The moment college students receive their first assignment on writing an essay can be confusing. Are the rules the same as in high school? Why should it be so long? What is to be written here? How to produce so much information with a rather short deadline?

All of the questions above may even scare students and make them address a coursework writing service rather than make an effort to handle them on their own. Yet, there are other ways out of such tough situations.

Ask for Recommendations

If you didn’t receive any particular instructions from your teacher, it doesn’t mean you can write whatever and however you want. As a fresher, you will have to face a frustrating truth – some teachers can be quite irresponsible or busy as hell, hence absentminded. Some of them may keep most of the crucial information from students and then ask them to revise their assignments.

So, this is the first point: if you don’t have basic instructions, something is wrong here. Clarify with the teacher whether you’re free to compose the essay as you’d like to or if there are any specific rules.

The second point about asking is related to the gaps in your knowledge. For instance, if you used to choose essay services based on the EssayService reviews by NoCramming team and ordered assignments, you may not know writing rules at all. If you’d like to start completing your essays on your own, first, write down all the questions you have.

After that, ask your teacher about the details you’d like to know. If they share references with explanations, make sure to read them. You’ll be equipped with valuable insights. Also, teachers tend to be quite chatty when you ask for their opinion and advice, so write down the answers to process the information later.

Be Ready to Make Corrections

Even graduate students have to revise their works in terms of structure, style, grammar, and content. So, do not be ashamed of the feedback with comments on corrections. That’s actually the main part of mastering writing – you see specific comments and your weak spots and work on them.

Read

Many essays are given based on some reading lists students receive at the beginning of the term. It’s not a secret that a significant part of any class doesn’t even read this literature thinking that:

  • they will have time to do it later;
  • the internet can easily offer a good summary of a text;
  • there’s not much time left to process the whole list, so, no sense to begin.

All of the beliefs above are false. You won’t have time later – there will be workshops, tests, and exams. The internet teems with low-quality, superficial, and distorted summaries. Even if you find a rather good one, it’s very easy to fall flat on your face by misinterpreting a summary of a book you’ve never read. Finally, it’s better to read 3 books out of 10 than nothing.

So, as soon as you’re given a list of literature and the first weeks of studies are comparatively calm, use every opportunity to read. Even 10 pages per day are better than rescheduling your ‘comprehensive reading session’ for weeks. Moreover, reading increases the level of literacy which, obviously, helps in writing.

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/hopX_jpVtRM

Just Write It

Not the essay. Write anything you want from time to time. One page per day would be enough. It’s also a proven technique to have a scheduled writing session every day for your mind to get used to the time when the muse should arrive and inspire you.

It can be anything that bothers or excites you:

  • mundane situations;
  • feelings that overwhelm you;
  • arguments you can’t have in real life;
  • a letter to a person (it’s not a must to send it, just write).

The point is to get used to writing and not treat it like torture. Essays can be quite long sometimes, so you need to be resilient and know how to create a lot of valuable content when you only have a couple of simple ideas in mind. As you get used to writing, you will be able to transform and develop those ideas without having to waffle 10 pages all along.

Search for Samples

These can be from different websites or your friends’ and relatives’ old essays. Just read them to get used to the flow. Remember that samples are not a foundation you can copy and paste. Do not plagiarize, but explore different styles of writing, literary wording, or figures of speech that can help make your writing less bland.

Just be careful with the websites, filter them based on the level of grammar and adequate formatting, at least.

Takeaway

To master essay writing art, one needs time and patience. Remember that your first essays can be received with criticism, yet, that’s what will show you the areas for improvement. As a result, you’ll hone your writing skills and be able to complete various types of essays and give recommendations to others. Just follow the tips above, and it will happen!

NCS
Latest posts by NCS (see all)