essay writing prompts

Easy Guidelines To Help You Write Essays and Improve Your Writing Skills


Follow these basic rules and you will never flunk your essay assignments again.

Always work from an outline


We can’t emphasize this enough! Writing free form is the worst way to approach essay writing. Instead, keep your work focused and properly structured by using the 5-paragraph essay format.

Outlines, actually save you time in the long run. Work smart. Fill you outline in using full sentences so that all you need to do is connect your ideas while writing your first draft.

Work in Drafts


Many students feel that their paper has to be perfect right off the bat. Forget this, instead just write the darn thing then go back and edit it.

By working in draft form you can get your ideas down and then refine them later. Rome was not built in a day, neither should your essay be.

Give Yourself Time


On that note, stop writing your essays the night before they are due. This is not nearly enough time to earn a good grade. Instead, make yourself a schedule from the day the project is assigned. Set milestones for where you wish to be.

Good time management is a skill. Learn the discipline that is required to write a great paper.

Work With A Partner


Think that you can’t study in pairs when you write an essay? Think again, find a study buddy in your class who is also eager to write a great paper. Work together throughout the writing process: brainstorming topic ideas, doing the research, and editing the final draft. Working together is much more fun and the other person will help to keep you on track.

Never had a paper in without having it read by at least one other person. Outside feedback is a good thing.

Grade Yourself


Lastly, before you hand in your paper you should give yourself a preliminary grade. Learn how to evaluate your own paper by reading examples that have been written at various grade levels.

Also re-read the assignment criteria when you do this. Make sure that you have not missed any details or made careless formatting errors that will impact your final evaluation.

Students who follow these rules when they write essays will improve! Commit to following these 5 easy steps to succeed at essay writing.