Effective writing skills 2: preparing to write an essay

Why are effective writing skills important?
If you are studying at college or university, you will probably have to write essays or assignments.This type of formal writing is important because you need to plan very carefully what to say and how to say it in order to make your points clearly and achieve a good mark. However, starting your essay can be difficult. Here, a teacher talks about essay writing in this programme, Academic Listening. Compare her description of the writing process with how you usually write essays in your own language.

It’s helpful to think of the writing process as a series of stages.The first consists of drawing up a preliminary outline after reading the question carefully. Next comes a period of research.You need to read then brainstorm all of the ideas which are relevant to the topic and plan how you are going to organise them before you write the first draft.Then you need to revise your draft to improve it and write a final version. But, before you give it to your tutor, remember to proofread to check that your facts and references, as well as your spelling and grammar, are correct.

1. Match the words from the text with their meaning.
   i) to brainstorm ---> a) to make improvements to something
   ii) to proofread --->b) to write the first version of something
   iii) to revise --->c) to check an essay for errors
   iv) to draft --->d) to note down all your ideas on a topic very quickly


2. Look at the steps described below and put them in order after you have read the text.
   a) proofread b) plan an outline of the assignment c) write a first draft d) read the question e) read about the topic f) write a more detailed plan g) revise your draft h) write a final version i) gather together all the ideas which are relevant to the essay j) hand the essay to your tutor

Answer

1. (i) d (ii) c (iii) a (iv) b
2. d; b; e; i; f; c; g; h; a; j

The keys to effective essay writing

If you have to write an essay or assignment in English, remember that producing correct grammar and spelling is only part of the writing process. Here are five keys to help make sure your essay-writing skills are effective.

1. Read the question carefully. Underline the key words and phrases which show you what is needed. Remember that the first step on the road to success is to select the type of information which the question asks for.
2. Take time to plan your essay, both before and after you have done your research.Thinking about the type of information you need to put into the essay at an early stage will help you select the texts you need to read.
3. Brainstorm your ideas before you start writing.Take a piece of paper and spend three minutes writing down all the related ideas you can think of, then try to organise them into ‘important’ and ‘not useful for this essay’.
4. Draft and redraft your essay. Make your first draft a more general answer to the question, then go back to add or change information later.
5. Always proofread your essay carefully so you can correct any small errors you find. Don’t do this immediately after finishing writing – leave it for a few hours so that you can take a fresh look at what you have written.

Writing skills task

Look at the notes you made for the brainstorming task on the previous page.Try to organise your ideas into groups, each of which could form a paragraph of the finished essay.
You might like to make a mind map of your ideas. Start with the key elements in circles, like the example opposite.