Common Essay Mistakes

Essays are important documents that are used in academic and business processes. There are a lot of transactions where creating an essay is deemed necessary—from applying for a scholarship, up to asking for a work promotion. May it be a well-planned essay creation or a last-minute essay writing, always remember that you need to be aware of proper writing guidelines usable in varying instances as well as the basics of formal and informal writing. Being able to write well is one of the skills that you should have may you be a student or a professional.

Creating an impressive essay can help you achieve your goal in whatever undertaking it is that you are immersed in. Aside from being knowledgeable on how to write a concise and effective essay through essay writing basic guides, you also need to know the common mistakes that most people are guilty of when it comes to essay writing. This will help you veer away from doing the same mistakes when it is already your time to write an essay that you are required or asked to do. In the list below, we have put together a number of common essay mistakes and the ways on how you may correct them.

Absence of Concrete Facts and Information

Aside from being aware of the tips on writing good analytical essays, you should also remember that any kind of essay should have the details that are necessary to be known by your audience. This is very important especially when it comes to business and formal writing. The absence of facts and information can affect how people will perceive your writing and your branding as a writer.

Lack of factual discussion can be due to these reasons:

• Over generalization
• Lack of resources/references
• Lack of interest in research

Make sure to present accurate and precise details in your essay by following these tips:

• Do not generalize your writing based on how a particular group of people thinks about the topic. Their ideas do not really represent the entire community.
• It will be best if you can first voice out what you really think about the subject of discussion. Follow through with discussing gathered relevant information. Do not forget to specify your resources.
• Have a grip of what you are talking about. Being aware of your topic is the most important thing that you should consider when writing an essay.

Lack of Concentration in Topic Discussion

The topic of your essay should be carried from the initial statement that you will use up to your conclusion. It is essential to build the progression of your discussion in a way that your topic will be highlighted and supported. Lack of concentration when discussing a topic can be evident in these instances:

• When a writer discusses other subjects more than how he/she provides information about the topic being talked about
• When a writer incorporates a variety of information about a lot of topics aside from the main message needed to be delivered in the essay
• When a writer just introduces a topic but doesn’t provide details that can support it appropriately

Some of the things that you can do to avoid these instances are as follows:

• Make sure that you will be knowledgeable of what you will talk about.
• Review essay examples that are centered in discussing the same topic that you will write about.
• Create a draft that can help you identify the flow of your discussion.
• Outline the important items about the topic that you can give focus on in different parts of the essay.

Lack of Strong Introduction and Closing Statement/Conclusion

Aside from the body of your discussion, your ways to start essays and how you close them both play a vital part in ensuring that you can get the interest of your target audience.

Your introduction should showcase your topic and the reasons why it is essential for your readers to continue browsing your essay. You should write an introduction that is appealing but is still realistic to ensure that you can provide an idea on how you will tackle the topic that you are writing about.

Your conclusion or closing statement is as important as your introduction. When writing one, summarize the content of your essay. Your closing statement is what will make your essay properly put together.

If you will not write an effective introduction and/or closing statement, it is for sure that your essay will be weak in terms of structure. This can affect the readers’ impression especially when it comes to strongly believing what you are talking about.

Improper Essay Structuring

You need to outline an essay properly as the structure of your essay can make your readers more focused on particular areas of discussion. You can avoid the improper structuring of your essay through these tips:

• Allot a particular discussion point in every paragraph.
• Make sure that your sentences are cohesive and appropriately placed together.
• The flow of your discussion should be well-thought of.
• Break your paragraphs depending on the sub-topics that you will discuss.

Imbalance Between Word Count and Substance

Your essay’s word count should match the depth of your discussion for the following reasons:

• Too many irrelevant words can bore your readers.
• A lot of information that is not properly discussed can be too overwhelming.

Avoid committing this mistake through these steps:

• Have a target word count in mind based on how you think your discussion will go.
• List down all the things that you want to include in your essay.
• Allocate the length of discussion that you would like to implement per subject and supporting details.
• Write your essay based on the above-mentioned steps.
• Review your essay and identify whether you need to add or deduct words and/or details.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism can come in many forms. In essay writing, here is how plagiarism may occur as a mistake:

• Not citing the source of information that has been specified in the essay’s content
• Using the exact words from a quotation as if it is from the author’s point of view
• Copying a discussion made by another writer

These instances can be the reasons why readers may not give their trust to the writer. Make sure that you will not do any of these as it can affect your credibility as a writer. Be open with expressing your opinions and thoughts so you can create an essay that is truly your own.

Knowing the items listed above and how they may occur in your writing can help you be more keen in terms of developing the content, format, and structure of your essay. Also, this will allow you to spend more efficient time when reviewing and proofreading the essay that you have written. Though these essay mistakes are commonly done, it is with consistent practice and knowledge acquisition about the matter that can help you avoid committing them in the future.