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Charlotte: Writing an Essay
Charlotte shares her advice on the writing process.
As someone studying for a Politics degree, nearly 90% of my assessments over the last two years have been essays, and regardless of whether they are 1500 or 3500 words, I always struggle to feel confident in what I have written. Yet, the best advice I have ever received when writing essays is just to start. You don’t have to write the whole thing or even half, but writing a paragraph or the introduction will make you feel more capable and in control.
Planning is the most crucial part of writing any essay. Throughout Sixth Form and the start of University, I was adamant that I didn’t need to plan in-depth to get a good grade. Yet, while planning can help you produce a higher-quality essay in the end, it can also make the process of writing an essay far less stressful and less time-consuming too. It also allows you write more critically, as you’ll be more familiar with the arguments you’re considering. On an occasion when I did not plan and found myself reading the sources while I was already writing, my essay was too descriptive and overall quite poor.
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Alternatively, critical analysis is not something that can be mastered by simply just planning; it is a skill that needs to be developed and present throughout all your essays in order to succeed. It is a skill that I still want to improve as I go into my third year. Apart from going to see the Academic Skills Team, the most proactive thing you can do to improve your essays is to go see your module leaders, lecturers or personal tutor - they can advise you on how to tailor your essays to your school’s marking criteria and explain skills like critical analysis in more depth.
Some of my friends find it particularly difficult to leave an essay alone after finishing it. What I mean by that is they will continue to nitpick at it or change small bits even though they make no substantial improvements and, in some cases, make it worse. The advice I always give to them once they’ve checked it makes sense and there are no spelling or grammar mistakes is just to submit it. There is no point spending hours staring at it, as you will always find yourself hating the essay the more time you look at it after it’s done.
Overall, writing essays is hard, and no one gives students credit for having to quickly adapt to writing long essays when they first join university. But I can say it gets easier as you go along, and sometimes, it’s even enjoyable!
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