Five Most Common Essay Writing Mistakes and Misconceptions

You know the story well. It’s extremely difficult to write and format your college essay. You can spend hours or even days working on it, and you will still get a grade lower than you’ve expected. There’s always something you miss when writing, editing, or formatting your paper.

Of course, there’s always a way to avoid all that problematic essay writing stuff. College students can always seek professional help from a custom writing service and get their perfect essay without spending hours analyzing the subject and figuring out the best wording to put their idea on the paper. Just make sure that you’ve double-checked before submitting it.

But is writing so difficult, after all? Do you need an essay writing service, to begin with? Surely, you can trust the main writing misconception that good writer are born this way, but that’s not always the case. You may have a natural endowment, but lots of writers spend hours, days, weeks, months, and years mastering their style.

Your first writing assignment can turn out a disaster, but that doesn’t mean that all of your papers will be the same. After all, there are ways to avoid the writing process being boring. And if you learn from your mistakes, your second essay may come out as a chef d’œuvre and get the highest grade. And learning how to edit and format it is not that hard, especially nowadays.

But you won’t be able to craft a good essay if you continue following the misconceptions about writing. And there are a lot of myths surrounding the process of working on your essay. The most common are:

• Good writing is done quickly;
• You need to know what you want to say beforehand;
• It’s better to use complex language;
• It’s better to go through several drafts;
• Only essays with problems need feedback;

These misconceptions are based on myths, dated traditions, and half-truths. Good writing is not always done quickly and effortlessly. Sometimes, you have to make several drafts before you get everything right. The same goes for knowing what you want to say beforehand. By the second draft, you may realize that you are going in a different way with an idea better than the original one.

Speaking of drafts, you don’t have to make them if you don’t need to. Everything depends on your manner of writing and the complexity of the subject. Some topics demand thorough research, while others don’t. If you know what you want to say, and have a clear picture of your essay, just write it down. It may not require making several drafts.

Another popular misconception is that simple language is dumb. Yes, you may want to demonstrate your wordplay mastery, but sometimes it may come out as an attempt to hide that you have nothing to say on the subject. Sometimes simple words describe an idea better.

And while excessive wordiness guarantees feedback from your professor, problems are not the sole reason for the feedback. Perfect papers also require critique and discussion. Pointing out why this or that work is good is as important as pointing out problems.

Freeing yourself from misconceptions is great, but that doesn’t guarantee that you won’t make any mistakes when writing the essay. There are a lot of mistakes that even students that are not haunted by essay writing myths make. Let’s check out the most common ones.

Write Your Essay Alone

While it’s true in most cases, crafting your paper on your own may lead to negative results. Nobody says that you should find a co-author. And it doesn’t mean that you should order it from an essay service, but you can discuss your work in progress with fellow students and your professor as well.

Seeking advice on your paper doesn’t mean not writing it on your own. There are writing centers on the campus, and your professor will eagerly find time to discuss your paper with you. And missing a chance to use these opportunities will be absolutely wrong.

Disregarding Word Count

If you think that the word count doesn’t matter, then you are missing one of the main aspects of the writing assignments. There’s a specific reason why professors give you a certain word limit. It aims at developing your critical thinking and the ability to express your idea in a short form. Besides, getting significantly over the set word count can lead to losing marks.

Edit Paper on Your Own

It is great if you can edit your paper on your own, but it’s better when several people check it before you submit it. And you should show your essay to those who have an understanding of the topic, as well as a decent knowledge of grammar. You can also hire an editing service. Alternatively, you can go to your campus writing center and try out their editing services for free.

Dismissing Citation Format

The formatting styles like MLA or APA do not exist in vain. While you may think that failing to cite references is ain’t no big deal, it is. If you don’t cite references, basically, you are plagiarizing. And it may lead to consequences on the college or university level.

But aside from avoiding the threat of being sued by an author of the work you cite, there’s another reason for proper formatting. It makes it easier for the professor grading your work to check it properly. And, as a result, proper formatting leads to higher marks.

Using the Same Writing Style for All Disciplines

For a best-selling writer, changing their writing style can be considered selling out. It can also be career suicide for some. But the writing style is often rooted in knowing your audience. While it’s important to let your voice come through your essay, certain disciples require a specific style. Besides, being able to remain recognizable through various styles is a sign of good writing.

Final Thoughts

After debunking the above-mentioned misconceptions and learning the main essay writing mistakes, the process no longer seems that scary. Yes, working on an essay can be quite hard and time-consuming, but it’s not as scary and difficult as a lot of people think. Especially, if you use your head and all the resources that your college/university and internet have to offer.