5 Most Common Content Mistakes in Essays

Making mistakes is an inevitable part of any academic writing. Even professional writers tend to make content mistakes and overlook important points, let alone students. However, you should always work on your writing skill and aim to perfect this art.

When you are aware of typical mistakes that most students make, you’ll have them in the back of your mind which will help you to prevent repeating those mistakes. The following common content mistakes in essay writing will show you what you need to pay attention to if you want to write concise and impressive essays.

1. Sloppy Introduction

The introduction is the basis of the essay. It is the first segment which readers comes across with so it needs to pull them in.

One of the most common misconceptions some students have is that the introduction is not that important. They just put some awkward sentences together just to get it over with and then they continue with providing relevant information.

A good introduction needs to set the tone and give the background for the whole essay. Think thoroughly about how you want to introduce your topic to the reader.

One helpful tip is to write the introduction once you finish the essay. For some, this might not work but for others, it can do wonders.

2. Not Providing Relevant Information

Academic writing demands that you back up your claims with relevant facts, concrete details, and specific examples.

Writing down a few paragraphs that have to do with your topic will not compose a good essay.
Do your research and find some credible sources which you can use as validations of your claims.

Your main ideas should be elaborated with facts, details, and experts’ opinions.

3. Avoiding to Write an Outline

Hopefully, you are not one of those students who claim that writing an outline is a waste of time. An outline is essential for a well-organized and well-structured essay.

Why?
Well, by writing an outline you will be able to get a general idea of the content and what information you have collected. This will help to organize those findings and see whether your general essay idea is comprehensive.

Jumping straight to the writing process will make you go back and forth to add new statements and you may even forget what you wanted to say in the essay.

In case you are not sure how to write an outline, just find some online writing services such as Get Academic Help which can help you in no time.

4. Not Having Enough Ideas to Support the Thesis Statement

The thesis statement expresses the writer’s thoughts on the topic and tells the reader how the topic is going to be developed.

Before you decide on your thesis statement and start with the research and writing process think about whether you chose the right thesis statement.

If you don’t think carefully and ask yourself whether you have enough ideas to support your thesis, you may get to the point where you are in the middle of an essay and you have no clue how to finish it because there is no more information that you can include.

While you are planning your essay, do some brainstorming and even quick research to see if you have enough material to formulate a good essay.

5. Not Focusing on the Conclusion

The conclusion is your last chance to say something important. A great conclusion sums up the main point of your essay and what revelations did the essay provide.

You can make a huge mistake if you just want to finish the essay and write a messy conclusion. Also, don’t just copy and restate what you said in the introduction.

Emphasize the purpose and importance of what you wrote in your essay so that the reader has a generalization which restates your thesis.

Over to You

These points are some of the most common mistakes that students make. The reason why these mistakes are common is that students don’t think much about these elements of essay writing and take them for granted.

None of us are immune to making mistakes but having these tips in the back of your mind will be a great tool for improvement. Of course, avoiding these mistakes takes time and practice but ultimately, the most important thing is that you have the determination to improve your writing.