basic essay writing rules

11 Basic Writing Rules – Common Mistakes & Fixes [2024 Upd.]

Getting your message across may seem a bit harder online than in real life. Though, a whole lot of methods, including audio tracks, videos, animations, and other visuals, are available for you at any second. And let’s not forget about good ol’ text. So, what do you do to win this game?

You need to learn some rules. Writing rules, in our case. It is one of the most accessible methods of sharing your thoughts and ideas.

What’s the bottom line?Follow the basic essay writing rules prepared by our experts below. With them, you’ll be able to deliver perfect messages loud and clear. Make sure to check the provided examples, so it’s easier to understand what we’re talking about.

• 💬 Keep It Short
• 🗣️ Use Active Voice
• 🆗 Include Simple Words
• ⬇ Insert Quotes
• 🔀 Avoid Weak Writing
• ☑ Use Punctuation
• 🖋️ Make It Specific
• 📫 Address Readers
• ↩ Avoid Confusion
• ⏫ Be Consistent
• 🧱 Construct Properly

1. 💬 Keep Your Sentences Short and Simple

To leave your readers satisfied and give them what they came for, you need to act fast. You don’t have time to ramble about random things, so your sentences should be short and straightforward.

The golden rules are:

• You need to be able to fit up to 35 words in it.
• The main focus should be on verbs and nouns.

Also, there’s no need to search for fancy adjectives and adverbs when simpler alternatives are available (we’ll talk about it later). Once again, with short and simple sentences, you’ll be able to beat the reader’s short attention span and deliver your message before they decide to walk away.

2. 🗣️ Use Active Voice in Your Writing

Your writing needs to be more friendly to your readers. They’ll feel more comfortable when you speak directly to them (later, we’ll talk about addressing your reader to make them feel even more comfortable).

Let me help you.

This rule of writing is simple. Just use active voice instead of passive. You’ll see that the text becomes more engaging right away.

3. 🆗 Include Simple Words and Word Combinations

As mentioned earlier, short and simple sentences help to deliver your messages quicker and more effectively. But what’s the point of having short sentences when they’re filled with words that a regular person would rarely use in everyday life?

No one will ever want to look up the meaning of a certain word in the dictionary. Even if you have the best dictionary for writers in the world. Especially when quickly scanning through an article.

It isn’t a grammar rule per se, but it can save you much trouble. When struggling to make strong points, try making your writing easier to digest. With simpler words and word combinations, the message itself becomes clearer.

4. ⬇ Insert Quotes Properly

Sometimes, there’s no better way to strengthen your writing or to make a point than to share other people’s ideas or words. But the infamous short attention span gets in the way here, too. So, you need to make the quotes as efficient as possible.

Here’s the deal:

Include the amount of text that’s just enough to make your point. There’s no need to insert huge paragraphs just for the sake of context. Instead, you can make a short introduction to make a point of a quote clearer.

As long as you don’t alter the meaning, you can edit a quote if it helps to clarify the message.

According to the English grammar rules, it’s also essential to use proper punctuation:

• Add a colon before the quotation if you introduce it with an independent clause.
• Use a comma before the quotation if you introduce it with a verb that indicates expression.
• If there’s a quotation within a quotation, then use single quotation marks for the quotation within the quotation, such as in the third example below.

5. 🔀 Avoid Weak Writing (Use Action Verbs and Strong Adjectives)

So here’s the question:

How can you make strong points with weak writing?

Every word you use has to show that you know what you’re talking about. Your writing needs to express confidence. If it does, your reader won’t have any doubts that they will get what they want.

Include visceral verbs that can help with expressing action. While focusing on them, don’t forget that adjectives can strengthen your writing too. Just make sure not to use ones that require the words very or really before them. Those aren’t strong adjectives and will weaken your writing.

6. ☑ Use Proper Punctuation to Keep the Right Meaning of Your Sentence

Let me clarify this rule for you:

This writing rule doesn’t mean that you have to use the proper rules of punctuation . Instead, it’s about ditching some of those to deliver the right meaning.

A clear message is what makes people keep reading. And you want your visitors to stay on the page as long as possible. This will never happen if your writing is confusing and ambiguous.

So, if a sentence needs an extra comma, add it, even if punctuation rules tell you not to.

If you can separate two thoughts with a period instead of a comma, do so. This way, the meaning of both sentences will be exact and easier to understand.

7. 🖋️ Make Your Writing Specific

While keeping your sentences short and to the point, you also need to provide your reader with enough details. It may seem that this writing rule goes into controversy with the first one.

But here’s the thing:

It will help to make your writing more balanced. You just need to stay focused and make sure that the details you describe are on point. Being specific will help make it easier for you to share your ideas with readers. In turn, your writing becomes effective.

8. 📫 Address Your Reader

Nothing’s more comforting for the reader than when you address them personally. And it doesn’t mean that you have to call them by their name.

Simply use the word “you” whenever it’s possible.

This single word will make your reader feel that you’re in the same room, having a friendly conversation. This is the basic rule of writing and one of the easiest to follow.

9. ↩ Avoid Confusing Terms and Jargon

Not everyone is an expert in a particular sphere. Even if someone is trying to find the information on a specific topic, this doesn’t mean that they know something about it. Readers don’t usually enjoy checking dictionaries every two pages.

You need to keep your writing free of niche jargon and terminology as much as possible. And if it’s impossible to avoid it, provide your reader with more information so that they can understand what you’re talking about.

If your article is easy to understand, it will attract a wider audience and will keep them reading. In particular, if the English language isn’t native to them.

10. ⏫ Be Consistent When Writing

Delivering your message is essential.

But you also want your readers to believe in what you’re saying.

You need to build trust. This basic rule of writing goes together with addressing your reader and making your text specific. It also has to be consistent.

After stating your main point, you need to strengthen it by putting forward additional proof and facts. Describe your idea from different perspectives and points of view.

Even more, you also want to have consistency in the way you build your sentences. Which brings us to the next writing rule.

11. 🧱 Use Properly Constructed Sentences to Make Strong Points

Some might say that you can emphasize specific thoughts and ideas with an exclamation mark . Authors even try to incorporate it in essays and other academic writing.

Here’s the kicker:

This method is relatively poor and won’t add the strength that your writing needs.

Build your sentences correctly. This way, you won’t need any help from exclamation marks to make a strong point. You’ll show readers that it’s worth paying attention to what you talk about without such tools. You can even utilize a text compactor to make the content as concise as possible.

One of the great ways for your sentences to make strong points is to use a parallel structure. It means offering multiple ideas and using consistent grammar forms for a smoother delivery. Incorporating correct prepositional phrases, for example, will demonstrate your writing skills and have a positive effect on your reader.

In conclusion, it’s fair to mention that you can find many more writing rules to pay attention to than just the ones that we’ve listed here. We, however, listed the ones that are easier to follow. Even though these are quite basic writing rules, they often get ignored, leading to poor writing results.

We’re not telling you that you need to follow them all. Following even a single rule of writing can bring you desired results. So feel free to experiment and find ones that are the most suitable for you.

Thank you for reading the article! Share it with others and let us know your opinion in the comment section below.

Learn more on this topic:

• Useful Revising and Editing Checklists
• Essay Checklist: How to Write an A+ Essay
• Common Mistakes in Essay Writing
• Effective Writing Strategies for College Students
• How to Control Words per Page
• 200 Powerful Words to Use Instead of “Good”
• List of Credible Sources
• An Ultimate Punctuation Guide

🔗 References

• 5 Writing Rules That Are Really Guidelines: Brittney Ross, Grammarly Blog
• Effective Writing Grammar Rules: Grammar Book
• Tips on Grammar, Punctuation and Style: Kim Cooper, for the Writing Center at Harvard University
• Count and Noncount Nouns, Basic Rules: Purdue Online Writing Lab, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University
• 10 Rules for Good Writing: Lifehack
• Rules of Style A-to-Z: Writing Style Guide, Western Michigan University
• 5 Comma Rules: Center & Resources, Writing center, Hamilton College
• Subject-Verb Agreement: Grammar, Academic Guides at Walden University
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Thanks a lot for sharing such a helpful article. you made my presentation assignment super easier. Great work. GOD BLESS YOU : )

Thank you so much. You made my assignment easier which is on writing skills. I need to mention it in my references, will you please provide me your full name and place. I will be really grateful.

Kindly refer this content as a webpage. You do not need any names or places.

The rules were written well and easy to understand. I learned more reading this than my own English textbook. Thank you.

Thank you so much for the advice Donna, I will definitely take it into account when writing my book.

Hi Donna – I love your article here. It contains lots of useful tools and tips to write well. I conduct training workshops in email and business writing skills, and am always surprised how many people are still writing like it’s the 60s. Using old-fashioned expressions, passive voice, and writing in a completely different style to how they speak. Life shouldn’t be so difficult! Thanks for this great reminder. I’ll tweet it too.

Dear Shirley,

Thank you very much for taking a moment and writing your feedback. I really appreciate the kind words and sharing my article!

All the best,

Thank you Donna, great resource and interesting read!

13 Rules for Writing Good Essays

To write a good essay, you have to make your message clear..

Posted March 7, 2018 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

To write a good university essay you have to make your message clear. This means organizing your key points, supporting them with a series of evidence-based arguments, and wrapping it all up at the end so the reader knows what they've learned. To do this well, you need to take the reader's perspective. If you can see what might trip them up as they read your work, then you can avoid pitfalls that will confuse or bore them. Here are some tips to help you avoid the easy pitfalls. Once understood, these rules can be broken. But if you're unclear on how to approach your writing, these tips can help.

1. Your opening paragraph should clearly describe what you are going to discuss in the essay. These three things are vital: What’s the thesis (or problem), why is it important, and how are you going to address it? If you have each of those items in your opening paragraph your reader will know what they are reading, why they are reading it, and what they can expect to get out of it.

2. Organize the essay so that it covers a set list of subtopics that each support your main thesis. If it's a long essay, you should break it up into sections with headings that focus on specific subtopics. Introduce these topics in the opening paragraph of the essay (see 1 above). Overall, you want to organize information so it is easy to understand and remember.

3. Start paragraphs with opening sentences that explain what the paragraph is going to say. Then write sentences that follow one from the other and are easy to read. Avoid paragraphs that are too long, that read like lists, or that have no main thesis. Summarize complex paragraphs with concise sentences that explain what the paragraph said.

4. Create transitions between paragraphs so that one paragraph follows from the next. You are trying to make it all easy to understand for your reader. The more organized your writing, the more clearly you will understand and communicate your own ideas.

5. Make your sentences work. Avoid long sentences. When in doubt, break long sentences into smaller sentences. Avoid sentences that are repetitive and don't provide new information. Throw away weak and empty sentences ("Angioplasty is an important procedure." "Emotions are a central element in people's lives."). Sentences also need to be crystal clear. You can check for clarity by making sure they read well. Read them out loud to yourself or have someone else read them out loud to you.

6. Explain novel terms (jargon) when you introduce them . Don’t assume your reader knows what terms mean. Avoid jargon except where it communicates key concepts. Imagine the reader knows less about the topic than you do.

7. In science writing, you can use synonyms for key concepts only when you are first explaining them. After that, use the same word every time to refer to the idea. For example, you might want to write, 'affect,' and then 'emotions,' and then 'feelings.' If you use different words every time you refer to an idea, your reader will get confused. Define a term and then use it consistently.

8. Be careful when you use words like ‘this’ or ‘that’ or ‘their’ or ‘those’ or 'these' or 'they.' These words are often not as tightly connected to what they reference as you think. Check every one of them and see if you can rewrite it more clearly. When you use *these* words carelessly, your reader will need to think more to understand what you are referring to. *That* will break the flow and make it harder to understand what you're actually try to say. *They* (the readers) won't know who you're referring to. By simply stating what you are referring to specifically, you make your writing clear. It is better to be repetitive than unclear.

9. Use concrete information. Concrete information is powerful, is appealing, it is easier to understand, and it sticks in people's memory . Concrete information includes things like examples, statistics, quotes, facts, and other details. The more sentences that go by without communicating new concrete information or ideas that develop your thesis, the more likely your reader is to get bored .

10. If you have an interesting idea, check to see if someone else has already had it. If they have, cite them. Chances are someone has at least hinted at your clever insight, and you can use them as a springboard to say something even more interesting. This will demonstrate scholarship and an understanding of the broader context.

11. Make sure everything is relevant. Don’t include random facts that are not relevant. Don't include extra words that you don't need ("actually," "very," "in many ways," "the fact that"). Don't include paragraphs that have lots of cool facts if they aren't related to your central thesis. These slow down your reader and confuse them because they expect to hear content that is related to your theme. After you write a first draft (where you are just trying to get ideas down on paper), see what you can cut out to focus your argument on what matters.

12. The very best essays provide their own critique. End with something like this before the final summary: Provide criticism of your key point (appropriately referenced). Then provide criticism of the criticizer that you referenced (with another reference). If you can do this well, then in most instances you will have demonstrated thorough understanding of the issues. After this, provide your conclusion.

13. In the conclusion, take a position, make a prediction, or propose some future actions (an experiment, an implication, a new question to be addressed, etc). Summarize your thesis and the evidence you’ve provided in a concise way without being wishy-washy.

You might also be interested in my top 10 job interview tips or top 10 science-based study skills.

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Thomas T. Hills, Ph.D. , is a professor of psychology at University of Warwick.

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Essay Writing: Essay Writing Basics

• Essay Writing Basics
• Purdue OWL Page on Writing Your Thesis This link opens in a new window
• Paragraphs and Transitions
• How to Tell if a Website is Legitimate This link opens in a new window
• Formatting Your References Page
• Cite a Website
• Common Grammatical and Mechanical Errors
• Additional Resources
• Proofread Before You Submit Your Paper
• Structuring the 5-Paragraph Essay

Basic Essay Format

Please Note : These guidelines are general suggestions. When in doubt, please refer to your assignment for specifics.

Most essays consist of three parts:

• the introduction (one paragraph);
• the body (usually at least three paragraphs), and
• the conclusion (one paragraph).

Minimum of 5 paragraphs total

Standard Parts of an Essay

Introduction paragraph (including the thesis statement ).

Begin your paper by introducing your topic. 

Parts of an Introduction paragraph:

• “I danced so much at my birthday party; my feet are killing me!”
• “The surprise birthday party my friends gave me was amazing.”
• “I was so glad that the party remained a secret; my friends from the old neighborhood were there, and most surprisingly, I didn’t know I could still dance so much.”

Be sure your Introduction makes a clear, general point, which you can back up with specifics as you lead to your Thesis Statement.

Thesis Statement

The final sentence in your Introduction paragraph should be your Thesis Statement: a   single, clear, and concise sentence stating your essay’s main idea or argument .

According to Denis Johnson of the Rasmussen College Library , you should t hink of a thesis statement as  one complete sentence that expresses your position or tells your story in a nutshell .

The Thesis Statement should always take a stand and justify further discussion .

3 or More Body Paragraphs (and using Transitions )

Now use the Body of your essay to support the main points you presented in your Thesis Statement. Develop each point using one or more paragraphs, and support each point with specific details . Your details may come from research or your direct experience. Refer to your assignment for required supporting documentation (APA citations.)  Your  analysis and discussion of your topic should tie your narrative together and draw conclusions supporting your thesis.

Use effective transition words and phrases to give your paper “flow,” to connect your ideas, and to move from one supporting statement to another.

Conclusion Paragraph

• “The surprise party my friends had for me was a great reminder of the good old days. It was a wonderful surprise seeing old friends again and have fun like we did when we were younger. My feet will never be the same again.”

Use your conclusion to restate and consolidate all the main points of your essay. You should first restate your Thesis Statement (using slightly different phrasing this time). Give closure to your essay by resolving any outstanding points and leaving your readers with a final thought regarding your argument's future or long-term implications. Your Conclusion is not the place to introduce new ideas or topics that did not appear earlier in your paper.

Don’t forget to cite each source of information you use -  using In-Text Citations throughout your paper and a References page at the end. Use these LibGuides to help you with your In-Text Citations and  References   page.

(Sample Essay excerpts and instructions, thanks to  Professor Deborah Ashby:  Monroe College, Department of Social Sciences)

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Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers

P LANNING, PARAGRAPHING AND POLISHING: FINE-TUNING THE PERFECT ESSAY

Essay writing is an essential skill for every student. Whether writing a particular academic essay (such as persuasive, narrative, descriptive, or expository) or a timed exam essay, the key to getting good at writing is to write. Creating opportunities for our students to engage in extended writing activities will go a long way to helping them improve their skills as scribes.

But, putting the hours in alone will not be enough to attain the highest levels in essay writing. Practice must be meaningful. Once students have a broad overview of how to structure the various types of essays, they are ready to narrow in on the minor details that will enable them to fine-tune their work as a lean vehicle of their thoughts and ideas.

In this article, we will drill down to some aspects that will assist students in taking their essay writing skills up a notch. Many ideas and activities can be integrated into broader lesson plans based on essay writing. Often, though, they will work effectively in isolation – just as athletes isolate physical movements to drill that are relevant to their sport. When these movements become second nature, they can be repeated naturally in the context of the game or in our case, the writing of the essay.

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Planning an essay

The Boys Scouts’ motto is famously ‘Be Prepared’. It’s a solid motto that can be applied to most aspects of life; essay writing is no different. Given the purpose of an essay is generally to present a logical and reasoned argument, investing time in organising arguments, ideas, and structure would seem to be time well spent.

Given that essays can take a wide range of forms and that we all have our own individual approaches to writing, it stands to reason that there will be no single best approach to the planning stage of essay writing. That said, there are several helpful hints and techniques we can share with our students to help them wrestle their ideas into a writable form. Let’s take a look at a few of the best of these:

BREAK THE QUESTION DOWN: UNDERSTAND YOUR ESSAY TOPIC.

Whether students are tackling an assignment that you have set for them in class or responding to an essay prompt in an exam situation, they should get into the habit of analyzing the nature of the task. To do this, they should unravel the question’s meaning or prompt. Students can practice this in class by responding to various essay titles, questions, and prompts, thereby gaining valuable experience breaking these down.

Have students work in groups to underline and dissect the keywords and phrases and discuss what exactly is being asked of them in the task. Are they being asked to discuss, describe, persuade, or explain? Understanding the exact nature of the task is crucial before going any further in the planning process, never mind the writing process .

BRAINSTORM AND MIND MAP WHAT YOU KNOW:

Once students have understood what the essay task asks them, they should consider what they know about the topic and, often, how they feel about it. When teaching essay writing, we so often emphasize that it is about expressing our opinions on things, but for our younger students what they think about something isn’t always obvious, even to themselves.

Brainstorming and mind-mapping what they know about a topic offers them an opportunity to uncover not just what they already know about a topic, but also gives them a chance to reveal to themselves what they think about the topic. This will help guide them in structuring their research and, later, the essay they will write . When writing an essay in an exam context, this may be the only ‘research’ the student can undertake before the writing, so practicing this will be even more important.

RESEARCH YOUR ESSAY

The previous step above should reveal to students the general direction their research will take. With the ubiquitousness of the internet, gone are the days of students relying on a single well-thumbed encyclopaedia from the school library as their sole authoritative source in their essay. If anything, the real problem for our students today is narrowing down their sources to a manageable number. Students should use the information from the previous step to help here. At this stage, it is important that they:

●      Ensure the research material is directly relevant to the essay task

●      Record in detail the sources of the information that they will use in their essay

●      Engage with the material personally by asking questions and challenging their own biases

●      Identify the key points that will be made in their essay

●      Group ideas, counterarguments, and opinions together

●      Identify the overarching argument they will make in their own essay.

Once these stages have been completed the student is ready to organise their points into a logical order.

WRITING YOUR ESSAY

There are a number of ways for students to organize their points in preparation for writing. They can use graphic organizers , post-it notes, or any number of available writing apps. The important thing for them to consider here is that their points should follow a logical progression. This progression of their argument will be expressed in the form of body paragraphs that will inform the structure of their finished essay.

The number of paragraphs contained in an essay will depend on a number of factors such as word limits, time limits, the complexity of the question etc. Regardless of the essay’s length, students should ensure their essay follows the Rule of Three in that every essay they write contains an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Generally speaking, essay paragraphs will focus on one main idea that is usually expressed in a topic sentence that is followed by a series of supporting sentences that bolster that main idea. The first and final sentences are of the most significance here with the first sentence of a paragraph making the point to the reader and the final sentence of the paragraph making the overall relevance to the essay’s argument crystal clear. 

Though students will most likely be familiar with the broad generic structure of essays, it is worth investing time to ensure they have a clear conception of how each part of the essay works, that is, of the exact nature of the task it performs. Let’s review:

Common Essay Structure

Introduction: Provides the reader with context for the essay. It states the broad argument that the essay will make and informs the reader of the writer’s general perspective and approach to the question.

Body Paragraphs: These are the ‘meat’ of the essay and lay out the argument stated in the introduction point by point with supporting evidence.

Conclusion: Usually, the conclusion will restate the central argument while summarising the essay’s main supporting reasons before linking everything back to the original question.

ESSAY WRITING PARAGRAPH WRITING TIPS

●      Each paragraph should focus on a single main idea

●      Paragraphs should follow a logical sequence; students should group similar ideas together to avoid incoherence

●      Paragraphs should be denoted consistently; students should choose either to indent or skip a line

●      Transition words and phrases such as alternatively , consequently , in contrast should be used to give flow and provide a bridge between paragraphs.

HOW TO EDIT AN ESSAY

Students shouldn’t expect their essays to emerge from the writing process perfectly formed. Except in exam situations and the like, thorough editing is an essential aspect in the writing process. 

Often, students struggle with this aspect of the process the most. After spending hours of effort on planning, research, and writing the first draft, students can be reluctant to go back over the same terrain they have so recently travelled. It is important at this point to give them some helpful guidelines to help them to know what to look out for. The following tips will provide just such help: 

One Piece at a Time: There is a lot to look out for in the editing process and often students overlook aspects as they try to juggle too many balls during the process. One effective strategy to combat this is for students to perform a number of rounds of editing with each focusing on a different aspect. For example, the first round could focus on content, the second round on looking out for word repetition (use a thesaurus to help here), with the third attending to spelling and grammar.

Sum It Up: When reviewing the paragraphs they have written, a good starting point is for students to read each paragraph and attempt to sum up its main point in a single line. If this is not possible, their readers will most likely have difficulty following their train of thought too and the paragraph needs to be overhauled.

Let It Breathe: When possible, encourage students to allow some time for their essay to ‘breathe’ before returning to it for editing purposes. This may require some skilful time management on the part of the student, for example, a student rush-writing the night before the deadline does not lend itself to effective editing. Fresh eyes are one of the sharpest tools in the writer’s toolbox.

Read It Aloud: This time-tested editing method is a great way for students to identify mistakes and typos in their work. We tend to read things more slowly when reading aloud giving us the time to spot errors. Also, when we read silently our minds can often fill in the gaps or gloss over the mistakes that will become apparent when we read out loud.

Phone a Friend: Peer editing is another great way to identify errors that our brains may miss when reading our own work. Encourage students to partner up for a little ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’.

Use Tech Tools: We need to ensure our students have the mental tools to edit their own work and for this they will need a good grasp of English grammar and punctuation. However, there are also a wealth of tech tools such as spellcheck and grammar checks that can offer a great once-over option to catch anything students may have missed in earlier editing rounds.

Putting the Jewels on Display: While some struggle to edit, others struggle to let go. There comes a point when it is time for students to release their work to the reader. They must learn to relinquish control after the creation is complete. This will be much easier to achieve if the student feels that they have done everything in their control to ensure their essay is representative of the best of their abilities and if they have followed the advice here, they should be confident they have done so.

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How To Write An Essay: Beginner Tips And Tricks

Updated: July 11, 2022

Published: June 22, 2021

Many students dread writing essays, but essay writing is an important skill to develop in high school, university, and even into your future career. By learning how to write an essay properly, the process can become more enjoyable and you’ll find you’re better able to organize and articulate your thoughts.

When writing an essay, it’s common to follow a specific pattern, no matter what the topic is. Once you’ve used the pattern a few times and you know how to structure an essay, it will become a lot more simple to apply your knowledge to every essay. 

No matter which major you choose, you should know how to craft a good essay. Here, we’ll cover the basics of essay writing, along with some helpful tips to make the writing process go smoothly.

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

Types of Essays

Think of an essay as a discussion. There are many types of discussions you can have with someone else. You can be describing a story that happened to you, you might explain to them how to do something, or you might even argue about a certain topic. 

When it comes to different types of essays, it follows a similar pattern. Like a friendly discussion, each type of essay will come with its own set of expectations or goals. 

For example, when arguing with a friend, your goal is to convince them that you’re right. The same goes for an argumentative essay. 

Here are a few of the main essay types you can expect to come across during your time in school:

Narrative Essay

This type of essay is almost like telling a story, not in the traditional sense with dialogue and characters, but as if you’re writing out an event or series of events to relay information to the reader.

Persuasive Essay

Here, your goal is to persuade the reader about your views on a specific topic.

Descriptive Essay

This is the kind of essay where you go into a lot more specific details describing a topic such as a place or an event. 

Argumentative Essay

In this essay, you’re choosing a stance on a topic, usually controversial, and your goal is to present evidence that proves your point is correct.

Expository Essay

Your purpose with this type of essay is to tell the reader how to complete a specific process, often including a step-by-step guide or something similar.

Compare and Contrast Essay

You might have done this in school with two different books or characters, but the ultimate goal is to draw similarities and differences between any two given subjects.

The Main Stages of Essay Writing

When it comes to writing an essay, many students think the only stage is getting all your ideas down on paper and submitting your work. However, that’s not quite the case. 

There are three main stages of writing an essay, each one with its own purpose. Of course, writing the essay itself is the most substantial part, but the other two stages are equally as important.

So, what are these three stages of essay writing? They are:

Preparation

Before you even write one word, it’s important to prepare the content and structure of your essay. If a topic wasn’t assigned to you, then the first thing you should do is settle on a topic. Next, you want to conduct your research on that topic and create a detailed outline based on your research. The preparation stage will make writing your essay that much easier since, with your outline and research, you should already have the skeleton of your essay.

Writing is the most time-consuming stage. In this stage, you will write out all your thoughts and ideas and craft your essay based on your outline. You’ll work on developing your ideas and fleshing them out throughout the introduction, body, and conclusion (more on these soon).

In the final stage, you’ll go over your essay and check for a few things. First, you’ll check if your essay is cohesive, if all the points make sense and are related to your topic, and that your facts are cited and backed up. You can also check for typos, grammar and punctuation mistakes, and formatting errors.  

The Five-Paragraph Essay

We mentioned earlier that essay writing follows a specific structure, and for the most part in academic or college essays , the five-paragraph essay is the generally accepted structure you’ll be expected to use. 

The five-paragraph essay is broken down into one introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a closing paragraph. However, that doesn’t always mean that an essay is written strictly in five paragraphs, but rather that this structure can be used loosely and the three body paragraphs might become three sections instead.

Let’s take a closer look at each section and what it entails.

Introduction

As the name implies, the purpose of your introduction paragraph is to introduce your idea. A good introduction begins with a “hook,” something that grabs your reader’s attention and makes them excited to read more. 

Another key tenant of an introduction is a thesis statement, which usually comes towards the end of the introduction itself. Your thesis statement should be a phrase that explains your argument, position, or central idea that you plan on developing throughout the essay. 

You can also include a short outline of what to expect in your introduction, including bringing up brief points that you plan on explaining more later on in the body paragraphs.

Here is where most of your essay happens. The body paragraphs are where you develop your ideas and bring up all the points related to your main topic. 

In general, you’re meant to have three body paragraphs, or sections, and each one should bring up a different point. Think of it as bringing up evidence. Each paragraph is a different piece of evidence, and when the three pieces are taken together, it backs up your main point — your thesis statement — really well.

That being said, you still want each body paragraph to be tied together in some way so that the essay flows. The points should be distinct enough, but they should relate to each other, and definitely to your thesis statement. Each body paragraph works to advance your point, so when crafting your essay, it’s important to keep this in mind so that you avoid going off-track or writing things that are off-topic.

Many students aren’t sure how to write a conclusion for an essay and tend to see their conclusion as an afterthought, but this section is just as important as the rest of your work. 

You shouldn’t be presenting any new ideas in your conclusion, but you should summarize your main points and show how they back up your thesis statement. 

Essentially, the conclusion is similar in structure and content to the introduction, but instead of introducing your essay, it should be wrapping up the main thoughts and presenting them to the reader as a singular closed argument. 

Photo by AMIT RANJAN on Unsplash

Steps to Writing an Essay

Now that you have a better idea of an essay’s structure and all the elements that go into it, you might be wondering what the different steps are to actually write your essay. 

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Instead of going in blind, follow these steps on how to write your essay from start to finish.

Understand Your Assignment

When writing an essay for an assignment, the first critical step is to make sure you’ve read through your assignment carefully and understand it thoroughly. You want to check what type of essay is required, that you understand the topic, and that you pay attention to any formatting or structural requirements. You don’t want to lose marks just because you didn’t read the assignment carefully.

Research Your Topic

Once you understand your assignment, it’s time to do some research. In this step, you should start looking at different sources to get ideas for what points you want to bring up throughout your essay. 

Search online or head to the library and get as many resources as possible. You don’t need to use them all, but it’s good to start with a lot and then narrow down your sources as you become more certain of your essay’s direction.

Start Brainstorming

After research comes the brainstorming. There are a lot of different ways to start the brainstorming process . Here are a few you might find helpful:

• Think about what you found during your research that interested you the most
• Jot down all your ideas, even if they’re not yet fully formed
• Create word clouds or maps for similar terms or ideas that come up so you can group them together based on their similarities
• Try freewriting to get all your ideas out before arranging them

Create a Thesis

This is often the most tricky part of the whole process since you want to create a thesis that’s strong and that you’re about to develop throughout the entire essay. Therefore, you want to choose a thesis statement that’s broad enough that you’ll have enough to say about it, but not so broad that you can’t be precise. 

Write Your Outline

Armed with your research, brainstorming sessions, and your thesis statement, the next step is to write an outline. 

In the outline, you’ll want to put your thesis statement at the beginning and start creating the basic skeleton of how you want your essay to look. 

A good way to tackle an essay is to use topic sentences . A topic sentence is like a mini-thesis statement that is usually the first sentence of a new paragraph. This sentence introduces the main idea that will be detailed throughout the paragraph. 

If you create an outline with the topic sentences for your body paragraphs and then a few points of what you want to discuss, you’ll already have a strong starting point when it comes time to sit down and write. This brings us to our next step… 

Write a First Draft

The first time you write your entire essay doesn’t need to be perfect, but you do need to get everything on the page so that you’re able to then write a second draft or review it afterward. 

Everyone’s writing process is different. Some students like to write their essay in the standard order of intro, body, and conclusion, while others prefer to start with the “meat” of the essay and tackle the body, and then fill in the other sections afterward. 

Make sure your essay follows your outline and that everything relates to your thesis statement and your points are backed up by the research you did. 

Revise, Edit, and Proofread

The revision process is one of the three main stages of writing an essay, yet many people skip this step thinking their work is done after the first draft is complete. 

However, proofreading, reviewing, and making edits on your essay can spell the difference between a B paper and an A.

After writing the first draft, try and set your essay aside for a few hours or even a day or two, and then come back to it with fresh eyes to review it. You might find mistakes or inconsistencies you missed or better ways to formulate your arguments.

Add the Finishing Touches

Finally, you’ll want to make sure everything that’s required is in your essay. Review your assignment again and see if all the requirements are there, such as formatting rules, citations, quotes, etc. 

Go over the order of your paragraphs and make sure everything makes sense, flows well, and uses the same writing style . 

Once everything is checked and all the last touches are added, give your essay a final read through just to ensure it’s as you want it before handing it in. 

A good way to do this is to read your essay out loud since you’ll be able to hear if there are any mistakes or inaccuracies.

Essay Writing Tips

With the steps outlined above, you should be able to craft a great essay. Still, there are some other handy tips we’d recommend just to ensure that the essay writing process goes as smoothly as possible.

• Start your essay early. This is the first tip for a reason. It’s one of the most important things you can do to write a good essay. If you start it the night before, then you won’t have enough time to research, brainstorm, and outline — and you surely won’t have enough time to review.
• Don’t try and write it in one sitting. It’s ok if you need to take breaks or write it over a few days. It’s better to write it in multiple sittings so that you have a fresh mind each time and you’re able to focus.
• Always keep the essay question in mind. If you’re given an assigned question, then you should always keep it handy when writing your essay to make sure you’re always working to answer the question.
• Use transitions between paragraphs. In order to improve the readability of your essay, try and make clear transitions between paragraphs. This means trying to relate the end of one paragraph to the beginning of the next one so the shift doesn’t seem random.
• Integrate your research thoughtfully. Add in citations or quotes from your research materials to back up your thesis and main points. This will show that you did the research and that your thesis is backed up by it.

Wrapping Up

Writing an essay doesn’t need to be daunting if you know how to approach it. Using our essay writing steps and tips, you’ll have better knowledge on how to write an essay and you’ll be able to apply it to your next assignment. Once you do this a few times, it will become more natural to you and the essay writing process will become quicker and easier.

If you still need assistance with your essay, check with a student advisor to see if they offer help with writing. At University of the People(UoPeople), we always want our students to succeed, so our student advisors are ready to help with writing skills when necessary. 

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11 Rules for Essay Paragraph Structure (with Examples)

How do you structure a paragraph in an essay?

If you’re like the majority of my students, you might be getting your basic essay paragraph structure wrong and getting lower grades than you could!

In this article, I outline the 11 key steps to writing a perfect paragraph. But, this isn’t your normal ‘how to write an essay’ article. Rather, I’ll try to give you some insight into exactly what teachers look out for when they’re grading essays and figuring out what grade to give them.

You can navigate each issue below, or scroll down to read them all:

1. Paragraphs must be at least four sentences long 2. But, at most seven sentences long 3. Your paragraph must be Left-Aligned 4. You need a topic sentence 5 . Next, you need an explanation sentence 6. You need to include an example 7. You need to include citations 8. All paragraphs need to be relevant to the marking criteria 9. Only include one key idea per paragraph 10. Keep sentences short 11. Keep quotes short

Paragraph structure is one of the most important elements of getting essay writing right .

As I cover in my Ultimate Guide to Writing an Essay Plan , paragraphs are the heart and soul of your essay.

However, I find most of my students have either:

• forgotten how to write paragraphs properly,
• gotten lazy, or
• never learned it in the first place!

Paragraphs in essay writing are different from paragraphs in other written genres .

In fact, the paragraphs that you are reading now would not help your grades in an essay.

That’s because I’m writing in journalistic style, where paragraph conventions are vastly different.

For those of you coming from journalism or creative writing, you might find you need to re-learn paragraph writing if you want to write well-structured essay paragraphs to get top grades.

Below are eleven reasons your paragraphs are losing marks, and what to do about it!

Essay Paragraph Structure Rules

1. your paragraphs must be at least 4 sentences long.

In journalism and blog writing, a one-sentence paragraph is great. It’s short, to-the-point, and helps guide your reader. For essay paragraph structure, one-sentence paragraphs suck.

A one-sentence essay paragraph sends an instant signal to your teacher that you don’t have much to say on an issue.

A short paragraph signifies that you know something – but not much about it. A one-sentence paragraph lacks detail, depth and insight.

Many students come to me and ask, “what does ‘add depth’ mean?” It’s one of the most common pieces of feedback you’ll see written on the margins of your essay.

Personally, I think ‘add depth’ is bad feedback because it’s a short and vague comment. But, here’s what it means: You’ve not explained your point enough!

If you’re writing one-, two- or three-sentence essay paragraphs, you’re costing yourself marks.

Always aim for at least four sentences per paragraph in your essays.

This doesn’t mean that you should add ‘fluff’ or ‘padding’ sentences.

Make sure you don’t:

a) repeat what you said in different words, or b) write something just because you need another sentence in there.

But, you need to do some research and find something insightful to add to that two-sentence paragraph if you want to ace your essay.

Check out Points 5 and 6 for some advice on what to add to that short paragraph to add ‘depth’ to your paragraph and start moving to the top of the class.

• How to Make an Essay Longer
• How to Make an Essay Shorter

2. Your Paragraphs must not be more than 7 Sentences Long

Okay, so I just told you to aim for at least four sentences per paragraph. So, what’s the longest your paragraph should be?

Seven sentences. That’s a maximum.

So, here’s the rule:

Between four and seven sentences is the sweet spot that you need to aim for in every single paragraph.

Here’s why your paragraphs shouldn’t be longer than seven sentences:

1. It shows you can organize your thoughts. You need to show your teacher that you’ve broken up your key ideas into manageable segments of text (see point 10)

2. It makes your work easier to read.   You need your writing to be easily readable to make it easy for your teacher to give you good grades. Make your essay easy to read and you’ll get higher marks every time.

One of the most important ways you can make your work easier to read is by writing paragraphs that are less than six sentences long.

3. It prevents teacher frustration. Teachers are just like you. When they see a big block of text their eyes glaze over. They get frustrated, lost, their mind wanders … and you lose marks.

To prevent teacher frustration, you need to ensure there’s plenty of white space in your essay. It’s about showing them that the piece is clearly structured into one key idea per ‘chunk’ of text.

Often, you might find that your writing contains tautologies and other turns of phrase that can be shortened for clarity.

3. Your Paragraph must be Left-Aligned

Turn off ‘Justified’ text and: Never. Turn. It. On. Again.

Justified text is where the words are stretched out to make the paragraph look like a square. It turns the writing into a block. Don’t do it. You will lose marks, I promise you! Win the psychological game with your teacher: left-align your text.

A good essay paragraph is never ‘justified’.

I’m going to repeat this, because it’s important: to prevent your essay from looking like a big block of muddy, hard-to-read text align your text to the left margin only.

You want white space on your page – and lots of it. White space helps your reader scan through your work. It also prevents it from looking like big blocks of text.

You want your reader reading vertically as much as possible: scanning, browsing, and quickly looking through for evidence you’ve engaged with the big ideas.

The justified text doesn’t help you do that. Justified text makes your writing look like a big, lumpy block of text that your reader doesn’t want to read.

What’s wrong with Center-Aligned Text?

While I’m at it, never, ever, center-align your text either. Center-aligned text is impossible to skim-read. Your teacher wants to be able to quickly scan down the left margin to get the headline information in your paragraph.

Not many people center-align text, but it’s worth repeating: never, ever center-align your essays.

Don’t annoy your reader. Left align your text.

4. Your paragraphs must have a Topic Sentence

The first sentence of an essay paragraph is called the topic sentence. This is one of the most important sentences in the correct essay paragraph structure style.

The topic sentence should convey exactly what key idea you’re going to cover in your paragraph.

Too often, students don’t let their reader know what the key idea of the paragraph is until several sentences in.

You must show what the paragraph is about in the first sentence.

You never, ever want to keep your reader in suspense. Essays are not like creative writing. Tell them straight away what the paragraph is about. In fact, if you can, do it in the first half of the first sentence .

I’ll remind you again: make it easy to grade your work. Your teacher is reading through your work trying to determine what grade to give you. They’re probably going to mark 20 assignments in one sitting. They have no interest in storytelling or creativity. They just want to know how much you know! State what the paragraph is about immediately and move on.

Suggested: Best Words to Start a Paragraph

Ideal Essay Paragraph Structure Example: Writing a Topic Sentence If your paragraph is about how climate change is endangering polar bears, say it immediately : “Climate change is endangering polar bears.” should be your first sentence in your paragraph. Take a look at first sentence of each of the four paragraphs above this one. You can see from the first sentence of each paragraph that the paragraphs discuss:

When editing your work, read each paragraph and try to distil what the one key idea is in your paragraph. Ensure that this key idea is mentioned in the first sentence .

(Note: if there’s more than one key idea in the paragraph, you may have a problem. See Point 9 below .)

The topic sentence is the most important sentence for getting your essay paragraph structure right. So, get your topic sentences right and you’re on the right track to a good essay paragraph.

5. You need an Explanation Sentence

All topic sentences need a follow-up explanation. The very first point on this page was that too often students write paragraphs that are too short. To add what is called ‘depth’ to a paragraph, you can come up with two types of follow-up sentences: explanations and examples.

Let’s take explanation sentences first.

Explanation sentences give additional detail. They often provide one of the following services:

Let’s go back to our example of a paragraph on Climate change endangering polar bears. If your topic sentence is “Climate change is endangering polar bears.”, then your follow-up explanation sentence is likely to explain how, why, where, or when. You could say:

Ideal Essay Paragraph Structure Example: Writing Explanation Sentences 1. How: “The warming atmosphere is melting the polar ice caps.” 2. Why: “The polar bears’ habitats are shrinking every single year.” 3. Where: “This is happening in the Antarctic ice caps near Greenland.” 4. When: “Scientists first noticed the ice caps were shrinking in 1978.”

You don’t have to provide all four of these options each time.

But, if you’re struggling to think of what to add to your paragraph to add depth, consider one of these four options for a good quality explanation sentence.

>>>RELATED ARTICLE: SHOULD YOU USE RHETORICAL QUESTIONS IN ESSAYS ?

6. Your need to Include an Example

Examples matter! They add detail. They also help to show that you genuinely understand the issue. They show that you don’t just understand a concept in the abstract; you also understand how things work in real life.

Example sentences have the added benefit of personalising an issue. For example, after saying “Polar bears’ habitats are shrinking”, you could note specific habitats, facts and figures, or even a specific story about a bear who was impacted.

Ideal Essay Paragraph Structure Example: Writing an ‘Example’ Sentence “For example, 770,000 square miles of Arctic Sea Ice has melted in the past four decades, leading Polar Bear populations to dwindle ( National Geographic, 2018 )

In fact, one of the most effective politicians of our times – Barrack Obama – was an expert at this technique. He would often provide examples of people who got sick because they didn’t have healthcare to sell Obamacare.

What effect did this have? It showed the real-world impact of his ideas. It humanised him, and got him elected president – twice!

Be like Obama. Provide examples. Often.

7. All Paragraphs need Citations

Provide a reference to an academic source in every single body paragraph in the essay. The only two paragraphs where you don’t need a reference is the introduction and conclusion .

Let me repeat: Paragraphs need at least one reference to a quality scholarly source .

Let me go even further:

Students who get the best marks provide two references to two different academic sources in every paragraph.

Two references in a paragraph show you’ve read widely, cross-checked your sources, and given the paragraph real thought.

It’s really important that these references link to academic sources, not random websites, blogs or YouTube videos. Check out our Seven Best types of Sources to Cite in Essays post to get advice on what sources to cite. Number 6 w ill surprise you!

Ideal Essay Paragraph Structure Example: In-Text Referencing in Paragraphs Usually, in-text referencing takes the format: (Author, YEAR), but check your school’s referencing formatting requirements carefully. The ‘Author’ section is the author’s last name only. Not their initials. Not their first name. Just their last name . My name is Chris Drew. First name Chris, last name Drew. If you were going to reference an academic article I wrote in 2019, you would reference it like this: (Drew, 2019).

Where do you place those two references?

Place the first reference at the end of the first half of the paragraph. Place the second reference at the end of the second half of the paragraph.

This spreads the references out and makes it look like all the points throughout the paragraph are backed up by your sources. The goal is to make it look like you’ve reference regularly when your teacher scans through your work.

Remember, teachers can look out for signposts that indicate you’ve followed academic conventions and mentioned the right key ideas.

Spreading your referencing through the paragraph helps to make it look like you’ve followed the academic convention of referencing sources regularly.

Here are some examples of how to reference twice in a paragraph:

• If your paragraph was six sentences long, you would place your first reference at the end of the third sentence and your second reference at the end of the sixth sentence.
• If your paragraph was five sentences long, I would recommend placing one at the end of the second sentence and one at the end of the fifth sentence.

You’ve just read one of the key secrets to winning top marks.

8. Every Paragraph must be relevant to the Marking Criteria

Every paragraph must win you marks. When you’re editing your work, check through the piece to see if every paragraph is relevant to the marking criteria.

For the British: In the British university system (I’m including Australia and New Zealand here – I’ve taught at universities in all three countries), you’ll usually have a ‘marking criteria’. It’s usually a list of between two and six key learning outcomes your teacher needs to use to come up with your score. Sometimes it’s called a:

• Marking criteria
• Marking rubric
• (Key) learning outcome
• Indicative content

Check your assignment guidance to see if this is present. If so, use this list of learning outcomes to guide what you write. If your paragraphs are irrelevant to these key points, delete the paragraph .

Paragraphs that don’t link to the marking criteria are pointless. They won’t win you marks.

For the Americans: If you don’t have a marking criteria / rubric / outcomes list, you’ll need to stick closely to the essay question or topic. This goes out to those of you in the North American system. North America (including USA and Canada here) is often less structured and the professor might just give you a topic to base your essay on.

If all you’ve got is the essay question / topic, go through each paragraph and make sure each paragraph is relevant to the topic.

For example, if your essay question / topic is on “The Effects of Climate Change on Polar Bears”,

• Don’t talk about anything that doesn’t have some connection to climate change and polar bears;
• Don’t talk about the environmental impact of oil spills in the Gulf of Carpentaria;
• Don’t talk about black bear habitats in British Columbia.
• Do talk about the effects of climate change on polar bears (and relevant related topics) in every single paragraph .

You may think ‘stay relevant’ is obvious advice, but at least 20% of all essays I mark go off on tangents and waste words.

Stay on topic in Every. Single. Paragraph. If you want to learn more about how to stay on topic, check out our essay planning guide .

9. Only have one Key Idea per Paragraph

One key idea for each paragraph. One key idea for each paragraph. One key idea for each paragraph.

Don’t forget!

Too often, a student starts a paragraph talking about one thing and ends it talking about something totally different. Don’t be that student.

To ensure you’re focussing on one key idea in your paragraph, make sure you know what that key idea is. It should be mentioned in your topic sentence (see Point 3 ). Every other sentence in the paragraph adds depth to that one key idea.

If you’ve got sentences in your paragraph that are not relevant to the key idea in the paragraph, they don’t fit. They belong in another paragraph.

Go through all your paragraphs when editing your work and check to see if you’ve veered away from your paragraph’s key idea. If so, you might have two or even three key ideas in the one paragraph.

You’re going to have to get those additional key ideas, rip them out, and give them paragraphs of their own.

If you have more than one key idea in a paragraph you will lose marks. I promise you that.

The paragraphs will be too hard to read, your reader will get bogged down reading rather than scanning, and you’ll have lost grades.

10. Keep Sentences Short

If a sentence is too long it gets confusing. When the sentence is confusing, your reader will stop reading your work. They will stop reading the paragraph and move to the next one. They’ll have given up on your paragraph.

Short, snappy sentences are best.

Shorter sentences are easier to read and they make more sense. Too often, students think they have to use big, long, academic words to get the best marks. Wrong. Aim for clarity in every sentence in the paragraph. Your teacher will thank you for it.

The students who get the best marks write clear, short sentences.

When editing your draft, go through your essay and see if you can shorten your longest five sentences.

(To learn more about how to write the best quality sentences, see our page on Seven ways to Write Amazing Sentences .)

11. Keep Quotes Short

Eighty percent of university teachers hate quotes. That’s not an official figure. It’s my guestimate based on my many interactions in faculty lounges. Twenty percent don’t mind them, but chances are your teacher is one of the eight out of ten who hate quotes.

Teachers tend to be turned off by quotes because it makes it look like you don’t know how to say something on your own words.

Now that I’ve warned you, here’s how to use quotes properly:

Ideal Essay Paragraph Structure Example: How To Use Quotes in University-Level Essay Paragraphs 1. Your quote should be less than one sentence long. 2. Your quote should be less than one sentence long. 3. You should never start a sentence with a quote. 4. You should never end a paragraph with a quote. 5 . You should never use more than five quotes per essay. 6. Your quote should never be longer than one line in a paragraph.

The minute your teacher sees that your quote takes up a large chunk of your paragraph, you’ll have lost marks.

Your teacher will circle the quote, write a snarky comment in the margin, and not even bother to give you points for the key idea in the paragraph.

Avoid quotes, but if you really want to use them, follow those five rules above.

I’ve also provided additional pages outlining Seven tips on how to use Quotes if you want to delve deeper into how, when and where to use quotes in essays. Be warned: quoting in essays is harder than you thought.

Follow the advice above and you’ll be well on your way to getting top marks at university.

Writing essay paragraphs that are well structured takes time and practice. Don’t be too hard on yourself and keep on trying!

Below is a summary of our 11 key mistakes for structuring essay paragraphs and tips on how to avoid them.

I’ve also provided an easy-to-share infographic below that you can share on your favorite social networking site. Please share it if this article has helped you out!

11 Biggest Essay Paragraph Structure Mistakes you’re probably Making

1.  Your paragraphs are too short 2.  Your paragraphs are too long 3.  Your paragraph alignment is ‘Justified’ 4.  Your paragraphs are missing a topic sentence 5 .  Your paragraphs are missing an explanation sentence 6.  Your paragraphs are missing an example 7.  Your paragraphs are missing references 8.  Your paragraphs are not relevant to the marking criteria 9.  You’re trying to fit too many ideas into the one paragraph 10.  Your sentences are too long 11.  Your quotes are too long

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Animism Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 10 Magical Thinking Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Social-Emotional Learning (Definition, Examples, Pros & Cons)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ What is Educational Psychology?

4 thoughts on “11 Rules for Essay Paragraph Structure (with Examples)”

Hello there. I noticed that throughout this article on Essay Writing, you keep on saying that the teacher won’t have time to go through the entire essay. Don’t you think this is a bit discouraging that with all the hard work and time put into your writing, to know that the teacher will not read through the entire paper?

Hi Clarence,

Thanks so much for your comment! I love to hear from readers on their thoughts.

Yes, I agree that it’s incredibly disheartening.

But, I also think students would appreciate hearing the truth.

Behind closed doors many / most university teachers are very open about the fact they ‘only have time to skim-read papers’. They regularly bring this up during heated faculty meetings about contract negotiations! I.e. in one university I worked at, we were allocated 45 minutes per 10,000 words – that’s just over 4 minutes per 1,000 word essay, and that’d include writing the feedback, too!

If students know the truth, they can better write their essays in a way that will get across the key points even from a ‘skim-read’.

I hope to write candidly on this website – i.e. some of this info will never be written on university blogs because universities want to hide these unfortunate truths from students.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Regards, Chris

This is wonderful and helpful, all I say is thank you very much. Because I learned a lot from this site, own by chris thank you Sir.

Thank you. This helped a lot.

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Essential Rules for Academic Writing: A Beginner’s Guide

Unlock the key rules for academic writing: from structure to citations. Master scholarly communication with expert insights.

Mastering the art of academic writing is a fundamental skill that empowers students and researchers to express their ideas, convey complex concepts, and contribute meaningfully to their respective fields. However, for beginners venturing into the realm of scholarly writing, navigating the intricacies of this formal discourse can be a daunting task.

“Essential Rules for Academic Writing: A Beginner’s Guide” serves as a beacon of guidance, illuminating the path for aspiring scholars as they embark on their academic journey. This comprehensive article offers invaluable insights into the fundamental principles and key rules that underpin successful academic writing, providing a strong foundation for those new to the craft.

What Is Academic Writing?

Academic writing refers to a formal style of writing that is prevalent in academic settings such as universities, research institutions, and scholarly publications. It is a mode of communication used by students, researchers, and scholars to convey their ideas, present research findings, and engage in intellectual discourse within their respective fields of study.

Related article: 11 Best Grammar Checker Tools For Academic Writing

Unlike other forms of writing, academic writing adheres to specific conventions and standards that prioritize clarity, precision, objectivity, and critical thinking. It is characterized by a rigorous approach to presenting arguments, supporting claims with evidence, and adhering to the principles of logic and reasoning.

Academic writing encompasses a wide range of genres, including essays, research papers, literature reviews, theses, dissertations, conference papers, and journal articles. Regardless of the specific genre, academic writing typically follows a structured format, includes proper citation and referencing, and adheres to established academic style guides such as APA (American Psychological Association) or MLA (Modern Language Association).

Types Of Academic Writing

Here’s a table summarizing the different types of academic writing, along with their definitions, purposes and typical structures:

Also read: Words To Use In Essays: Amplifying Your Academic Writing

General Rules For Academic Writing

Here are some general rules for academic writing: by adhering to these general guidelines, you can enhance the clarity, effectiveness, and professionalism of your academic writing, ensuring that your ideas are communicated with precision and impact.

Clarity and Precision

Academic writing demands clarity and precision in the expression of ideas. Use clear and concise language to communicate your thoughts effectively. Avoid ambiguous or vague statements, and strive for a logical flow of ideas within your writing.

Audience Awareness

Consider your intended audience when writing academically. Be aware of their background knowledge and familiarity with the topic. Adapt your writing style and level of technicality accordingly, ensuring that your content is accessible and understandable to your readers.

Use Formal Language

Academic writing requires a formal tone and language. Avoid colloquialisms, slang, and overly informal expressions. Instead, employ a vocabulary appropriate to the academic context, using specialized terms when necessary.

Structure and Organization

Structure your writing in a logical and coherent manner. Use clear headings, subheadings, and paragraphs to guide the reader through your work. Ensure that your ideas are well-organized and presented in a cohesive manner, with each paragraph or section contributing to the overall argument or discussion.

Evidence-Based Reasoning

Support your arguments and claims with credible evidence. Reference authoritative sources and cite them appropriately to establish the foundation for your ideas. Use empirical data, scholarly research, and reputable references to strengthen the validity and reliability of your work.

Critical Thinking

Academic writing encourages critical thinking and analysis. Engage with the existing literature, identify strengths and weaknesses in the arguments, and develop your own well-reasoned perspective. Challenge assumptions, evaluate alternative viewpoints, and provide well-supported arguments.

Proper Referencing and Citation

Maintain academic integrity by properly referencing and citing all sources used in your writing. Follow the specific citation style required by your academic institution or field, such as APA , MLA , or Chicago style . Accurate referencing gives credit to the original authors, allows readers to verify your sources, and demonstrates your commitment to scholarly integrity.

Revision and Proofreading

Academic writing involves a process of revision and proofreading. Review your work for clarity, coherence, grammar, and spelling errors. Ensure that your writing is free from typographical mistakes and inconsistencies. Seek feedback from peers, instructors, or writing centers to enhance the quality of your work.

Also read: What Is Proofreading And How To Harness Its Benefits?

How To Improve The Academic Writing

To enhance your academic writing skills, it is crucial to engage in regular practice and give careful consideration to various aspects. Here are some essential focal points to pay attention to in order to improve your academic writing:

Punctuation

• Proper use of commas, periods, question marks, and exclamation marks to enhance clarity and meaning in sentences.
• Effective use of semicolons and colons to join related independent clauses and introduce lists or explanations.
• Understanding the role of dashes and hyphens to indicate interruptions or join words in compound adjectives.

Capitalization

• Capitalize proper nouns, including names of people, places, institutions, and specific titles or terms.
• Follow capitalization rules for titles, capitalizing the first and last words, as well as major words within the title.
• Ensure consistency in capitalization within headings and subheadings.

Grammar and Sentence Structure

• Ensure subject-verb agreement, ensuring that the subject and verb agree in number and person.
• Use proper tenses and maintain consistency in verb tense usage within a paragraph or section.
• Write clear and unambiguous sentences, avoiding run-on sentences, fragments, or unclear pronoun references.

Academic Conventions

• Apply appropriate formatting and font style as per the guidelines of the specific academic institution or style guide.
• Use headings and subheadings correctly, following a consistent hierarchy and formatting style.
• Use abbreviations appropriately and consistently, following the accepted conventions in the field.
• Adhere to specific guidelines for tables, figures, and graphs, including proper numbering, labeling, and citation.

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About Jessica Abbadia

Jessica Abbadia is a lawyer that has been working in Digital Marketing since 2020, improving organic performance for apps and websites in various regions through ASO and SEO. Currently developing scientific and intellectual knowledge for the community's benefit. Jessica is an animal rights activist who enjoys reading and drinking strong coffee.

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The Basics of Essay Writing

What does a good essay need.

An academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence .

• An academic essay should answer a question or task .
• It should have a thesis statement (answer to the question) and an argument .
• It should try to present or discuss something: develop a thesis via a set of closely related points by reasoning and evidence.
• An academic essay should include relevant examples , supporting evidence and information from academic texts or credible sources.

Basic steps in writing an essay

Although there are some basic steps to writing an assignment, essay writing is not a linear process. You might work through the different stages a number of times in the course of writing an essay. For example, you may go back to the reading and notetaking stage if you find another useful text, or perhaps to reread to locate specific information.

Possible steps (In no strict order)

  see next: getting started, essay and assignment writing guide.

• Getting started
• Research the topic
• Organise your ideas
• Write your essay
• Reference your essay
• Edit your essay
• Hand in your essay
• Essay and assignment planning
• Answering assignment questions
• Editing checklist
• Writing a critical review
• Annotated bibliography
• Reflective writing
• ^ More support

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Rules For Writing An Essay In College

The majority of notable universities require students to write a biography and submit it alongside their applications. Although it seems like an assignment and will require a significant amount of hard work, it will come in handy in the long run.

Admission panels deem the high school grades and exam scores of applying students more significant while determining the acceptance or rejection of their applications.

However, lots of worthy applicants with identical grades and test scores submit their applications to these notable colleges, and are usually too many to accept.

Therefore, to pick the best applicants amongst the multitude, they use their essays alongside letters of recommendation and after-school activities.

Strengthening your essay writing skills is vital, but so is presenting yourself professionally. Find out how much does TopResume cost , and consider investing in a polished resume as you plan your career path.

Many students do not know the essay writing rules and regulations they need to follow to help them stand out from other applicants.

However, to gain an edge over other applicants, don’t sound too smart while composing such an article as that is not entirely necessary. In this review, we will discuss the basic essay writing rules required to help you gain admission to your preferred college.

The following are rules to follow while composing standard college essays:

• Begin as early as possible;
• Use proper formats for your essay;
• Choose the right essay outline;
• Write an essay that would serve as an extension of your application;
• Write according to the instructed number of words;
• Use proper illustration methods;
• Grab the attention of the marker in the first paragraph;
• Write with a joint theme if you are writing a vignette college essay;
• Write with a single focus if you are writing a narrative college essay;
• Do not rephrase.

1. Begin as Early as Possible

To ensure that your article is well written ahead of the deadline, start jotting down as early as you can. Doing this will give you an edge as you can go through it over and over again to remove or add more relevant words. Besides that, starting early would give you enough time to show it to your teachers or colleagues for further improvements.

2. Use Proper Formats for Your Essay

Based on the essay writing rules tips, ensure that the layout of your article is straightforward, as university administrators are required to work promptly.

Therefore, using fancy formats and unique letterings might put the admission officers off as they could be hard and time-wasting to read. Besides that, avoid using writing formats like italics if you are submitting your article into a textbox as it might not display in the box.

Additionally, it will be clearer for a college administrator to read your biography if its letters are 1.5 or double-spaced. Aside from that, ensure that you make use of PDF if you want to attach a file to your essay. It is not necessary to add a title, but you can include it if it will serve a significant purpose in the biography.

As you enhance your essay writing skills for college, consider adding a new language to your academic repertoire. Check out the Lingoda prices and discover a cost-effective way to become multilingual.

3. Choose the Right Essay Outline

After choosing a title, which is optional, plan your article’s trajectory before you commence writing. Such a trajectory includes the best way to start your writing, the body of the essay, and its conclusion.

Do you intend to outline your biography chronologically? Or a jam-packed way whereby you introduce a title or point, talk about something else, and return to the initial point at the end? There are several alternatives but ensure that you observe the structure of your writing before you begin.

Additionally, according to the rules for essay writing, you are meant to arrange your ideas in an outline. However, your writing does not need to be based on your outline alone, as you can add notable points as well.

Besides that, if you notice that your chosen structure isn’t good enough, you can try another idea. To end up with a proper college standard essay, it is vital to have numerous drafts of the particular article. This is because you will be able to compare the points and select the relevant ones for the original biography.

4. Write an Essay That Would Serve as An Extension of Your Application

The University administrator can discover a lot about students by going through their high school records and official assessment results. However, your biography would serve as an opportunity to convince the admission panel that you are a standout student.

While composing such an article, do not forget that you have already written a bit about yourself in your application. Therefore, write the essay to provide personal information that is not present in your application to the administrator.

Other things you can go with are several observations and experiences that might not have been significant to you during their moments of occurrence. However, while writing about such things, you are required to portray your real character to make it sound more realistic.

If you still don’t understand the grammar rules for writing an essay of this nature, we recommend that you try the following procedures:

• Write about a particular achievement you hold high regard for;
• Write about a goal you aim to achieve in ten years;
• Write about the most difficult encounter you ever had.

Looking to boost your essay writing? Why not also improve your grammar with Grammarly? Have a look at the Grammarly review to see how it can assist you in creating flawless college essays.

5. Write According to The Instructed Number of Words

You can’t put your whole life story into a 650-word college essay, so avoid adding too many points to your articles. Although, according to the rules of essay writing in college, the word count is always confined, it’s best to write precisely and persuasively.

Rather than trying to impress the reader with the entire summary of your high school life, concentrate on illustrative and relevant occurrences. We have an article about essay writing rules. You can look it up for comprehensive essay knowledge.

6. Use Proper Illustration Methods

According to the rules for writing a college essay, it must include details that would make the reader connect with the thoughts of the writer perfectly. For instance, anybody could claim to be adventurous, but only you can describe the feeling of driving a speed boat for the first time.

Writing such experiences would sound more realistic and personal to the reader and also show that you are adventurous. We have article about  resume mistakes , so ou can go through it for proper article help.

7.  Grab The Attention of The Marker In The First Paragraph

Every year, most college administrators read over 1,000 applications, and if they are not well started, they are likely to get skipped over. To make yours exceptional and follow the rules for writing a formal essay, ensure that it is written according to the essay rules of writing.

Begin your biography non-passively and in the present tense so that it draws the mind of the reader to a particular time frame and location.

Use the opening paragraph of your article to outline the body of your unique biography in the sense that it summarizes what is to come. Grab the attention of whoever is to read your article from the first paragraph to avoid it being skipped over.

8. Write With a Joint Theme for a Vignette College Essay

While writing a vignette article, do it according to the rules of writing an essay. Structure your article in a manner that you make use of a common theme in explaining various occurrences that are not similar.

For instance, you could complete it based on several occurrences where you were able to make a good omen out of a bad one. However, ensure that every experience you write connects to the theme of the article.

Fine-tuning your essay writing skills for college? Also, consider improving your language skills with Cambly. Discover the Cambly price and see how affordable it is to enhance your language proficiency.

9. Write With a Single Focus for a Narrative College Essay

Structure your writing according to rules for writing a college essay while writing a narrative college biography. Focus on a particularly relevant story that portrays several elements of your personality. While writing in this structure, the theme of your essay must be written based on a partially brief event. Explain the details of the event bit by bit.

You could mention the moment you were part of a beauty pageant in middle school, high school freshmen year, and senior high school. Each of these events can be used to illustrate an element of your character.

In this article , you can also learn how to make an outline for a narrative essay.

10. Do Not Rephrase

While writing a college application essay, you must avoid rephrasing your points. Besides that, none of your points must contradict another.

Aside from that, while structuring your college biography, don’t outline your test scores, school grades, or accolades as they are already in your applications. We have an article about online vs. in-person tutoring. You can read through to know the best help to seek to improve your skills.

Key Takeaways

Even though a college essay might seem like a difficult assignment, doing it right would serve its purpose eventually. Therefore, study the proper ways of doing it to have the edge over other college applicants.

You can also read our article about online vs in-person tutoring .

What are the rules for a college essay?

What should you avoid when writing a college essay?

Avoid the normal 5 paragraph rule you were taught in high school while writing a college essay, as the structure is entirely different. Besides that, do not write beyond the word count.

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The Seven Essay Writing Rules

Essays have different rules than do stories, letters, poems, or journal writing. Essays respond to a writing prompt or writing topic. The writer is required to develop a thesis statement in the introductory paragraph, then follow with at least two body paragraphs which address the thesis statement, then end with a concluding paragraph.

The Common Core Writing Standards divides essays into argumentative and informational/explanatory. Argumentative essays argue a position or point of view; informational/ explanatory essays explain and analyze. Each of these types of essays focuses on the subject of the writing prompt and follows the following essay writing rules.

Keep in mind that essays are a very formal type of writing. Although they may certainly express opinions, essays present evidence in a fair and balanced manner. Think of presenting evidence in an essay as an attorney would present evidence in a court of law. All of the traditional rituals have to be followed. The attorney (writer) has introductory remarks (introductory paragraph) in which a verdict (think thesis statement) is stated. Next, the attorney (writer) presents the main points of the case and the evidence that supports them (body paragraphs). Finally, the attorney (writer) presents the closing arguments (conclusion paragraph).

Here are the seven essay writing rules:

1. Write in complete sentences. Intentional fragments, such as “Right?” don’t belong in essays.

2. Write in third person. Talk about the subject of the essay. Don’t personalize with first person pronouns such as I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours, ourselves. Don’t talk to the reader with second person pronouns such as you, your, yours, yourself, yourselves. The essay is to be objective (fair and balanced), not subjective (personalized). Rid essays of “I think,” “I believe,” and “In my opinion.”

3. Do not abbreviate. Abbreviations are informal and serve as short-cuts, so they don’t belong in essays. So write United States , not U.S. in essays.

4. Do not use slang, such as kids . Use official, or formal, words, such as children .

5. Do not use contractions. Again, essays are very formal, so write “do not” rather than “don’t.”

6. Do not use figures of speech. Be direct and precise in essay writing. Essays do not use poetic devices or idiomatic expressions. For example, don’t write “He let the cat out of the bag.” Instead, say “He shared a secret.”

7. Do not over-use the same words or phrases. For example, avoid over-use of the “to-be” verbs : is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been.

TEACHING ESSAYS BUNDLE

The author’s  TEACHING ESSAYS BUNDLE   includes the three printable and digital  resources students need to master  the  CCSS W.1 argumentative and W.2 informational/explanatory essays. Each  no-prep  resource allows students to work at their own paces via mastery learning. How to Teach Essays  includes 42 skill-based essay strategy worksheets (fillable PDFs and 62 Google slides), beginning with simple 3-word paragraphs and proceeding step-by-step to complex multi-paragraph essays. One skill builds upon another. The Essay Skills Worksheets include 97 worksheets (printables and 97 Google slides) to help teachers differentiate writing instruction with both remedial and advanced writing skills. The  Eight Writing Process Essays  (printables and 170 Google slides) each feature an on-demand diagnostic essay assessment, writing prompt with connected reading, brainstorming, graphic organizer, response, revision, and editing activities. Plus, each essay includes a detailed analytical (not holistic) rubric for assessment-based learning.

Writing essay , essay program , essay rules , essay strategies , essay worksheets , five paragraph essay , Mark Pennington , Teaching Essay Strategies , writing rules

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Basic Rules for Academic Writing

Table of Contents

What is the Purpose of Academic Writing?

Although it goes without saying, when writing at a college or university level, students are expected to write in an academic style and this is expected in nearly all forms of assignments including, but not limited to:

• research papers
• presentations
• term papers
• thesis/dissertations
• and other written pieces

Although these may go by different names, the goal of these assignments remains the same – to test your knowledge in the subject area through a written task . 

This makes academic writing arguably the most important skill for effective academic communication, (although it may seem like specifically designed instruments of torture to grad students).

The truth is academic papers are not actually meant to be excruciatingly painful and put off until the end. Instead, if you approach the paper early on, and think of it as an opportunity to explore various topics of interest within your field of study, you can avoid the last-minute rush, and even turn-in a decent paper. But there are some basic rules you must follow when writing your academic paper.

Academic papers must be written in a particular style, catered towards academic audiences such as scholars within the same discipline (who are most often your tutors and instructors). When starting on a written assignment, think about your readers – what do they expect from you? The simple answer: they want you to convey your findings and arguments in a scientific and professional manner.

Read below for a snapshot of the dos and don’ts in academic writing or scroll further down for a detailed guide on the rules for academic writing.

What are the Basics of Academic Writing?

Here are some basic rules to follow to ensure the content of your paper meets the academic writing style required by most universities.

1. Use Formal Language

X Don’t use informal language X Don’t use first person narrative ✓ Use technical terms within your field ✓ Use transition words and punctuations to connect complex sentences

2. Maintain Structured Writing

✓ Include separate introduction and conclusion ✓ State clear aims at the beginning ✓ Use headings and sub-headings to section your paper ✓ Create flow between your paragraphs (for easy readability, write them in a sequence) X Don’t discuss unrelated points in the same paragraph X Don’t introduce new points in conclusions

3. Remain Objective

X Avoid biased writing (i.e. use neutral tone without favoring any one angle) ✓ Discuss all sides of the argument (i.e. multiple perspectives) to draw your stance from it ✓ Evaluate the credibility of your sources for major arguments ✓ List out the limitations of your work

4. Conduct Evidence-based Research

✓ Read current, relevant, and high-quality journal articles within your study subject ✓ Provide scholarly evidence from credible sources to support your points X Don’t simply re-state the findings of others; instead inform how it agrees/ disagrees with your findings ✓ Derive your original idea from the analysis of all your arguments

Detailed Guide on the Basic Rules of Academic Writing

1.      formal language.

In academic papers, avoid the use of informal language at all costs! This means, stay away from:

• slang words (such as “low-key” and “lit”)
• first person pronouns (such as “I” and “we”)
• contractions (such as “can’t” and “don’t”)
• adverbs of frequency (such as “always” and “never”)
• dramatic superlatives (such as “very” and “extremely”)

For example, instead of concluding “the results of the study are very confusing”, you can state “the results are inconclusive” to sound more balanced and sophisticated. That’s not it, there’s a whole list of taboo words that must never make its way into any academic paper, which you can read about further to make you avoid them, if possible.

However, do note that the use of first person may be acceptable, or even recommended, in reflection assignments , where the student is expected to reflect on their personal learning experience.

For example, when reflecting on the process undertaken during a research paper, you could state “I improved my time management skills through this research as I learned to break down bigger tasks into a series of smaller steps”. Unless recounting of your personal growth journey is a specific assignment requirement, for the most part, stick to a third person narrative in your paper! (here’s a detailed guide on how to write a reflection paper).

Plus, in terms of vocabulary, the use of appropriate technical terms relevant to your field of study will give readers the impression that you are knowledgeable and proficient in this subject . Show off to your readers that you are a pro at this. But of course, you also need to define such technical terms wherever necessary, in order to offer further insight to your readers. For example:

• if you are writing about water pollution, use scientific words like “bioaccumulation” and “biomagnification”
• if you are focusing on mergers and acquisitions, use industry-specific terms like “due diligence” and “hostile takeovers”
• if you are discussing “Super Bowl”, talk about “blitz” and “clothesline”

You should also break-up and connect long sentences with punctuations like semi-colon (;) and transition words like “however”, “nevertheless”, “although”, “moreover”, “furthermore”, etc. This can help readers understand the link between your points, while you simplify it for them. Thus, academic writing can be more complex than general writing, involving the use of complex sentences and technical jargon; for example, note how the sentences within this paragraph are broken down and linked using semi-colons and transition conjunctions, and how we drew the paragraph’s conclusion from it.

2.      Structured Writing

Academic writing is structured as it most often requires you to begin with an introduction stating the aims of the written piece, and end with a conclusion summarizing the key findings and implications. We have a dedicated guide focused on the basics of writing assignment structure which you can take a look at if you want to know all the relevant headings and subheadings that go into them, and what to write under each.

Examiners (who are your target readers, if you are a student) always look for your aims or topic sentence in the initial section, so that they know you are aware of the purpose of the assignment and what you hope to achieve. That’s why you need to spell out your aims clearly in your opening paragraphs to score that extra cookie point.

You also need to go one step further and section your paper using clear headings and subheadings within the body paragraphs, unless it is an essay or otherwise stated.Note: essays do not generally require sub-headings, but as with other academic papers, each paragraph must present a single theme or idea. That is, similar points should be clubbed together within the paragraph , supported by relevant evidences and examples, critical arguments, and key takeaways.

Also, try to be a good narrator – tell your story in a logical order! That means the paragraphs must flow one after the other in a sequence , without being abrupt, redundant or repetitive. This will ensure your readers are able to follow your trail of arguments and engage with your content, ultimately leading to the impression that your writing is structured and cohesive. A great way to logically structure your paper is to make an outline of topics to cover as your first step, by paying attention to your assignment brief or assignment requirements and drawing on the assignment rubric or marketing criteria.

(Click here to know how to structure your paper based on the marking criteria/ assignment rubric and what headings/ sub-headings to choose).

3.      Objectivity

There are always two sides to a story; but, as an academic writer and researcher, you need to remain impersonal, unbiased and search for the truth that lies somewhere in the middle-ground. That means, put aside your feelings, distance yourself from both sides, and write your paper as a third-party and neutral judge. Better yet, be an emotionless bot when it comes to representing facts, analyzing information and drawing interpretations.

But remember, your assignment is not just about stating the facts or listing out information taken from elsewhere. Although you will draw from the work of other scholars, you must also evaluate that information in your paper and correlate it with other similar studies, which may agree or disagree with your stance (see example below). By doing so, you would be showing objectively – that there are multiple perspectives and different sides to the argument, leading up to what you gather from all this by stating your clear point of view . Thus, you will be putting across your original idea in an objective and critical manner, as it is backed by evidence and balanced argument, rather than playing favoritism.

However, being completely objective in your paper is highly unlikely, as we have a subconscious tendency to subjectively select the text and sources which seem more suitable for our line of thinking. This introduces a certain level of research bias since your sources are not randomly chosen. But that’s okay, because you’re going to acknowledge this research flaw in your paper – let your reader know the limitations of your work . By being critical of your own research process in this manner, you can be sure that the examiner will notice your efforts to remain objective and will definitely grade you higher for it, as it sets your paper apart from others.

Although being objective is a general rule in academic writing, there are some exceptions where subjectivity is sought. For example, ethnographic and social researches draw on the personal interpretations of the author who observes a social phenomenon by living in or close to the studied society. In such a scenario, qualitative descriptive writing is adopted as the author seeks to describe the phenomenon and its impact on the society from a subjective/ personal point of view. Unless you are undertaking such a research, try to remain largely objective in your arguments to sound more systematic.

4.      Evidence-Based Research

The use of reliable evidence to support your arguments will be the biggest point-scoring tactic you can master. In fact, this will be the main criteria to pass your assignment, because your course almost always requires you to read journal articles published in your subject area . That’s why tutors often tell you Wikipedia is not a reliable source. (But how can you still use Wikipedia for your research, without actually putting it in your paper? We’ve made a dedicated guide for using Wikipedia for academic research (because let’s be honest – Wikipedia gives you tons of useful information).

In reality, you are expected to support the arguments in your paper by drawing from existing studies , statistics, market reports, news articles and other scholarly literature , by citing these sources as evidences (see the example below). Such a specific requirement to cite and reference academic sources for your arguments differentiates academic writing from other forms of writing.

When we talk about these sources as evidences, always remember to choose a variety of high-quality and current papers (published within 5 years) to support your own ideas. How many references should you use in your academic paper?

You may be wondering how many references you should have in an essay – we recommend integrating 6-8 references for every 1000 words in your paper , unless the number of references are explicitly requested in your assignment task. We cover this in more detail in this guide on how many references you should have in an essay .

Concluding remarks about referencing

A common mistake that most students make while integrating references is simply re-stating what the authors have published in their paper. To actually use them as supporting evidence, you need question the credibility, reliability and generalizability of their findings , by either critiquing the author’s research methods and techniques or by comparing or contrasting them with similar studies examining the same topic.

This tells the reader that you have not only read these papers, but you are also synthesizing and correlating information from different sources and analyzing them in order to draw your own original idea . Although this can be overwhelming for a novice academic writer, it is actually not that tricky to accomplish . For a more detailed understanding of this, you can read our post on some referencing guidelines to help you write a better paper.

We cover this issue and various other common mistakes in referencing in our separate guide. So be sure to check that out as well for a more comprehensive understanding about referencing as it is worth reiterating that this is the core aspect that differentiates academic writing from other forms of written content.

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Learn the Standard Essay Format: MLA, APA, Chicago Styles

Being able to write an essay is a vital part of any student's education. However, it's not just about linearly listing ideas. A lot of institutions will require a certain format that your paper must follow; prime examples would be one of a basic essay format like MLA, the APA, and the Chicago formats. This article will explain the differences between the MLA format, the APA format, and the Chicago format. The application of these could range from high school to college essays, and they stand as the standard of college essay formatting. EssayPro — dissertation services , that will help to make a difference!

What is an Essay Format: Structure

Be it an academic, informative or a specific extended essay - structure is essential. For example, the IB extended essay has very strict requirements that are followed by an assigned academic style of writing (primarily MLA, APA, or Chicago):

This outline format for an extended essay is a great example to follow when writing a research essay, and sustaining a proper research essay format - especially if it is based on the MLA guidelines. It is vital to remember that the student must keep track of their resources to apply them to each step outlined above easily. And check out some tips on how to write an essay introduction .

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How to Format an Essay (MLA)

To write an essay in MLA format, one must follow a basic set of guidelines and instructions. This is a step by step from our business essay writing service.

Essay in MLA Format Example

Mla vs. apa.

Before we move on to the APA essay format, it is important to distinguish the two types of formatting. Let’s go through the similarities first:

• The formatting styles are similar: spacing, citation, indentation.
• All of the information that is used within the essay must be present within the works cited page (in APA, that’s called a reference page)
• Both use the parenthetical citations within the body of the paper, usually to show a certain quote or calculation.
• Citations are listed alphabetically on the works cited / reference page.

What you need to know about the differences is not extensive, thankfully:

• MLA style is mostly used in humanities, while APA style is focused more on social sciences. The list of sources has a different name (works cited - MLA / references - APA)
• Works cited differ on the way they display the name of the original content (MLA -> Yorke, Thom / APA -> Yorke T.)
• When using an in-text citation, and the author’s name is listed within the sentence, place the page number found at the end: “Yorke believes that Creep was Radiohead’s worst song. (4).” APA, on the other hand, requires that a year is to be inserted: “According to Yorke (2013), Creep was a mess.”

Alright, let’s carry over to the APA style specifics.

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How to format an essay (apa).

The APA scheme is one of the most common college essay formats, so being familiar with its requirements is crucial. In a basic APA format structure, we can apply a similar list of guidelines as we did in the MLA section:

If you ask yourself how to format an essay, you can always turn to us and request to write or rewrite essay in APA format if you find it difficult or don't have time.

Note that some teachers and professors may request deviations from some of the characteristics that the APA format originally requires, such as those listed above.

If you think: 'I want someone write a research paper for me ', you can do it at Essaypro.

Essay in APA Format Example

Apa format chronobiology, chicago style.

The usage of Chicago style is prevalent in academic writing that focuses on the source of origin. This means that precise citations and footnotes are key to a successful paper.

Chicago Style Essay Format

The same bullet point structure can be applied to the Chicago essay format.

Tips for Writing an Academic Paper

There isn’t one proper way of writing a paper, but there are solid guidelines to sustain a consistent workflow. Be it a college application essay, a research paper, informative essay, etc. There is a standard essay format that you should follow. For easier access, the following outline will be divided into steps:

Choose a Good Topic

A lot of students struggle with picking a good topic for their essays. The topic you choose should be specific enough so you can explore it in its entirety and hit your word limit if that’s a variable you worry about. With a good topic that should not be a problem. On the other hand, it should not be so broad that some resources would outweigh the information you could squeeze into one paper. Don’t be too specific, or you will find that there is a shortage of information, but don’t be too broad or you will feel overwhelmed. Don’t hesitate to ask your instructor for help with your essay writing.

Start Research as Soon as Possible

Before you even begin writing, make sure that you are acquainted with the information that you are working with. Find compelling arguments and counterpoints, trivia, facts, etc. The sky is the limit when it comes to gathering information.

Pick out Specific, Compelling Resources

When you feel acquainted with the subject, you should be able to have a basic conversation on the matter. Pick out resources that have been bookmarked, saved or are very informative and start extracting information. You will need all you can get to put into the citations at the end of your paper. Stash books, websites, articles and have them ready to cite. See if you can subtract or expand your scope of research.

Create an Outline

Always have a plan. This might be the most important phase of the process. If you have a strong essay outline and you have a particular goal in mind, it’ll be easy to refer to it when you might get stuck somewhere in the middle of the paper. And since you have direct links from the research you’ve done beforehand, the progress is guaranteed to be swift. Having a list of keywords, if applicable, will surely boost the informational scope. With keywords specific to the subject matter of each section, it should be much easier to identify its direction and possible informational criteria.

Write a Draft

Before you jot anything down into the body of your essay, make sure that the outline has enough information to back up whatever statement you choose to explore. Do not be afraid of letting creativity into your paper (within reason, of course) and explore the possibilities. Start with a standard 5 paragraph structure, and the content will come with time.

Ask for a Peer Review of Your Academic Paper

Before you know it, the draft is done, and it’s ready to be sent out for peer review. Ask a classmate, a relative or even a specialist if they are willing to contribute. Get as much feedback as you possibly can and work on it.

Final Draft

Before handing in the final draft, go over it at least one more time, focusing on smaller mistakes like grammar and punctuation. Make sure that what you wrote follows proper essay structure. Learn more about argumentative essay structure on our blog. If you need a second pair of eyes, get help from our service.

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What Is Essay Format?

How to format a college essay, how to write an essay in mla format.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

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Essay Writing Rules

Introduction

Writing essays is an important part of kids’ learning . Although we consider writing to be one of the essential skills that we must develop in children, they might not understand its worth. As such, they will not pay much attention to essay writing and will regard this task to be boring and repetitive. The essay writing rules will therefore be helpful for them to craft short and crisp essays.

By writing essays, children will be able to improve their language skills abundantly. But simply writing a few sentences or paragraphs will not make an essay. So, this writing rules essay will explain to your children how to write a beautiful essay on a particular topic. If children become familiar with these essay writing rules in English, it will be effortless for them to create essays on their own.

Basic Essay Writing Rules

Children will be aware of many words and phrases, but they might lack the understanding of how to frame them into good sentences. For this, they must know the basic rules of grammar, spelling and punctuation. The way we teach essay writing rules will also impact their learning.

It is not wise to burden them with tasks beyond their capacity. So, we must not ask them to write essays immediately. Instead, let us analyse their language abilities by asking them to write answers in full sentences to questions like ‘who lives in my family,’ ‘what is the profession of your parents,’ or ‘what is your favourite hobby.’ By doing so, we will get an idea about their knowledge of sentence formation, and we can easily rectify their mistakes and guide them to write essays.

Steps to Write Essays

In the writing rules essay, we will see different steps for writing essays, which will make it simpler for children to follow. Usually, easy topics will be assigned to children for writing essays . When they get such a topic, it is best to give it some thought before writing it. Different ideas will come into the minds of children, and let us encourage them to write their ideas.

The next point in the essay writing rules in English is to make them write 10 sentences on the topic. Further, we can ask them to elaborate on each point and make the essay impressive. This way, they will learn how to organise their thoughts and sentences into paragraphs. Once the essay is completed, give it a thorough check for grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Even though these are the main essay writing rules, we can also ensure that children read a lot as it will enhance their vocabulary. Besides, giving them a daily challenge of writing a diary or asking them to describe their school picnic or family vacation will also help them master the art of writing essays. Our support and encouragement can also make our children deliver their best. So, let us work together to polish their writing skills through these essay writing rules in English.

Frequently Asked Questions on Essay Writing Rules

What is the benefit of writing essays for children.

Essay writing is an engaging activity for children, which will boost their writing and language skills. It will also enable them to think critically and creatively.

How to write essays for children?

Essays can be written in a simple format with an introduction, body and conclusion. Young kids can be made to write 10 lines on the topic, and we can teach them how to arrange sentences accordingly.

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