things to avoid while writing an essay

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College Essay Don’ts: 20 Things to Avoid to Stand Out

• August 19, 2023

College admissions officers have their own preferences when it comes to essays, but they all tend to agree on what they dislike. It can be disheartening to think that you can’t guarantee a perfect essay, but avoiding certain mistakes will increase your chances of success. A blunder in your college essay could potentially cost you admission to your dream school. The good news is that many of these mistakes can be easily avoided if you understand what they are and why they matter. If you’re looking for guidance, here’s a closer look at what you should avoid writing in your college application essay.

#1 No need to show off your Academic Superhero Cape!

(aka – avoid repeating information) Your grades and awards already speak volumes. Let’s focus on the real YOU! Think about what the application already says about you and avoid repeating the information already present in your academic record, such as your grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities. Instead, focus on unique aspects of your personality and experiences.

# 2 Don’t Be a Topic Troublemaker:

(aka – avoid controversial topics) Stay away from controversial subjects that’ll make the admissions officer do a double take! No political hot buttons, please! Examples: Avoid writing about gun control, abortion, or immigration policies.

#3 Say No to Essay Monotony:

(aka – avoid a general topic) It’s not a robotic analysis; it’s a character-revealing adventure! Share specific moments that highlight your amazing self in action! For instance, write about a particular challenge you faced and how you overcame it, revealing your determination and resilience.

#4 Famous Quotes, Really?

( aka – avoid opening with a famous quotation) Unless it’s your life motto, let’s save the inspirational stuff for Pinterest boards. Your own words rock, buddy!

#5 Avoid Making Someone Else the Star:

(aka – avoid writing about someone else) Though it might be tempting to write extensively about a role model or someone else’s accomplishments, it’s a bad idea. Making them standout is not the goal. The essay should primarily focus on your own experiences, growth, and achievements.

#6 Don’t Dribble Away Your Essay on Sports:

(aka – avoid sports) Sports enthusiasts, listen up! Even if you’re the next LeBron or Serena, don’t dribble away your essay on sports. Show them your versatility! Everyone writes about sports. Even if sports are your strong suit, it’s advisable to avoid writing solely about them. Instead, explore other aspects of your life or personal interests to provide a well-rounded portrayal of yourself.

#7 Tragic Topics Need a Twist:

( aka – avoid tragic topics) Tragic tales need a twist! Only focus on personal growth through tough times. No tearjerker drama without redemption, please!. Here are some examples: Loss of a loved one: While it can be tempting to write about the profound impact of losing a family member or close friend, it’s important to shift the focus towards personal growth, strength, or lessons learned from the experience. Avoid dwelling solely on the sadness and grief associated with the loss. Serious illnesses or medical conditions: Writing about personal health struggles can be challenging, as it’s important to strike a balance between sharing the experience and highlighting one’s ability to overcome adversity. Focus on resilience, determination, or the insights gained from facing the challenge rather than just recounting the medical details. Natural disasters or tragic events: Discussing traumatic events like earthquakes, hurricanes, or acts of violence can be sensitive. If you choose to write about such events, it’s crucial to emphasize personal growth, community resilience, or efforts made to contribute positively towards recovery or prevention. Avoid sensationalizing or dwelling excessively on the tragedy itself. Personal accidents or injuries: If you’ve experienced a serious accident or injury, be cautious when writing about it. Instead of focusing solely on the negative aspects, highlight your determination, perseverance, or the lessons learned during the recovery process

#8 Start With a Bang, Not a Yawn!

(aka – avoid preludes) This is an essay about…” Snoozeville! Starting your essay with a generic introduction lacks creativity and engagement. Grab the reader’s attention with a compelling opening that sets the tone for your unique story.

#9 No Fairy Tale Ending:

(aka – avoid cliché endings) No happily ever afters, my friend! Show them your learning, don’t tell them. Leave ’em wanting more! Conclude your essay without resorting to a cliché ending. If you have effectively conveyed your growth and lessons learned throughout the essay, there’s no need to explicitly state it again in the conclusion.

#11 Don’t Play Professor Know-It-All:

( aka – avoid campaigning) Avoid pleading your case. Let your story speak for itself! Refrain from telling readers what they should think or advocating for a particular viewpoint. Instead, focus on expressing your own thoughts and experiences without trying to persuade or convince the reader.

#11 No Black Holes:

(aka – avoid being flawless) Don’t get lost in your own thoughts. Embrace your complexities, including your mistakes and imperfections, rather than presenting an idealized version of yourself. It’s more effective to embrace vulnerability and showcase personal growth. Admissions officers value authenticity and want to understand the real person behind the achievements. Sharing genuine experiences, including setbacks and lessons learned, allows the reader to connect with the applicant on a deeper level and fosters a more meaningful understanding of their character and potential contributions.

#12 Too Much Info Alert!

(aka – avoid oversharing) Be cautious about sharing too much information in your essay. While no stories are off-limits, present them in a way that captivates the reader and invites them into your experience, rather than traumatizing the reader and pushing them into a black-hole. Example: In an essay, one of our students delved into a traumatic event from his childhood where he witnessed a violent crime. Rather than approaching the topic with sensitivity and focusing on personal growth, he described every gruesome detail of the incident. He vividly recounted the blood-soaked scene, the screams echoing in his ears, and the fear that consumed Him. The essay became a graphic and unsettling account that could potentially disturb or traumatize the reader.While it’s important to share personal experiences authentically, it’s equally crucial to consider the emotional impact on the reader. Oversharing in this context involves providing excessive and distressing details without proper consideration for the potential impact on the audience. Instead, it would be more appropriate to focus on the emotional journey, resilience, and personal growth that stemmed from that traumatic event, while omitting explicit and potentially traumatizing elements.

#13 Leave the Fiction To the Novels:

(aka – avoid lying) No made-up stories about yourself, okay? Keep it real, authentic, and genuine! Never fabricate stories or exaggerate your experiences in your essay. Admissions officers value honesty and integrity, and it’s important to present genuine narratives that reflect your true character.

#14 Avoid The Ego Extravaganza!

(aka – avoid overconfidence) No need to shower yourself with endless praise. Instead, embrace humility and share a moment of doubt or setback. It’s all about growth, baby! Consider discussing a setback or moment of doubt that highlights your resilience and personal growth. Student Example:In my college essay, I proudly proclaimed, “I am simply exceptional in everything I do. From acing every exam to effortlessly leading multiple clubs and winning countless awards, my accomplishments speak for themselves. It’s clear that I am the epitome of greatness and a force to be reckoned with.”This example exudes an overconfident tone by emphasizing the author’s achievements without any humility or self-reflection. It lacks depth and fails to provide insight into the person behind the accomplishments. The essay solely focuses on accolades and fails to highlight personal growth, setbacks overcome, or lessons learned from challenges.

#15 Don’t Diss The Reader:

(aka – avoid belittling) Refrain from talking down to or demeaning the reader in your essay. They are not minions. Keep the tone respectful and inclusive!

#16 Dump Being Robotic-Like:

( aka – avoid being cold) Let your emotions flow like a river. Show them the real you, with heart and soul! Infuse the essay with your emotions, allowing your genuine feelings to shine through in your storytelling. Unlike the essays you’ve written for class, this essay provides an opportunity to showcase your unique voice and personality. Student Example: “Instead of writing a bland and emotionless account of my volunteering experience at a local animal shelter, I poured my heart into the essay. I vividly described the overwhelming joy I felt when I first met the abandoned puppy, with his timid eyes and wagging tail. I shared the genuine empathy and compassion that welled up inside me as I nurtured him back to health. Through my words, the admissions officers could feel the sense of purpose and fulfillment that I experienced, and they could connect with my passion for animal welfare. By infusing my essay with emotions and letting my genuine feelings guide my storytelling, I was able to showcase my authentic self and create a memorable and impactful essay.”

#17 Don’t Be a Broken Record:

(aka – avoid repeating the same words and sentences) Break the repetition cycle! Spice up your writing with varied words and sentence structures. Keep it fresh and exciting! Repetition can make your writing monotonous and dull.

#18 Look For Grammar Gremlins and Wonky Formatting:

(aka – avoid errors) Pay attention to typos, grammatical mistakes, punctuation errors, and formatting issues. These errors can distract the reader and undermine the overall quality of your essay. Proofread your work carefully and consider seeking feedback from others to ensure your writing is error-free.

#19 Chill Out On the Negativity!

(aka – avoid being negative about the college you’re applying to) Keep any negative thoughts about the college to yourself. Focus on why you’re excited to be part of their community. Positive vibes only! Focus on highlighting your fit with the institution, its values, and what you can contribute to the campus community.

#20 Don’t Waste Time:

(aka – avoid procrastinating) Get those admission officers smiling, not cringing. Make sure to give yourself enough time to write your essay. It’s best to start early and take your time to create a great piece of writing. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, try brainstorming with friends or making a list of potential topics. Don’t worry if your first attempt isn’t perfect, as the more time you have to work on it, the better it will become. Remember, good writing takes time, so start early and give yourself the time needed to produce a high-quality essay.

Ready to impress the college of your dreams with a standout essay?

Don’t stress! We got you covered. Our essay writing coach, Mrs. Miller, is here to guide you through the process and help you present the best version of yourself on paper. Don’t hesitate to reach out for the support you need to succeed. Contact us today.

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• 9 Essay Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Writing essays is a mainstay of education from secondary school through to university, and no matter how well you know the subject in question, if you can’t write a good essay, your marks will suffer. Different academic traditions approach essays in different ways, so in this article we’re going to focus on the kind of essay expected in British schools and universities; the kind you’d be taught how to write, for instance, at our Oxford summer school . That kind of essay should put forward an argument, develop it through several different points, and conclude in a way that marries the points together and reinforces your original argument. It sounds straightforward, but as anyone who’s ever had to write an essay knows, it isn’t always so simple. Here are the types of error people make when writing essays, and how you can avoid them.

1. The list

Perhaps the most common type of bad essay is the list. This can be a result of bad essay writing, but bad question-setting also plays a role. Take the classic essay topic of the causes of the First World War . One way of phrasing a question on this could be simply, “What were the causes of the First World War?” It naturally lends itself to a list; you could almost answer in bullet point. To avoid the list, you’d have to distort the question. Another question could explore the same area of knowledge, but encourage a better-structured essay, such as “Was the First World War inevitable?” or “Was imperialism responsible for the First World War?” You’ll know if you’ve fallen into the trap of writing a list if words like “moreover”, “furthermore” and “additionally” are creeping into your essay more than “therefore” and “however”. To avoid just writing a list, first see if the question invites a list, and if so, reframe it in your head in order to construct an argument. In the First World War example, you could say, “It is popularly believed that the chief cause of the First World War was… but the causes of war in fact went much deeper…” – and then you’re arguing, rather than listing, right away. Consider also which items on your list are more important or less important, and how they interact with each other, and make sure that you come to a firm conclusion that picks a stance and doesn’t settle for “there were many causes, all important” or related waffle.

2. The weighing scales

The “weighing scales” approach to writing an essay is when you have a choice of two options, and you come down firmly on the fence. This is particularly common in essays on a difficult or controversial topic, such as, “Would justice be better served if criminals were given longer prison sentences?” The weighing scales approach would say, “on the one hand, some criminals are treated too leniently… on the other hand, longer prison sentences can increase recidivism… then again, longer sentences may act as more of a deterrent… but they also cost the state a lot of money.” The essay then concludes that there are strong arguments in favour of both sides, and perhaps that more research is needed (even when there has been plenty of research on the topic). In some academic disciplines and some cultures, the “weighing scales” approach to an essay is considered actively desirable. But that’s not the case for British universities. While it’s important to mention both sides (more on that in a moment), an essay should advance an argument. If you conclude that both sides have merit, your argument should at least propose a way of navigating between them. Make sure that by the end of your essay, your reader knows what your opinion is.

3. The polemic

The direct opposite of the “weighing scales” approach is the polemic. In this kind of essay, your reader is in no doubt at all about what your point of view is; unfortunately, they’ve heard rather too much of it and rather too little of anything else. Continuing on the same example as above, in the polemic, you might argue that prison is wholly negative, based on punishment not rehabilitation, leading to worse outcomes for prisoners than alternatives like community service, and introducing ‘new’ criminals to experienced ones so that they end up learning not how to avoid crime, but how to become better at it. While all those points are reasonable, the issue is that the other side is altogether missing. In a “polemic”-style essay, the writer rejects the other side so much that they won’t even discuss their ideas. That’s not persuasive; you also need to spend time acknowledging and refuting the alternative point of view. You don’t need to accept it, only explain where it comes from, and why it’s mistaken.

4. The literature review

A literature review is a perfectly valid piece of writing: it’s where you look at everything that’s been written on a particular topic, and compare, contrast and analyse the writers’ stances without interjecting too much of your own views. It’s a standard part of theses and dissertations, allowing you to establish the thoughts of the major authorities in the field so that you can refer to them later in the piece without the need for a lengthy introduction. But if you’re not supposed to be writing a literature review, then your essay shouldn’t resemble one. After all, it’s about assessing your knowledge, ideas and opinions, not everyone else’s. When a subject has been written about extensively, it can feel impossible to produce an original thought on it. You can end up attributing every point you want to make to another writer, because otherwise it can feel like plagiarism. But while every point might have been said before, your route through them and your reasoning will still be original. Make sure your own point of view is established, without relying too heavily on the literature.

5. The plagiarist

The opposite of the literature review, the “plagiarist” is the essay that passes off a little too much as your own work when it really ought to be credited to someone else. To be clear, we’re not talking about genuine copy-and-paste plagiarism (or the same thing with a couple of words tweaked and examples changed, which is no better) – that’s not a pitfall, that’s grounds for expulsion. This is instead where you’ve maybe read an idea, forgotten which article or book you read it in – or even that it wasn’t your idea in the first place – and put it in an essay without a citation. But even if you didn’t do it deliberately, it’s likely to be frowned on by your teachers. The only way to avoid the “plagiarist” essay is to take more thorough notes when you’re working on an essay. If you read something interesting, even if you don’t think it’s relevant, make a note of where you found it in case you do want to refer back to it. If you’re feeling really lazy, just take a photo of the details on your phone. Then you can make sure you’re not taking credit for ideas that aren’t your own.

6. The long introduction

This one is reasonably self-explanatory – it’s when it feel like the majority of the essay is introduction or scene-setting, and you never really get to the point. To go back to the earlier example of an essay on the causes of the First World War, a “long introduction” essay would spend paragraphs describing the context, the different countries and personalities involved, not to mention their histories – and then, running out of word count, would cram in a paragraph or two at the end about how all of this resulted in war. A “long introduction” essay can be the result of misjudging the word count (and more on that later) but it can also be the result of knowing a great deal about a topic and not wanting to commit to an argument. Avoid the long introduction by making sure your argument is clear from your introduction onwards. Sometimes students also structure an essay by starting with their weaker points and leading to their best point, as a kind of rhetorical crescendo. This can be effective if done well, but it can also lead to a “long introduction” essay as your reader has to sit through paragraphs of muddle waiting for you to get to your real knock-out idea.

7. The textbook

Another perfectly valid piece of writing that nonetheless makes for a poor essay is the “textbook” approach. Instead of writing an essay – with points, examples, explanations and an argument running through it all like a stick of rock – you write an explainer on the topic. This is akin to the list, but typically better written and structured. A “textbook” essay is not necessarily a bad piece of work; it’s just not what’s being asked of you when you write an essay. Sometimes, when students are shy about expressing their opinion, a “textbook”-style essay is the end result. They outline all the examples and explanations that they might have included without committing to the points. The end result is an essay where the student’s point of view could perhaps be inferred from the approach taken, but where it isn’t made explicit. If this is you, try to express your opinion more assertively; you might be avoiding saying things like “I believe” (as usually essays shouldn’t contain the first person) but try phrases like “it is clear that” or that such and such an alternative argument “is flawed”.

8. The revision notes

The “revision notes” essay is not an essay that resembles revision notes; instead, it’s an essay that’s so painfully light on detail that it reads like you used revision notes rather than doing the reading or research that you were supposed to. It skims over dates; it focuses only on the main characters of a novel; where a reader might expect it to cite another theorist, it avoids it with vague statements such as “many people have argued that…”. Assertions go unexplained and unproven. Typically the reason a student writes an essay like this is because they’re out of their depth; they haven’t done the work or understood the topic well enough to go into any more detail. If you’re finding that you’re writing this sort of essay even when you do know your topic, go through and see where more detail could be added. Even something like adding dates for events in brackets can give the sense that you know what you’re talking about. Similarly, try to use examples that aren’t the most obvious or default choice for the point that you’re making. It might feel unnecessary when you know the person marking your essay knows these details already, but you have to prove that you know the details as well.

9. The word count challenge

This goes in both directions – the essays where you’re restricted to 2,000 words and you feel like you could write a novel on the subject, and the ones where you have to write 2,000 words and you feel like you could barely manage a paragraph. Every student will have developed some tricks for getting round this, such as changing the margins or font size, or adding or removing contractions and adjectives. Of course, your teachers are wise to this. It’s much better to write an essay that’s appropriate for the length set in the first place, which means planning it out carefully. If you have what feels like too few points for the word count, can you go into more detail on those points? And if you have too much to say, can your points be grouped together for more of an overview that skips out the finer detail? Or perhaps your approach is too broad, and you can stick more closely to the question asked to condense what you want to say. This is particularly relevant for exams, where realising that you have more to say than time to say it in can be disastrous; the way to avoid it is practising until you have a better sense for how much content you need for a certain exam duration or word count.

Image credits: writing an essay ; list ; scales ; speaker ; books ; citation ; long book ; textbooks ; post-it note ; miniature book .

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Write Better Essays: 7 Mistakes to Avoid

Cari Bennette

Academic essays are an unavoidable part of the educational journey. Learning to write well may be one of the greatest skills you gain during your college years. Most students, however, will commit many errors before learning the art of academic essay writing.

While you can't avoid writing essays, you can avoid making some of these common mistakes:

Writing a Synopsis, Not An Analytical Essay

Not having a strong thesis statement, using too many quotes in an essay, making grammar, spelling and pronoun mistakes, not having a good bibliography, using resources that aren't credible, want to improve your essay writing skills.

The point of an essay is to create an argument and defend a thesis. If you're writing about a work of literature, some background to clarify the topic can be helpful. But the majority of your essay should involve your analysis based on credible research. Don't simply restate what happened in the book.

Coming up with a strong thesis statement is essential to writing a good essay. The thesis statement is the hook on which the rest of your essay hangs. It should state an opinion and be as specific as possible. Example weak thesis statement: The Great Gatsby is a great example of American Literature. Example strong thesis statement: The Great Gatsby captures the essence of America's Jazz Age in its decadence, materialism and ultimately, its tragic emptiness.

The essay is supposed to reflect your understanding of the topic and the research you've done to back up your argument. Overuse of quotes either from the work you're analyzing or from the research you've done undermines your authority on the topic. Quotes should be used sparingly and only when they drive home a point with an eloquence you can't match with your own words.

Defined as “the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own,” plagiarism is a serious offense. Colleges and universities have strict policies against plagiarism and use various tools to check your work for plagiarised content. You won't get away with it, and sometimes it can even get you suspended. Professors can recognize if something sounds like a student wrote it or if it came from another source, so don't try to fool them.

There are two kinds of plagiarism:

• The first kind is directly taking the words from a source and using them in your paper without quoting or giving credit.
• The second kind is trickier and you should take special care to make sure you're not committing this kind of plagiarism. It consists of rewording an entire article or section of an article. In this case, instead of coming up with your own original ideas and analysis, you're just rewording someone else's ideas including the order in which they present those ideas.

Your essay should contain your own original thesis, analysis and ideas backed up by credible research from academic authorities.

Worried about plagiarism? ProWritingAid's plagiarism checker checks your work against over a billion web-pages, published works, and academic papers so you can be sure of its originality. Did you know that many of the free plagiarism checkers online sell your writing to other sources? With ProWritingAid, you can be certain that your original work is secure. Paying for this kind of service might feel like a lot, but trust me, it's worth it.

Okay, let's break these down:

• Get your contractions right. You're = you are. Your = second person possessive. It's = it is. Its = third person possessive. They're = they are. Their =third person plural possessive.
• Make sure your subjects and verbs agree.
• Beware of incomplete sentences (there must be both a subject and a verb to be complete).
• Use your spell check.
• Essays should be written in the third person (he/she/it/they). Don't use the first or second person (I, you or we) in an essay.
• Follow proper formatting ( MLA formatting is a common example.

You can check for all of these errors using ProWritingAid. The Homonym report will highlight all of the words in your essay that sound the same as others but are spelled differently. This will help you avoid any 'its/it's or 'their/they're/there' mistakes.

The bibliography format for academic essays is usually the MLA style unless your professor specifically requests a different format. For a complete list of how to cite resources in MLA style, check out this site . Don't lose points over your bibliography. The hard part of your essay should be coming up with an original analysis of your topic. The bibliography is formulaic and easy to get right if you give it a little effort.

In the age of the Internet, it's easy to type in a keyword and find dozens of articles on it. But that doesn't mean all of those articles are credible. Make sure that the resources you use come from academic experts. For tips on how to find credible academic resources online, check out this site .

Avoiding these mistakes will improve your essay writing, so you can achieve higher quality and confidence in your academic writing. And it will make your professors happy, too.

Use ProWritingAid!

Are your teachers always pulling you up on the same errors? Maybe your sentences are too long and your meaning is getting lost or you're using the same sentence starter over and over again.

ProWritingAid helps you catch these issues in your essay before you submit it.

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Cari Bennette is an avid blogger and writer. She covers different aspects of writing and blogging in her articles and plans to try her hand in fiction writing.

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Write better: The 10 most common writing mistakes you should avoid

A former editor of mine once described wordy article introductions as "throat-clearing," as in, this person doesn't know yet what they're trying to say, so they're hemming and hawing before getting to the point.

You could chalk it up to writers liking to explain things or the need to dramatically set up the scene, but when it comes to everyday non-fiction writing—especially on the web—it's usually better to get to the hook as quickly as possible. The clock is ticking.

(Already I've spent too much time on this intro.)

If you want to polish your prose—whether you're writing a blog post, an email, or a report for your team—the next time you get to typing, consult this checklist of common writing mistakes. It'll help you communicate more clearly and put the focus on what you're saying rather than on stray commas or needless words.

Thanks to the editors, writers, and readers who chimed in with their advice for this post, which no doubt has several errors in it. Let's just consider them Easter eggs.

Table of contents

Explanations are handwavy or lacking backup

Passive voice

Too many words

The conclusion doesn't conclude or doesn't exist

Homophone confusion

Apostrophe catastrophes

Comma and semicolon confusion

Repetitive words

Misused words

The most common m ajor writing mistakes

When approaching a piece of writing, most editors first check for the big picture to do "macro edits." Here, we're dealing with the content of the story—how it flows, if it all makes sense, if the tone is appropriate, and if there are any questions we didn't answer that readers might have. I like to call this "defensive editing," much like defensive driving.

After that, we can get into "micro editing" for the nitty gritty of editing for mechanics and language issues (see the next section if you, too, nerd out on words).

1. The intro is unnecessarily long

Get to the point. The example above isn't as bad as my initial attempt at the lede (the first couple of paragraphs that introduce an article), but, at 152 words, it's long by most web content standards.

To remember the urgent need to get to the point, keep in mind this excerpt from former Guardian editor Tim Radford's advice for journalists (emphasis added):

1. When you sit down to write, there is only one important person in your life. This is someone you will never meet, called a reader. 

2. You are not writing to impress the scientist you have just interviewed, nor the professor who got you through your degree, nor the editor who foolishly turned you down, or the rather dishy person you just met at a party and told you were a writer. Or even your mother. You are writing to impress someone hanging from a strap in the tube between Parson’s Green and Putney, who will stop reading in a fifth of a second, given a chance.

The lede is one of the most challenging parts of writing an article, report, blog post, or even an email or memo —and also one of the most important. Advice from all the writers and editors I talked to? Just write the thing and then after the piece is done, rewrite it as much as needed, which might be several times.

[Re: Writing the lede first or last:] I usually write it first, then delete it, then write it last, then delete it, then delete everything, then drink some tea and contemplate my life choices, then I write something else entirely, and then I write it first again. So... first, then rewrite later. — Joe Yaker (@joeyaker) March 12, 2018

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing the lede: Does the lede make sense—explain briefly what's to come? Is it supported by the rest of the document? Does it quickly hook the reader to continue reading? Bonus if you write for the web: Does the lede have the keywords you're targeting for SEO?

2. Explanations are handwavy or lacking backup

That same editor who introduced me to "throat-clearing" ledes also taught me the word "handwavy," similar to how  magicians wave their hands to draw attention away from the actions behind the magic trick. It's not that we're trying to fool the reader when we're handwavy; it's that we haven't provided the reader all the facts or steps they need to understand what we're trying to explain.

So, for example, if I'm writing an article for the general public about transferring files between computers over the internet, I should explain what SFTP is when first mentioning it, since most people might not know that SFTP stands for Secure File Transfer Protocol and that it's a way to transfer and manage files between computers over a secure connection. In the same vein, here at Zapier, we try not to assume the reader knows what Zapier is when they first come to our blog or what "Zaps" (our word for automated workflows) are.

Pro tip: Just avoid jargon, unless you're going to explain that jargon. No one wants to feel like an outsider. Try the Hemingway app to test writing for readability.

Similarly, you need details to prove your point. If I state that exercise helps prevent colds, I'd best link those statements to research proving that point or to experts, such as doctors, who would back up that claim.

It's about being clear to your readers and also making sure your content doesn't have any "holes," so you can establish trust. As Radford writes: "If in doubt, assume the reader knows nothing. However, never make the mistake of assuming that the reader is stupid. The classic error in journalism is to overestimate what the reader knows and underestimate the reader's intelligence."

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: Are terms most people don't commonly use explained or linked to definitions? Are claims all linked to relevant research or backed by authoritative sources? If you were the target audience for this content, would it make sense to you?

3. The content was written in passive voice

Passive voice is used too often by writers. Writers use passive voice too often. Active voice, as in the previous sentence, is more direct and stronger because the subject (writers) is doing something (using passive voice), rather than the subject taking a backseat.

Alan Henry , Special Projects Editor at WIRED , said:

By far, the most common thing I wind up editing out or changing is passive voice. It's fairly simple to identify once you understand it, but it can be deceptively difficult to many writers to pick out of their own work, even if they go back and review their writing when they're finished. If the subject isn't clear, undefined, or you're using verb tenses that struggle to describe the action taken by a person or party not named in the sentence, you're probably using passive voice. In the same vein, I find many writers rely too heavily on present participles (-ing words, for example) when the simple present version will work better, and engage a reader more directly. For example, "Bill was setting the table" is fine, but "Bill set the table" is more direct, active, and engaging, which is critical to make sure your reader sticks with you, your story, or your article all the way through—and derives value from what they just read for their own use!

Whitson Gordon , Senior Manager of Marketing Content (Gaming) at ASUS, added:

Passive voice isn't always the worst thing in the world, but when it makes a sentence incredibly wordy, you're doing a disservice to your readers. If you catch yourself saying "One of the reasons for this is," or something similar, you should probably rethink what the subject of that sentence is.

That said, sometimes using passive voice does make more sense than the active voice. When the action is more important than who's doing the action, passive voice is totally acceptable. For example: "My computer was stolen yesterday" is more fitting than "Someone stole my computer yesterday," since it puts more emphasis on the event versus an unknown perpetrator.

Here are some examples of when the passive voice is the right option. Rewriting these sentences in active voice would make them decidedly awkward.

Passive: Sergeant Smith was wounded in Vietnam. 

Active: Someone wounded Sergeant Smith in Vietnam. 

Passive: Joey was hurt during the soccer game.

Active: The soccer game hurt Joey.

Passive: I've been bamboozled!

Active: Someone bamboozled me!

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: Is the sentence natural and clear? Will active or passive voice make the sentence more direct and engaging? Try to rewrite with as few "to be" verbs as possible and default to active verbs and tangible nouns.

4. Too many words

If you're familiar with the Zapier blog, you've probably noticed that our articles are sometimes more like novellas than blog posts. While we're fans of long-form content, we try not to be wordy .

It's similar to the long lede issue: Wordiness within the body of the piece is beating around the bush. From Strunk and White's seminal guide The Elements of Style :

Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

Common culprits? Overused adverbs and adjectives , such as "very" or "actually" or "quite." Emily Triplett Lentz , Senior Manager of Content Marketing at Calendly, said:

Your writing will be more concise and persuasive when you lose the overused adverbs and adjectives that ultimately detract from the meaning you wish to impart. Does the first of the following two sentences honestly convey any more meaning than the second?

T wo-factor authentication is very important technology. OR Two-factor authentication is important technology.

To take it a step further: Any time you’ve modified a noun or verb with "very," you can probably choose a more precise word, which leads to more powerful writing:

Two-factor authentication is critical technology.

Just like many people use "uh" and "um" to fill space when they're thinking of what to say next, when we write, we often use filler words—or, as Smart Blogger calls them, "grammar expletives." Look for the words "here," "there," and "it" to spot them in your writing: "Common constructions include it is, it was, it won’t, it takes, here is, there is, there will be ." Before-and-after examples:

It's fun to edit – Editing is fun

It takes time to write – Writing takes time

There are many people who write – Many people write

There's nothing better than blogging – Nothing's better than blogging

Here are some things to consider: – Some things to consider are:

Also, you can probably cut "that" from most sentences without changing their meaning, said Bryan Clark , VP of Editorial at Graphite. For example, "I think that waffles are better than pancakes" could just be "I think waffles are better than pancakes," or even better: "Waffles are better than pancakes" (it's assumed that's what you think). (In the previous sentence, "just" could be edited out also. But I'm leaving it in for tone and color—but watch out how often you use "just" in a piece.)

And it's not just about repeating words—repeating ideas across multiple sentences is another easy trap to fall into. Be concise.

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: Does this word or sentence add anything to the meaning or the flow of the piece? Can you read the sentence without running out of breath?

5. The conclusion doesn't conclude or doesn't exist

If the lede is meant to hook readers and convince them to keep reading, the conclusion is meant to neatly tie up the piece, so readers come away satisfied. Often, though, I see drafts where the piece abruptly stops, as if the writer expended all their energy on the meat of the post and had no room left for the conclusion (the dessert, in this analogy).

Conclusions can be tricky: How do you tie up everything in a way that makes a lasting impression? Triplett Lentz's advice:

When you don’t know how to conclude a piece of writing, try answering the "so what?" question. Why should anyone care about this? How does your idea apply to the reader as a human being? Can you situate your thesis in a broader context? If your post is about how to work a 40-hour week , for example, use the conclusion to address why that's a goal worth pursuing, or discuss the widespread problems that our culture of overwork creates.

The conclusion is an opportunity to ask readers to engage with you further, direct them to relevant content, or give them more to ponder.

Questions to ask as you're writing or editing: What's the takeaway for the reader, and is that expressed in the conclusion? Bonus points if you don't use "Conclusion" for your header for this section.

Micro writing mistakes we all make

Now that we have the major writing issues out of the way, let's talk about micro issues—the punctuation, word choices, and other things that copy editors usually catch, if you're lucky to have a good one. They're little things like using "their" when you mean "there" or "would of" instead of "would've" (a contraction of would have).

Nitpicky as the Grammar Police might be, grammatical and mechanical errors that are easy to overlook can make your readers do a double-take and perhaps doubt your authority.

It would take years to cover every grammatical mistake or point of contention, so for now, we'll just go over the most common mistakes and point you toward more resources for diving deeper.

6. Heed the homophones

Pro tip: The best way to deal with homophones is to create a mnemonic or memory aid to remember when to use which word. For example, I remember the affect/effect example by thinking affect starts with a , which starts "action," while effect starts with e, which starts "end" (as in, the thing that happens at the end after the action).

Here's a list of more common culprits:

Accept/Except:  

Accept means to acknowledge or agree to receive; e.g., "I accept your proposal." 

Except means apart from or excluding; e.g., "Everyone was present except Jane."

Complement/Compliment:  

A complement is something that completes or matches something else; e.g., "That nail polish complements your eyes." 

A compliment is a flattering remark; e.g., "Thanks for the nice compliment on my article."

Principal/Principle:  

Principal can be a noun or adjective. As a noun, it refers to the person in charge of a school, college, or organization; e.g., "Roger was called into the principal's office." As an adjective, it means main, or most important; e.g. "The principal reason for this meeting is to gather content ideas for Q2." 

Principle refers to a fundamental truth or belief; e.g., "Roger's educational principles are sound."

Stationary/Stationery:  

Stationary means not moving; e.g., "The car remained stationary."

Stationery refers to paper, pens, and other writing materials; e.g., "Simon looked for a blue ink pen in the stationery section."

For more homophone fun, head to homophone.com , a site dedicated just to homophones.

7. Apostrophe catastrophes

We can blame many cases of homophone confusion on apostrophes, that pesky punctuation mark that turns "your" into "you're." The former, without the apostrophe, means you own something. The latter, with the apostrophe, means you are doing something or are something. Similarly with "its" versus "it's." "Its" means that thing owns something, while "it's" means "it is."

Pro tip: Any time you use an apostrophe in a contraction, where you're combining the verb with the noun (such as "it's" for "it is" or "here's" for "here is"), expand the contraction in your mind so you get the subject-verb agreement right. "Here's the best apps," for example, does not work when you expand the "here's" contraction—"here is the best apps." It should be "here are the best apps." Just don't use contractions in this case.

As usual, The Oatmeal has a fun graphic explainer on how to properly use apostrophes .

Here are a couple more common apostrophe mistakes:

Who's/Whose:

Who's is a contraction of "who is"; e.g., "Who's calling Alan at this hour?"

Whose is a possessive pronoun that means "belonging to [someone]"; e.g., "Alan, whose phone hadn't stopped ringing all morning, barely ate anything for breakfast."

Let's/Lets

Let's is a contraction of "let us"; e.g., "Let's consider another example of a writing mistake."

Lets means allows; e.g., "The key lets you open the door."

Pro tip: Check out The Little Book of Confusables for lots more examples of spelling and usage tips to help you avoid writing mistakes.

8. Comma and semicolon confusion

Semicolons are a point of contention on almost any content-minded team. You either love them or hate them. Use semicolons to connect two complete thoughts together—more of a pause than using a comma but less of a hard stop than using a period. I used to be on Team Hate and agreed with my former manager Danny Schreiber, who quipped: "A semicolon is just a confused period," but I've been coming around to this punctuation mark; my former teammate Jill Duffy pointed out Annie Dillard's essay "Total Eclipse" in The Atlantic , which has gems like this:

It had nothing to do with anything. The sun was too small, and too cold, and too far away, to keep the world alive. The white ring was not enough. It was feeble and worthless. It was as useless as a memory; it was as off-kilter and hollow and wretched as a memory. When you try your hardest to recall someone’s face, or the look of a place, you see in your mind’s eye some vague and terrible sight such as this. It is dark; it is insubstantial; it is all wrong.

(Hey, if you can write like Annie Dillard, do whatever you want with punctuation.)

That said, if you do use a semicolon, make sure the parts that come before and after the semicolon are both complete thoughts (with both a subject and a verb). "I love semicolons; but hate commas" is incorrect because the "but hate commas" part can't stand on its own, while "I love semicolons; but I hate commas" works—even if you're better off using a comma here. Which brings us to the next point:

Commas are the worst.

They're the trickiest punctuation mark to master and a cause of contention when it comes to style. Should you use the Oxford comma (a.k.a., serial comma) or not? The Oxford comma, if you recall, is the comma that's added before the last item in a list. So, for example: "X, Y, and Z" follows the Oxford comma rule, as opposed to "X, Y and Z" (missing that last comma). Those who are not in favor of the Oxford comma cite aesthetics and one fewer character needed. Those on the side of the Oxford comma cite clarity.

Basically, pick your side, and stick with it. But if you're on the fence, go with the Oxford comma: It can help you avoid a lawsuit that hinges on a single comma .

From our blog style guide, here are other guidelines for using commas correctly:

Remember the FANBOYS rule before adding a comma: If you're connecting two complete thoughts with a coordinating conjunction (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, or So), you should always use a comma before the coordinating conjunction. However, if only one part of that sentence is a complete thought, the comma is unnecessary.

Incorrect: "I'll order the cheeseburger, but don't want the pickles."

Correct: "I'll order the cheeseburger but don't want the pickles" OR "I'll order the cheeseburger, but I don't want the pickles."

"Don't want the pickles" wouldn't be used, in most cases, as a standalone sentence, so we don't need the comma. "I don't want the pickles" is complete with subject and verb, so we add the comma. (Alternatively, you could shorten the sentence to "I'll order the cheeseburger without pickles.")

Also, add a comma after "Also" at the beginning of a sentence, but don't add a comma after "Or" or any of the other FANBOYS unless it's followed by a parenthetical.

Incorrect: "Or, you could download this other to-do app."

Correct: "Or you could download this other to-do app" OR "Or, if you want more features, you could download this other to-do app."

Pro tip: Every time you want to add a comma or a semicolon, consider whether the words after the punctuation mark form a complete thought that could stand on its own.

9. Repetitive words repeat

According to Grammarly , one of the most common writing mistakes is using the same word often in a piece. Sometimes this can't be helped:

But other times repeating the same words or phrases is a sign that you're struggling to communicate or fully explain your topic without beating around the bush. Readers (that is, people) like variety, and, in some cases, the thesaurus is your friend.

Pro tip: Grammarly's advice: Read your piece out loud, then cut down or replace frequently used words. When writing, ask yourself if you've already made this statement before in your piece.

10. Misused words

Writing is all about choosing the right words in the right sequence to convey your thought or idea. Simple, right? The problem is there are so many words at your disposal and picking the "best" word is impossible. But some words are better than others when you want to get your point across and also be precise and accurate.

One of my pet peeves is when people use "less" when they should be using "fewer." As in, "I have less readers than I did when this post was published"—it should be "fewer." Use "fewer" when you can count whatever you're referring to (in this case, readers) and "less" when you can't, such as less readership or audience. Similarly, you'd say "less water" (not countable) but "fewer raindrops" (countable).

If you want to go down the word usage rabbit hole, here are the 58 most commonly misused words and phrases . One example I see a lot is the difference between "home in on" and "hone":

Home in on means zero in on (get closer to a target). 

Hone is what you do when you sharpen a knife (or a skill).

Pro tip: The next time you misuse a word and correct it (or your editor corrects it), come up with a mnemonic to remember the right word.

Fix your writing mistakes

While these are the 10 most common writing mistakes my colleagues and I run into, there's plenty more where they came from. One big mistake that's coming up a lot recently is over-relying on AI. While AI writing generators can help you write better technically speaking, they will absolutely not help you sound like a human . Use them for brainstorming, outlines, and refinement, but also be sure there's a human brain at the helm.

Related reading:

Free writing software: tools to help you create better content, faster

How to write great copy: 11 copywriting tips

How to self-edit: A 5-step process

This article was originally published in 2018. The most recent update, with contributions from David Hartshorne, was in November 2023.

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Melanie Pinola

Melanie Pinola is a NY-based writer. Besides trying out new productivity systems, she enjoys cooking, playing video games with her family, and traveling. Follow her at @melaniepinola.

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5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Essays

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Jordan Sanchez in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

Essay length, cohesive writing, reusing essays.

In this post, we discuss mistakes to avoid when writing your college essay . For more information, check out this post about how to write this year’s Common App essays . 

A common college essay mistake is writing an essay that’s too short. For example, the word limit for the Common App essay is 650 words, and you should try as hard as you can to reach that number. A 400-word essay is definitely too short. Make sure you’re using all the words available to you.

If you’re having difficulty meeting the word limit, your essay topic may be too specific. Also, you may not be including enough details or descriptive language. Conversely, if your essay is too long, you may have sections that could be simplified. Look for any areas where the writing may be repetitive or redundant. Consider whether your essay is too broad. Are you trying to cover multiple topics? It can be helpful to break down your essay paragraph by paragraph and ensure that everything you’ve written aligns with the goals of the essay.

Since supplemental essays tend to have low word limits, you can do more telling than showing when writing these. That said, while you don’t want to waste words, if there’s an opportunity to add a bit of personality to a supplemental essay, you should take it. 

Another common mistake is incohesive writing. Cohesive essays are easy and enjoyable to read. If an essay is jumping around and doesn’t have a clear narrative or connection between ideas, it can be distracting. The reader will be wondering what’s relevant and what they should be caring about, which takes attention away from the content and purpose of your essay.

Incohesive writing happens in two major ways. The first is when a writer doesn’t use effective transitions. These show the reader how different ideas are related, and without them, an essay can be disorganized and difficult to understand. Transitions can be as short as one or two sentences or as long as a whole paragraph.

Incohesive writing can also happen when the writer is inconsistent. Your essay should maintain the same tense, point of view, and writing style from beginning to end. Don’t use extremely complicated vocabulary in one paragraph and incredibly simple language in the next. Write in your natural style and voice, and you’ll never go wrong. 

To check the cohesion of your writing, go over your first or second draft and answer the following questions: “What is the main idea of this paragraph? Does it align with the central theme of the essay? How does this relate to the previous paragraph? Do I illustrate the connection here or later in the essay? What point of view is this written in? What about tense? Is it narrative or creative? Distant or close and engaging? Informative or persuasive?” Your answers should be the same or similar for each paragraph. 

It’s crucial to write your essay in the correct form. The Common App essay is similar to a narrative or memoir in that it’s a short personal story. Many students have little to no experience writing in this form, and if you’re one of them, that’s okay, you’re not alone.

Keep in mind that this is not a five-paragraph essay. You won’t have an introduction or conclusion in the traditional sense. Your introduction will be the hook of your essay, whether it comes in the form of dialogue, descriptive language, or imagery. The conclusion will be a short wrap-up, perhaps a few sentences in length. 

The essay isn’t a thought piece either. You shouldn’t be writing something speculative. You want to include specific personal details from your life. This will ground the essay so it doesn’t feel lofty, and it will help the reader get to know you better. 

Not sounding like yourself is a big issue in college essays. The admissions committee is not expecting the most beautiful prose or intelligent language. They want to read an essay by you and about you, so be sure to write your essay in your own voice.

Don’t include words in your essay that you don’t use regularly. You don’t need big, fancy words to impress admissions officers. Your character and your story will impress them for you. In the same vein, your essay should center around who you are today. It’s okay to write about something that happened in the distant past, but the bulk of your essay should be about events that occurred between 10th and 12th grade. Don’t talk too much about your past without connecting it back to who you are today. 

Throughout the college application process, you’ll write several essays, including personal statements and supplements. A few of these essays can be used in applications for several schools, but be careful not to reuse the wrong ones.

Admissions officers can tell when you’re reusing an essay that you shouldn’t. It shows carelessness and a lack of interest in the school and can lower your chances of admission. To avoid this mistake, before writing any of your supplemental essays, copy and paste all the prompts into a single document, and take inventory of how many you’ll actually have to write and how many you can reuse.

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• Writing Tips

5 Mistakes to Avoid in Academic Writing

4-minute read

• 17th July 2020

Academic documents need to be clear, concise, and error free. And to ensure this, there are five things you should avoid in academic writing:

• Plagiarism – Every source you use in an essay should be clearly cited.
• Informality – Use formal, academic language in your writing.
• Wordiness – Keep your writing concise by avoiding padding words.
• Biased language – Look out for biased language and stereotypes.
• Failure to proofread – Even a few typos could lose you marks, so make sure to have your academic writing proofread.

For more on what to avoid in academic writing, read on below.

1. Plagiarism

In academic writing, you must cite your sources! Failure to do so can lead to allegations of plagiarism . And to avoid plagiarism, you need to:

• Check your school’s style guide and make sure you use the correct referencing system throughout your work.
• Cite every source you use in your work. Do this for both direct quotes and any passage where you paraphrase another writer’s ideas.
• Place all quoted text in quote marks and cite the source clearly.
• List all sources in a reference list or bibliography .

Proper referencing will also demonstrate your academic writing skills, which can win you valuable extra marks on an essay.

2. Informality in Academic Writing

Academic writing is more formal and objective than everyday English. This means using standard English spelling, punctuation, and grammar, but it also means avoiding informal English. This typically includes:

• Contractions , which should be written out in full instead (e.g., “won’t” and “can’t” should be written as “will not” and “cannot”).
• An overly personal or chatty tone (e.g., you shouldn’t overuse the first person in academic writing, and exclamation points are out).
• Informal words in place of technical language (e.g., instead of “did a test”, say “carried out a test” or “performed a test”).
• Slang or colloquial English (e.g., you would refer to “police,” not “cops”).

There are, of course, exceptions to these rules. If you are writing a report on a book, for example, you might need to quote passages of informal English. But try to maintain a formal tone in general.

3. Wordiness

We understand the pressure of needing to meet a word count , but you should never pad out an essay with extra words and phrases just to meet your target. Excessive wordiness makes your writing harder to follow. It also stands out, so readers will spot it quickly!

Find this useful?

Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.

To avoid wordiness in your writing, though, you can:

• Use the active voice where possible. While the passive voice can help you achieve an objective tone, overusing it can lead to wordiness and make your writing harder to follow.
• Don’t use multiple words when one will do. Look for words or phrases that you can remove without changing the meaning of what you’re saying. For instance, instead of “due to the fact that,” you can simply say “because.” Other examples include redundancies and nominalizations .
• Check for unnecessary modifiers . These are usually intensifiers that don’t add new information to a sentence. For example, instead of “completely implausible,” you can just use “implausible.”

If you are under your word count, look for areas you could expand without padding. This could be an extra comparison or example to support your argument, or simply a more detailed explanation of your conclusions.

4. Biased Language in Academic Writing

It’s important to use bias-free language. This includes gendered terms, generalizations, and stereotypes. Key things to look out for include:

• Unnecessarily gendered terms (e.g., instead of “mankind,” use “humanity”).
• Gendered pronouns (e.g., instead of using “he” throughout your paper for persons whose gender is unknown, use the more balanced “he or she” or the gender-neutral term “they” ).
• Dehumanizing language , especially language that reduces people to a single quality, such as their skin color or a medical condition (e.g., say “people with autism” rather than “autistics”).

In general, take care around how you discuss age, gender, race, ability, religion, etc. Make sure to consider the people you’re writing about and, where possible, use the language they use to refer to themselves.

5. Failure to Proofread

Typos in your work will lose you marks, which could make the difference between a failing and a passing grade! But by having your writing professionally proofread, you can be sure it is clear, concise and error free.

To see how we could help you get the marks you deserve, then, why not submit a free sample of academic writing for proofreading?

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How to Avoid Common Essay Mistakes

Last Updated: October 11, 2022 References

This article was co-authored by Jake Adams . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University. There are 17 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 7,645 times.

No matter what field you're in, you will need to write an essay at some point in your life. Essays can be written in a variety of fields of study, styles, and genres. The amount of time dedicated to constructing an essay varies greatly from one assignment to the next. However, one of the ways that you can cut down on the amount of time spent writing an essay is to avoid common essay mistakes by learning how to compose an essay properly.

Pre-Writing

• For example, you do not want to compare all of Africa to all of Asia because that topic would be too broad or too general. Instead, you might write an essay that compares the Great Wall of China and the Great Pyramids of Giza, which is focused and specific topic, and which would provide you with enough information to craft an essay that is an appropriate length.

• Reading books on your selected topic.
• Browsing scholarly peer-reviewed articles on your topic. These articles can be found through your school’s library online databases and through search engines like Google Scholar.
• Reading magazine and news articles on your topic.
• Listening to radio interviews or podcasts about your topic.

• Wikipedia [4] X Research source
• Personal Blogs
• Vlogs or video blogs
• Satirical websites
• If you do read an article from a site like Wikipedia, check out the citations provided at the end of the article. Use those sources, rather than the Wikipedia article, in your essay.

• An introduction
• A thesis (your main argument or the main point of your essay)
• Supporting examples
• A conclusion

• An example of an arguable thesis would be: The government should decriminalize all drug use and rather than implementing punishment for people caught using drugs, a drug rehabilitation program should be put into place.

• Avoid ambiguous words, or words that shift in meaning depending on context. [11] X Trustworthy Source US Department of Health and Human Services Federal department responsible for improving the health and well-being of Americans Go to source
• Use words that have force or urgency by using active voice and avoiding passive voice. [12] X Research source
• Avoid professional jargon, highly technical terminology, or overly specialized terms, unless the audience has background knowledge on the subject. If you end up using a technical term or jargon for an article intended to be understood by anyone, be sure to define and explain it in simple terms.
• Utilize words that are understandable to a wide range of readers to avoid creating a document with an exclusionary readership, which will alienate all other readers.
• Avoid clichés. [13] X Research source You might like the idea of a cliché because it is easy to use, but clichés are frowned upon in essays. Clichés are old and overused turns of phrase. [14] X Research source Rather than using a cliché, you should be inventive and consider a new way to say what you might have otherwise communicated as a cliché. Consider avoiding the following:

• For example, if you are writing an essay on why the sky is blue, your essay would read very differently depending upon whether you are writing it for a college professor or for a class of elementary school children. Despite the fact that the reason for the sky being blue remains the same, your writing style and the included content (technical information, citations, explanation, and examples) should differ between the two audiences.

• Do I follow the appropriate structure?
• Do I have a strong thesis statement/main argument at the end of my introduction paragraph?
• Does everything that follows my thesis statement work to support it?
• Have I used enough outside sources?
• Have I properly incorporated my sources into my work?
• Have I properly cited my sources?
• Is my essay specific in its argumentation and logic?
• Is my writing clear and concise enough for a reader to follow without issue?

Editing and Proofreading

Expert Q&A

• Avoid clichés. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Avoid generalizations. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Procrastination will result in stress and frustration when you have a looming deadline. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Make sure that you understand the assignment before you begin working on it to avoid confusion. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be a great essay writer immediately. Success comes with practice. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Never hand in your first draft as a completed essay. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ http://canuwrite.com/essay_topic.php
• ↑ http://young.scot/information/learning/how-to-do-research-for-an-essay/
• ↑ Jake Adams. Academic Tutor & Test Prep Specialist. Expert Interview. 20 May 2020.
• ↑ http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/education/2010/march/The-Top-10-Reasons-Students-Cannot-Cite-or-Rely-on-Wikipedia.html
• ↑ http://www.jessicatiffin.org/common-student-essay-errors/
• ↑ https://www.sterling.edu/documents/academics/ThesisStatement.pdf
• ↑ http://www.jessicatiffin.org/common-student-essay-errors/#2
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/
• ↑ http://www.hhs.gov/web/building-and-managing-websites/web-requests/write-in-plain-language/index.html
• ↑ http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/CCS_activevoice.html
• ↑ http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/10-tips-to-bypass-cliche-and-melodrama
• ↑ http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/how-to-avoid-clichés
• ↑ http://www.gbcnv.edu/documents/ASC/docs/00000057.pdf
• ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ http://www.time4writing.com/writing-resources/vocabulary/

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Common Essay Mistakes—Writing Errors to Avoid [Updated]

One of the most critical skills that students gain during their college years is assignment writing. Composing impressive essays and research papers can be quite challenging, especially for ESL students. Nonetheless, before learning the art of academic writing, you may make numerous common essay mistakes.

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Such involuntary errors appear in:

• essays’ content;
• academic style;
• structure and overall organization;
• spelling and punctuation;

Good news for you! Our experts prepared a list that contains and explains all of them. Find out about common mistakes in essay writing and do your best not to make them.

• 📃 Content Mistakes
• 🔍 Stylistic Mistakes
• 📝 Structural Mistakes
• 🔤 Grammar Mistakes
• 📘 Vocabulary Mistakes
• ✍️ Spelling Mistakes
• ⁉️ Punctuation Mistakes

📃 Content Mistakes in Essays

A perfect essay usually has an impressive introduction, well-organized content, and a powerful conclusion. Lousy college essays often lack structure or content and do not impress the reader.

What should you do?

Follow these six tips when writing any type of essay:

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• Always write an essay that includes relevant facts, concrete details, and specific examples. If you just write down a few paragraphs that have something to do with your topic, you will not succeed in writing a good essay. Read the question carefully before you start writing. Single out the keywords and then elaborate on your ideas with facts, details, and examples.
• Write a good introduction. An exciting introduction gives the background for the whole essay. In the introduction, you should make your presentation of the essay topic. To write a good introduction paragraph , tell your reader what you are going to write.
• Write a strong thesis statement. The thesis statement expresses the writer’s thoughts on the topic and tells the reader how the idea will be developed. A good thesis statement explains two critical things to the reader: what you plan to argue in your essay and how you plan to do it. Always support your thesis with your ideas in the central part of the paper.
• Never write a thesis statement if you do not have enough ideas to support it. While planning your essay, you should think carefully and ask yourself whether you have enough ideas to support your thesis. And if you are not sure, formulate another one that you will be able to argue.
• Use ideas that you can prove with examples. Keep in mind: Any idea should be clarified and proved. So always give appropriate examples. If some of your writing has awkward wording, you can use an online sentence changer to fix it.
• Write a powerful conclusion. In the end, take advantage of your last chance to say something important to your readers. You should emphasize the purpose and importance of what you wrote in your essay.

The thesis is the hook on which any essay hangs.

🔍 Stylistic Mistakes in Writing

Even if it’s written interestingly, your essay may make a poor impression if you do not use the correct style.

These are five essay mistakes that most students make:

• Word repetition. Here is the truth: Your essay will look dull and childish if you use the same lexical sets. So, use synonyms and word substitutes to avoid repeating the same nouns or verbs.
• Too many passive structures. When you use the passive voice in your sentences, they sound more impersonal and objective, but they are longer and harder to read. On the contrary, active sentences are clear and direct. So, if you want to write a good essay, you should use both types. A good rule of thumb is to write less than 20 percent of your sentences in the passive voice.
• Sentences that are too long or too short. If you use sentences that are too long, you make your essay harder to understand. On the other hand, you can destroy your idea’s logical development if your sentences are too short. Try to use a balance of both long and short sentences.
• Sentences beginning with coordinating conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions are mainly used to connect words and clauses in the same sentence. Sometimes we can also use them to start a sentence. But if you begin too many sentences with coordinating conjunctions, your essay will be monotonous. It’s better to use corresponding conjunctive adverbs like nevertheless , moreover , or however , which have the same meaning. They are more appropriate in a formal context.
• Overly formal or informal words and phrases. Many students forget that an academic essay requires a vocabulary layer that we do not use in our everyday lives. Never use slang expressions and nonstandard verb forms like gotta or wanna in your academic papers. Check English slang dictionaries if you struggle to find a proper replacement phrase or word. You should use formal constructions and high-level vocabulary.

In doubt, always consult a good dictionary to choose the proper word. If you’re unsure whether you can implement a phrase in context, see it in other text. You can do it by typing it in a search engine.

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📝 Structural Mistakes In Student Essays

An essay is a long-established form of academic writing, and there are strict rules for writing every type. They make it more manageable to organize one’s thoughts without limiting creativity.

The most common structural mistakes are:

• You can expand the fragment into a complete sentence by supplying the missing elements such as subjects, verbs, and clauses.
• You can incorporate the fragment into an adjacent sentence.
• Run-On Sentences: Run-on sentences occur when you join two or more main clauses together without appropriate punctuation. Run-on sentences confuse the reader. What can you do to correct them? Fortunately, this is pretty simple: Divide a run-on sentence into separate sentences to fix it, or add coordinating or subordinating conjunctions.

• the introduction,
• two main body paragraphs,
• and the conclusion.

Your text and sentences should have a clear structure and present your ideas’ complete development.

In the following sections, you’ll see how to avoid grammar, vocabulary, and spelling mistakes.

🔤 Grammar Mistakes in Writing

A successful essay must be grammatically correct. Learn the most common types of such errors in student essays, not to repeat them yourself.

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• Noun form mistakes. You should study key grammar areas to help you succeed. Review the rules concerning countable and uncountable nouns. Make sure you know how to use determiners with singular and plural nouns.
• Subject-predicate agreement Pay attention to the cases when words like both , some , or neither introduce compound subjects and still take the plural predicate.
• Pronouns Pronouns always agree with the noun they refer to. Some indefinite pronouns can have only a plural form or merely a singular form, but some can have both depending on the situation.
• Verb form mistakes. Remember the main grammar rules related to the use of stative and auxiliary verbs and correct use of the infinitive and modal verbs.

For more information about correcting grammar mistakes in essays, consult grammar and writing resources around the web. To avoid them, proofread your writing. Always check whether you have used the grammar forms mentioned above correctly.

Still uncertain about what not to write in a college essay? You can get help from essay writing companies that provide editing and proofreading services.

📘 Vocabulary Mistakes in Essays

Even if you develop your ideas logically, your grammar is correct, and your style is perfect, your writing can be a disaster. How so? You may make vocabulary mistakes that can ruin your paper.

The three most common language errors in essay writing are:

• Misuse of homonyms. Many students typically misuse the following homonyms: hear vs. here , hole vs. whole , its vs. it’s , and many more.
• Wrong word form. When we write quickly, we may write a word form that differs from what we meant to write. For example, students often write verb forms instead of adjectives. This can result in an unintended change of meaning ( disable people instead of disabled people ).
• Confused words. Spellcheck will not identify the incorrect use of such words as loose – lose , affect – effect , quite – quit – quiet , and accept – except . You should proofread your essay carefully to make sure you’ve used the correct words.

You can use the following strategies to eliminate such errors:

• Plan your writing ahead, picking lexicon.
• Use a dictionary or Google to ensure the right meaning.
• Leave enough time for composing so that you won’t hurry.
• Always proofread your writing, paying attention to the language you used.

If you can, leave your paper for several days. Finish your first draft and forget about it for a while. Checking it for essay errors proves to be efficient when you’ve rested and haven’t seen the text some time.

✍️ Spelling Mistakes in Essays

Numerous students say that the English language’s spelling system is the most unpredictable in the world. That is not true. There are some tricky words in English , like weigh , Caribbean , or island . You can do nothing but memorize their spelling. But several other words do follow special rules.

The most common spelling mistakes are the following:

After you have written your essay, read it carefully and correct your spelling mistakes. Make a list of the words that you usually misspell and practice writing them over and over.

⁉️ Punctuation Mistakes in Writing

Punctuation is essential in essay writing. It is used to separate ideas, relate ideas to one another, and clarify meaning. Without correct punctuation, your readers will get confused and frustrated rather quickly.

Proper punctuation is required in college essays and research papers. Learn the rules regarding the use of commas, apostrophes, and hyphens to avoid making punctuation errors.

Here is a list of the vital punctuation rules to remember:

• Put a comma after the introductory dependent clause.

An introductory dependent clause is a phrase before the subject that does not form a complete sentence.

• Incorrect: Since Miss Ostin got promoted to the chief editor position she decided not to change her workplace.
• Correct: Since Miss Ostin got promoted to the chief editor position, she decided not to change her workplace.
• Use a comma to separate non-essential info in the sentence.

Are there some clarifications that may be removed from the sentence, and the reader will still get the key idea? Separate this information with punctuation marks!

• Incorrect: My sister who recently got married is pregnant now. 
• Correct: My sister, who recently got married, is pregnant now.
• Put commas around interrupters.

Interrupters are the words that provide additional detail by breaking the flow of the sentence. Always separate them with commas.

• Incorrect: Hopefully my essay topic is suitable for the given type of assignment. 
• Correct: Hopefully, my essay topic is suitable for the given type of assignment.
• Use semicolons in too complex sentences.

Sometimes the sentence is too long, yet the information should be taken together. In such cases, put a semicolon between two parts instead of separating them with a period.

• Incorrect: I was planning to study abroad however due to certain family issues I took a gap year and stayed at home. 
• Correct: I was planning to study abroad; however, due to certain family issues, I took a gap year and stayed at home. 

And now, last but not least. Here’s a helpful video about the most common mistakes in ESL student essays. The essay writing techniques explained in this video lesson are useful for any student who wants to write good papers.

Thank you for visiting our page! Use our tips and avoid common errors in essay writing. Don’t forget to leave your comment and share the article with your friends!

This might be interesting for you:

• Useful Revising and Editing Checklists
• Essay Checklist: How to Write an A+ Essay
• Effective Writing Strategies for College Students
• How to Control Words per Page
• Basic Writing Rules – Common Mistakes & Fixes
• 200 Powerful Words to Use Instead of “Good”
• List of Credible Sources
• An Ultimate Punctuation Guide

✏️ Frequent Questions

There are several tips to improve grammar in your article:

• Avoid overly complex grammatical structures;
• Use ready-made connecting phrases and collocations;
• Proofread your text several times, perhaps read aloud and correct your mistakes;
• Run your text through a grammar checker (through desktop software or online).

There is quite a few you should avoid in order to write a good essay, e.g.:

• Too colloquial phrases;
• Excessive repetition of some words;
• Misprints, mistakes, and wrong formatting;
• Too emotional and subjective sentences;
• Too long sentences with complex grammatical constructions, etc.

There are particular “stop”-words that you should not include in an article. They can be divided into the following groups :

• colloquial language, rude comments;
• simplified connecting words (e.g., “And,” “But,” “Or” at the beginning of a sentence);
• excessively complex and almost obsolete words.

You may correct your text in various ways. Some possible strategies are:

• Read the essay aloud;
• Ask your friend to proofread the essay;
• Read the paragraphs from the bottom to the top;
• Run an automatic checker (in desktop software or online), etc.
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• Share to Twitter
• Share to LinkedIn
• Share to email

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is there a set author taking credit for publishing this information ? because i would love to reference the author in my paper

Hello! You can reference it as a web source/web page.

People do not have much time for essays and are usually distracted in different things. Essays writing requires tons of concentration and a particular flow that the writer should maintain. Otherwise, it will not be interesting for the audience. Planning is so important in essay writing. Thanks for sharing these tips.

Totally agree with you, William! Thanks for stopping by.

Thanks for your hard work

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The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.

There are many types of essays you might write as a student. The content and length of an essay depends on your level, subject of study, and course requirements. However, most essays at university level are argumentative — they aim to persuade the reader of a particular position or perspective on a topic.

The essay writing process consists of three main stages:

• Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline.
• Writing : Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion.
• Revision:  Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.

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Table of contents

Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.

The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .

For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:

• Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
• Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
• Do your research: Read  primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
• Come up with a thesis:  The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
• Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.

The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.

1. Hook your reader

The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.

Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

2. Provide background on your topic

Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.

3. Present the thesis statement

Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.

4. Map the structure

In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

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The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.

Length of the body text

The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.

Paragraph structure

To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.

That idea is introduced in a  topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.

After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

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The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :

• Returns to your thesis
• Ties together your main points
• Shows why your argument matters

A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.

What not to include in a conclusion

To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:

• Including new arguments or evidence
• Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
• Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

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Checklist: Essay

My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).

My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.

My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.

I use paragraphs to structure the essay.

I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.

Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.

I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.

I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.

I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.

I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.

My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .

My essay has an interesting and informative title.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).

Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

• An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
• Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
• A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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15 Essay Writing Dos And Don’ts to Help You Write Great Essays

by  Antony W

September 13, 2022

There’s nothing worse than scoring low marks for an essay that you’ve worked so hard to complete.  So before you start working on your essay, regardless of the type of essay your instructor has asked you to work on, it’s important to know about essay writing dos and don’ts.

This will help you stay on the right track from the time you start writing to the moment you put the final full stop to paper.

Key Takeaways

• Use short, simple sentences to make your essay easy to read.  
• Include a statement of declaration (thesis statement) in the introduction.
• Stick to the format for writing an essay.
• Do not share too many ideas in a single paragraph. Each paragraph should address one unique issue.
• Do not plagiarize your work.
• Do not address your reader in the essay but focus on the objectives while remaining detached and analytical.
• Do use this essay writing service if you don’t have enough time to write your essay from scratch.
• Do not start an essay with the phrase “My essay” or “In this essay”. 

The Dos and Don’ts of Essay Writing: 10 Things to Do and 10 Things to Avoid

Here are the dos and don’ts of essay writing:

1. Do Split Up Your Sentences if They Get Too Long

Make sure your sentences are not blocks of words. A block of words will undoubtedly turn off the readers because they will find the essay boring to read.

So, make sure your sentences are short and to the point.

Apart from easing your readers reading experience, splitting your sentence will even help you discover sentences that can stand alone during essay editing.

2. Do include a thesis statement in the Introduction

You should include a thesis statement in the introduction to summarize what the essay is.

Having a thesis statement in your introduction also helps the reader to understand what you are about to write about.

This statement should appear at the end of the introduction paragraph.

In this section, completely avoid the use of complicated words since it is a point where the reader gets a clue of what you intend to communicate.

3. Do Use Simple Sentence

As you write your essay, ensure the language and sentences you use are easy to digest. Use words so simple that even a high school student can understand.

What is the goal of using heavy words in your essay yet no one will understand what you’re trying to communicate?

Just help the reader to understand you more by using simple sentence constructions.

4. Do Remember to Proofread Your Work

Carelessness, laziness, unprofessionalism is what readers see in you when you submit unrevised essays for reading.

Typing errors, grammatical errors, and small spelling mistakes can make an essay you took time to right look bad.

It is your essay nobody else’s so, make the effort to go through it.

Revisiting your essays helps you identify errors. Once you eliminate each of the errors, your essay will have a good flow of ideas and be very easy to read.

5. Remember to Look for Formatting Requirements

Before you start writing an essay, make sure you have gone through the formatting requirements.

Reading these requirements is important because it shows that you can follow instructions.

The habit of reading through instructions, before anything else and implementing what the instructions command will help you score high marks for the essay.

6. Remember to Use Your Candidate Number, Tutors Name, and Page Numbers

Before submitting any of your essays for marking, ensure that you have included your candidate number as your file name.

Remember you are not the only student submitting his or her assignment, and that means if the assignment doesn’t have a candidate’s number you won’t get your results.

It is also important to include the name of your tutor and indicate the number of pages your work has.

7. Sufficient Spacing

As you write, leave some space for the tutor to leave comments as he or she marks your work. The space should be on both margins of the essay paper.

8. Do Discuss Literature in the Present Tense

Always use present tenses when writing essays.

Adhere to present tense especially when the essay an assignment based on literary works. Present tense on historic narratives makes your essay more engaging.

9. Choose the Correct Language

Your ability to investigate and explore topics is based on the language you choose to use write your essay in.

The language you use will also determine how well and how easy you will explain your points and prove your opinions.

The language you choose to use also determines the level of your language proficiency and grammar knowledge. It is therefore important that you ensure the language you choose favors you.

10. Make Good Use of Your Time

 A semester is usually 75 days or 15 weeks long.

This is enough time to prepare the 20-page assignment. Make good of the period to write an essay worth awarding good grades.

Our time management tips can help you use your time well.

11. Don't Give the Reader too Many Ideas in a Single Sentence 

Having all your essay ideas in a single sentence means the remaining part of the essay is a joint of words with no meaning and is only there to lengthen your essay.

Also, long and too complicated sentences will confuse essay readers.

So sprinkle the ideas you have all over your essay.

12. Do not Plagiarize Your Essay

Never should you ever use someone else’s research as your own. Markers always disqualify plagiarized essays .

Readers also distrust you once they learn a portion of your essay is a duplicate from an outside source. In case you find a piece of information so important, give credit to the author.

13. Do Not Address the Reader

While writing an essay, avoid addressing your readers. Instead, you should focus on your objectives.  Stay detached and analytical.

Avoid appealing to your reader’s personality and emotions because if you do, they will rightly lose the reading morale.

Essays that touch on the reader’s emotions and personality are as tasteless as water.

14. Do Not Open an Essay With “In this essay or My essay”

Of course, we already know it is your essay, so you should never start up your essay with such phrases.

Consider staying formal to the very end. Also, be careful about the kind of expressions you use in essays because some expressions might hurt your reader’s emotions and feelings.

15. Don’t List the Topic of each Body Paragraph  

Although this is a strategy taught to armature students to help them organize their work better, it has a few limitations.

First, it will work well on short essay projects on an essay. Second, listing the topic in each body of your paragraph may not lead to complex points.

Unless you are asked to do so by the instructions, avoid listing the topic of each body paragraph.

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

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10 Common Essay Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Last updated on September 12, 2023 by ClearIAS Team

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination (CSE) Mains is a rigorous and competitive exam that assesses candidates on various aspects of knowledge and skills.

One important component of the mains exam is the essay paper, where candidates are required to write two essays on topics of their choice.

The UPSC Essay Paper is considered an important paper, it serves as an opportunity for candidates to show their proficiency in expressing ideas and analyzing complex issues.

The essay paper holds a significant weightage in the UPSC Mains examination. It contributes 250 marks out of the total 1750 marks.

Scoring good marks in this paper can significantly improve your chances of getting good marks in the UPSC Mains exam and can improve your overall rank.

However, many aspirants often make common essay writing mistakes that can significantly harm their scores.

In this article, we will discuss 10 such mistakes and provide a solution to avoid them.

Learn more from: ClearIAS Study Materials

Table of Contents

10 Common Essay Writing Mistakes and Steps to Avoid Them

Let’s understand the most common mistake that an aspirant makes in an essay paper without realizing it. Here, we will not only discuss those mistakes but will also work on how to solve those problems.

Lack of Understanding of the Topic

Mistake: One of the most fundamental mistakes while writing an essay is not fully comprehending the essay topic. Candidates sometimes misinterpret the subject, resulting in essays that are off-topic or fail to address the core issues. In that case, they waste their precious time.

Solution: Practice writing mock essays before appearing in the actual exam. Take time to carefully read and analyze the essay topic during the exam. Break it down into its key components and keywords. Understand the context and objectives of the essay prompt before you begin writing.

Poor Planning and Time Management

Mistake: The pressure of limited time often leads to poor planning. Candidates may rush through their essays, neglecting crucial steps like brainstorming and outlining.

Solution: To avoid this, practice the mock paper in a time-bound manner. During the exam allocate sufficient time for brainstorming, outlining, and writing. Prioritize your ideas and create a clear structure for your essay before you start writing. Stick to the recommended time limit for each essay.

Weak Introduction

Mistake: Some candidates tend to write weak or vague introductions that do not grab the reader’s attention or provide a clear roadmap for the essay. A weak start leaves a weak impression on the mind of the evaluator.

Solution: Write an engaging introduction that explains the topic, establishes its significance, and outlines the key points you plan to discuss. Make sure your writing is concise and well-defined.

Lack of Clarity and Flow

Mistake: Essays that lack clarity and flow can be challenging to follow. Disconnected paragraphs and ideas make it difficult for the examiner to grasp your argument.

Solution: Try to develop an essay writing habit way before the exam and try to keep improving. During the exam, use transitional phrases and connective words to ensure a smooth flow between paragraphs and ideas. Each paragraph should logically follow the previous one, supporting your overall argument.

Neglecting Evidence and Examples

Mistake: Aspirants often fail to provide relevant evidence and examples to support their arguments. This can weaken their essay’s influence on the mind of the evaluator.

Solution: Incorporate relevant examples, facts, statistics, and real-life instances to support your arguments. Ensure that each piece of evidence directly relates to the point you’re making.

Overly Complex Language

Mistake: Some candidates use overly complex vocabulary and difficult sentences in an attempt to sound impressive, but this can often result in unclear and confusing essays.

Solution: Use clear and concise language, do not try to put all the known vocabulary in one essay. Avoid unnecessary jargon or complex words unless they are directly related to the topic and enhance clarity.

Ignoring Counterarguments

Mistake: Neglecting to acknowledge and address counterarguments can weaken your essay’s overall impact and forcefulness.

Solution: Every aspect has both sides so try to provide viewpoints and counterarguments, then skillfully refute them. This demonstrates a well-rounded understanding of the topic and strengthens your own argument.

Inadequate Conclusion

Mistake: Many candidates rush through their conclusions or restate their essays without providing a thoughtful summary of their main points.

Solution: Create a strong conclusion that summarizes your key arguments and provides a broader perspective on the topic. End with a thought-provoking statement or a call to action, if applicable.

No Original Ideas

Mistake: Some candidates rely solely on conventional ideas and fail to bring fresh perspectives to their essays.

Solution: Challenge yourself to think critically about the topic. Offer original insights and consider different angles. Analyze and evaluate the subject matter to demonstrate depth of understanding.

Lack of Critical Thinking and Evaluation

Mistake: Aspirants sometimes fail to critically evaluate the information and arguments presented in their essays.

Solution: Develop your critical thinking skills by questioning assumptions, assessing evidence, and considering alternative viewpoints. Encourage a balanced and thoughtful evaluation of your essay’s content.

Also read: How To Write A Good Essay In Civil Service Mains Exam?

Avoiding these common essay writing mistakes during the UPSC CSE Mains exam is important for achieving a competitive score in the main examination.

By understanding the essay topics correctly, and planning effectively, it is easy to create well-written essays that present your knowledge and analytical abilities.

Remember to practice regularly, seek feedback, and adapt your approach to become a more proficient essay writer. With practice and the right guidance, you can enhance your essay writing skills and succeed in the UPSC CSE Mains exam.

Also read: ClearIAS launches Essay Writing Course for UPSC

Article Written By: Priti Raj

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How To Avoid Ten Common Mistakes in Essay Writing

• Brian D. Taylor
• Categories : Help with writing assignments paragraphs, essays, outlines & more
• Tags : Homework help & study guides

10. Failure to Be Specific

This essay writing tip involves being specific and clear.

Example: Two boys were talking. He said he was his best friend.

Huh? Who said what to whom? Is he proclaiming himself to be the best friend or is he complimenting his friend on the closeness of their friendship?

Being specific is very important in your writing. Your sentences may make sense in your own head, but if you aren’t clear and specific for your readers, they will be completely lost.

Solution: Use specific names rather than pronouns whenever possible. This is also an important rule to remember for titles and place names. Be specific whenever you can.

Example: Bill and Jack were talking. Bill said that Jack was his best friend.

9. Fragment and run-on sentences

This essay writing tip involves sentence structure.

Example: (Fragment) Because Richard III was evil. (Run-on) Richard III was an evil man he murdered two little boys.

Say the first one out loud. Does it sound incomplete? It should, because it is. You have both a subject and a verb, but the sentence is still incomplete because you’ve begun with the word ‘because’ which makes the sentence a dependent clause (AKA a fragment).

Say the second one out loud as well. If you did not pause between the words ‘man’ and ‘he’ you read it correctly. Did it sound like two sentences mashed together? It should have, because it is.

Solution: For fragments, make sure you have a subject and a predicate. Dependent clauses must connect to an independent clause (AKA a complete sentence). For run-ons, it’s usually best to separate into two sentences. For some run-ons, you can add a conjunction.

Example: (Fragment) Because Richard III was evil, he murdered two little boys. (Run-on) Richard III was an evil man. He murdered two little boys.

8. Straying Off Topic

This essay writing tip involves focus.

Example: I love hamburgers because they have most of the major food groups. The patties and the buns have your bread and meats covered. Hamburgers are also great with vegetables like tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and pickles. If you’re having a cheeseburger, you also have dairy. I also like to eat hot dogs.

Is the fact that you like hot dogs relevant to your essay about hamburgers? Probably not. This one is tricky because it sounds like it’s related, but it isn’t. If the majority of your paragraph is focused on one topic and you have added a comment about another topic, you will always be off topic.

Solution: Stay focused on your topic. Eliminate random thoughts.

Example: I love hamburgers because they have most of the major food groups. The patties and the buns have your bread and meats covered. Hamburgers are also great with vegetables like tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and pickles. If you’re having a cheeseburger, you also have dairy.

7. Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition…

This essay writing tip involves not being annoying.

Example: The dog lived with Mr. Johnson, but the dog would not listen to his commands. The dog would only come when Mr. Johnson gave the dog a treat. The dog was otherwise very hyper and inattentive.

Five times. That’s how many times you just had to read ’the dog’ within the last three sentences. After a awhile, it becomes annoying and a sign of lazy writing.

Solution: Avoid repetition and add variety to your language by saying the same thing in another way.

Example: Buddy the dog lived with Mr. Johnson, but would not listen to his commands. The easily excited pooch would only come when Mr. Johnson gave him a treat. Buddy was otherwise very hyper and inattentive.

6. Lazy Introductions and Conclusions

This essay writing tip involves the two most important parts of the essay–the beginning and the end. This essay writing tip is ignored by students overly eager to finish the assignment, regardless of content.

Example: In conclusion, bears are very important animals. Next time you’re at the zoo, make a special visit to the bear pavilion.

Introductory and concluding paragraphs each have a purpose. Introductions are intended to lead the reader into the main topic of an essay. Many students begin introductions with the thesis and a quick highlight of their main points, but this is sloppy and you will almost always lose points. Try to begin with an interesting statement to pull the reader in, then tie in some introductory knowledge of your subject, and end with a strong, but simple thesis.

The purpose of a conclusion is to summarize your main points into a single thought that gives a sense of completion. It is the “falling action” of the essay, similar to that of a story. Lord of the Rings doesn’t just end when the ring is cast into the fires of Mt. Doom. The hobbits must travel back to the Shire, say goodbyes to friends, and face some small remaining evils before the story is complete. Your conclusion must also wrap up any unfinished business.

Typically, conclusions are rushed or overlooked. Many students spend hours grueling over the writing of the essay and get to the conclusion and wish to get it over with as soon as possible. Don’t do this. Give the conclusion its due. What have you been writing about for the last five hours? What have you proven in your essay? Give the reader a quality final thought.

Often, students will repeat themselves in the conclusion. Strive to say things in a new way. Sentence variety matters!

Solution: Remember the purpose of introductions and conclusions. Take your time to make them thorough and meaningful. Lead up to your thesis in the intro. Deal with unfinished business and try not to simply repeat yourself in the conclusion.

Example: After only a brief foray into ursology it becomes clear that bears are fascinating creatures. The bear’s conflicting natures of fuzzy and fierce, playful and powerful, and cute and deadly make it one of mankind’s most revered and feared creatures. Sadly, bears usually get a bad rap. If the public learns the proper ways to respect the bear, the relationship between man and bruin would be greatly improved. To find out more about bears and their habits, or to make a donation to a local bear awareness council, please visit www.bearinfo.com .

5. Copycats vs. Copyright

This essay writing tip involves honesty and integrity.

Example: Plagiarism of any kind such as intentional copying, quoting without giving credit to the author, or paraphrasing.

There are many kinds of plagiarism. Some forms are intentional. Others happen by mistake.

Intentional copying and using quotes without naming the author fall into the intentional category. In the internet era, with seemingly endless amounts of information at your hands, it is incredibly tempting to copy and paste web articles into your essay. Not only is this the most blatant form of plagiarism, but it is also the easiest kind to catch. Never use someone else’s words as if they were your own.

Another form of plagiarism that often happens by mistake is paraphrasing. This is also known as “putting it in your owns words.” Many students fail here because teachers are always telling students to put it in their own words. This is clearly confusing. While teachers do want you to share information in your own, unique way, they do not want you to rewrite the encyclopedia entry. This is how paraphrasing becomes plagiarism. Students simply work their way through an article and change the wording, sentence by sentence. This is plagiarism, because you are not using your own ideas and you are not organizing the information in your own way.

A good way to avoid plagiaristic paraphrasing is to take notes in your own words. Put the notes on a separate sheet of paper. Only take notes on the most important information, you probably won’t need information from every sentence. When you are writing your essay, use your notes only. Do not go back to the original article, just work from your notes. While writing, take the information from your notes and put them into your own words again. In other words, say it in a new way. If you follow this method, you are much less likely to paraphrase in a way that becomes plagiarism.

Solution: Never directly copy someone else’s words unless you have given the author credit. Avoid paraphrasing by taking good notes. Do not go through articles and change each sentence.

4. Broad Topic

This essay writing tip involves choosing a topic.

Example: Baseball is a great sport.

While you could write an essay about baseball, it will probably be very difficult and could end up sloppy and disorganized if you are not very careful. This topic may be too broad. There are far too many points that could be discussed for this topic: positions, players, history of baseball, rules, fans, stadiums, equipment, tips, officiating, professional leagues, amateur leagues, etc. With all that information, how do you choose what should be included in the essay? A broad topic also leads to weak links betweens your main points. While these have a common theme of being related to baseball, an essay about officiating, stadiums, and amateur leagues would seem very disorganized and unfocused.

Topics that are narrow and focused usually assist the writer. A narrow topic narrows the amount of information that can be discussed. You might think this would be bad, but it will really help. Many times narrowing the topic will create three to five obvious main points that you can discuss in each paragraph of your essay. All of your points will be more closely related to one another too.

A focused topic will also help you stay on topic. You’ll feel less tempted to bring up unnecessary information about first basemen if your essay is focused on the topic of catchers.

Solution: Narrow your topic to keep it focused. This also helps with writing because you don’t have too much information to sort through.

Example: Styles of baseball pitches. (which leads to some obvious main points: fastballs, breaking balls, changeups, trick pitches)

3. Poor Formatting

This essay writing tip involves publishing and readability.

Example: Poor choice of font, improper alignment or indentation, and spacing issues.

When writing an essay, it is always important to keep the audience or reader in mind. When you have completed the writing, you must think about formatting. Why is formatting properly so important? Because someone is going to have to read your essay at some point and a poorly formatted essay is going to make that a more difficult job.

First, select a font that can be read easily. Serif fonts are the best choice for large amounts of text. Serif fonts have little lines at the ends of each character that help the eye move from letter to letter. Sans serif fonts do not have these lines. Try using Sans Serif fonts for your titles and headings, but a serif font for the text of the essay.

Alignment and indentation are also important. Typically, the text of an essay should be left aligned. Each paragraph should have a .5" first line indent. Headings typically get right alignment and titles are almost always centered. Indentation can be controlled with the format paragraph window in many word processors.

Finally, check the spacing of your essay. Many teachers require double spacing. This gives them extra space to write comments between the lines. Yes, you do want comments. They are meant to help you become a better writer. Spacing is also controlled in the format paragraph window.

2. Rogue Thesis Statements

This essay writing tip involves thesis statements .

Example: This is my essay about fossils. (or) This essay will teach you everything you need to know about bones (and appearing at the beginning of the introductory paragraph).

Typically, you should not write in first person point of view when writing essays. This means you should not speak about yourself, the reader, or the essay itself. Usually, students do a good job of this until the thesis statement. Resist the urge to use words and phrases like ‘my essay,’ you will learn,’ or ‘This is why I believe…’

The thesis statement is the main topic sentence for your entire essay. Many students want to jump right in with their thesis statement. It often appears as the first sentence, probably because everyone has been taught to begin every paragraph with a topic sentence. Don’t make this mistake. The introduction is a paragraph that is intended to lead up to the topic. If you start with the thesis, then there’s no point for an entire introduction paragraph.

Solution: Avoid first person perspective (my, I, you, essay, etc.). Keep the thesis statement at the end or very near the end of the introduction.

Example: Studying fossils is a very interesting way to learn about the past.

1. Spell Check Fail

This essay writing tip involves proofreading.

Example: The cold man wore a brown cat upon his head.

No, he’s not wearing a cat instead of a hat because he’s so cold. He’s wearing the cat on his head because someone has forgotten the limitations of automated spell check. Now, automated spell checks are great. By all means, use them; however, they do not catch everything, including the examples above. Let’s say the intended sentence was, “The old man wore a brown hat upon his head.” An automated spell check would not catch the two mistakes because those typos actually created real words: ‘cold’ and ‘cat.’

Solution: Do an automated spell check to begin. Then, go back and do a secondary check yourself.

Example: The old man wore a brown hat upon his head.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid While Writing an Essay

Writing an academic essay can be a challenging task for many. However, since writing is an integral part of one’s academic journey, it is essential to learn about the common pitfalls to avoid in formal writing. While good writing skills are often perfected only through practice, perseverance, and sometimes trial and error, there are certain mistakes that appear in many academic essays that can be eliminated outright.

One of the crucial steps to help avoid mistakes in academic writing is allocating sufficient time for planning and researching the essay. Effective planning can help avoid incomplete or weak arguments and insufficient supporting evidence due to a lack of proper research, among other things. While these are steps that can be taken before beginning the actual writing process, let’s take a look at a few problems that can occur while writing an essay.

• Writing a purpose statement instead of a thesis statement: In many essays, one would come across statements that read, “In this essay, I will detail…”, “This essay will discuss…”, etc. While these statements can be mistaken for thesis statements, these declarative sentences are, in fact, purpose statements. They do not belong in an academic essay. They appear in abstracts or organizational mission statements. Thesis statements, on the other hand, while also declarative, do not overtly state the writer’s intentions or the purpose of the essay. Instead, they make assertions that the rest of the essay will support. Here is an example of a good thesis statement: “The overdependence on smartphones among the youth has led to a decrease in social interactions and a rise in mental health problems.” This statement clearly states the writer’s opinion about the smartphone problem without directly referring to the writer. It also lists the reasons for the problem, clearly indicating that these are the issues the writer will discuss in detail in the body of the essay. Therefore, it is essential to distinguish between a thesis and a purpose statement and use the appropriate tool in academic writing.
• Summarizing: Often, when asked to discuss a character or plot elements in a literary piece, students tend to write down the summary of the events in the work they are discussing. Plot summaries are not an effective way to present arguments in an academic essay, and students run the danger of appearing as if they are using it as filler material to meet the required word count. Here is an example of a plot summary: “Scout and Jem Finch were attacked by Bob Ewell as they returned from school when Boo Radley thwarted the attacker and saved the children.” Instead, rephrasing this sentence to read “When Boo Radley saved Scout and Jem Finch from Bob Ewell’s attack, he transformed from an entity they feared to a friendly, protective figure,” makes it a signifier that illustrates the character development of Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird. As the above example shows, writing out the synopsis of a literary work can act as a deterrent to effectively supporting one’s arguments in an essay, and therefore, should be avoided at all costs.
• Plagiarizing: Unfortunately, plagiarism is one pitfall of bad writing that students can easily fall into. Students often collect ideas and arguments from other sources while researching their essay and do not appropriately cite the sources while writing out their paper. This can lead to serious consequences that can go as far as academic suspension. To avoid plagiarism, especially accidental plagiarism, it is essential to make a note of all the sources one plans to use in their essay during the research process. In addition, a sound understanding of the citation format that needs to be applied—be it the MLA, the APA, the Chicago, or the Harvard styles—is necessary as each format might sometimes require differing details about the source. Furthermore, one cannot merely mention a piece of sourced information in their essay and leave it at that. One needs to further elaborate to tie that relevant quote, fact, or argument to the point they are making in their essay. A thorough proofreading and fact-checking after the first draft is written is yet another key step one can take to avoid plagiarism.

Keeping these mistakes in mind while writing an essay can help one avoid writing weak and ineffectual arguments. It can also help make the post-writing review process easier as there would be fewer changes to make. What other common essay writing mistakes have you come across?

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5 Things to Avoid When Writing an Argumentative Essay

By Gaston La-Gaffe • 11 November 2021 Share —      

Academic paper writing is one of the most daunting tasks students face throughout their tenure at educational institutions. One of the reasons why it happens is that many still view writing as something that requires an inborn talent. 

But in reality, anyone can craft a decent (if not excellent) academic paper without being a natural-born writer. The problem is, not everyone has enough time, motivation, and perseverance to learn how to do it. 

Whatever your circumstances are, you might find yourself wondering: “Can someone write an essay for me ?” at a certain point. The answer is yes – student help services can easily handle it. But developing your own writing skills should still be a priority. 

If you agree but don’t know where to start, keep reading this article. Here, we’re going to explain one of the most difficult paper types, an argumentative essay, and address the things to avoid when writing it.

What Is an Argumentative Essay? 

Before we proceed with the list of the things to avoid when writing an argumentative paper, let’s make sure you know what exactly an argumentative paper is. So let’s start at the beginning. 

The Definition 

An argumentative essay is typically defined as a genre of writing aimed at proving a certain stance. To achieve this goal, the writer should bring up sufficient arguments supported by evidence and arrive at a certain conclusion. 

The 4 Types 

It’s also necessary to mention that there are several types of argumentative papers. These are:

• persuasive essays;
• research papers;
• analysis essays; 
• personal essays. 

The latter type also includes various kinds of speeches, so if you’re not good at writing academic papers, you’re likely to have problems with speeches, too. Luckily, you can always get help from professional writers at EssayService by simply placing an order online. It can be a life-saver when the deadline is near, but you need to practice your own writing anyway.  

Since practicing is a lot easier when you have certain guidelines, here is an essential list of things to avoid when writing an argumentative paper of any type. 

What to Avoid When Writing an Argumentative Essay

From skipping the outlines to clumsy conclusions, here are the five things you should avoid at all costs. 

Skipping the Outline 

Some students fail to acknowledge the importance of outlining and, therefore, tend to skip this crucial stage of the writing process. This is a grave mistake, especially when you’re writing something as complex as an argumentative essay. 

Although it may seem that skipping the outline saves time, the effect is, in reality, quite the opposite. The less structure you have, the more you struggle, and the longer it takes you to produce a coherent text (if you manage to do it at all).  

Not Enough Research 

Another wrong way to save time is to do it at the expense of the research process. All argumentative essays call for extensive research, and not having enough evidence to support your claim can make your paper fall short of the required standards. 

The right way to save time at this stage is to make notes and to adjust the quotations to the paragraphs in your outline. This will ensure you won’t need to rummage through the same sources all over again when you start writing.  

Vague Thesis Statement 

A clear thesis statement is essential for an argumentative essay as it contains the stance you’re going to prove throughout your text. If your thesis statement is vague or ambiguous, you’ll be having a hard time proving it, and the readers will struggle to understand what you mean. 

If you’re not sure whether your stance is clear, you can do the following: 

• ask someone to read it and express their thoughts;
• write the body paragraphs first, and then formulate the thesis statement;
• use an online thesis statement generator. 

Whatever you choose, remember to read the final draft carefully to make sure your thesis statement works. 

Not Supporting Your Arguments 

Essentially, argumentative papers are about arguments, and these should normally be supported by sufficient evidence from reliable sources. However, some students forget about the latter part, which results in their arguments being unconvincing. 

Another common mistake is failing to address the counterarguments. In an argumentative essay, scrutinizing the issue from all angles is a must, so including the counterarguments is essential for this paper type.  

Clumsy Conclusion 

A conclusion is typically a reiteration of the initial statement presented in the introduction, so it’s vital that the two statements align. But sometimes, you can get lost in your arguments and arrive at a conclusion that differs from your thesis statement. 

In such cases, you’ll need to revise the arguments or alter your initial statement. One more thing to remember is that you shouldn’t introduce any new ideas in the final section of the paper.    

Wrapping Up 

These were the things to avoid when writing an argumentative essay (and any academic paper, for that matter). The list could go on, though, as there are many other common mistakes. However, eliminating the five listed above will already be a good start on your way to better academic writing – and better grades!

Gaston La-Gaffe

Gaston is a Belgian writer born in 1975. He writes on various subjects, Health, Fashion, Technology, CBD and Art for various publications including Spirou. He is based in Brussels.

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• Tips & Guides

How To Avoid Using “We,” “You,” And “I” in an Essay

• Posted on October 27, 2022 October 27, 2022

Maintaining a formal voice while writing academic essays and papers is essential to sound objective. 

One of the main rules of academic or formal writing is to avoid first-person pronouns like “we,” “you,” and “I.” These words pull focus away from the topic and shift it to the speaker – the opposite of your goal.

While it may seem difficult at first, some tricks can help you avoid personal language and keep a professional tone.

Let’s learn how to avoid using “we” in an essay.

What Is a Personal Pronoun?

Pronouns are words used to refer to a noun indirectly. Examples include “he,” “his,” “her,” and “hers.” Any time you refer to a noun – whether a person, object, or animal – without using its name, you use a pronoun.

Personal pronouns are a type of pronoun. A personal pronoun is a pronoun you use whenever you directly refer to the subject of the sentence. 

Take the following short paragraph as an example:

“Mr. Smith told the class yesterday to work on our essays. Mr. Smith also said that Mr. Smith lost Mr. Smith’s laptop in the lunchroom.”

The above sentence contains no pronouns at all. There are three places where you would insert a pronoun, but only two where you would put a personal pronoun. See the revised sentence below:

“Mr. Smith told the class yesterday to work on our essays. He also said that he lost his laptop in the lunchroom.”

“He” is a personal pronoun because we are talking directly about Mr. Smith. “His” is not a personal pronoun (it’s a possessive pronoun) because we are not speaking directly about Mr. Smith. Rather, we are talking about Mr. Smith’s laptop.

If later on you talk about Mr. Smith’s laptop, you may say:

“Mr. Smith found it in his car, not the lunchroom!” 

In this case, “it” is a personal pronoun because in this point of view we are making a reference to the laptop directly and not as something owned by Mr. Smith.

Why Avoid Personal Pronouns in Essay Writing

We’re teaching you how to avoid using “I” in writing, but why is this necessary? Academic writing aims to focus on a clear topic, sound objective, and paint the writer as a source of authority. Word choice can significantly impact your success in achieving these goals.

Writing that uses personal pronouns can unintentionally shift the reader’s focus onto the writer, pulling their focus away from the topic at hand.

Personal pronouns may also make your work seem less objective. 

One of the most challenging parts of essay writing is learning which words to avoid and how to avoid them. Fortunately, following a few simple tricks, you can master the English Language and write like a pro in no time.

Alternatives To Using Personal Pronouns

How to not use “I” in a paper? What are the alternatives? There are many ways to avoid the use of personal pronouns in academic writing. By shifting your word choice and sentence structure, you can keep the overall meaning of your sentences while re-shaping your tone.

Utilize Passive Voice

In conventional writing, students are taught to avoid the passive voice as much as possible, but it can be an excellent way to avoid first-person pronouns in academic writing.

You can use the passive voice to avoid using pronouns. Take this sentence, for example:

“ We used 150 ml of HCl for the experiment.”

Instead of using “we” and the active voice, you can use a passive voice without a pronoun. The sentence above becomes:

“150 ml of HCl were used for the experiment.” 

Using the passive voice removes your team from the experiment and makes your work sound more objective.

Take a Third-Person Perspective

Another answer to “how to avoid using ‘we’ in an essay?” is the use of a third-person perspective. Changing the perspective is a good way to take first-person pronouns out of a sentence. A third-person point of view will not use any first-person pronouns because the information is not given from the speaker’s perspective.

A third-person sentence is spoken entirely about the subject where the speaker is outside of the sentence.

Take a look at the sentence below:

“In this article you will learn about formal writing.”

The perspective in that sentence is second person, and it uses the personal pronoun “you.” You can change this sentence to sound more objective by using third-person pronouns:

“In this article the reader will learn about formal writing.”

The use of a third-person point of view makes the second sentence sound more academic and confident. Second-person pronouns, like those used in the first sentence, sound less formal and objective.

Be Specific With Word Choice

You can avoid first-personal pronouns by choosing your words carefully. Often, you may find that you are inserting unnecessary nouns into your work. 

Take the following sentence as an example:

“ My research shows the students did poorly on the test.”

In this case, the first-person pronoun ‘my’ can be entirely cut out from the sentence. It then becomes:

“Research shows the students did poorly on the test.”

The second sentence is more succinct and sounds more authoritative without changing the sentence structure.

You should also make sure to watch out for the improper use of adverbs and nouns. Being careful with your word choice regarding nouns, adverbs, verbs, and adjectives can help mitigate your use of personal pronouns. 

“They bravely started the French revolution in 1789.” 

While this sentence might be fine in a story about the revolution, an essay or academic piece should only focus on the facts. The world ‘bravely’ is a good indicator that you are inserting unnecessary personal pronouns into your work.

We can revise this sentence into:

“The French revolution started in 1789.” 

Avoid adverbs (adjectives that describe verbs), and you will find that you avoid personal pronouns by default.

Closing Thoughts

In academic writing, It is crucial to sound objective and focus on the topic. Using personal pronouns pulls the focus away from the subject and makes writing sound subjective.

Hopefully, this article has helped you learn how to avoid using “we” in an essay.

When working on any formal writing assignment, avoid personal pronouns and informal language as much as possible.

While getting the hang of academic writing, you will likely make some mistakes, so revising is vital. Always double-check for personal pronouns, plagiarism , spelling mistakes, and correctly cited pieces. 

 You can prevent and correct mistakes using a plagiarism checker at any time, completely for free.

Quetext is a platform that helps you with all those tasks. Check out all resources that are available to you today.

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Technology, business, finance, health, product reviews and so much more , common mistakes you should avoid while writing an academic essay.

Do you have to complete an essay writing project? Essay writing is not an easy task. While you are required to pay attention to the overall format of the essay, it is equally important to follow the essential guidelines and submit the essay on time.

When you are in college, you are bound to face the task of essay writing at one point or the other. Even when you are not adept at essay writing, it is expected out of you to submit a well-research, high-quality academic essay to ensure better grades. While writing academic essays helps in boosting your overall grades, they are helpful in enhancing your writing skills and how you tend to express your opinion over a specific essay topic. If you face difficulty in writing an academic essay, you can take professional essay service from a reliable provider.

As a college student, when you wish to make the most of the academic essay writing task given to you, it is imperative for you to avoid some of the common essay writing mistakes. While you cannot avoid writing an essay during your college curriculum, here are some of the common writing mistakes you should avoid while composing a rich academic essay:

• A Weak Thesis Statement : When you are writing an academic essay, the thesis statement of the essay plays a vital role in determining its overall quality and research. The thesis statement serves to be the determining factor about how much effort you have put into writing the given essay. It is known to state some opinion, and therefore, it should be as specific as possible. Your thesis statement should not be a general statement. Try validating the same with some references or instances. You should always aim at coming up with a strong thesis statement in your essay to draw the attention of the checker.
• Plagiarism : Writing a unique piece of content for your academic essay is the essence of any academic writing task. Plagiarism in writing is considered unethical, and you should aim at avoiding it all costs. While you might not be able to compose a completely new piece of the essay all on your own, taking references and putting the same into your own words is acceptable. Most of the colleges out there tend to have strict rules when it comes to submitting plagiarized content. When you wish to ensure that your essay is plagiarism-free, you can make use of a reliable online plagiarism checker for the same.
• Grammar & Spelling Mistakes : While checking plagiarism is vital, making sure that your essay is free from any grammar or spelling mistake is also an important concern. Grammar, spelling, and pronoun mistakes are a big “NO” when it comes to academic writing. You must be aware of the common grammar notations and how & when to use pronouns effectively. Moreover, you should also avoid spelling mistakes in your essay at all costs. For ensuring that your essay is perfect sans any such mistake, you can consider making use of a free grammar-checking tool available online.
• Over-utilization of Quotes: When you write an academic essay, placing quotes that are relevant to the topic of the essay is helpful. However, it is equally important to note that you should not overuse the quotes throughout the essay. The particular essay that you are writing is supposed to reflect your overall understanding of the given topic. Therefore, you put up content to place arguments over the research you have done. When you overuse quotes in the essay, it tends to undermine the overall authority in your essay. Therefore, you should aim at limiting your utilization of quotes across the essay structure.
• Bibliography Mistakes : Most of the times, the bibliography format for academic essays is the MLA style in most of the colleges. However, in some cases, your professor might ask you to refer the bibliography in some other academic format. Whatever might be the format of bibliography writing that you are asked to follow, it is important to be aware of the writing guidelines at the same time. The bibliography section of the essay tends to rely on certain formulae, and therefore, you must follow the same to get it right.
• Using Resources that Lack Credibility : We live in a digital era. In the modern era of the Internet and its services, it has become a seamless job to search for something on a particular keyword and get ample references for the same. However, this does not imply that all such references are credible and relevant for your essay writing task. While composing the reference section for your essay, it is important to ensure that you analyze the credible references or sites for obtaining information on a certain topic.

Deliver the best-ever academic essay to your professor by taking note of the common writing mistakes and avoiding them at the same time. For more help on academic essay writing, reach out to https://theessayservice.org/ .

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Student Advice

Things to avoid while writing an essay.

The essay is a particular kind of text which every applicant/student will have to write at least several times per academic year. We’ll help to understand the distinctive features of the genre and will give a couple of tips on how to make the text meaningful. Here are things to do never in writing your perfect paper:

• Neglect the norms of language . The text must be written correctly, so clean it not only from spelling and punctuation mistakes but also from ambiguous expressions, unjustified repetitions, unsuccessful speech turns. Try not to use slang, stamps, abbreviations, so that the essay is taken seriously by the reader.
• Do not back up the allegations with examples . An essay looks like a loss if the text is only dry facts. Illustrate statements with cases from life. Otherwise, reading the work will be a tedious task.
• Pull the wool over someone’s eyes . Nobody will like the excessive embellishment of the real state of affairs. Be honest, but confident in your essay.
• Do not check the facts . Lousy assessment of the composition of the incorrect interpretation of data, errors in dates and names. Do not be too lazy to review everything again.
• Overdo it with volume . Avoid complex syntactic constructions. Long phrases – not an indicator of expertise. Do not make the paragraphs bulky. After completing the essay , assign each letter a letter S-short (up to 10 words), M-medium (up to 20 words), L-long (more than 20 words). Optimal scheme of MSMLMS.

How does the essay differ from other types of writing?

Essentially an essay is a small paper of a free composition in which the author’s impressions and thoughts are expressed on any occasion or issue. The text can affect philosophical, journalistic, historical, literary , and popular science topics.

What’s the importance of essays?

Teachers at the university and the organizers of contests , olympiads love essays, as this is a great way to develop creative thinking and training the writing skills of thoughts. By work, you can see how a person identifies cause-effect relationships, structures information, and argues conclusions.

OK, so what are things to follow?

• The topic should be specific . In the essay, you answer only one question. It has no strict structure, but it is desirable to present its thoughts in the form of brief theses and to support them with arguments (facts, social events, phenomena, your experience, scientific justifications, references to the opinion of authoritative personalities). To prove the evidence in favor of the theses was convincing, it is worthwhile to give two arguments, more “overload” the text.
• In the introduction and conclusion, focus on the problem : in the first paragraph designate it, and in the last one conclude. For the essay to be complete , try to link the fragments to each other logically.
• Use the advantages of artistic and journalistic style to the maximum . Do not be afraid to be emotional, expressive, to show a sense of humor. So you show your personality. If you are talking about personal qualities or abilities, you can, for example, answer the question: “How does this distinguish me from others?” When referring to the words of authoritative people, explain why he chose them.
• Try to impress the reader with vivid statements, aphorisms . Do not be afraid to argue with yourself, confront contradictory statements. Then the text will seem exciting and memorable.

After finishing the essay , ask yourself a few questions: “Did I open the topic well? Will the reader understand my thoughts? “If everything is in order, then you have coped with the task!

Press ESC to close

5 things to avoid while writing an essay

Are you brainstorming for ways of writing an ideal essay?  Essays are an unavoidable part of our lives and most of us have to write them during academic , competitive and other tests that we appear for.

Essays have a certain format that needs to be carefully followed. If all the parameters of an ideal essay are adhered to, it increases the readability of your piece and also makes it interesting. 

In this blog, we will cover 5 things that candidates need to avoid while composing an essay.

SPELLING & PRONOUN ERRORS

Such petty errors are easily avoidable. Misspelled words can make you lose out on marks unnecessarily. Practicing writing essays well before an assessment brushes up on your grammatical skills and also provides you with the confidence that’s needed in order to churn out flawless essays.

Mistakes such as they’re and there, we’re and were can be easily averted if one remains ultra attentive while writing essays and reviewing them later. Always write your essays in third person.

USING INFORMAL/ COLLOQUIAL TERMS

Most of us are predisposed towards speaking colloquially with our near and dear ones. The manner in which we interact with people whom we meet on a regular basis and the manner in which an academic essay needs to be written are different. While writing something that is purely academic in nature,  we need to be mindful of the terminologies, phrases and idioms that we use. 

Let’s take a look at this sentence : Ram feels pretty lazy and avoids hitting the fitness studio.

This sentence sounds very casual and needs to be rewritten as ‘Ram is lackadaisical with regard to visiting his fitness studio.’

NOT FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS PROPERLY

The instructions that are spelt out at the beginning of the task that’s allotted to you needs to be followed. If the essay is argumentative and wants you to take a stand, do so by all means. However, if the essay is discursive in nature , you need to provide a discourse in favour of the topic. You should keep it elaborate.

An essay that asks you to discuss the side effects of antibiotics should clearly outline the side effects that such drugs cause instead of just providing your personal views about it.

PROVIDING TOO MANY FACTS

Do not bombard the examiner with information that is unnecessary and considerably vast.  Substantiating each of your points or facts with relevant examples should suffice. If you overwhelm the examiner with additional information about the topic at hand, he/ she will find it difficult to assess you on the parameters that are there. Filter out information that will not add any value to your overall piece.

ZERO TRANSITIONS BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS

The essay should seem neat and freely flowing. The transitions between the subsequent paragraphs will help the reader in understanding how well you’ve summed up all your points.

The transitioning should be seamless and the connection must never suffer a jerk. If you’re writing an essay that discusses the problem of malnutrition in underdeveloped nations, do not deviate from the main topic while you’re moving over to the next paragraph. The focus should remain on the problem that malnutrition causes in these countries.

All students can produce beautiful and well structured essays if they keep these basic pointers in mind.

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• College Admissions

10 Things to Avoid When Writing Your College Admissions Essay

When you begin brainstorming topics for your college admissions essay, it may be tempting to write about something that demonstrates how great you are as a person, or an emotional piece about how a death in the family has taught you how valuable life is. While these may answer the prompts, they are overused topics that will not bring you a strong, unique, successful essay. Choosing a cliche topic is not the only common mistake that should be avoided when writing essays. Avoiding these ten things will bring you closer to the winning essay that will get you acceptance into the college of your dreams!

• Cliche, overused topics with common perspectives- This fall admissions committees will spend weeks reading through admissions essays, many of which will be written about the same old topics: role models, mission trips, death, and so on. While all of these may seem like great topics to write about, they will not make you stand out from all of the other college hopefuls. According to The College Essayist Guidebook, "While these are all still possible topics to consider, unless you are able to think of special qualities surrounding these topics that make you unique, it is safe to say that an admissions counselor will move on to the next candidate. Do not dismiss all such cliche topics, however. Look carefully at your list and clarify whether or not you will be able to provide a unique perspective to a former cliched topic. If yes, keep it in the list. If not, eliminate it!"
• Topics that are too big or small for 650 words - Remember, there is a word count on this essay! When selecting topics keep in mind that you should be able to discuss the topic in 650 words. This means do not select a topic that is only worthy of a paragraph, nor a topic that you need 7 pages to write about.
• Pity parties - Often it is the hardships in life that bring out the best in us, but when writing about a tragic topic demonstrate the positive outcomes of it. How it has made you stronger as a person, how it has inspired you, etc. College admissions officers want to see how you can grow from hardships as a bigger and stronger person.
• Writing all about your family - We know you love your family, and in many ways, they have shaped who you are as a person today. Students tend to fall into the trap of getting so wrapped up in the story of their family that they forget that the essay is supposed to be about them! It is great that your great grandma is Janet Jackson, but this doesn't necessarily mean you have inherited her talent. Unless you find a unique way to discuss how having a famous grandmother has impacted your life in a unique way, then it is best to just avoid topics like these.
• Writing all about how you like to help people - On the surface, mission trips to other countries seem like a great topic for a college admissions essay. You may think mission trips show you are worldly, caring, and mature, but many other students have had the same experience. Unless you can find a unique way that the trip impacted you, or you can focus on a specific anecdote from the trip it will just be the same boring story that admissions committees have already seen thousands of times.
• Struggles that may make you seem privileged - Sometimes we experience "first world problems." Though these problems may feel real, when put into perspective they may make you seem silly and unaware. If not making the school baseball team or losing the big game was the worst thing to ever happen to you, you will seem privileged and self involved. Rather, write about what you learned from not making the teem or winning the game!
• Writing about something not everyone may understand - This may include sports, culture, art or really any topic. Unless something is obviously common knowledge, it is best to avoid the topic altogether or to make sure you thoroughly explain what you mean. An essay filled with football jargon will be boring and confusing to a reader who doesn't watch football.
• Someone else's ideas to sound smart - An essay that is filled with quotes and picks apart an academic idea that you don't fully understand and can't contribute anything new to is never a good idea. Selecting a scholarly, complex topic and giving someone else's paraphrased opinion will come off as insincere and will show you as the exact opposite of scholarly and complex. By all means, quote if you believe you can provide an alternative point of view, but if you are just quoting to use up word space, rethink your essay.
• "Bar fight" topics (religion, politics, etc) - This one is pretty self-explanatory. Topics such as religion and politics are always controversial. Since you don't know who will be reading your essay and what their opinions or beliefs are it is best to steer clear. However, topics like these at the same time can also be used, if presented in a manner that is individualistic, yet respectful.
• Past mistakes - Unless the fact that you have been arrested has had a deeply significant impact on your life it is best to just avoid bringing up old things that reflect poorly upon yourself. What you think shows growth might leave an admissions committee just hung up on the fact that it happened.

Follow these simple 10 no-no's of college essays, and you'll be annihilating college essays to the extreme.

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