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Top 20 Essay Writing Mistakes

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Essay writing is a fine art demanding a careful management of skills, in order to communicate ideas effectively and efficiently. There are numerous potential errors to avoid and mistakes to pass by in the process of successful essay construction.

  1. Failing to answer all or part of the question is the most common and fundamental mistake and error. This is unforgivable. It comes about as a result of students attempting to regurgitate copied or learnt responses, rather than learn how to deconstruct an essay question.
  2. The second most common mistake in essay writing is the composed answer which departs from the question and wanders off in a different direction. The result may be a narrative recount, rather than an evaluation, lacking evidence to support viewpoints expressed.
  3. Thirdly, essays suffer from employing the wrong level of language. Overly casual and informal expressions have no place in an essay, unless they are an extract from a text being studied, used to support a viewpoint.
  4. Fourth, the essay writer must avoid writing essays which have no paragraph divisions. The paragraph helps to give shape and structure to an essay and thereby encourage a logical flow of thought, moving clearly from one idea to the next.
  5. Fifth, an essay writer must avoid the use of paragraphs which have no central or easily recognisable main idea. With no central idea, there is no essay, as there is no thesis and therefore nothing to prove.
  6. Sixth, the essay writer must avoid composing paragraphs which do not distinguish between a thesis statement, explanation, illustration and summary statement. Ignoring proper paragraph construction results in a lack of clear argument and diminishes the informative and persuasive communication of ideas.
  7. Seventh, it is a major mistake to ignore the instructions or requirements about which essay text type is expected. A discursive essay demands a different arrangement of ideas, as well as different choices about language selection, to an evaluative essay.
  8. The eighth essay writing mistake is to misuse jargon or technical terminology. While jargon may demonstrate expertise in a given academic field or discipline when correctly understood, the misuse of technical terms will obscure meaning and will leave a reader frustrated rather than reaching for their dictionary. Accurately used jargon engenders precision, yet poorly used jargon breeds confusion.
  9. The ninth mistake is the mishandling of quotations in the body of an essay. Direct extracts must be purposefully used and their original context must be determined and conveyed as they are reused. Direct extracts used properly should enhance and empower the writer’s viewpoints. When quotations are placed at the start of paragraphs, they usually obscure the thesis statement, and block the use of explanation and illustration, ultimately disrupting the flow of the essay.
  10. The tenth mistake is the over reliance upon the use of the words of others. In this case, one’s own argument is hidden or over-shadowed by the words of others, taken from other sources.



  11. The eleventh mistake of essay writing is the failure to admit that you are using someone else’s words in your own essay. This prevents the right person receiving the credit and it prevents a reader of your work knowing how you arrived at the viewpoint you expressed in the essay. This error is essential to overcome, as it will be detected when repeated, causing the writer and error maker to lose grades, and even further enrolments or employment opportunities.
  12. The twelfth mistake is to be so opinionated within the essay that you lose the sympathetic ear of the reader, right from the start of the essay. While strong thesis statements are welcomed, the ability to support strong views is equally important, for the views to gain traction among readers.
  13. The thirteenth essay writing mistake is to fail to engage with the prescribed text and instead, write general statements about the topic and little or nothing in particular about a nominated text. This error can also be made by relying upon the use of rhetorical questions too much, such that few if any stated assertions are tabled.
  14. The fourteenth mistake of essay writing is to fail to annotate texts which the essay must address. Facing an un-annotated text makes the construction of an argument all the more challenging, without a sense of direction flowing from an earlier reading and engagement with the text.
  15. The fifteenth mistake of essay writing is to have disorganised notes, making the drafting of ideas very difficult, without a sense of thoughts had at time of a previous reading. This is made worse when the reader or researcher fails to have a central and systematic location and method of recording or preserving relevant notes.
  16. The sixteenth mistake in essay writing is cluttering the essay with verbose language. While its’ use may be designed to impress examiners, it fails if it fails to communicate.
  17. The seventeenth mistake is to fail to use a referencing and citation system as instructed or to use one inconsistently. This makes it very difficult to determine which parts of the essay are original thought and which sections are the words and thinking of other people.
  18. The eighteenth mistake is to fail to plan time management effectively, so that there is no time to edit the essay prior to its submission.
  19. The nineteenth mistake is another result of poor time management, where one is forced to complete an essay in one sitting, due to not foreseeing the need or benefit of forward planning and breaking up the essay into smaller segments.
  20. The twentieth mistake of essay writing is to ignore mandated word limits, either falling short or exceeding length, creating either an unfair advantage over other students, giving an instructor more words to read than they care for, or failing to develop the skill of conciseness.

Essay writing skills can develop dramatically when a writer is mindful to avoid each of these identified essay writing errors. A sense of balanced consideration and fair treatment of any topic or text is possible if each of these common essay writing errors is carefully avoided. In the process, the writer will grow in proficiency in the art of writing effective and persuasive essays.

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