One of the best skills a student can learn is how to write an excellent paper. Regardless of the topic they are writing about, it’s important to understand the general formula for writing a paper so that it can be done well and within a reasonable time frame. Mastering this skill up front will help avoid issues later on, especially as students start high school. Students who are struggling can seek the help of a private tutor who can help them increase their skills for the years ahead.
Start at the beginning (and the end)
A well-written paper will have an introduction and a conclusion. The information found within the introduction should also appear within the conclusion. Students who need to work on this particular aspect of writing, canpractice writing introductions and conclusions with their tutor without writing an entire paper. When a teacher is reading a paper, the intro and conclusion are the first and last things they think about before deciding on a grade.
Keep the highlights visible
The highlights, or essential information, within the paper should be clearly written out. Think about reading a long article while scanning for essential information, and needing to read through the entire thing and still not understanding what its trying to communicate. This is frustrating for the reader. It’s important to clearly organize essential information and avoid hiding it within long body paragraphs. This will make it easy for the reader to search for specific information.
Maintain focus
When writing the body of a paper, it’s important for the writer to maintain focus on the original topic they are assigned to write on. It can be easy to go off on a tangent or add extraneous information that isn’t really needed. Don’t add extra information to try and meet a word count. All information within the body of a paper should serve a purpose and relate back to the main focus of the paper itself.
Stay organized
If the teacher has given a specific layout for a given paper, make sure to follow that layout. If a specific layout was not asked for, maintain a standard layout generally used within the specific course of study. No matter what format is being used, organization is important for any paper and will help the writer stay on task and avoid writing a paper that’s too long or too short.
