Essay Writing Strategies for College Students

If you are a college student, you are probably having the time of your life. However, all the perks aside, being a college student has its share of challenges, and you will find yourself having to juggle multiple tasks and obligations, often sacrificing sleep in the process. One of the most difficult things about being a college student is writing essays, which is why so many freshmen are seeking help from fellow students to write my essay or trying to find a cheap essay writer as a last resort.

Starting on time with your essay is always a good approach, and it saves you from having to look for essay writing services, but not everyone is good at time management, which is why students are constantly looking for the best writing strategy that will enable them to complete their essay as fast as possible. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some effective writing strategies you can start implementing today.

1. Brainstorming Should Be Your Starting Point

Your essay writing process will be a much smoother endeavor if you can zero in on a topic that you are interested in. You can opt for a more detailed and complex approach and create a map with your main topic in the center of it, and all of your ideas and thought as bubbles or branches connecting to your topic. This is an effective writing approach, as your brain will start developing all of these ideas before you have even started writing, leaving you with plenty of material to work with.

2. Let Research Shape Your Topic

One of the best ways to get better in writing essays is to let research guide your topic. Regardless of what you are writing about, you will have to rely on facts and research, and you can only cover a topic that has enough research data you can use to back it up. This approach is a mainstay on just about every writing strategies list, and you should use it as often as you can.

3. Always Create an Outline

This is one of our favorite writing strategies for a number of reasons. Even though you won’t be required to create an outline for each of your essay, you should do so anyways. This will help you shape your essay, as you write down important ideas and research data in the appropriate section of the essay. By the time you have finished your outline, nearly half of your essay will practically write itself. All there will be left to do is to connect the dots, so to speak.

4. Create a Powerful Introduction

What is writing strategy without a good intro for your essay? Before you start laying down your research, data, and arguments, start with something that will capture the reader’s attention, be it an anecdote or a personal story that you can connect to the topic of your essay. As far as writing techniques and strategies go, this is one of the best ones, and one which you are very likely to use all throughout your life.

5. Show, Don’t Tell

Different writing strategies can be used to tell a story, but arguably the best one is to actually show the reader. Instead of just listing your research, you should also explain the lessons which you have learned, as well as reflect on relevant personal experiences and moments. This will help give your essay a unique voice, and as a result, you will end up with a powerful piece of writing, and not some generic paper. This is not just one of the best college writing skills, but writing skills period.

6. Revise Your Work

All these different types of writing strategies are here to help you speed up the process. This one, though, will slow it down, but it will help you produce a much better essay. Yes, we are talking about revisions. Revising your essay will you identity all these different errors in your work, be it spelling, grammar, flaws in your logic or arguments, or factual mistakes in your research data. If you have time, it’s best to let your essay sit for a few days. If not, take a break for an hour or two, and then come back to it and make edits with a clear mind.

Final Word

And there you have it, six useful writing strategies for students who are struggling to write their essays. Completing an essay is a complex and time-consuming task, but if you follow the tips and strategies laid out in this article, you will make the writing process a lot less painful. You can start implementing some of them in other areas of life, such as brainstorming or creating an outline, not just when it comes to writing. Good luck!