How to Improve Your Writing Skills for Applications and Essays!

Last updated by Liz SkogerboeLast updated October 3, 2019

Writing, no matter the purpose, can be difficult at times. While there is

no perfect system to writing for every single person, utilizing your
resources can help you along the way. Read on to discover ways to help
you improve your writing skills.

Outline Your Ideas

Starting with an outline can help you throughout the entire writing
process. You can make it simple or as complex as you like. The beauty
of an outline is that you have the ability to change it as you see fit. If
you get stuck while writing, you can always refer back to your outline.

Edit, edit, edit

The first version of anything you write will likely be less than perfect.
The best writers spend time editing their words, and sometimes have
others help them. It can be worth it to wait a while after finishing your
first draft before looking at it again. When you do go through and edit
your writing, try to consider another perspective as you read. What
would your professor think? Your grandmother? Be sure to also
consider the perspective of your intended audience.

Word choice
Choosing the best words to use can be tough. Again, knowing your
intended audience can guide you in the right direction. Using sensory-
related words can be more enticing, as doing so tends to pull the
reader in and leave them wanting more. Try to be as descriptive as
possible, without overloading the reader with too many words. Choose
words that aren’t used every day to give your reader a breath of fresh
air.

If you’re writing in a more formal manner, make an effort to stay away

from using contractions. Contractions are considered informal and
should not be used in scholarly publications. With formal writing, the
writer should stay objective and detach from the topic by staying in the
third person. Informal writing can exude empathy and take on a more
personal tone.

Read!
The best writers are avid readers too. While you may have a favorite go-
to genre, consider picking up something out of your normal realm of
reading. The writing style you see in a news magazine is going to be
different from that in a young adult science fiction book. Challenge
yourself through a variety of reading materials. Work to understand the
style used and the message the author is trying to convey through that
style.

There are a variety of resources to assist you in growing your comfort

level with writing. We have a few more great articles, such as how to
make writing a paper easier, writing an essay, and tips to save you time
while writing. These are just a handful of the tips we’ve come up with
for you. Be sure to check out our college match tool to see what schools
around the country may be the best fit for you.

5 Ways to Quickly Improve Your Academic Essay Writing Skills

Academic essay writing is a style that anyone can learn to produce, once they know
the basics of writing an essay. An academic essay should provide a solid, debatable
thesis that is then supported by relevant evidence—whether that be from other
sources or from one's own research. Most research follows a standard set of
guidelines. Remembering some basic principles for academic essay writing will allow
you to create valuable, persuasive papers, even if you're under a time crunch.

Make an outline. Know what you are going to write about before you start writing.
Before you even start writing an essay, it is important to know what you want to say.
The easiest way to narrow down a thesis and create a proper argument is to make
a basic outline before you begin writing your essay. The basic structure of an
academic essay includes the following elements: an introduction that includes the
thesis; the body of the essay, which should include separate paragraphs discussing
evidence that supports the thesis; and a conclusion that ties everything together and
connects it to the thesis. When it comes to how much evidence should be included in
an academic essay, a good guideline is to include at least three solid points that
directly support your thesis.

Acquire a solid understanding of basic grammar, style, and punctuation.

Grammar, style, and punctuation are incredibly important if you want your research
to be understood and taken seriously. Before writing an essay, make sure you have
a solid understanding of basic grammar. Grammar basics include verb and subject
agreement, proper article and pronoun usage, and well-formed sentence structures.
Make sure you know the proper uses for the most common forms of punctuation. Be
mindful of your comma usage and know when a period is needed. Finally, in
academic essay writing, voice is important. Try to use the active voice instead of the
passive whenever possible (e.g., "this study found" instead of "it was found by this
study"). This will make the tone of your essay stronger. Ensure your language is
concise. Avoid transition words that don't add anything to the sentence and
unnecessary wordiness that detracts from your argument.

Use the right vocabulary. Know what the words you are using actually mean.

How you use language is important, especially in academic essay writing. When
writing an academic essay, remember that you are trying to persuade others that you
are an expert who can make an intelligent argument. Using big words just to sound
smart often results in the opposite effect—it is easy to detect when someone is
overcompensating in their writing. If you aren't sure of the exact meaning of a word,
you risk using it incorrectly. Using obscure language can also take away from the
clarity of your argument—you should consider this before you pull out that thesaurus
to change that perfectly good word to something completely different.

Understand the argument and critically analyze the evidence.

In the process of writing an academic essay, you should always have your main
argument in mind. While it might be tempting to go off on a tangent about some
interesting side note to your topic, doing so can make your writing less concise.
Always question any evidence you include in your essay; ask yourself, "Does this
directly support my thesis?" If the answer is "no," then that evidence should probably
be excluded. When you are evaluating evidence, be critical and thorough. You want
to use the strongest research to back up your thesis. Everything you include should
have a clear connection to your topic and your argument.

Know how to write a proper conclusion that supports your research.

One of the most overlooked areas of academic essay writing is the conclusion. Your
conclusion is what ties all your research together to prove your thesis. It should not
be a restatement of your introduction or a copy-and-paste of your thesis itself. A
proper conclusion quickly outlines the key evidence discussed in the body of an
essay and directly ties it to the thesis to show how this evidence proves or disproves
the main argument of one's research. There have been countless great essays
written, only to be derailed by vague, weakly worded conclusions. Don't let your next
essay be one of those.