How to Write Better Essays: 6 Practical Tips

Oxford Royale Academy

The best students enjoy writing essays because theyre a chance to shine; theyre
an interesting intellectual exercise in which the writer must craft thoughtful
arguments on complex topics within the confines of a prescribed and often
restrictive word count.
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For many such students, each essay brings with it the challenge of making it that
little bit better than the last one. The problem is that when you write essays
regularly, its easy to get stuck in a rut of repeating the same formula each time
particularly when you already receive good feedback from the teachers who read
them. So how do you take your essays to the next level and go from great to
brilliant? Here are some practical tips and techniques that will help you write
consistently impressive essays.
1. Read other peoples essays
Offer to share your essays with other people and they may return the favour. Even
better: start a study group.
Just as the books you read subconsciously help mould your own writing style, so
reading other peoples essays can help you develop and build on your own essaywriting style. Try to read a range of other essays, including those of your peers and
of academics. Read essays on a wide variety of subjects, not necessarily just
those that youre studying; different disciplines might apply different kinds of
arguments or styles, so the wider you read, the more possible techniques there are
for you to pick up and use in essays of your own.
As you read other peoples essays, dont just take them at face value. Be critical:
what do you like about them? What dont you like about them? How persuasive do
you think they are? Is the argument a balanced one, with points adequately
supported with evidence? Has the writer used any techniques youve not seen
before?
Another good source of essays is the broadsheet newspapers. Read the opinion
pieces and dissect how the writer has supported their points with evidence, and
again, be critical; note where theyve left things out to try to persuade you to a
particular opinion. Essays should be balanced, so you can learn from the best of
these writers and pick up some techniques to help you shape a balanced piece.

2. Build your vocabulary and use it properly

Make use of dictionaries and thesauri.
A good vocabulary will allow you to express exactly what you mean, as clearly and
concisely as possible. Economy with words is a characteristic of all good essays,
because readers (and essay-markers) dont like having their time wasted with long,
rambling points that could have been expressed in half the number of words.
One way of ensuring that you can communicate clearly and to the point is through
accurate and effective use of advanced vocabulary. A good essay writer should
never rest on their laurels when it comes to vocabulary; its something you should
be working on continually, as there are always new words to learn that could help
convey a point more effectively. Whats more, deploying a good vocabulary displays
intelligence and allows you to be more persuasive in your essay-writing. Here are
some ways in which you can build your vocabulary:
Subscribe to a word a day email (such as this one from MerriamWebster). Create a folder in your email account for new word emails, so that you
can file each email away and have them all in one place ready to flick through and
learn from in an idle moment.
Read widely, and refer to a dictionary for words you dont know as you go
along; this way, youll learn the new word as well as seeing it in context so you
know how to use it properly. Read different genres of fiction, and non-fiction
covering a range of topics, and youll have the added bonus of widening
your general knowledge as well as your vocabulary.
Use a thesaurus if you find yourself using the same words over and over again,
add variety to your language by looking up those words in a thesaurus and finding
other words that mean the same thing. A word of warning: words you find in a
thesaurus cant always be used interchangeably; even words with similar meanings
can differ subtly in a way that makes them inappropriate in certain contexts, so find
examples of a word used correctly before you use a new word for the first time.
Learn prefixes, suffixes and roots it sounds boring, but this shortcut will help
you learn a great many more words. Many roots come from Latin and Greek words,
such as bene in Latin, meaning good, which gives rise to words such as
benefactor, benevolent and benefit. Its often possible to deduce the meaning
of a new word if you know its root and read it in context. Prefixes are added to the
beginning of a word to change the meaning, such as semi or ante, while suffixes
are added to the end, such as -able or -ance.
Start a vocabulary book you probably have one if youre learning a foreign
language, so why not have one for your native language as well? Buy yourself a
nice notepad and use it to collect new words and their meanings. The act of writing
down the definition will help you remember it, and you could include an example of
how the word is used to increase your chances of memorising it for use in essays. It
may help to have different sections for words on particular themes; you could have

a general section, and then further parts of the notebook could be dedicated to
words of use in history essays, science essays and so on.
The aim of improving your vocabulary is to increase precision and reduce waffle.
Put the new words youve learned to good use right away, perhaps setting yourself
the challenge of including a minimum number of new ones in each essay you write.
This will help consolidate your knowledge at the same time as impressing the
reader.
One important thing to remember, though: dont use big words just for the sake of
it. Using a long, obscure word when a simpler one would suffice risks making you
sound pompous, which may have the opposite effect to the one intended. Whats
more, be wary of adding words for the sake of it; cut the waffle by reviewing each
sentence and removing any words or sentences that dont add anything to what
youre saying. Ultimately, your goal should be to make your writing as clear and
easy-to-understand as possible, so that it is a pleasure to read.
3. Words to help develop an argument
Part of sounding intelligent in an essay is not repeating yourself; as youre writing,
focus on using language effectively to help build an argument and create a sense of
structure. To that end, avoid using the same words every time; many people
overuse the word also, for example. Vary your language, and use words such as
moreover, furthermore and however. Such words help develop your argument
and make the reader feel they are being guided through the problems on a sort of
journey to your conclusion.
4. Elevator pitching your essays
Would you be able to summarise your essay between floors?
Weve probably all had it hammered into us that we should write an essay plan
before we start writing, but before you even do that, you need to know what the
argument youre going to make actually is. Only then can you start writing the
structure for an essay that builds up to your overall conclusion. To condense what
youre trying to say into a short, snappy summary for you to work from, try making
an Elevator Pitch style summary of what you intend to write and why readers
should be interested in it.
The Elevator Pitch is a technique used by salespeople when condensing the
arguments for buying a product into the shortest possible summary of why a
customer should consider a purchase. The salesperson is told to imagine
themselves in a lift; in the time it takes for that lift to reach the desired floor, they
should have given a compelling argument in favour of that product that would result
in the customer buying it, or at least wanting to know more. Your Elevator Pitch for
your essay should sell the idea of it to a reader, leaving them wanting to read the
essay in question. This is quite a tough exercise, as it forces you to be ruthlessly
concise in your thinking and choice of words; but you can use this summary to help

you write your introduction, and itll help you achieve clarity in what youre trying to
say.
5. Tell the reader what other people say
Be aware of who the foremost writers on a subject are, even if you decide not to
reference them. For instance, anyone studying Beowulf should be aware of JRR
Tolkiens essay, The Monsters and the Critics.
Weve mentioned this on a previous article on essay writing, but it seems
pertinent to mention it here too. Essays are a chance for you to show off how widely
read you are, so make sure you quote other peoples opinions, and original sources,
on what youre writing about. For example, if you were to write a history essay on
early religious practices in Britain, you could quote original texts on that topic (such
as Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People) and also mention what a
range of modern scholars have to say about the topic. Contrasting views should be
sought; its unlikely that everyone agrees on the topic, so show youve looked at all
the possible angles.
For each of the subjects youre studying, start a page in a notebook for important
people in that field, with a summary of when they lived and what their views are.
That way, youll have something to refer to when youre writing an essay and want
to consult appropriate scholars or other writers whose opinions you might wish to
include.
Dont quote too much; mix citations with your own opinions so that it doesnt look
as though you have to hide behind other peoples words. Its fine to disagree with a
scholar you quote, provided you can give evidence and reasoning for doing so. This
shows that you have thought about it and made your own mind up, rather than
blindly accepting what that scholar has said; this demonstrates strong critical
reasoning skills, one of the hallmarks of brilliant students.
6. Syntax, punctuation and tone of voice
Be honest: do you find your tone of voice interesting?
You may not consciously realise it when youre reading, but sophisticated sentence
structures make the world of difference to how intelligent you sound. As weve
already said, the most important consideration when youre writing is making
yourself easy for readers to understand; but you can still do this and utilise a range
of interesting syntax at the same time. Employ a variety of sentence structures,
long and short, but dont let your sentences become too long and rambling, or they
become difficult to read. Effective punctuation is vital in conveying your
arguments persuasively; the last thing a teacher or lecturer wants to read is an
essay riddled with poor grammar. Whats more, the reader shouldnt have to read a
sentence more than once to understand it.
You probably already have a tone of voice you use for writing essays, but is it
interesting and engaging? Read through some of your old essays and ask yourself
honestly whether you find them absorbing. If theyre not, it could well be because

youve not established the right tone of voice. Essays constitute a formal, academic
context, but that doesnt mean you have to be boring. A confident tone of voice will
help show the reader that you know what youre talking about and reassure them
that theyre in safe hands.
Writing in the active rather than the passive voice is a well-known trick of the trade
that writers use to give their writing a sense of immediacy and make it more
compelling; you too can deploy this technique in your essays by steering clear of
the passive voice (for example, rather than writing Much work is being done to,
say Scholars are putting a great deal of effort into). Over the course of an entire
essay, youd be surprised what a difference this makes to your tone.