Judge Your Piece: 5 Essential Parts You Have to Think of First in Your Writing

Everyone knows that it is very important to check your writing before submission as well as proofread it. But is it enough to review the paper for grammar and punctuation errors? Actually, you have to make sure if it has everything that will make it catchy for the readers. So, read you paper one more time, following this checklist.

1. Urgency of the Topic

When it’s time to get down to your writing assignment, the very first thing that you have to evaluate is your topic. The title is a face of your piece, so you have to make it as pretty as possible. Don’t even hope that a dull topic could take the audience.

First of all, it has to be fresh and on point. You may take a vivid idea, but if it does not concern the particular group of people, you are likely to fail. The same thing will happen if you are talking strongly on the point for the audience, but the information you use to back up your arguments is outdated or improper. Making up the topic for your paper is no time to chill out. Create an inspiring title that will make your paper stand out from the others.

2. Causes and Effects

As the topic has to be effective, the whole body of the paper has to be logical and “influential” as well. Now, it’s time to check the relevance of the information, provided in the text. Look through the arguments, covered in your paper, and mull over if they are currently still on point. In this case, you have to understand that the originality is crucial here as it makes the total impression about the work, there is no need to tell that there are a lot of plagiarism detection software that can help avoid such an issue, as it is already well-known.

Provide your readers with some up-to-date data that haven’t been heard of yet. As you can see, having completed your juicy topic, there is no time to slow down, as your main part of the piece has to back up your great title.

3. Solutions

In every paper, we have to present a problem, and consequently, we have to give some solutions to this particular issue. So, the next item you have to check in your paper is the solutions that you include. Remember, the problem-solving has to be also fresh and trending. If a person has found your topic interesting, do not disappoint him/her; do not give them with the solutions that are currently well-known, find something really challenging, or even extraordinary.

4. Predictions

Let’s move on further! Anytime we face a problem in our lives, apart from the possible solution, we want to know the aftermath. The main aim of your paper is to provide the reader with a sufficient amount of information so that he/she do not have any questions when you finish your presentation. Do not let people leave your piece to find some extra material on your subject.

As practice shows, most papers fail just because they don’t have enough information due to the after-effects of the given solutions. Keep it in mind that it is quite better to cover less points than to cover a heap of them and lead none to the logical ending.

5. Call to Action

And here we come to the last point. The finishing touch is to call your audience to action. It can be an open discussion of the problem, or it can be a call to actual actions, such as doing something that will help them to completely solve the trouble.

If you see that the audience hasn’t made any outputs, it is a strong sign that the paper hasn’t really impressed them. In order to see if your audience will appreciate your thesis, you can gather some of your friends, who are the same age-grade, and present them your paper. Your mates are the best audience to test your piece in, as they will provide you with honest feedback for sure; so, you will know the approximate reaction of the university community.

Your reader has to be involved in the problem you are currently covering. Thus, it is a must to mention all these points to catch the reader.

The Lily: An Unexpected Journey

Buenos dias, mis amigos! ;)

Nice to meet you again. I really missed you, but now I am back and ready to share with you everything I have seen while being away! :)

Earlier, when I was to handle a paper for my client, I wrote an article on the interesting facts about Norway. This time I covered a new country, I had to write a paper concerning the progressive cities in Spain. The only thing I can say that it was so interesting to find out the information about such a fascinating country that it became my dream to visit Spain someday.

And guess what? When I was dealing with this project, I got a message from my Spanish childhood friend, Beth. She said that they moved with her family to a new house in Spain and she would like to invite me to visit them. It was really surprising and, of course, I said “yes”!

Beth’s daughter is my goddaughter, and it was double good news for me: I would see my godchild as well as visit Spain, as I have been dreaming. Then I realized, the luck was on my side! :)
Honestly, Spain wasn’t as I’d read, it was in many times better and more beautiful! Let me assure you that the information you know about this country may confuse you to draw a wrong conclusion :)

Spanish Is a Lovely Language

In Spain there are 410 million native speakers, so, Spanish is considered to be the second most spoken language all over the world. It is an official language in 21 countries. Indeed, it is quite difficult to hear what one is saying, as they do it very fast, but the language is so melodic that you want to hear it again and again.

The Art in Spain Is Everywhere

The most famous artists of the 20th century, like Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, were both Spanish. Salvador Dali’s the most expensive picture, Portrait de Paul Eluard, earned $22.4 million. His way of painting became an idol for many followed artists like José Roosevelt.

 

Women Rock in Spain

40% of all the businesses in Spain belong to women. They have proved that female is not a verdict. For instance, Cathriona Hallahan, the managing director of Microsoft, joined the Microsoft team just after school, in 1986, without any qualifications. Having been working for 28 years, she became the managing director in 2013.

Not As Lazy As We Consider Spanish People to Be

Spanish people are considered to be ones of the laziest people. Indeed, it is not totally correct. Spanish people usually have a working day that starts at 9 a.m. and finishes at 8 p.m. As in all other countries, they also have some time for lunch, as they call it “siesta”. Most people think that during this period they are just having fun in bars, but indeed, this time they use for business meetings as well.

The Nation with a Great Sense of Humor

They have a great number of festivals to celebrate and they do it in such a fantastic way that you want to visit them again and again. La Tomatina is one of the most famous holidays in Spain. This day, people meet in town square and start fighting with tomatoes. The whole action lasts for an hour, but after it, the festival keeps going and people find any places to wash themselves. I think it is really funny! :)

These are some facts that I have learned from this trip. Of course, it is not the whole list of them. So, my advice to you: travel as much as possible! It is great and you will never get bored with it! :)

Moreover, I want you to share your stories with me. Which countries have you recently visited? What has spurred you into such an action?

Waiting for your tellings ;)

10 Freelance Academic Writing Fears More Frightening than Stephen King

You know that there are numerous phobias with weird names for almost every fear that a person can have: balonephobia (fear of needles and pins), cometophobia (obvious) or bibliophobia (fear of books; a kind of sacrilege, isn’t it?).

I haven’t found anything related to academic writing specifically but the closest disorder to it is atychiphobia or academic phobia – the fear of failure in learning. Well, I can’t say that I’m obsessed with the idea that I must excel at everything I learn, but I have some fears that have appeared as a result of my occupation. Let’s look into them more closely.

1. I won’t make it until deadline.
2. I will accidentally plagiarize something.
3. My statement proofs are not convincing enough.
4. My writing skills haven’t improved.
5. The client won’t like the paper.
6. I have missed a mistake!
7. I am not qualified enough for that assignment.
8. My language has degraded.
9. I have missed an update in citation rules.
10. All my writing has disappeared from my laptop.

I am sure that some freelance academic writers understand me and my fears. It is natural to be nervous when you are about to complete a serious task because some details may not be taken into account. There is always a risk …

On the one hand, I understand that these fears make me more thorough and diligent. On the other hand, they sometimes stop me from using, for instance, innovative data because it seems almost unreal and I think that the client may not accept that.

Confidence play an important role in academic writing and it certainly needs to be developed but at the same time doubting your decisions can sometimes make your work better.  

5 Interesting Facts about Norway That I Found out During Writing for My Client

Well, you know that working as a freelance academic writers requires a lot of research. Thus, when I complete writing assignments for my clients, I get to know tons of new interesting data that I sometimes want to share with the world. That’s why I have decided to write from time to time posts on interesting facts which I find out during writing for my clients.

And today’s post is dedicated to Norway. I had to write a research essay about this beautiful country and as a result I got much pleasure doing it. Norway is one of the places of my particular interest due to its natural landscapes and winter resorts. Of course, my knowledge of it hasn’t been any deeper than of an average Internet user but I thought I knew enough. It turned out that I was wrong.

Global Peace Index says that Norway is the most peaceful country in the world. Well, when I came across this fact, it seemed to me logical because I have never heard about Norway being engaged in any internal or external conflicts, though I have never thought about this aspect.

London has been getting its Christmas tree from Oslo for the last 15 years. Given the natural constituent of this country, it comes as a no surprise that the capital of England is supplied by the best forests of Europe.

Drunk driving results in 30 days in prison and the loss of license for a year. These consequences may really stop people from driving under influence.

Norway has about 450 000 lakes. I’m sure that this impressive number of lakes makes the nature of the country even more beautiful.

Norway has made parental leave compulsory. There are some countries that have done the same thing but Norway was the first one.

In my view, Norway is an amazing country and when somebody asks me where I would live if I got to choose another place of residence, I always mention Norway.

Editing Techniques for Freelance Academic Writers

As you have seen from my previous post, I started to write a series of articles on after-writing text processing. I strongly believe that writing is only 50% of producing a great piece, the rest is on editing, content editing, copyediting and proofreading. You have to be really attentive with writing because it is much easier to notice someone else’s mistake than yours. So, I’ll try to grasp the details of every stage of this process and I’ll start from editing.

As I’ve mentioned before, editing is the 1^st step you have to take after writing your rough draft. During this stage you check the text for structure mismatches that can spoil the big picture. For instance, you have three paragraphs in your essay but the 1^st one is 300 words and the 2^nd one is two small sentences. Or you see that the sentences are very big and the reader will lose the thread after reading it all. And there can be even minor gaps like full points that should or shouldn’t be at the end of your subheading or something like that.  Of course, it looks inappropriate and that’s what editing is for. But I won’t tell you long lists of 25+ editing techniques that you can find all over the Internet, I’ll just mention three that work best for me:

1)      edit 5 hours after the text has been written;
(after you have just finished the piece, it will seem perfect to you because you’ve worked so hard on it and have had several genius ideas. I don’t want to upset you but it’s surely not perfect and you will see it after some time passes.)

2)      read out loud or use some text-to-speech software;
(while listening to your own words, you’ll perceive them from a different perspective and you may notice not only perfunctory issues but touch upon other text processing stages like content-editing or copyediting.)

3)      change the font of the text.
(if you switch from Times New Roman to Comic Sans, your brain will think that it’s not the same text anymore, that it’s someone else’s. That’s why the possibility that you’ll notice more issues is much higher.)

These are my favorite means of editing and they always work very well. They seem very simple but that shouldn’t worry you: as the 1^st stage in text processing, editing with these strategies will be effective enough for the after-writing text processing. So, my dear colleagues, use these techniques and polish your texts with pleasure!

Stay Away from These Words in Academic Writing

Academic writing is a separate sphere that has its rules and peculiarities. The style is very plain and clear, so, any vagueness must be avoided. There are words that should be dodged if you want to look professional enough for your clients. And that’s what I’m going to talk about.

There is no place in academic writing for words like:

-          I/My

There mustn’t be anything personal in a paper you are writing. Your main goal is not to express your opinion (unless the requirement clearly states it) but to prove some point with solid facts or numbers.

-          Thing

Frankly speaking, it’s my junk word that I sometimes use too much. I always try to keep it in check but when editing, I always delete one or two astray “things”. I even have a small note as you can see. Hope it’ll help.

-          Kind of

It’s one more junk word (fortunately not mine) that appears very often in not really appropriate places. You can replace it with more academic equivalents like “within the parameters of” or “in the category of”.

-          Of course

This word doesn’t show you from the best side. When you are to write a paper, you obviously need to research because you don’t know everything. But the use of this word presupposes that you’ve taken the topic and covered it in 30 min. You and I know that it’s not true. So, avoid it.

-          And so on

Your much better options are to enumerate everything till the end or to use “etc.” This is the word that characterizes informal language but not the academic style that is expected of you.

This list is not full. There are loads of restrictions in terms of academic style but I’m not going to mention them all. These words are highlighted because they are taken from my own experience and mistakes. Of course, I use them: that’s why I have this blog, to blow off the steam so to say. So, dear writers: watch your writing and run your blogs; they really help tame the urge to use junk words.

The Most Confusing Words for Me

Well, my 30 day challenge is finished and I’m back with my freelance academic writing tips. I want to say that my already rooted (don’t know how deeply yet) habit of writing every day is still with me and I’m not going to quit it.

Today’s post is written rather for my sake but I hope that it will help many of you because it’s a common problem for the English language. And it doesn’t matter whether you are a native or non-native speaker.

So, the most confusing words according Lily Wilson:

1.       Proceed vs Precede

I’ve started with the most problematic ones. No matter how many times I look them up in the dictionary, I’ll mix them when writing. So, “to proceed” means “to continue”; to go on while “to precede” is to come or happen before something. Pretty simple … for now, when I see these definitions on the screen.

2.       Discreet vs Discrete

I love English but such kind of words I sometimes want to call “the most awful” not “the most confusing”. “Discreet” stands for modest and “discrete” for “separate” or “clear-cut”. They just don’t stick to these definitions in my head no matter how I train them.

3.       Site vs Sight

Well, these ones are easier. I confuse them rarely but from time to time my hand can flinch and type not the right word. “Sight” implies “a view of something”;  “site” denotes “a place”. But, still, “sightseeing” often makes me give it a second thought because it associates with visiting places.

4.       Alternately vs Alternatively

Sometimes I mix up these words. It seldom happens but the fact that it does makes me feel insecure. “Alternately” means “in turns” while “alternatively” stand for “as another option”. Talking about other confusing words, I remember the difference due to the different pronunciation. But these two sound quite similar and I think that is the reason I have problems with them.

All in all, these are the most bugging words for me when I want to apply them in my writing. I always have some kind of consult-a-dictionary indicator which pops up in my mind every time I see these words.  So, dear friends, when you doubt something, it’s 100% better to check it up than to correct the mistake someone else has pointed at.

Stay cool!

Report #7: Academic Writing and Eddie Murphy

Well, this is my last report. When something good ends people tend to feel sad. But I don’t. I feel happy because to be this way I don’t need a challenge anymore. It showed how it is right to enjoy your job.

So, let’s explore how I spent my last 5 days of 30 day writing challenge!

Day #26: Write about an area in your life that you’d like to improve.

I wrote about self-development because I can never manage to combine everything at once and it irritates me much. That’s why I am trying to prioritize and so far it has been well.

Day #27: Conversely, write about something that’s kicking ass right now.

What can I write about  apart from academic writing?

Day #28: Post 5 things that make you laugh-out-loud.

These things are hilarious!

Day #29: What are the difficult things in academic writing that you want to overcome?

I want to overcome many barriers and difficulties. Despite the fact that academic writing is rocking now my life, it doesn’t mean that I mastered it. I need to learn so much more …

Day #30: Your highs and lows for the month.

The most interesting thing is that I couldn’t make up any lows J

Well, that’s it. 30 day writing challenge has ended but my lifetime writing challenge has only begun.

If you are interested how this 30 day writing challenge influenced my life, wait for the article for EssayLancers. They were very excited to publish an article on their blog about my feelings about such a great think. So, coming soon … 

Report #6: Lessons I’ve Learned the Hard Way and Academic Writing

Day #21: What three lessons do you want new freelance academic writers learn from you?

Well, there are many pitfalls in academic writing and it’s not such an easy occupation as it seems to be. So, three lessons I want newbies to learn from me are:

1.       Never think that you know enough about this or that topic.

2.       Always review the structure and peculiarities of the paper you are going to write.

3.       Don’t think you can’t write something; just start and the work will pour out of you.

Day #22: Put your music on shuffle and post the first 10 songs.

Love these tasks the most because my music is always with me!

1.       Disclosure – Magnets (feat. Lorde)

2.       Brika – Expectations (Artiq Remix)

3.       Lido – Lost feat. Muri (Stwo Remix)

4.       Cosmo's Midnight – Snare (feat. Wild Eyed Boy)

5.       Whilk and Misky – So Good To Me

6.       Calvin Harris – Blame (feat. John Newman)

7.       Ben Howard – I Forget Where We Were (Boehm Remix)

8.       James Morrison feat. Nelly Furtado – Broken Strings

9.       Gareth Emery – Concrete Angel feat. Christina Novelli

10.   Tapecut – drops ( The XX - Together remix )

Day #23: A letter to someone, anyone.

I wrote a letter to my old friend Nat Cleary. We’ve been friends for almost 10 years and I appreciate this friendship much. This is the kind of bonding that lasts a lifetime. We have an agreement. As we meet very rarely because of different circumstances, we send each other books that we have read and that we suppose to be worth reading. It’s very interesting because our tastes in books are not the same. Yet we always have what to talk about.

Day #24: Write about the lesson you’ve learned the hard way.

I think there are many lessons that I’ve learned the hard way but the most vivid in my memory is the one when I understood that I’m too naïve.  That’s what I wrote about . But after reading this it came to me that I haven’t stopped being naïve. Because I like being that way.

Day #25: Think of any academic word that you like and write something inspired by it.

“Significant”. I classify this word as academic as it can be used in various situations and render the exact meaning you need. But it also can be applied to my life because I have too many things that I care about and it inspires me to live.

That was my second to the last report and I hope you enjoyed it. Because I did.

Wait till my last one and you’ll find out what effects such kind of challenges have on writer’s consciousness.

Report #5: Facts about Myself and Academic Writing

I can’t believe that I’ve passed 20 days of my 30 day writing challenge. I officially announce that I’m proud of myself. I thought I would quit it after 10 days. But you know, regular reporting in front of public makes you more responsible. Besides, there wasn’t a day I wanted to stop. Are there life-time writing challenges?

Day #17: Post about your Zodiac sign, and whether or not it fits you.

I’ve posted but I really don’t know. I used to be suspicious about this Horoscope thing but the more I read, the more I find some similar description that fit my personality characteristics. So, I’m really lost here.

Day #18: Write 30 facts about yourself.

I appeared that most of the facts deal with films, books and music. My constant companions in life J

Day #19: List the most difficult things for you in academic writing.

Although I love my job, I can’ say that it is easy. Vice versa, it’s pretty complicated. But when I overcome some difficulties connected with my job, I become even happier than I am. So, it’s worth it.

Day #20: Take any referencing and change it according MLA, APA and Chicago style.

Ugh … Can’t say that it is the most pleasant stage of my challenge, but I need to do this. This is the weak spot I need to beat.

MLA

Sugarman, Joseph. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word. Las Vegas: DelStar, 1998. Print.

APA
Sugarman, J. (1998). Advertising secrets of the written word. Las Vegas: DelStar.

Chicago

Sugarman, Joseph. “Advertising Secrets of the Written Word”. Las Vegas: DelStar (1998).

Done. 10 more days and I'll tell you how 30 day writing challenge makes my life better.

Report #4: Harry Potter and Academic Writing

Here is me and my 4^th report about #30DayWritingChallenge. Can’t believe that I’m half way down the road. I feel good and that’s the most important thing.

Day #11: Something you always think “What if …” about.

I tried to imagine how the things would be going if I wasn’t a writer. I tried to imagine myself being a teacher and it wasn’t bad. Maybe I will even try it in real life J That’s where this challenge leads me to. Amazing, isn’t it?

Day #12: Write about the things you’ve acquired since you started freelance academic writing.

I just can’t stop talking about how freelance academic writing is great, don’t I? But what can I do if it’s really that wonderful? That’s right, I can do nothing. That’s why I just tell everybody about it.

Day #13: What are you excited about?

I wanted to compare my excitement from the childhood and the feeling I experience now. I guess I still feel excited about many things and I’m very happy about it.

Day #14: Post your favorite movies that you never get tired to watch.

There are so many things that I can consider my favorite that it’s very difficult to choose. Am I the only one with such a dilemma?

Day #15: Bullet-point your whole day.

Seems like a normal day when I have organized it on the paper. Have to do it more often J

Day #16: Something that you miss.

I wrote about my efforts not to miss anything. I think that I’m doing pretty well with it because the point is in self-programming. If you make yourself miss, you will miss. The same thing is with happiness.

That’s it. I feel very balanced with this writing challenge. It opens some new possibilities within me and I don’t see any obstacles to use them.

What about you? Do you want to try it?

Clear, Specific, Precise and Exact: This Is All about Academic Writing

Academic writing is mostly the language of facts. I say “mostly” because there are various types of papers that sometimes require more than some scientists’ viewpoints and their analyses. But the most vivid peculiarity of academic writing is clarity. Professors and scientists overall do not speak with metaphors and proverbs. They are prone to use specific words and phrases that do not have double meanings. This is the feature number one that you have to take into account when writing academic papers, so, let’s make sure you are specific enough:

1.       Do you use facts?

The points given in the paper must be proven by commonly known facts or solid arguments that belong to respected and renowned people. But your facts must be clearly stated without extra words that can distract the reader from the main point.

2.       Do you include figures?

Statistics has always been a very useful tool that raises the reliability of the whole paper. For instance, instead of saying “over half of the population” you write “630 thousand of people”. You see, the style is changing right in front of your eyes.

3.       Do you avoid filler words?

Words like “so”, “well”, “you know” are unacceptable because you are stating facts, not speaking with your friend. In general, all words that do not bear semantically important information are reduced from the academic text because they avert readers from grabbing the essential viewpoint.

So, next time you are going to deliver an academic paper, ask yourself these 3 questions. If your answer is yes to all of them, then you’ve done a great job. But if there are some doubts, better revise to be sure whether your writing clear, specific, precise and exact. Be a professional freelance academic writer!