How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 5. Write the First Draft of the Essay

This article is part of the series ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: The Six Steps to Academic Essay Writing’. One article in this series will be published on the Elite Editing blog each day this week. You can also access them through the Elite Editing website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au

Writing the first draft has never been so easy!

Now that you have completed your research in an organised way and have written a final draft of your essay plan, writing the first draft of your essay will be easier than it ever has been. All of the following decisions about your essay have already been made:

1. What your answer to the essay question is
2. What main points you will discuss in order to back up your argument
3. The order in which to discuss your main points
4. How long to spend discussing each main point
5. What information each paragraph will contain (i.e. what information you will use to discuss each of your main points)
6. What references you will use to back up your argument

Thus, there is no reason for you to feel lost or stare at your computer screen not knowing what to write. If you do get stuck for any reason, the best thing to do is to just keep writing. You can always improve something once you have written something down. If you have not written anything, not much can be done until you do.

When you write your first draft following your essay plan and including all the information you have organised in your research document, pay attention to the following things:

1. Make sure you choose the best examples from your research to use
2. Make sure you use topic sentences to link each new topic back to the question and ensure your essay flows well
3. Ensure that you write in a formal academic style
4. Ensure that you format your essay correctly, according to the guidelines for your particular course (for example, line spacing, font, page margins etc)
5. Make sure you include your in-text references as you are writing; do not leave these until the end. Since you will be using information from your research document that provides you with the in-text reference to use, this should not be a problem

Academic Writing: Some general guidelines

Have you ever been told that your writing style is not academic, or that it is too informal?

Have you ever felt unclear on how to write an academic essay?

Are you not sure what rules to follow, what you can do and what you should not do?

This article contains some general rules and guidelines for academic writing. You will develop your own writing style or ‘voice’ over time, and the more academic sources you read, the clearer it will become to you what academic writing is and how your essays should sound. However, it is important to learn certain academic conventions as soon as you can and this guide will help you to do that. If in doubt about any of these guidelines, always check with your tutor or lecturer as different disciplines and courses sometimes have different approaches or expectations.

Formality

Academic writing needs to be formal and impersonal. This means that your writing should be clear, concise and professional. It needs to follow certain rules (such as those outlined below) in order to ensure that it meets academic standards.

Supported by evidence

The most significant difference between academic and non-academic writing is that academic writing puts forward arguments and ideas that are supported by evidence, most often in the form of citing other research or studies. Learning how to reference correctly is an important part of ensuring that your arguments and ideas are always supported by evidence. You must remember that you cannot make a claim or assertion in an academic essay without supporting it.

The use of the first person

Although there are exceptions, (for example, if you are discussing a field trip that you personally took in order to conduct research, or interviews that you carried out), normally academic writing does not make use of the first person. This means you would not use ‘I’ in your essays. The first reason for this is that academic writing must be formal and impersonal.

Consider the difference between these two sentences:
1. ‘In this essay, I will discuss the reasons why Critical Thinking is important to the role of Registered Nurses, including its role in improving the accuracy of diagnoses.’
2. ‘Critical Thinking is important to the role of Registered Nurses as it improves the accuracy of diagnoses.’

Not only is the second sentence more formal because it does not make use of the personal ‘I’, but it is also more direct and thus sounds clearer, more concise, and more academic. Instead of stating that a point will be made, as in the first sentence, the second sentence simply makes the point directly.

The second reason why the use of the first person is discouraged is because it is often redundant (unnecessary). Consider the difference between these two sentences:

1. I believe that Critical Thinking is relevant to the role of Registered Nurses.
2. Critical Thinking is relevant to the role of Registered Nurses.

It is unnecessary to state ‘I believe’. The reader knows that the statement is what the author believes, because the author is writing it in their essay. Further, which sentence sounds more convincing? The second sentence sounds more convincing because it is direct and straight to the point.

Grammar, spelling and punctuation

Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation are very important in academic writing. In order to writing formally and to a high academic standard, your writing must be accurate. Writing an essay that contains correct grammar, spelling and punctuation can make a significant difference to your final grade. Accurate writing affects not only your marks for presentation. If your grammar and sentence structure is so unclear that your tutor or lecturer cannot understand the point you are trying to make, for example, you could lose marks overall. Handing in an essay that is well written, accurate and highly polished can improve your grades.

It is important to remember that you cannot rely on the spell- and grammar-check on Microsoft Word. There are many reasons for this, for example, the spell-check will not detect your mistake if you type ‘four’ instead of ‘for’. In addition, the grammar-check will often provide suggestions that are incorrect. This is because Microsoft Word is a computer programme and it cannot understand what you are trying to say. While it can be a useful tool, you must remember that it cannot substitute for checking your own work carefully.

There are a significant number of rules to follow when writing academic essays, assignments, theses or dissertations. In order to ensure that you have followed all those rules correctly, and in order to ensure that your writing is polished, clear and concise, and free of grammatical and other errors, it is recommended you hire a professional, academic editor. This is the final step of academic essay writing, and it will be discussed in the next article.

The next article in this series is ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 6. Professional Editing’.

This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing website at www.eliteediting.com.au/contact.php

For more information on our professional essay, assignment, thesis and dissertation editing service, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/essay-editing.php

To submit your essay assignment, thesis or dissertation for professional editing now, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/submit.php

How to Write Your First Draft

After researching and arranging your information and topic sentence in an organised way, it is time for you to present your ideas or arguments in an essay. The most difficult process for many students is writing the first draft. How do you put all ideas into your first draft comprehensively and relevantly? Many times, you may find yourself sitting and facing a blank screen for a long time, not knowing where to start, and end up with nothing. It would be helpful if you have answers for the following questions before you start writing your first draft:

1. What is your answer to the essay question?
2. What main points will you discuss in order to support your argument?
3. In what order will you discuss your main points?
4. How long will you spend discussing each main point?
5. What information will each paragraph contain (i.e. what information will you use to discuss each of your main points)?
6. What references will you use to support your argument?
(http://www.eliteediting.com.au/step5-write-first-draft-essay.php)

Write your first draft as quickly as possible and try to finish it in one go. Your first draft should include all your ideas and supporting facts or examples, following your organised outline from your research. Do not worry about adding adjectives, adverbs or producing words. Concentrate on your ideas/main points that have to be relevant to and support your topic sentence or thesis statement, and try to finish your draft in one sitting as quickly as possible. This is important for your first draft writing.

Keep the thesis statement or your topic sentence as a guideline of your whole essay. You have to know the main points that will be used to support your topic sentence. In addition, those main points have to support your topic sentence flowingly. Put examples or facts in your first draft to support your main points in each paragraph. If you have found that some sections of your essay need more facts or examples but you do not have them, mark or bracket that section to remind yourself that it needs more supporting facts and keep on writing your draft until you finish.

Ensure that your essay is written in an academic style and in the correct format according to the guidelines that you refer to. The academic writing style has to be formal and impersonal. Avoid using the personal ‘I’ in your essay because it will make your essay look unprofessional. Instead of using ‘I agree with...,’ you might use ‘This essay agrees with…’, which makes your essay looks formal and reliable. The readers know automatically that this essay is your idea as it is written by you.

Make sure that you write the essay in the correct format, consistent with the guidelines that you use for your essay, for example, line spacing, font and page margins. The in-text references or footnotes should be included while you are writing your first draft, as you have to refer to the sources of your supporting examples or facts from your research anyhow. Putting the necessary information and ideas comprehensively in your first draft will help you edit your second draft.

Written by:
Chloe Anuwong
Elite Editing
www.eliteediting.com.au