Whether you are an aspiring author or a digital marketer, you must familiarize yourself with Essay writing and Long-form writing for both academic and professional purposes. Before we learn how to write essays and long-form write-ups, let us try to understand what they are.
As the name suggests, long-form writing is basically the act of writing long essays. It can range anywhere from 1,000 words to 5,000 words or even longer. Memoirs, research papers, theses, long-form content or articles and novels are the perfect examples of long-form writing.
On the other hand, an essay is a piece of writing that revolves around a particular topic which can be in both short and long-form. The author of the essay states his arguments, gives his opinion, and conveys his knowledge in a narrative or expository format. Usually, an essay deals with a particular problem, situation or issue in a formal piece of writing.
An in-depth essay can attract both audience and brands. Businesses look for investment-worthy content online to advertise, sponsor, or extend their partnership. In short, in-depth essays can help you grow your business or website while attracting new viewers every day. The word limit for every essay may differ as it is based on several factors like institution’s policy, publication format, etc. Now, it’s time to learn how to write them.
About Long-form Writing
Anybody can write long-form write-ups in the form of essay, novel, long article, journal article, thesis, research paper, white paper, etc. You must follow the individual format of each one of them. However, we will learn here how to write long-form articles without losing audiences’ interest. It can be a daunting experience for first-time or amateur writers to write even a 1,000 word write-up. But, with the right knowledge and tips, you can easily master the art of writing long-form content write-ups.
8 Steps For Effective Long-form Writing
1) Do intense research – start by doing research on the topic you wish to cover. For longer write-ups, you need more research material, so spend a substantial amount of time researching facts and relevant information.
2) Create an outline – it is extremely important to create an accurate outline that can work as a roadmap. Mention all the topics and sub-topics that you wish to cover and align them in a logical sequence.
3) Follow the correct structure – every writing style has a format and a structure and you must follow it. For instance, journals have an introduction, abstract, body, keywords, conclusion, reference, etc. Similarly, essays have an introduction, a body, and a concluding paragraph. Choose the best suitable structure before you begin writing.
4) Write a splendid write-up – now comes the most crucial part of writing. Sit down and start writing the first draft of your write-up. Follow the outline and structure properly. Use proper punctuation, grammar, and vocabulary. Support your argument with examples and statistics. Write a factual and thought-provoking piece.
5) Give real-life examples – one way to keep the readers engaged is to give real-life examples as they are human-interest stories. It makes the write-up well-researched, interesting, and believable. Give examples that support your argument or thesis statement.
6) Use relevant pictures – using good-quality images is imperative for a long-form write-up as lengthy text can be unattractive and less-readable to your readers. Add images that support the preceding paragraph and give life to your write-up.
7) Edit your copy – proofread and edit your write-ups before publication or submission. Make sure that your copy is error-free and properly formatted. Eliminate errors, if any. Look for repetitions and irregularity and fix it.
8) Add references or sources – most of the academic write-ups require writers to include a reference section or bibliography at the end of the write-up. Include the names and other details of the books, journals, websites, studies, or any other research material that have been used as a reference in the write-up.
Not that difficult, right? It is actually quite easy if you know what to do and how to do it. These 8 steps can turn you into a professional long-form writing expert. So, let us learn about essay writing now.
About Essay Writing
Students have been writing essays since primary schools, however, the difficulty level rises as a person excels to a higher class. In terms of online marketing or content marketing, essays can play a vital role in attracting more viewers that eventually improve your SERPs ranking and customer base. You can either write relevant and factual essays for your website or blog or write on another person’s website to build your profile. There are several ways to use great write-ups to engage new customers and retain the old customers. However, you must first know how to write a banging essay to attract readers. So, let us take a look at the right structure for essays.
<Title>
<Introduction>
<Body – At least 2 or 3 paragraphs>
<Conclusion>
Strictly follow this structure while writing an essay. There are several types of essays, some of them are mentioned below:
- Informative
- Persuasive
- Argumentative
- Descriptive
- Cause and effect
6 Steps To Write An Award-winning Essay
1) Choose a topic and title – understand the requirements of your business, assignment or project and explore the topics that you wish to cover. It is your choice so choose wisely. Once you are sure about the area or topic that you wish to cover, choose a suitable title for your essay.
2) Research – research is mandatory for all write-ups. Conduct research and collect as much information you can about the topic. Use scholarly articles, recent statistics, surveys and other resources to support your argument.
3) Outline – an outline can help you create a logical and sequenced essay. It guides the writer and reduces the chance of going off-track while writing. Create a rough outline and avoid doing silly mistakes later.
4) Summary – An essay summary is a one-line argument that summarizes the essay. This statement reflects the core message of your essay, so write it carefully.
5) Write it – writing an essay becomes an easy job if you follow the above steps. Just write down your thoughts, cite sources, add infographics & visuals, give examples, and clearly communicate your thoughts. Integrate research evidence and your personal opinion to create a balanced essay. First, write the introduction then the body and at last, the conclusion or summary.
6) Edit it – review, revise and edit your long-form essay and omit all the errors. Remove all the mistakes from the paper and format it properly. Make sure that you don’t publish or submit an essay without proofreading and editing.
These are 6 simple and easy steps to write an academic level essay. Just keep these points in mind and start writing. You can further enhance your writing skills with the help of the tips mentioned below.
Quick Tips
1) Use proper vocabulary and grammar in your essay. Double check your copy before publishing it. You can use tools like Grammarly, GrammarChecker, Reverso, etc. These tools can even detect those errors that may be difficult for human eyes to find.
2) Convey your point-of-view instead of writing general statements or common facts. Your essays and write-ups are read by professionals and industry experts who have years of knowledge so don’t give extra weight to general facts. They don’t wish to read it in your essay, instead, they want you to add your point-of-view precisely.
3) Read other essays on similar topics and compare your work with them. It is a great way to point out both weak and strong points of your write-up. Once you see the difference, you will know what to do and what not to do.
4) Use quotations in your essays to give it a strong theoretical back-up, however, don’t overuse it as it may be considered plagiarism. You can quote original texts from books or you can write certain quotations that support your argument. However, use quotations marks and mention the name of the person who wrote it.
5) Keep a check on the tone of voice used in your write-ups. Use active voice instead of passive voice. Use a formal tone but don’t be boring instead be confident in your tone of voice.
6) Don’t use clichés or common facts in your essay as it can reduce the quality of your write-up. For instance, everybody knows that the sun rises from the east so there is no point mentioning it.
7) Answer all these three main questions in your essay – what, why, and how. This means that you must convey what the topic is about, why it is important, and how you are contributing to it. Be specific and write your thoughts clearly.
8) Finally, have fun writing. You must enjoy the writing process as it will make your write-ups more creative and interesting.
Remember these points while writing and don’t forget to give a final touch-up. You can choose the length of your write-up according to your requirement and word-limit. If you have got specific guidelines, then don’t forget to follow them. Most of the essays have general guidelines but a few may need you to consider extra guidelines. Make sure you check them before you start writing.
To Sum It Up
Writing can be both, a daunting and an enlightening experience, it all depends on your knowledge and expertise. Learning is the only way to break all linguistic barriers. If you follow the guidelines properly, then your essay or write-up is bound to succeed. Otherwise, it may get rejected. Therefore, follow the steps mentioned above religiously while writing a long-form write-up or essay and master the art of effective writing.
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