how to write a good paper

“It’s impossible to figure out every detail of your argument before you sit down, look at your sources, and actually try to write. Most students abandon their hierarchical outline soon after their fingers hit the keyboard.” – Cal Newport, “How to Use a Flat Outline to Write Outstanding Papers, Fast”

Ever since I learned the traditional method of outlining papers in 8th grade, I felt the system was broken. I never created an outline with bullets and numbers and letters before writing the paper. I always just made one up afterwards because I was required to turn one in with the final paper.

Starting in college, I developed my own outlining technique that was much more effective. As it turns out, my technique wasn’t so original after all. As Cal Newport explains, it’s called a flat outline . In Cal’s words, the flat outline works as follows:

Don’t build a hierarchical outline. Instead, list the topics you want to tackle in the order you want to tackle. Revisit the library to find sources for the topics that still need support. Dump all relevant quotes from your sources under the topics. Transform your topic-level outline into your paper. Don’t start from a blank screen.

Isn’t this so much better? The flat outline works because it mirrors the writing process . No one sits down to write with a perfect idea of what they’re going to say. You discover what you’re going to say through the process of writing . The flat outline gives you just enough structure to overcome the dreaded “blank canvas” while still leaving room for discovery.

Struggling to write your draft? Here’s how to overcome writer’s block .

4. Create the Perfect Writing Environment

Okay, so you have a rock solid understanding of the topic, you’ve done your research, and your flat outline is ready. Now, you need to sit down and write the sucker. But not so fast: where you write makes a difference.

Because after procrastination, the greatest obstacle to writing a paper quickly is distraction. If you don’t have an environment where you can focus, you’ll waste hours jumping back and forth between the paper and whatever distractions come your way.

To make sure you have the focus of a zen master, you must create a writing environment that enables zen-like focus . For a full guide to creating a distraction-free study space, check out our article on the topic . In the meantime, here’s a summary of the best practices:

5. Follow a Standard Structure

Each paper you write should not feel like reinventing the wheel. Your goal when writing a paper for a college class is to fulfill the assignment requirements in a way that goes just above and beyond enough to impress the professor. You’re not trying to break new ground in your discipline or redefine the way we use the English language (if you are, then you don’t need to read this article).

The way to make sure that you don’t get caught up in the structure is just to pick a standard structure for your discipline and follow it. Save the originality for your arguments. So how do you find these elusive standards? Ask your professor. They can point you to some relevant guides or examples.

Also, pay attention to the readings your professor assigns for the class. This should give you some idea of the academic conventions you should follow in your papers. It’s easy to go through an article and focus so much on the information that you ignore the structure (which is a good thing–the structure shouldn’t distract you). But if you spend a couple reading sessions paying attention to structure, you’ll get a feel for how it should go.

If that seems too advanced or too much work, then another option is to Google “SUBJECT NAME paper template”. Just be careful about the source–a template from a university is fine; one on some random student’s Blogger page, not so much.

6. Focus On Quality Over Quantity

If the paper is supposed to have a final page count of 5-7, you may be tempted to write a paper that’s 7 or even 8 pages. After all, more is better, right?

Wrong. Every professor I had in college told me that they would always prefer a good 5-page paper over an okay 7-page paper. Frankly, some topics don’t need 7 pages–5 is plenty. If you try to stretch it out, you may end up diluting your argument.

If you’re not convinced, consider this: I rarely wrote more than the minimum page count, and I consistently received A’s on papers in English, History, Religious Studies, and Education classes.

Knowing this, why would you ever write more than you need to? It’s not just a waste of time or effort; it may even be counterproductive .

Of course, your paper has to be good for this to work. For advice on improving the quality of your papers, check out my post on 6 Writing Tips to Make Your Papers 300% Better .

7. Draft and Edit Separately

Editing and drafting at the same time is, like all forms of multitasking , inefficient and ultimately impossible. Don’t do it. Write with your full attention and effort, and then edit.

The goal of writing this way is to keep you in the flow state as long as possible. Because if you can just get to a place of flow, your momentum will be unstoppable.

8. Write the Conclusion and Introduction Last

One of the greatest barriers to starting a paper is coming up with an introduction. If you think about it, this difficulty makes sense: how are you supposed to introduce something you haven’t even created?

This is why you shouldn’t write the introduction until you’ve finished the main body of the paper. I know it seems like a counterintuitive approach, but I challenge you to try it. This method avoids what has happened to me more times than I can count: writing the paper and then realizing that my intro doesn’t even fit with the final paper.

The same goes for the conclusion. Write it last. After all, how can you conclude when you haven’t even finished writing? If you want more advice on the specifics of writing solid conclusions, check out my post on how to write a paper .

9. Don’t Edit Alone

When you’re writing the draft, you need privacy and focus. But when you’re editing, having someone else to look over your work can speed things up. Why? Because you’re inherently blind to the mistakes in your writing . You’ve been looking at the draft so long that mistakes won’t jump out at you the way they will to a fresh set of eyes.

When it comes to finding someone to help you edit, you have a few options:

10. Use a Citation Generator

Adding citations is the worst, especially when you just spent hours writing a paper and are so over it. If you don’t want to spend further hours paging through some arcane style manual, do yourself a favor and use a citation management/generation tool.

My favorite is Zotero , which allows you to keep track of research sources and even has a browser extension that will pull the citation info from a library catalog web page. But I also have friends who prefer EasyBib . It doesn’t matter which one you use–just pick one and watch your citation worries evaporate.

That being said, it doesn’t hurt to glance at your citations before submitting, as these tools aren’t perfect (especially when it comes to digital sources).

Bonus Tip: Take a Writing Intensive Class

This tip isn’t strictly part of the paper writing process, but it can make a big difference in your writing speed and quality. At my college, the definition of “writing intensive” varied from professor to professor, but it always meant a class with lots of writing, often one (short) essay per week in addition to a 20+ page final paper.

Each of these classes was intense, but at the end I always found myself a better writer. This went beyond just getting faster, although that was a major benefit. I also found that the quality of my arguments and analyses increased, along with massive improvements in my research skills.

If your college offers classes specifically geared to improve your writing, do yourself a favor and take a least one. Strong writing skills are always a benefit, both in college and beyond.

At the end of the day, writing a paper is still a lot of work. But if you follow the process in this article, you’ll be able to do it more quickly without a loss of quality.

What tactics do you use to speed up the paper writing process? Share them in the comments below, or discuss them in the College Info Geek Community .

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How to Write a White Paper [Tips & Templates]

By Chau Nguyen , Jul 26, 2022

So, you need to write a white paper.

And not just write it, you need to make it interesting too — especially if your goal is to establish thought leadership or generate leads.

Because here’s the thing: the average human attention span is less than that of a goldfish , so just plopping tons of data and text onto a page and calling it a day won’t work.

Your reader will leave if your white paper isn’t engaging enough. Or they’ll stay if they really need the information, but will struggle with it because… walls of text. What’s worse, they’ll struggle to retain the info you’ve painstakingly put together.

So in this article, I’ll break down how to write the best white paper for your business, design tips included. (Spoiler: visuals will help you get more engagement!) I’ll also include white paper templates you can edit and make your own.

Let’s get started!

Click to jump ahead:

How to structure a white paper, how to write your white paper, tips for designing an engaging white paper, faqs about white paper writing.

Most white papers follow a standard format that includes a:

Introduction

Proposed solution

You may be wondering why there isn’t a problem statement section. After all, a white paper is supposed to dissect and provide solutions to a problem, yes?

Well, you can include the problem statement in the intro — intros explain what a white paper is about. This section is the perfect place to make a case for your white paper.

But of course, there’s no rigid format you should follow to a T. If it works better with your content, feel free to make your Problem Statement a separate section.

Now, let’s look at what you should write in each section with examples:

The title page is straightforward: it includes the title of your white paper and the name of the organization that produced it (or the author’s name).

This government white paper discusses the problem of illegal tobacco trade and proposes several approaches to address it:

Just so you know, some of our templates are free to use and some require a small monthly fee. Sign up is always free, as is access to Venngage’s online drag-and-drop editor.

You can also include a sub-headline under the title to further explain what it’s about:

The introduction should explain the purpose of the white paper and why the reader should care. It should be interesting (and informative) enough to hook the reader right away and keep them reading.

As mentioned, the introduction also contains your problem statement. In other words, it should provide an overview of the problem you’re trying to address. You don’t need to include too much information here, as that’s the role of the Background section.

Here’s an example:

The author introduces an overview of the problem — phishing scams — which is backed with visualized data that allows readers to grasp its impact at a glance:

data visualization examples in white papers

Here’s where you provide background information into the problem you’re discussing. This section tends to be research- and data-heavy.

Let’s revisit our “Approaches to Battling the Illegal Tobacco Trade” white paper. Here’s what the Background section looks like:

The author provides a table that lists the countries where illegal tobacco trading is present, from the least problematic (less than 10% of the industry) to the most (40% and above).

The author also includes some background information on illicit tobacco products, all backed by data:

“Cigarettes account for over 90% by value of tobacco product sales. They are also the most illicitly traded form. Numerous bodies of research indicate that the illicit cigarette trades represents approximately 10%–12% of the total cigarette market — although this varies by country.”

And why illegal tobacco trade is problematic:

“Each year this translates to a loss of government revenues from US$40 to US$50 billion.”

Now, onto the proposed solution.

This could be a product, a service or a course of action.

This government white paper addresses the sugar consumption crisis among children and proposes a policy to ban the sale of added-sugar products in schools:

Let’s look at another example. This technology white paper proposes a product as a solution: new technology that helps prevent falls in tilted chairs:

No matter what solution you propose, it should be well-supported with evidence. In the white paper above, the author presents elements that make their new technology the solution to fall prevention:

The conclusion should summarize the main points of the paper and provide recommendations for next steps:

You can also add a call to action here, like “contact the author for more information”. Or if you’re writing a white paper to gather more leads, you can add some information about your business too:

Note : white papers are academic in nature, so you should use reliable sources to back up your argument and include citations/references as needed.

Return to Table of Contents

Before making your white paper engaging, you first need to make it informative and credible. After all, it’s an important document to establish you as a thought leader in your industry.

Here are some guidelines to ensure the quality of your white paper:

Research your audience and topic well

Think about who will be reading your white paper. Are they actually experiencing the problem you’re trying to solve? Will your solution work for them? How much information will they need to be persuaded?

White papers are authoritative in nature, so people expect them to come with meaningful data from credible sources. Make sure you research your audience and your topic well to know how much data you need to make your case.

If your data comes from primary research, you can include your methodology as well for transparency and credibility:

Once you’ve nailed your research and solution, time to deliver all that information the best way you can. The language you use here must be the same as your audience’s: think of all the words and phrases they use often and try to incorporate them into your white paper writing.

You should also consider how people will read your paper — on desktop, on tablet or on mobile.

Mobile accounts for about 50% of global website traffic , reaching nearly 60% in Q2 2022.

Unless you have enough resources to create a responsive white paper ( like this one! ), you should make sure your document is legible on mobile. This means breaking up your paragraphs into smaller chunks of text and adding plenty of visuals so it’s easier on the eye:

I’ll touch on more tips to make your white paper engaging in the next section, so stay tuned!

Make sure people can scan your content

And to do that, you should break up your text with headings and subheadings. This helps keep your white paper organized and allows your reader to scan through the information easily.

You should also add a Table of Contents after the title page to help readers navigate your paper. Or in this case, the Table of Contents sits right on the first page:

Keep it succinct and to the point

There’s no standard length for this type of content, but a good rule of thumb is to write a white paper that’s around six pages. This should be enough space to do justice to your research and data, without overwhelming your readers.

Plus, it’s always good to be mindful of your audience’s time when creating any type of content.

As white papers ‌provide expertise or a solution to a problem, your audience should be willing to devote a good amount of time and attention to your content… but don’t push your luck!

No matter how interested a reader is in a topic, they’ll drop off eventually if you ramble instead of getting to the point.

So, while length isn’t as much of a concern for white papers as it is for, say, a blog post, it’s still best to make your content concise and to the point, while still providing all the necessary information.

Let’s say you’re looking for a white paper on sugar consumption in children. Would you read this:

Needless to say, applying visuals and data visualizations to your white paper makes a big difference. And you don’t need to be a professional designer to do so. Let’s look at some tips for creating an engaging white paper design:

1. Use a white paper template

If you don’t have the design skills to organize your draft into a well-designed document full of visuals, using a template is the way to go.

Venngage offers dozens of white paper templates you can edit for your business:

To get started, simply sign up for a free account , search for a white paper template and edit away.

To make it even easier for you, we’ve made a video walking you through editing a white paper template in Venngage. Check it out here:

2. Add data visualizations to your white papers

If you’ve got yourself some good data, don’t bury it under heaps of text.

While everyone on your team is busy creating boring Word documents, you can be the creative genius that uses charts and pictograms to craft a visually engaging white paper.

The type of charts you use will depend on the type of data you’re visualizing. We have a guide to picking what types of charts to use that can help you there.

You could use a line graph to show revenue growth over time . Or you could use pie charts to show parts of a whole, like in this policy white paper example:

Pro tip: with our online graph maker, you can create better charts and graphs than the standard Excel charts. A plain old bar graph won’t do much to inspire anyone, but a creative chart that tells a story can.

Pictograms are also a creative and effective way to visualize statistical data. Take a look at the white paper example below. Pictograms act as visual aids to showcase key statistics and changes in the IT sector:

Don’t be afraid to mix it up. They say variety is the spice of life — and this saying applies to white papers, too! This business white paper design, for example, combines both bar graphs and pie charts:

For more tips on visualizing data for your white paper, check out our post: How to Visualize Data In Your White Papers

3. Emphasize key points and takeaways with tables and text boxes

Visualizing information or data doesn’t mean just using graphs. When writing a white paper, you can also section off important pieces of information using tables and boxes.

In the white paper template below, the designers used a table to organize key points and takeaways from each main section:

Here’s another example of a white paper layout that uses a table to highlight some key statistics:

Breaking up lengths of text with boxes will help make your white paper easier to read, like in this example:

Which brings us to our next point…

4. Break up chunks of text with visuals

Visuals are perfect for illustrating ideas and emphasizing points.

Don’t be afraid to break up your text with visuals and create some breathing room in your white paper. You can even dedicate a whole page to pictures. Images give the eyes a rest and help reinforce information.

Take this white paper example — it dedicates a whole page to an evocative quote and photo:

Visual headers are also a great way to break up expanses of text while still having the visuals serve a purpose. You can create your own illustrations using icons — this can make for some fun and quirky headers, like in this workplace tech white paper:

5. Allow for plenty of white space on your pages

Speaking of giving your text some room to breathe, make sure you don’t crowd your pages with too much text or images.

Adding white space (or negative space) can help ensure your design isn’t too cluttered.

Check out how this example uses plenty of white space on nearly every page. The result? An organized and modern white paper design:

6. Use a consistent design that reflects your white paper topic

When you’re designing a multi-page document like a white paper or a report, your pages should have a cohesive look and feel.

(Note: by using a consistent design for your white paper, you’ll achieve unity — one of the 13 basic design principles .)

First, think of the themes reflected in your white paper. Is your white paper about social media engagement? Then using illustrations of birds (“tweeting”) or speech bubbles could work.

A white paper topic focused on establishing a sprint process could use race track visuals instead.

The hiring strategy white paper below uses greenery as the main design theme. Plants reflect the concept of growth associated with recruitment:

7. Incorporate your branding into your white paper design

To improve brand recognition, you need to have consistent branding across all marketing collateral. This not only helps your marketing efforts but also helps you maintain consistency in your internal and external comms.

Be sure to incorporate your logo , brand color palettes and fonts into your white paper design.

For business users, Venngage’s My Brand Kit makes it easy to save your logos, brand color palettes and brand fonts for later. Then, you can easily apply them to your designs with one click.

For example, you could change the colors of this white paper template…

…to this:

Try thinking of creative ways to incorporate your branding .

This white paper design, for instance, extends the use of its signature color beyond standard headers and icons. It actually applies a transparent color overlay to the images, adding a punch of color and reinforcing its brand palette in an unexpected way:

We have plenty more white paper design tips in our post on the top 20+ white paper examples you can use for your business. Check it out here: 20+ Page-Turning White Paper Examples [Design Guide + White Paper Templates]

What is a white paper?

A white paper is a well-researched, in-depth report that discusses a problem and proposes a solution to that problem. Here’s an example:

Typically backed up with lots of data and persuasive, factual evidence, quality white papers address complex concepts or problems, making them essential for any content marketing strategy.

For more information on the origin of white papers (including why they’re called “white papers” in the first place!), read our post: What is a White Paper? 15 White Paper Examples to Get Started .

What is the purpose of a white paper?

White papers often have original research to back them up, and take a strong stance on what needs to be done to solve a problem.

In other words, white papers advocate for the best solution to a particular problem, making them authoritative by nature. Which makes sense given that they’re often used by the government, like in this example:

But as more and more businesses ‌use white papers, their purpose has changed a little.

They’re still an authoritative source of information, but rather than just to inform or educate, white papers can also influence an audience’s decision-making process.

This marketing white paper, for example, aims to persuade businesses to market themselves effectively in order to attract talent:

Companies can also use white papers to show that their product or service can best solve their customers’ problems. Of course, they still need to back their claims with research and evidence.

A cyber security company could use this white paper to showcase their expertise and offerings in order to drum up more business.

Make sure your white paper is not only informative but also engaging!

Remember how the average human attention span has dropped to below that of a goldfish?

Even when a reader is interested in the topic of your white paper and plans to devote a good chunk of their time reading it, they may still bounce if your content is too dense (read: walls of text).

So make sure you think of your audience when you write your white paper and follow our design tips to keep them engaged.

And remember, you can create a professional, well-designed white paper using one of Venngage’s white paper templates. It’s free to get started!

How To Write a Research Paper: The Ultimate Guide

Manaferra Content

Regardless of the degree or program, you enroll in, writing research papers is inevitable. The process can seem daunting due to the time and effort it takes. But with the proper approach, you’ll make it.

This article will guide you on how to write a research paper perfectly, including how to write a thesis statement for a research paper, how to write a conclusion for a research paper, etc. More specifically, there are nine steps you need to follow to pave the way to a successfully written research paper.

But before that, let’s learn what a research paper is.

What Is a Research Paper?

A research paper can be considered an extended version of an essay. The research paper aims to present your interpretation, argument, or evaluation. In contrast to essays, research papers are more complex and require deep research on a particular matter. Research papers are characterized by the inclusivity of the presentation of other scientists’ opinions.

A research paper is more than a summary, collection of other sources, or literature review. At its core, the research paper analyzes and argues your point of view, further backed up by other studies.

Completing a research paper is a challenging task. But, with our help, you can start and build your way to a good end. Let’s get started!

How To Write a Research Paper

Writing a research paper sounds easy; you pick the topic, develop your argument, research what other studies have said, and conclude it. Those are the general rules. But writing a successful research paper requires you to be more attentive, consistent, and detailed.

The following steps will guide you through a more detailed process of writing a research paper.

Get familiar with the assignment

Writing a research paper takes more than just listening to the instruction while your professor explains. Because many students are not cautious enough to carefully listen and analyze every given step, they end up with a poorly graded assignment or, in the worst case, even fail.

Spend some time reading every instruction, and when in doubt, ask questions! Professors are always open to answering any questions you might have.

Choose a topic for your research paper

Deciding on a topic is usually time-consuming since there are so many topics available. If you need help deciding on a topic, think about what you are passionate about, but always remember to stay within the lines of the instructions. When choosing a topic, keep the following in mind:

Do the research and take notes

Now it’s time to research what different scholars have written about the topic. Since this step requires a lot of reading and comprehension, it’s crucial to know how to read scholarly articles effectively and efficiently. The pieces you will go through will be lengthy, and sometimes only a few parts within those papers will be helpful. That’s why it is essential to skim and scan.

Secondly, find reliable sources. Visit sites such as Google Scholar, and focus on peer-reviewed articles since they contain information that has been reviewed and evaluated.

Next, keep track of what you have read so far. It’s vital to save everything you have read and consider influential in one place. Instead of going back and forth between different sites, you can have everything in one place. You can bookmark the sources or link those sources to a document. That will save you valuable time when you start writing.

And remember: always stay focused and within your topic area.

Formulate your thesis statement

Research until you reach your own opinion or argument on the topic, otherwise known as a thesis statement. A thesis statement is an introductory statement that puts forward your explanation or point within the paper. When formulating a thesis statement, remember the following:

Checking in with your professor after you have developed a clear, persuasive thesis statement can be helpful. Ask them whether they agree your thesis statement is the right one. And if you get a positive answer, you’re ready for the next step.

Create an outline for your research paper

Even if it’s not required by your instructor, creating an outline will help you greatly in the long run. A structure will simplify the writing process, regardless of length or complexity. It should contain detailed information for the arrangement of each paragraph and identify the smaller components per each paragraph in order, such as the introductory sentence and the supporting evidence.

The outline will create a visual board and help you define what to include and where. And most importantly, in this part, you can identify possible mistakes and not have them in your drafts.

Write your first draft

And now you’ve made it to the real deal. The work you’ve done till this point matters a lot. If you succeed in having a good topic, a strong thesis with backup evidence, and an already structured paper, half of the job is already done—you just have to fill in the blanks at this point.

As you first start writing, remember that this is the first draft. Trust your memory and avoid going between sources and your paper. This way, you can prevent plagiarism and be original instead. Start with the introduction and the body, and work through a conclusion.

Introduction

Introductions to research papers are always unique. It is the part where you set up the topic and hook your reader. Additionally, you must provide background to the existing research, position your approach, and put forward the thesis statement. Furthermore, you need to explain why your topic deserves immediate attention.

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An introduction highlights all you’ve gathered from your research. While it may seem fine to write the introduction first, we suggest you focus on the body of the paper first. Then you’ll find it simple to build a clear summary.

This is the longest part of the research paper. You are required to support your thesis and build the argument, followed by citations and analysis.

Place the paragraphs in a logical arrangement so each key point flows naturally to the next one. Similarly, organize the sentences in each paragraph in an organic structure. If you have carefully arranged your notes and created an outline, your thoughts will automatically fall into place when you write your draft.

After introducing your topic and arguing your points, the conclusion will bring everything together. Focus on developing a stimulating and informative conclusion. Make it possible for readers to understand it independently from the rest of the paper.

These are some of the suggestions that will lead to a well-written conclusion:

Write your second draft

Usually, the first draft is followed by a second one. However, before proceeding with the process, highlight the errors and points you would prefer to avoid including in the final draft. With the help of a second draft, you will be able to notice mistakes and create a definitive outline for the final draft. Furthermore, you can communicate your ideas more clearly and effectively by creating multiple drafts.

Cite sources and prepare a bibliography

Citations are what characterize the research paper. The importance of citations lies in reliability: citing sources will make your writing more reliable. But how do you cite correctly? The problem is that there is more than just a set of rules. If your professor has set no rules, you can ask them. After being given the right instructions on what citation style to use, do plenty of research and make sure to cite correctly.

Edit, edit, and edit some more

Now it’s time to strive for perfection. Start editing with a fresh perspective. Firstly, focus on the content. It would be beneficial to create a checklist you can follow. You can produce a list that follows the instructions of your professor. If everything checks right, you can submit it. Otherwise, you’ll need to work toward perfecting the paper. Here are some things you need to check:

It is also crucial to edit for grammar. Plenty of online tools, such as Grammarly and Hemingway Editor, can help you during the process. You can also ask your peers to check it after you’ve done your part. Their fresh perspective will pick up on many things you might have missed.

The Bottom Line

Writing a research paper is one of the essential parts of academics. The process might seem straightforward, but there are many steps you should carefully follow. And remember: always stay on track with your progress; otherwise, you will get lost in tasks.

We hope by the time you have read this guide, you’ve been able to pick up the essential parts. But if you haven’t, you can go through it again.

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How To Write An Essay: Beginner Tips And Tricks

Many students dread writing essays, but essay writing is an important skill to develop in high school, university, and even into your future career. By learning how to write an essay properly, the process can become more enjoyable and you’ll find you’re better able to organize and articulate your thoughts.

When writing an essay, it’s common to follow a specific pattern, no matter what the topic is. Once you’ve used the pattern a few times and you know how to structure an essay, it will become a lot more simple to apply your knowledge to every essay.

No matter which major you choose, you should know how to craft a good essay. Here, we’ll cover the basics of essay writing, along with some helpful tips to make the writing process go smoothly.

Ink pen on paper before writing an essay

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

Types of Essays

Think of an essay as a discussion. There are many types of discussions you can have with someone else. You can be describing a story that happened to you, you might explain to them how to do something, or you might even argue about a certain topic.

When it comes to different types of essays, it follows a similar pattern. Like a friendly discussion, each type of essay will come with its own set of expectations or goals.

For example, when arguing with a friend, your goal is to convince them that you’re right. The same goes for an argumentative essay.

Here are a few of the main essay types you can expect to come across during your time in school:

Narrative Essay

This type of essay is almost like telling a story, not in the traditional sense with dialogue and characters, but as if you’re writing out an event or series of events to relay information to the reader.

Persuasive Essay

Here, your goal is to persuade the reader about your views on a specific topic.

Descriptive Essay

This is the kind of essay where you go into a lot more specific details describing a topic such as a place or an event.

Argumentative Essay

In this essay, you’re choosing a stance on a topic, usually controversial, and your goal is to present evidence that proves your point is correct.

Expository Essay

Your purpose with this type of essay is to tell the reader how to complete a specific process, often including a step-by-step guide or something similar.

Compare and Contrast Essay

You might have done this in school with two different books or characters, but the ultimate goal is to draw similarities and differences between any two given subjects.

The Main Stages of Essay Writing

When it comes to writing an essay, many students think the only stage is getting all your ideas down on paper and submitting your work. However, that’s not quite the case.

There are three main stages of writing an essay, each one with its own purpose. Of course, writing the essay itself is the most substantial part, but the other two stages are equally as important.

So, what are these three stages of essay writing? They are:

Preparation

Before you even write one word, it’s important to prepare the content and structure of your essay. If a topic wasn’t assigned to you, then the first thing you should do is settle on a topic. Next, you want to conduct your research on that topic and create a detailed outline based on your research. The preparation stage will make writing your essay that much easier since, with your outline and research, you should already have the skeleton of your essay.

Writing is the most time-consuming stage. In this stage, you will write out all your thoughts and ideas and craft your essay based on your outline. You’ll work on developing your ideas and fleshing them out throughout the introduction, body, and conclusion (more on these soon).

In the final stage, you’ll go over your essay and check for a few things. First, you’ll check if your essay is cohesive, if all the points make sense and are related to your topic, and that your facts are cited and backed up. You can also check for typos, grammar and punctuation mistakes, and formatting errors.

The Five-Paragraph Essay

We mentioned earlier that essay writing follows a specific structure, and for the most part in academic or college essays , the five-paragraph essay is the generally accepted structure you’ll be expected to use.

The five-paragraph essay is broken down into one introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a closing paragraph. However, that doesn’t always mean that an essay is written strictly in five paragraphs, but rather that this structure can be used loosely and the three body paragraphs might become three sections instead.

Let’s take a closer look at each section and what it entails.

Introduction

As the name implies, the purpose of your introduction paragraph is to introduce your idea. A good introduction begins with a “hook,” something that grabs your reader’s attention and makes them excited to read more.

Another key tenant of an introduction is a thesis statement, which usually comes towards the end of the introduction itself. Your thesis statement should be a phrase that explains your argument, position, or central idea that you plan on developing throughout the essay.

You can also include a short outline of what to expect in your introduction, including bringing up brief points that you plan on explaining more later on in the body paragraphs.

Here is where most of your essay happens. The body paragraphs are where you develop your ideas and bring up all the points related to your main topic.

In general, you’re meant to have three body paragraphs, or sections, and each one should bring up a different point. Think of it as bringing up evidence. Each paragraph is a different piece of evidence, and when the three pieces are taken together, it backs up your main point — your thesis statement — really well.

That being said, you still want each body paragraph to be tied together in some way so that the essay flows. The points should be distinct enough, but they should relate to each other, and definitely to your thesis statement. Each body paragraph works to advance your point, so when crafting your essay, it’s important to keep this in mind so that you avoid going off-track or writing things that are off-topic.

Many students aren’t sure how to write a conclusion for an essay and tend to see their conclusion as an afterthought, but this section is just as important as the rest of your work.

You shouldn’t be presenting any new ideas in your conclusion, but you should summarize your main points and show how they back up your thesis statement.

Essentially, the conclusion is similar in structure and content to the introduction, but instead of introducing your essay, it should be wrapping up the main thoughts and presenting them to the reader as a singular closed argument.

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Steps to Writing an Essay

Now that you have a better idea of an essay’s structure and all the elements that go into it, you might be wondering what the different steps are to actually write your essay.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Instead of going in blind, follow these steps on how to write your essay from start to finish.

Understand Your Assignment

When writing an essay for an assignment, the first critical step is to make sure you’ve read through your assignment carefully and understand it thoroughly. You want to check what type of essay is required, that you understand the topic, and that you pay attention to any formatting or structural requirements. You don’t want to lose marks just because you didn’t read the assignment carefully.

Research Your Topic

Once you understand your assignment, it’s time to do some research. In this step, you should start looking at different sources to get ideas for what points you want to bring up throughout your essay.

Search online or head to the library and get as many resources as possible. You don’t need to use them all, but it’s good to start with a lot and then narrow down your sources as you become more certain of your essay’s direction.

Start Brainstorming

After research comes the brainstorming. There are a lot of different ways to start the brainstorming process . Here are a few you might find helpful:

Create a Thesis

This is often the most tricky part of the whole process since you want to create a thesis that’s strong and that you’re about to develop throughout the entire essay. Therefore, you want to choose a thesis statement that’s broad enough that you’ll have enough to say about it, but not so broad that you can’t be precise.

Write Your Outline

Armed with your research, brainstorming sessions, and your thesis statement, the next step is to write an outline.

In the outline, you’ll want to put your thesis statement at the beginning and start creating the basic skeleton of how you want your essay to look.

A good way to tackle an essay is to use topic sentences . A topic sentence is like a mini-thesis statement that is usually the first sentence of a new paragraph. This sentence introduces the main idea that will be detailed throughout the paragraph.

If you create an outline with the topic sentences for your body paragraphs and then a few points of what you want to discuss, you’ll already have a strong starting point when it comes time to sit down and write. This brings us to our next step…

Write a First Draft

The first time you write your entire essay doesn’t need to be perfect, but you do need to get everything on the page so that you’re able to then write a second draft or review it afterward.

Everyone’s writing process is different. Some students like to write their essay in the standard order of intro, body, and conclusion, while others prefer to start with the “meat” of the essay and tackle the body, and then fill in the other sections afterward.

Make sure your essay follows your outline and that everything relates to your thesis statement and your points are backed up by the research you did.

Revise, Edit, and Proofread

The revision process is one of the three main stages of writing an essay, yet many people skip this step thinking their work is done after the first draft is complete.

However, proofreading, reviewing, and making edits on your essay can spell the difference between a B paper and an A.

After writing the first draft, try and set your essay aside for a few hours or even a day or two, and then come back to it with fresh eyes to review it. You might find mistakes or inconsistencies you missed or better ways to formulate your arguments.

Add the Finishing Touches

Finally, you’ll want to make sure everything that’s required is in your essay. Review your assignment again and see if all the requirements are there, such as formatting rules, citations, quotes, etc.

Go over the order of your paragraphs and make sure everything makes sense, flows well, and uses the same writing style .

Once everything is checked and all the last touches are added, give your essay a final read through just to ensure it’s as you want it before handing it in.

A good way to do this is to read your essay out loud since you’ll be able to hear if there are any mistakes or inaccuracies.

Essay Writing Tips

With the steps outlined above, you should be able to craft a great essay. Still, there are some other handy tips we’d recommend just to ensure that the essay writing process goes as smoothly as possible.

Wrapping Up

Writing an essay doesn’t need to be daunting if you know how to approach it. Using our essay writing steps and tips, you’ll have better knowledge on how to write an essay and you’ll be able to apply it to your next assignment. Once you do this a few times, it will become more natural to you and the essay writing process will become quicker and easier.

If you still need assistance with your essay, check with a student advisor to see if they offer help with writing. At University of the People(UoPeople), we always want our students to succeed, so our student advisors are ready to help with writing skills when necessary.

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How to Write Academic Paper: Main Points to Consider

General principles, essential steps of the writing process, thesis statement, introduction, body paragraphs, editing and proofreading.

Have no idea how start an engaging introduction paragraph in your history essay? Need advice on how to write good academic paper - you are not alone. Academic writing is an important skill for the success in higher education and in any career field but many university students find their written assignments too challenging and often consider them to be a form of a medieval torture.

Why is it so? The problem is that a lot of high school graduates enter colleges and universities having no idea how to complete grammatically correct sentences that make sense, to say nothing about writing a college-level academic paper because no one taught them how to do it right and present a clear, logical and convincing argument.

If you struggle with similar issues, read this article where you will find a complete guide on how to write good academic papers. We will provide you with all necessary information. You can order a well-written model essay on our website to have a better understanding of the general rules of academic writing and the proper paper structure and format.

Many young people have difficulties with academic paper writing. This type of writing is specific and differs a lot from what you were asked to produce in high school because it involves a lot of reading, doing in-depth research of scholarly literature, planning, revising, making changes in content and structure, rewriting, editing, proofreading, and formatting. Don’t be scared. Writing is a skill that any student can learn and master. We hope that this short guide will explain everything you need to succeed.

What is an academic paper ? This type of writing can be defined in many ways and your instructors can give different names to these assignments – essay, term paper, analysis essay but all of them have the same purpose and are based on the same principles.

The goal of completing written assignments is to show that you have a profound knowledge of a specific topic and to share your own thoughts about a scientific question or an issue that may be of interest to your audience – students, your professor, and other scholars. You have to demonstrate your critical thinking skills.

Take into account 8 key principle of academic writing.

Writing an academic paper can be done step-by-step. If you are a beginner, you can follow these steps that have worked for millions of college students; they can save you a lot of time.

These are basic steps. When you gain experience, you may think about a different order that can work best for you. Find that this process complicated? Buy a professionally written sample to analyze it and see how your essay should look like!

Let’s discuss the major steps of the writing process.

A thesis statement determines the main argument of your essay. A good thesis statement expresses the main idea of your essay, presents your own point of view, and gives an answer to your research question. The success of your entire project depends on your thesis and you need to do your best to ensure that it is debatable, specific, and concise. Try to write your thesis early. It will help you stay focused when you do research and take notes.

Introductions and conclusions are very important. The introduction introduces your argument to your reader and convinces them why they should care about reading your paper. Your task is to engage your audience. Wondering how to do it? Check this useful article on our blog that discusses engaging strategies for starting an essay .

Start your introduction with attention grabber and provide background information about the significance of your topic, introduce a subject, and give some definitions of the key terms. End your introduction with a thesis statement.

Start each body paragraph with a topic sentence; don’t begin a paragraph with a fact. The topic sentence should present the main idea of the paragraph and express your point of view. In the next sentences, you should support the topic sentence with additional supporting ideas, specific details, interesting facts, statistics, clear explanations, relevant examples. All supporting sentences should be logical. You should make sure they are connected with connection words to help your reader follow your argument.

Finish every paragraph with a concluding sentence. It should be your own idea and not a source citation. The last sentence in a paragraph should review the key points you have discussed in it, emphasize your main idea or your thesis statement, and prepare your audience to the points that you are going to discuss in the next paragraph.

This part of your paper is the most important. Actually, readers remember the first and the last parts of what they read; a conclusion is your last chance to make an impression and show the significance of your findings. How can you achieve that? When writing a conclusion, you need to provide connections to the previous ideas, briefly summarize your findings or restate the thesis. You shouldn’t include any new information. Finish your essay with a strong concluding statement that your readers will remember.

No one can write a perfect first draft. It’s impossible - revising is critical if you want to impress your professor and get a high grade for your work. You should start revising the content at least a week before your paper is due. You can use another strategy as well - revise individual paragraphs as you write them. Be ready that you may need to write more than one draft or revise your paper several times.

Read your paper and make changes to fix it and make impeccable. You can do it in a number of ways.

Do you like your essay’s content? If you do, it’s time to edit it and add finishing touches. The goal of editing is making your writing clearer, more precise to ensure that your readers will be able to understand it.

How should you do it? You may ask someone to read your essay and request their feedback. You can read your college paper aloud yourself to hear the lack of clarity, repetition, wordiness, grammar mistakes and correct them. Use English dictionaries and grammar books.

You should use the following editing strategies to make your essay as best as it can be.

When you finish editing, proofread your essay and fix minor errors, careless mistakes, typos. Check punctuation and spelling. Use the printed copy to notice mistakes you may overlook on a computer screen. Start proofreading with the last sentence and go backward; in this way, you will focus on spelling and grammar and not on the content.

We have discussed how to write academic paper. Let’s talk about another important aspect of your future essay – citations. To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit to other people whose ideas you use in your own work.

You have the right to express your opinions. You have the right to use ideas of people to support your argument and draw conclusions, but it’s your responsibility to inform your audience which ideas in your essay are not yours and which are your own. With proper citations, you demonstrate that you understand the significance of other people’s research, findings, and ideas in developing your own argument.

How to cite your sources? You should include in-text citations in accordance with the guidelines of the citation style recommended by your instructor. You are required to include a list of the sources you have cited at the end of your paper. Don’t cite works that are not in your bibliography.

Follow these guidelines and useful tips to create great papers and impress your professor. Need interesting topic ideas for your projects? Check other articles on our blog.

Writing academically on a college level is a hard work that requires a lot of time and effort. You can’t become a confident writer in a few days if you just read grammar and style guides no matter how full and detailed they are. You have to practice a lot. It means working for many hours every day.

If you are not sure that you can cope with your complicated assignment on your own, you can pay to get professional help in any subject from experts on our site. Our writers can provide you with quality sample papers on different topics that will be perfect in content and style. They are sure to be free of errors. You can use paid custom papers as good templates you can follow when creating your own works and understand how to write good academic papers. In this way, you can easily improve your analytical, critical and writing skills and become a successful student who gets high grades.

How to Write a Good Research Paper: Step-by-Step Guide

All college students encounter a task as a research paper writing because it is an integral part of a modern studying program. But many of them are afraid of it and spend the biggest part of the time that intended for writing process to the nerves and other not useful stuff. This can lead to a failure. It is a responsible and serious type of work but if you will follow the main rules and our useful tips – you can get the perfect grade and save a bunch of time. Read our article to check the tips and refresh your mind about the general rules and soon you will learn how to write a research paper of the best quality! Let’s start with a definition.

A research paper is a kind of an academic assignment that requires conducting quite a deep investigation on a certain topic. Students are usually being asked to investigate some phenomenon, event or issue in order to complete and expand already existing knowledge, verify scientific hypotheses and analyze certain issues that exist in science, nature and social life. This is a popular assignment in various educational institutions.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic For Research Paper

How to write a research paper and choose the right topic? How to make a good choice? If you have an ability to choose the topic on your own – the first thing you need to think about is originality. Think about other students – may be your topic will be way too common, and too many students will select it either. This is an important point for consideration. In fact, if you are striving to make your work distinguished and original – try to choose the topic that you are interested in. This will help you make it engaging. It can be something you already know about or something you are good at.

If your topic is too difficult and you don’t have any idea and even brainstorm can’t help you, you always can purchase a research paper online , look for ready topics or rewrite some other research papers.

Step 2: Conduct a Superficial Research

If you have to write a qualitative research – use reliable sources . Choosing well-tried information is obligatory for the successful work. There are a few general types of sources you can use:

Step 3: Make An Outline Of Main Points From Your Research

Highlight the main ideas and interesting materials that you will use in your future research paper. Write some information in your notes and try to imagine how your paper will look like.

Step 4: Write A Thesis Statement

Generally, the thesis is the same question that the search for answers your work devoted to. What is it? Which hypothesis do you want to confirm or deny? Remember that whole your research work should relate to the thesis, and therefore it is extremely important to define the thesis quite clearly. You need to write your thesis compactly but contain all the main things of your paper.

Step 5: Try To Make A Draft Of Your Research Paper

After you just made everything that we described before – you can finally start trying to write your papers. There is one more feature that will make a writing process easier: If you can’t come up with the introduction – don’t panic. You are not alone there! Writing a memorable intro is one of the biggest issues that people face and often, a student loses too much time to write a perfect introduction and misses out many good ideas because of it. Thus, we recommend you not to get stuck! If you get trapped in the situation like this, the best decision will be to start writing a body of your paper. It would be easier to write your introduction at the end of your writing process. Other way is to pay for research paper writing and don’t worry about it. If you don’t have the problems like this, you can write the research paper introduction in the standard way.

Writing a research paper introduction

In this part, you need to attract an attention to your work. You can use an interesting statistic, quotes from the famous person, or shocking fact that relate to your topic. For example, your topic is “Bad influence of fast-food. For or against?” – You can use the short fact like: Every day fast-food restaurants of one of the most popular world brand serve 68 million people (this is almost of 1% of the world’s population). Also, they are selling 75 hamburgers every second. An interesting introduction will attract the attention of the reader and therefore, it is an important part so try to write it shortly and originally.

Writing a body of your paper

Writing a conclusion for a research paper

In the Conclusion of the research work, we see consistently stated results, it is determined by their correlation with the common goal and specific tasks formulated in the introduction, and self-evaluation given about the work done. In some cases, you can specify ways to continue researching the topic, as well as specific tasks that have to be addressed in this case. It is one of the most significant parts of your work.

Step 6: Ask Someone To Read Your Draft

Sometimes it’s important to ask someone’s opinion because even the most diligent student can skip some mistakes because he wrote the paper on his/her own. So, if you can’t see any mistakes in the draft – it would be a great decision to give it to someone. A fresh look can help define the mistakes. Thus, give the work to your parents, friends or even both of them. Anyway, they can tell you about your grammatical mistakes and other details that you can’t see, and you can also ask their opinion about the used research paper format, maybe you can make the paper look more organically and originally.

Step 7: Edit It According To Problems That Were Found

Defining mistakes is important. However, fixing them is even more important! Thus, if you already checked all the mistakes, it is time to edit them – maybe you can add something while editing (leave it if it looks organically to you). You can also make some notes that will help you to not forget any advice that you got.

Step 8: Make A More Detailed Study

This is needed to complete your work. You can also conduct a deeper study in order to improve the knowledge you already obtained and bring the paper to the new level. You can find new facts or arguments. This will help to disclose the topic fully.

Step 9: Write Your Perfect Research Paper

Now, when you have a polished draft, you can finally start writing your text, following the notes you have made. Here you need to consider the formalization of your papers: font, the distance between lines and fields, and if you have a certain type of writing (APA, MLA, etc.) don’t forget to format it.

Step 10: Proofread

This is the last step. It is better to finish your papers beforehand and leave a couple days for proofreading. It would be great if you will not do this in one day and will check it with the fresh and clear mind – you can see everything you haven’t noticed right after you wrote it. Check everything with all the attention to the details. It’s better to reread it couple times after having some rest, to see all the flaws with a fresh look, and don’t forget about creating a correct research paper title page and checking the overall structure of your document! It is important to ensure you have followed all the given requirements!

Step 11: Get Your A+

If you made everything from the list – there is no other way except getting an A+! Thus, your goal is achieved.

Of course, writing this type of work is a long and tedious process that requires attention to details and decent skills, which is why not everyone can handle it from the first try. However, even if you have come across certain issues in the course of writing, there is a solution that can help you out – you can get a brilliant research papers for sale from a professional writer. This way the success will be achieved easier and faster. Besides, you will rid yourself of the need to do all these steps on your own!

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Toolkit: How to write a great paper

You have full access to this article via your institution.

A clear format will ensure that your research paper is understood by your readers. Follow:

1. Context — your introduction

2. Content — your results

3. Conclusion — your discussion

Plan your paper carefully and decide where each point will sit within the framework before you begin writing.

Collection: Careers toolkit

Straightforward writing

Scientific writing should always aim to be A, B and C: Accurate, Brief, and Clear. Never choose a long word when a short one will do. Use simple language to communicate your results. Always aim to distill your message down into the simplest sentence possible.

Choose a title

A carefully conceived title will communicate the single core message of your research paper. It should be D, E, F: Declarative, Engaging and Focused.

Conclusions

Add a sentence or two at the end of your concluding statement that sets out your plans for further research. What is next for you or others working in your field?

Find out more

See additional information .

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Writing Guide

How To Write a Good Essay (From Introduction-Conclusion)

June 30, 2018

Learn how to write a good essay. Read the best guide to avoid writing an essay full of mistakes and bad structure. In the end, you will be able to write a good essay that will receive maximum points.

The Truth About Writing an Essay

When most students are asked to write an essay their first reaction is to panic. The reason for doing so is that writing this type of academic work is not as enjoyable as most students would wish it was.

Notably, students who do not have great writing skills as well as ability to think creatively and critically find this academic exercise to be extremely challenging. Moreover, those students who do not have great time management skills find completing their essays on time to be quite hard if not impossible.

This implies that the skills that are put into test when writing this type of an academic paper are among others; critical thinking, time management, writing as well as creative thinking. If you are a student and you are really not sure about how to write an essay then you might find this post to be very informative.

What is an Essay?

Before you commence the process of writing an essay. You must first have a good idea of what it really is. Basically, an essay can be understood as a piece of writing in prose form on a specific topic. In other words, the given piece of writing that is known as an essay is comprised of sentences and paragraphs.

It is worth to note that such sentences and paragraphs have to be tied on a single theme or topic. Remarkably, students who know how to write an essay understand that there are different types of essays

Kinds of Essays

Before you write an essay you should know what kind of essay you have to write. Such types include but not necessarily limited to:

1. How to Begin Writing an Essay

Normally, the first process of writing an essay involves formulating a topic. It is important to keep in mind that in most instances students are provided with an essay topic to work on by their teachers or lecturers.

It is, however, worth to note that if you are required to come up with your own topic. You should look for a topic that interests you and the one that has sufficient sources of information. The selected topic must also be focused well-enough to enable the student to write a coherent essay.

If you really know how to write an essay then. You already know the importance of carefully reading the issued instructions before you can begin the process of writing it. If you are finding it hard to come up with a topic or to understand the issued instructions then you might want to consult professional online essay writers as they can help you.

2. Brainstorming for Ideas to be included in an Essay

Once you keenly read and understand the essay writing instructions, the second step that you ought to take is brainstorming for ideas.

In other words, you need to identify various points that can be included in your essay. One of the best ways of doing so is reading around your topic. This is what some students commonly refer to as researching an essay.

It is, however, good to note that doing so is more of reviewing the relevant literature than conducting research. It is very important to visit the library and read books that are relevant to your topic.

You can also search for such information online by keying in certain keywords in your favorite search engine. Experts who know how to write an essay understand the importance of reading books and journal articles as well as other academic sources prior to beginning writing an essay.

3. Developing the Thesis Statement

One of the common mistakes that students make when working on an essay, is failing to include a thesis statement in the introduction or writing such a statement in the wrong format. As a rule of thumb, a conventional essay must have a thesis statement .

Basically, such a statement makes the specific position that the writer takes on the topic under study clear. This is to say that essays are written from a certain angle or point of view which is expressed in the thesis statement.

It takes an experienced essay writing expert to craft a sound statement. This implies that you can always higher such a writer to help you instead of submitting an essay introduction without an appropriate thesis statement.

How to write an Essay Outline

An essay outline is essentially the skeleton of your essay.

4. Write the First Draft of Your Essay

After you are done with creating the outline of your essay, you can now go ahead and write the first draft. It is worth to emphasize the fact that when writing such a draft, you should be guided by the outline. It is equally important to note that all the points that you are supposed to include in the first draft must be in one way or the other relevant to the thesis statement.

Normally, an acceptable essay must have an interesting and informative introduction, a logically flowing body and a sound conclusion. Despite the fact that the introduction comes before the body and conclusion in an essay, writing it should be saved for last.

In case you are not sure about how you can handle this essay writing stage then you should be sure to consult professionals who offer reliable essay writing help . Such experts can easily guide you in using the outline to create the first draft of your essay.

5. Write an Essay Introduction

The introduction of an essay presents one with an opportunity to make the first impression. Going in line with this, this section of an essay is very important.

As mentioned above, you are supposed to write this part after you are done with writing the rest of your work. Specifically, the introduction must be in line with both the body and the conclusion of your work.

6. Write Body Paragraphs of an Essay

The section that comprises the majority of your essay is the body. In other words, body paragraphs normally account for about eighty percent of an essay . This means that when writing an essay, most students spend most of their time on writing the body paragraphs.

Each body paragraph is made up of a couple of sentences. The first sentence that a body paragraph must have is the introduction sentence. This is followed by a sentence expounding more on it. The sentence that follows introduces evidence supporting the main idea expressed by the introduction sentence. You are then expected to explain such evidence using one more sentence.

Lastly, you should include a concluding sentence to wrap up the given paragraph and signal the reader that you are moving to the next point.

How to Organize Essay Body Paragraphs

Merely writing body paragraphs is not enough. You ought to go a step further and organize them in a manner that makes reading your work easy to understand. As a rule of thumb, strong points must be discussed first. This means that you should be sure to discuss the ideas that strongly support your thesis statement before discussing the weak ones or those that might counter your argument.

If you actually understand how to write an essay then you are no stranger to the fact that you are supposed to include only one major idea in your work. Any attempt to include more than a single main idea in a paragraph makes it be not only unusually very long but also hard to read and understand. You should also come up with a way of organizing your essay in the most logical way possible.

7. Write an Essay Conclusion

The main purpose of your conclusion is, to sum up, your essay. You are also expected to convince the reader that indeed you have sufficiently supported your thesis statement using credible evidence and logical reasoning. This implies that restating the thesis statement in the conclusion is not such a bad idea. As a matter of fact, students are encouraged to do so.

One of the common mistakes that students who do not really understand how to write an essay make is discussing new points in this section. You must never attempt to include ideas that are not present in the body in the conclusion of your essay.

Your essay conclusion should remind the reader what has already been discussed and not introducing new evidence or points.

It is also worth to mention that you should avoid writing a very lengthy conclusion. A good conclusion should be precise and short.

8. Proofread and Edit The Essay

Majority of students are quick to submit their work essay right after they are done with writing the first draft. It is good to point out that doing so is such a grave mistake as you should keenly proofread it prior to submitting it for marking.

Proofreading is a systematic process that involves thoroughly reading of a given material with the goal of spotting and correcting errors that you might have done when writing it. The errors that you are expected to correct fall under two broad categories.

These categories are namely;

It is worth to note that there are online professional writers and editors who understand not only how to write an essay but also how to proofread it.

It is then needless to overemphasize the fact that it is possible to get professional essay proofreading assistance whenever you need it as all you need to do is to order for it online.

How to Make Sure That You Submit Your Essay on Time

One of the things that students struggle with when writing an essay is managing time. The result of this is that the majority of such students are unable to submit their essays before the set deadlines. Subsequently, they end up being penalized by for example being deducted some points due to late submission of their work.

Some course instructors at times even totally refuse to mark work that has been submitted late and this can result in a student failing in the given course.

It then goes without saying that you must learn how to properly manage time when writing your essay. One of the best ways of doing so is designing a practical work plan. Such a plan should clearly list all the tasks involved in writing your essay and the amount of time allocated in doing each of the listed tasks.

You should then try as much as possible to adhere to such developed work plan. If you are a student and you feel that your essay is fast approaching then you do not have to panic. This is because you can always order for urgent essay writing services .

This implies that if you know how to look then you will always find someone who capable of helping you beat your essay submission deadline no matter how soon it might seem to be.

What You Need to Know About Plagiarism When Writing an Essay

Usually, students are expected to write their essays from scratch. This is to say that directly copying information from other sources or presenting other people’s essays as if they were your own original work is totally unacceptable.

It is worth to note that there is no learning institution that condones plagiarism. In other words, when writing an academic essay you should put all the necessary measures to ensure that it does not contain any form of plagiarism.

Some of the strategies that students who know how to write an essay use to avoid plagiarism include: paraphrasing information from other sources, directly quoting, providing citations and including a list of references .

Essay Writing Tips

There are a number of tips that can help you in coming up with an A-plus essay.

For more tips for writing an essay, feel free to contact experts who perfectly understand how to write an essay .

What Really Differentiates a Great Essay from a mediocre one?

It is the desire of every student to write an A-plus essay but this desire is not always fulfilled. There are a number of things that makes up a great essay.

To start with, an essay that deserves good marks is normally coherent. In other words, you are expected to advance an argument that is easy to follow. The points should logically flow and must be in support of the thesis statement.

Moreover, an essay that deserves to be awarded a high grade is supposed to be well cited. There are different styles that one can use in citing his/her essay but you should be sure to use the one recommended by your course instructor.

If you really know how to write an essay and your desire is to score a good grade then you have no choice but to follow all the provided writing instructions.

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How To Write a Product Positioning Statement (With Good and Bad Examples)

Examples of good product positioning statements

Examples of bad product positioning statements.

Building a product without thinking about how you’ll position it is the equivalent of flying a plane without a navigation system.

But what exactly is it, how do you approach this as you are conceiving of your product, and how do you approach this if you are looking to re-position and adjust how you fit in the market and in the minds of users in your target market?

A Product Positioning Statement is a concise summary of how you intend for your product to fit into (and stand out) the market. It describes in a single statement what user need is being fulfilled and what your product’s unique value proposition is to fill that need. This differs from the way competitors and existing solutions are approaching fulfilling this need.

Marketing and sales teams within organizations rely heavily on product positioning to ensure that communication with the target market remains consistent - yet product teams should care just as much as this also influences the benefits you prioritize as you are building your product strategy and roadmap.

Your product positioning statement should serve as a guidepost for everything you are building and communicating about your product (both internally and externally) to keep everything aligned - this covers product development, engineering, marketing, sales, support, supply chain, retail, external partners, and more.

Get started with ready-made templates

.css-1rpxuvi{position:absolute;left:0;top:-85px;} Steps to draft your product positioning statement

Deeply understand the root problem your product is solving and for whom

Create a user persona around your target customer (the “who”)

Deeply understand the competitive landscape . This means understanding things like:

Market Trends

Existing Direct Competitors (i.e. Nike and Adidas would be an example of direct competitors in the running shoe market)

Existing Indirect Competitors (i.e. Two food trucks in the same location selling different desserts)

Existing Tertiary Competitors (same audience, same problem to be solved, different product entirely, i.e. Ordering food via Doordash vs. going to the grocery store to find ingredients to make dinner)

Competitor Product Key Value Propositions (What is the key value their users go to them, specifically, in order to derive?)

Competitor Customers (Who are the user personas of your competitors?)

Competitor Technology (What is the tech stack that enables them to deliver value to customers?)

Competitor Pricing (What is their pricing strategy? I.e. Subscription model, freemium, tiered, etc.)

Competitor Access to Product and Product Discovery (How do customers find out about and access the product?)

Competitor Marketing and Customer Acquisition (What language do competitors use to acquire new customers?)

Existing Opportunities (What gaps are there in the current market that we could capitalize on?)

(Note: Some great tools to help with this visually are SWOT analyses , perceptual maps , Porter’s 5 Forces , and Strategic Group Analysis ).

4. Define Your Unique Value Proposition . A really simple framework for this is:

We help (target market) do (a problem the target market finds value in solving) by (the unique thing we do differently or better than others).

5. Write your Product Positioning Statement . It should:

Be simple (one sentence)

Be clear (use words that an 8-year-old can understand)

Identify the specific customer you are targeting

Speak to the root problem you are solving

Show how you are different than competitors

Allude to the transformation a person will have or the type of person they will be if they use your product

It’s not easy to tick all of these boxes in a single, elegant sentence, but here are some real-world examples to show you how popular products have been positioned (Note: I have summarized their positioning statements here for the purposes of articulating how to write one - these have not come directly from the teams inside each organization. I asked ChatGPT for help in summarizing each product’s statement based on their marketing material):

Charmin Ultra Strong Toilet Paper

Image Source: Amazon.ca

The product positioning statement for Charmin Ultra Strong Toilet Paper could be something like this:

“Charmin is the soft and strong toilet paper that provides a comfortable and worry-free bathroom experience for families and households.”

Why is this a good example?

Charmin’s unique value proposition in this case is that it’s both soft and strong. If you’re the type of person that prioritizes price and opts for no-name brand toilet paper and also isn’t overly concerned about toilet paper not being robust enough for your needs, Charmin is not the TP for you. But if you do care about your toilet paper being comfortable and effective, Charmin is probably the first brand you think of. Note: Other brands of toilet paper choose other unique value propositions, like how eco-friendly they are, how inexpensive they are, how much moisture they absorb, and more.

Tesla 2008 Roadster

Image Source: Cars.com

The product positioning statement for the 2008 Tesla roadster could be something like this:

“The Tesla Roadster is the ultimate electric sports car for eco-conscious drivers who seek high performance and technological innovation.”

When Tesla launched, several other car manufacturers had already come up with electric or hybrid versions that were more environmentally friendly - but they also came with a major perceived “dork factor” (i.e. The initial Toyota Prius launched in 1997) and couldn’t cover a ton of distance on a charge. Tesla solved both of those problems - rather than having to choose between doing the right thing for the environment and feeling cool while being at the forefront of technological innovation, and having to worry about finding your next place to charge, Tesla positioned their first car as a premium electric sports car and was the first production all-electric car to travel more than 200 miles per charge.

Nike Air Jordan 1

Image Source: eBay

The product positioning statement for the 1984 Air Jordan 1 basketball sneaker could be something like this:

"The Air Jordan 1 is the premier basketball shoe for athletes who demand both performance and style."

In 1984 Michael Jordan signed a $250K contract with Nike to develop his own line of sneakers. At the time, Converse was the official shoe of the NBA. When the Jordan 1’s initially launched that year and he wore them on the court during his rookie season, they were unlike other basketball shoes in that they had a high-top design for ankle support, a padded tongue for comfort, and a sleek design. Nike had also come out with new Air Sole technology. Michael Jordan was the third overall NBA draft pick and was emerging as a phenomenal player in the league as a rookie, and he did it with swag. These are all traits that customers could align with.

“Our socks will keep anyone’s feet warm during the winter.”

While it speaks to the root problem (needing to keep your feet warm when the weather is colder), the specific customer that is being targeted is not clear and there are no differentiating factors that separate it from competitors.

”Our car is a multi-faceted, technologically advanced, ergonomically designed, cost-efficient, and ecologically conscious solution that provides superior performance, reliability, and versatility for individuals who seek to optimize their lifestyle.”

It is not simple and it’s vague. While it lists several differentiators, there are too many and it sounds confusing. The target market is also not very clear.

Whether you’re building a new product from scratch or looking to re-position one you’ve already launched, with this guide in hand you can start to draft your own unique product positioning statement that is simple, speaks to a specific audience, and stands out in the crowd.

Don’t work on this in a silo - get your team involved, get your alpha and beta testers involved, and test, iterate , and refine to carve out your unique niche in the market, align your teams internally, and keep the focus on the right product benefits to build.

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