Academic writing is something that all of us will have to do at some point in time. A solid academic writing style is not something that anyone is born with, taking work and practice to write like a pro. If you’re on your way to improving your writing style, take a look at these nine tips to writing better than ever before.
1. Stay Active
We asked the expert writers about common mistakes student writers make, when they don’t order course work. The professionals listed the use of passive voice as number one. There is a big difference between active and passive, with passive being a bit more challenging to read. For instance:
Passive: The ball was thrown by the clown.
Active: The clown threw the ball.
You see, adding in those extra words confuses the reader and rolls off the tongue heavily. So, instead of making it more difficult on your readers (and professors), try and stick with an active voice.
2. Play up Your Punctuation
Too often, we fall into a writing rut. Most of the time, it’s because we haven’t practiced and aren’t well-versed in terms of punctuation. However, changing up punctuation and adding in a few new marks works wonders for your paper. For example, the semicolon and the dash. Both are helpful punctuation marks that many student writers aren’t familiar with. For a refresher, the semicolon (;) separates two sentences and the dash (-) exists to add extra necessary info about an idea or item.
3. Change up Sentence Structure
When you’re first learning to write, you don’t use a lot of variety in how you write your sentences. For instance, as a child, you may write: “I like my dog. She is fluffy. She wags her tail. She is nice.” In one word, that is boring. That’s how we write when we are learning, but you’re likely way past that. Instead, vary your sentence structure and make it more interesting for your readers.
Instead, write: “I love my dog. She’s a fluffy bundle of joy that’s always wagging her tail. Whenever people come her way, she can’t help but wiggle from head to toe.”
4. Don’t Be Choppy
To expand on the idea from above, you should also do your best to avoid any choppiness. Choppiness is when you cut a lot of sentences and make your reader feel robotic. Write my thesis service recommended reading your paper aloud to check for choppiness and make sure there’s a nice flow from start to finish.
5. Don’t Repeat
We know that sometimes repetition is there to help keep up with word count but, it’s not worth it. Repetition, unless it’s for emphasis, is monotonous. Your readers want something new with every sentence, something that will make them want to turn the page. That’s why you should always avoid repetitions, even if they are two different words. For example, she was so rude and disrespectful to all of them. Don’t say the same thing twice; one strong sentence will do.
6. Write with Precision
You want to make everything that you write readable, right? A bit of a tongue twister, but the point is, you need to be concise. Don’t construct hard-to-read sentences to appear mysterious or more academic; get to the point instead.
Take this sentence: “The unknown woman was one who everyone in the office admired.” And change it into: “All the office workers admired the unknown woman.”
The difference is that the second sentence is more precise and doesn’t make readers need to read it repeatedly to understand it.
7. Use Vocabulary Correctly
Because the word “academic” is in the essay doesn’t mean you have to show out on vocabulary. Plus, you want to avoid misusing it too. Instead of using sophisticated words throughout your paper, simplify it and let your structure and ideas do the talking. Though it might be an important paper, don’t lose the tone or flow because you weren’t familiar with long words before. Academic Writing Style
8. Don’t Be Afraid to Expand
We don’t want to discourage trying something new. Finding out new ways to say things can improve your writing skills immensely. So, don’t be afraid to expand your horizons and use new vocabulary words that you never have before. It will be a learning experience, and you can pep your paper up.
Don’t overdo it with over-complicated vocabulary, but add a few new words here and there to improve the tone. While writing business law assignment is especially difficult to find this golden middle.
9. Keep It Formal
Academic essays are no place for everyday speech. Academic writing should have a formal tone throughout and be free of conversational-style writing. Unless you’re writing some sort of dialogue in your paper, you’ll want to save the slang and lax language for your texts.
Keeping your paper formal doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun; just don’t take it overboard and take away from the important topic you’re introducing in your paper.
Find Your Style and Play It Up!
One thing about writing is that practice makes perfect. You won’t be able to master any style of writing unless you practice. Apart from a review of the basics, you’ll also want to:
- Continue learning: Always learn new and correct ways of punctuating sentences and adding in ideas so that your papers come out flawless.
- Add some spice to your writing: Avoid all the bad stuff and focus on fun ways to improve tone and flow throughout your entire paper.
- Don’t write to impress: We know you want a good grade, but we promise, trying to impress with fancy words won’t help. Instead, focus on content and find ways to express your thoughts and opinions without having to pull out a dictionary every five minutes.
The next time you have an academic essay, try out these nine tips to improving your writing. You’ll get a better grade and be able to write faster than ever before.
