Tips to Writing a Compelling Short Essay
Thursday, December 17th, 2009The task of writing a short essay is just as demanding as any other form of writing assignment, be it a term paper, a sociology coursework or a master’s dissertation. Both forms of writing require an equal amount of research and planning. What makes writing a short essay a challenging task is the skill of terse and epigrammatic writing without compromising on the content and information.
As the name suggests, short essays are shorter in length, written specifically targeting a thesis statement or a point of view. A short essay does not determine your subject matter or genre of the essay but can be used efficiently in accordance with your essay topic.
You can communicate your ideas effectively in a short essay of 300 to 500 words if you know the right skills to share your experience and knowledge.
Tips to writing a compelling Short essay.
Begin with an Essay outline: It is very important to have an essay outline to begin with. An essay outline helps you stay focused while writing your essay assignment which later avoids unnecessary repetitions and irrelevant facts to surface in your essay.
Be specific while choosing a topic or writing about it: When writing a short essay we do not have the liberty to elaborate on a topic or present a wider perspective to it. It is thus essential to begin right by choosing a topic that is specific and narrow. When writing an analytical or a polemical essay, keep the essay topics direct by stating your stand on the topic, further providing evidence in the essay.
Condense ideas: We tend to restate ideas to reinforce our points. This should be avoided when writing a short essay. Also, you must keep only the relevant material at hand, providing details only when and where required.
Keep your sentences short: A good command over grammar and the skill of compact writing comes handy when writing a short essay. Use thesaurus to communicate the right word without wasting a lot of words to communicate to the reader. Make efficient use of punctuation to make your writing forceful.
Use Quotations and allusions: By quoting from a relevant source you can make your essay interesting, resourceful, and at the same time communicating your ideas in a concisely. Proper use of allusions and comparisons also saves a lot of consuming details and narration.
Maintain a proper essay structure: It is essential to begin with a proper planning and essay outline. An essay structure of a short essay is similar to a five paragraph essay, where the content is effectively divided into an introductory paragraph, the essay content in three paragraphs, ending in a concluding paragraph.
Follow the right editing techniques: Editing a short essay requires a few other techniques than is required in long essays. While in long essays you can have your point reinforced and restated, when and where the sub topic is addressed, in short essays you have to refrain from such a task. You must redraft your essay, restructuring the paragraphs and sentences to adjust to the length and the information.
