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- The 5 W’s
Whatever you write – think about the questions the reader might want to ask and answer them all. Train yourself to include all the 5 w’s – who, what, when, where, and why. Planned and organized writing is good writing.
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- Plan your essay
Prepare your ideas before writing an essay. Build an outline with these ideas, and then write your essay based on this outline.
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- Create intrigue in your introduction
Make the introduction of your essay grab the interest of the reader. Make it raise questions in the mind of the reader, thus forcing him/her to read on. But be careful not give away too much, otherwise no one might read the rest of the essay. In brief, do not summarize, only create intrigue in your introduction.
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- Pattern of supporting paragraphs
The supporting paragraphs form the body of an essay, hence they are also sometimes called ‘body paragraphs’. Each of these paragraphs should discuss a different point and must follow this pattern - topic sentence, supporting points, elaboration of supporting points. The topic sentence is the first sentence of the paragraph and tells what the paragraph is going to be about; the supporting points explain the topic sentence; and the rest of the sentences elaborate on the supporting points.
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- Flow in sentences
Make sure the sentences of your essay flow smoothly from one to another. Make use of transition words, such as “therefore” and “however”, where necessary to refer to a thought in the previous sentence.
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- Researching the topic
While researching the topic of your essay, take regular breaks. Doing it in one stretch can be tiring for the brain, making comprehension difficult.
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- Choice of words
Write your essays concisely and clearly. Make every word count by using the right words. Look them up if you are unsure of them, but make sure the words you use communicate your precise ideas.
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- Writing for the audience
Before writing your essay, decide why and for whom you are writing, and then accordingly choose your writing style.
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- Do not preach
Respect your audience by not telling them what to think on a subject. The best approach is to lay out the facts in the most logical and convincing manner and then leave the reader to make his own conclusions.
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- Use of “there is” and “it is”
Whenever possible, eliminate "there is" and "it is" from your essay or article. Replace the pronoun with a noun and the intransitive verb "to be" with an action verb.
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- Use of other’s words and ideas
Do not use somebody else’s words or ideas in your essay or article, this is cheating. If you must, then properly site them as a source.
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- Proofreading for spellings
During proofreading for spellings, read your document backwards. You are more likely to come across spelling errors when words are looked at, outside the context of a sentence.
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- Show, don’t tell
Draw your readers into your article by including people and their experiences. Let the people tell your readers about the topic of your article. For example: If your article is about publishing, get some publishers to talk about their business. Also get some writers to talk about how they got, or didn’t get, their works published. In short - Show, Don’t Tell.
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- Paragraph breaks
An essential element of a good article is its format. Create several areas of short breaks by keeping your paragraphs short and simple. The more paragraph breaks, the more inviting your article is.
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- Check your facts
Check your facts before writing an article, and back your arguments with solid evidence. You wouldn’t want to pass on wrong information.
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