8 Essay Writing Confusions and Solutions

For most, essay writing is a daunting task, but learning some useful tips can help create a quality paper. Breaking the essay writing task into simple steps can help draft a quality composition, but that said, essay writing demands lots of hard work and persistence that writers cannot overlook. Each and every step of the essay needs to be written with prudence and utter diligence. That is why writers face many small to large confusions while writing essays. Let’s discuss the most common confusions that struck writers and find solutions for each without wasting any more time.

1-Irrelevant Topic

I know of many writers who procrastinate essay writing tasks, and when they are asked for the reason, they genuinely have no reason but the lack of motivation to write on the particular topic.

Writers have plenty of problems in pursuing a topic for essay writing as they find it irrelevant and boring. It is a primary requirement in essay writing to choose a topic that is exciting and engaging. An exciting topic lets the writer express and discuss his thoughts on the subject- matter openly and extensively. It, therefore, makes the essay writing process easy and enjoyable for the writer.

Having a relevant topic is also essential to keep the audience hooked to content. The readers are easily tied to unique and compelling topics. In contrast, it becomes hard for a writer to generate a quality paper with essential details, references, and analysis with an irrelevant and insignificant topic. As a result, an unexciting topic makes the writing process hard for the writer.

 Solution: 

If you are not excited to write an essay on a certain topic, know that the topic is irrelevant. In such a case, do your research and find an intriguing topic that you find an excellent matter to discuss. If you are a science freak, read, observe, search, and find out potential science topics, etc., that intrigue you to write on immediately.

2-Drafting Thesis Statement

Oftentimes, the rules of essay writing are a matter of serious dilemma for writers. A thesis statement is something that most writers struggle with. Creating the perfect punch line that embodies the essay’s essence is quite tricky but not impossible. The thesis statement of an essay ought to be complete, meaningful, and powerful. A fragile thesis statement can sink the value of the entire essay.

Solution:

While we all know that the thesis statement holds immense importance in an essay, it is essential to know the art of crafting it. To write a thesis statement for your essay, you must remember that it should be:

1. Short:

A thesis statement should concisely communicate the core idea. The whole point of writing a thesis statement is to tell the main idea of a paper. Also, the words must precisely and directly present what the paper is about. Using indirect language and vague terms is a sign of a poorly written thesis statement.

2. Comprehensive:

A thesis statement must be easy to understand so that anyone who has no understanding of the subject matter can interpret the paper’s main idea. To make it understandable, use plain language and avoid using jargon.

3. Simple:

By making a thesis statement easy to understand does not mean writing a simple generic statement. Remember that it must be punchy and not too over-simplified.

4. Debatable:

The best attribute of a quality thesis statement is that it is debatable. It means that a discussion can be generated on the basis of a single statement. Don’t use mere opinions and accepted facts as arguments.

3-Writing an Interesting lead

A lead is a primly important aspect of an essay that can easily hook the readers if written accurately. An enticing opening paragraph immediately grasps the attention of readers, while a dull introduction can push the readers away. And that is why most writers get confused in writing an interesting lead.  

Solution: 

To write a perfect lead for your essay, remember it should:

1. Begin differently:

The best way to grab the readers’ attention immediately is to start off with a question or a striking statement that can affix the readers’ eyes instantly. It can be an excerpt or a real-life event that the readers can relate to.

2. Address 5ws and H:

Every topic has to answer some of the 5Ws(Who, Where, When, What, Where) and H(How), if not all. Determine the most important aspect that the essay will address.

3. Be Succinct:

Avoid writing a long lead, as it will immediately cause a distraction in the readers. Do not write an overly explained introductory paragraph when a short paragraph can work.

4. Use powerful words:

Use little but powerful words to grip the attention of readers as well as communicate the main idea of the paper.

4-The Number of Paragraphs

For most writers, deciding on the number of paragraphs of an essay is very difficult. They become ambiguous to decide on how long an essay should be.  

Solution: 

If you are assigned to write an essay, you must get a words limit, according to which you can sort your number of paragraphs. But as a rule of thumb, an essay comprises three sections: Introduction, body, and conclusion. Introduction and conclusion make one paragraph each, and the body consists of usually 3-5 paragraphs for small essays and more than five essays for the long essays. However, it also depends on the type of essay and how you structure it.

5-Topic Sentence

Like a thesis statement, writing a strong topic sentence is also a problematic thing in essay writing. A topic sentence is a statement that expresses the main idea of a paragraph. In essence, all the paragraphs in the body of an essay have an individual topic sentence.

Solution: 

You must follow the guidelines as are for writing a thesis statement. The topic sentence should present the main idea of a paragraph and should be clear, succinct, comprehensive, and not generic.

6-Vague and Illogical Structure

Structuring an essay is an art that the writers need to learn. An unorganized and unstructured essay leads to dispersion of ideas and, therefore, cannot communicate the main ideas effectively. For most writers, it is confusing to structure their essays.

Solution: 

The essay can be organized and ordered by:

1. Creating a mindmap:

A mindmap is a graphical demonstration in which the topic of an essay is written in the middle, surrounded by the related ideas and sub-ideas. You can write all the related ideas that come to your mind around the topic and connect them afterwards. A mindmap helps the writer plan on the ideas that he will discuss in the essay.

2. Creating an outline:

After making a mindmap, create an outline on the basis of the ideas that you have chosen to discuss in the essay. For example, an outline can be like:

1. Introduction
2. Cause 1, its effects
3. Cause 2, its effects
4. Cause 3, its effects
5. Cause 4, its effects
6. Cause 5, its effects
7. Conclusion

7-Lack of Evidence

Do you lack evidence to substantiate your argument in the essay? That happens with almost every writer. Writers do not have plenty of resources to cite to aid their arguments all the time. Sometimes, having a lack of resources leads the readers to doubt the legitimacy of the paper.

Solution: 

You should cite the references whenever needed, but if you are writing a paper creatively, you do not necessarily need to cite resources to present your ideas.

8-No Confidence in Writing Skills

One of the most problematic misconceptions about writing is that people are born with the skill. You might not have written a perfect essay in the past, but that does not mean that you do not have writing skills. It is one of such skills which flourish with time and practice. But the poor grammar of an essay indeed destroys the essence of the essay no matter how well it is conceptualized.

Solution: 

If you are confused about your writing abilities and are hesitant in writing an essay, you may build writing abilities by:

1. Taking Courses: 

You can take different courses that are easy to access and available online. You can not only learn the skill but can earn a certificate for it.

1. Doing Practice: 

Persistence and perseverance are key to learning a skill. If you want to improve your writing skills, you must do lots of practice.

Conclusion: 

Different writers face different problems and are struck with different confusion at different stages of essay writing. Knowing the perfect solutions to solve the problems can help remove the uncertainties that intrude on the writing process.

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