer and looked at the marking guide. The final step is to simply structure your essay (that is to decide how and in which order to present your arguments).

Make a plan of your essay by writing down the headings and subheadings you will use, along with a list of points under each heading stating what you will say there. The rest is easy.

These ten tips will help you improve your essay writing, and they are all things to do before you put pen to paper.

The art of good essay writing depends on good planning and preparation, so don't leave it until the day before your essay is due to start.