Academic writing skills are one of the main things that you will need in today’s world if you are a student , teacher or a businessperson. Cause essays , reports , presentations etc, are some of the things that need to be written in academic writing skills. When writing these papers or reports with academic skills it gives you a polished professional image.Academic written papers will have well elaborated, logically sequenced things which will have a strong backing to support it. Everything in that paper will make sense.Book reviews , literature reviews, grand proposals , memoranda etc, are all examples of different types of academic writing. Each of these has its own purpose.
What skills are required for academic writing?
At some point in your career you will be required to write an academic paper. It can be an essay , report or a presentation or even a thesis. So when doing that you may feel stressed because you may have not written a paper in a long time or you don’t know how to write an academic paper. So acquiring Academic writing skills can be a lifesaver when you get into these situations. There are certain sets of skills or areas you will need to improve when writing an academic paper.
Time management
It is one of the vital things that you will need when writing and paper, especially an academic paper. You will have to complete the paper before the deadline. Creating an academic paper involves many steps and you need to complete it before the deadline. So you won’t have to rush when it’s nearing the deadline. Make sure that you allocate sufficient time to each step to make your paper flawless. Time management is one of the important steps in academic writing.
Research
If you are writing about an informative topic or some product review , report or thesis , you may need to research about the topic first hand in order to get a better grasp of the situation and to understand the topic more clearly. So you may need to refer to many trustworthy resources and find out what you are working on. You can always start your research from a library or talk to your instructor. Always doing research firstly could help you in many ways. It could give you an interesting start you may expect and it could help you to write an exceptional academic paper.
Creating an argument
When writing an academic paper you will need to have a clear understanding of your thesis or also called an argument, which you are trying to convey. So when writing it is important that you think about the points that you will use to make a strong point and how you use it to convey your argument to your audience. Usually you can do this using the research which you have already done to back up the points you are creating. You could also create strong counter arguments with your researched points also.
Knowing your audience
Academic papers are usually read by professors , colleagues. So when writing a paper always consider that you are writing to a well-informed audience. So everything must be valid and must have valid backing to make it solid.So when writing consider the reader in your mind. When writing a paper for your class, make it more informative that they should be able to understand the topic more clearly from your paper alone.If you are writing a journal article which would be read by researchers include many high level terms which will make sense to them.
Formatting and structuring your paper
Formatting and structuring the information you gathered into an academic paper is an important step involved in academic writing. Most academic papers have a common format they follow. When writing, keep your paper well organized so you won’t have to deal with it in the later stage. Keeping an organized note while doing research can help you a lot when you are starting to write and completing a reference list. By doing everything well organized you can save a lot of time.
Writing clearly and consistently
Even if you have all of the steps correctly and wrote a paper, but you have not written it consistently and clearly it could make the paper a failure. So when writing a paper make it clear to the audience. Academic writing requires formal tone and proper grammar. Make it more direct and write in a consistent manner.
Using correct grammar, punctuation and spelling
Paying attention to your grammar and punctuations is one of the most important things when writing a paper. Even if you have a great argument, if you don’t correct your punctuation or have grammatical errors , it could make your paper unreadable to the audience. So when finishing writing each sentence check whether the grammar of that writing portion is true or not.
Three Laws of Academic Writing
If you want to improve your academic writing skills , focus on these three key areas.
Prepare
Think before you write. Read all of your notes and research stuff that you have done. Mark things which are quote or paraphrasing worthy. Ensure you have all the information needed to start writing. If you prepare so hard before you start writing, you can save time and make an awesome paper.
Proofread
Proofread the paper written by you with your friends and teachers and let them help you find the grammatical mistake in it. Use some good reference and correct it properly.
Format
Choose the format of your paper according to the requirement. If your school or employer requires use of the MLA, APA or Chicago style, be sure you use it.Each of these style guides clearly describe how to write out numbers, references, citations, and more.
How can I improve my academic writing?
Improving your academic writing skills is a process that requires time and experience. You need to write more papers in order to improve your writing skills. With each paper you write your skills will be better than the last time.
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