Get Now 
A strong essay demonstrates your understanding of the topic, written communication, and writing skills. Writing a unique and compelling essay requires sharing your thoughts in a focused and original way, while keeping it interesting to read. But how do we write a unique and compelling essay?
In this article, we’ll share eight practical tips — simple practices — that can help you write essays that stand out. There are no shortcuts or tricks, though, if that’s what you’re after — most institutes strictly forbid AI writing tools. So, use these simple tips instead:
1. Understand the Question Before You Write
One of the most important things about your essay is whether or not, and how well you understand the essay prompt or question.
A lot of essays are weak because they lack a clear argument; they’re rushed, and written without really knowing what is being asked.
Not knowing the prompt clearly can also lead to shifts in the main argument.
You must avoid this confusion. Here’s how you can do it:
Read the prompt carefully.
Try to break it down.
Understand the prompt: Is it asking you to explain, argue, or reflect on?
Rephrase the question in your own words to help understand it.
Look for keywords like compare, analyze, discuss, or describe. These are words that tell you what exactly is being asked.
Once you understand the task, you’ll find the essay much easier to write and stay on track.
2. Look for a Unique Angle
A strong trait of good essays is a unique or fresh perspective. Instead of writing what everyone else might say, take a few minutes to think: What do I honestly think about this?
Is there a personal experience, unusual example, or lesser-known perspective I can bring in?
Your take on the topic doesn’t have to be generic or common, even with a common topic.
Instill a unique perspective into the topic. Like, maybe you noticed how social media changed your parents, not just your friends. These kinds of angles make essays feel real and original.
You can come up with unique angles by brainstorming as many directions or ideas as possible before writing.
It’ll help you avoid going with the first, most generic thing that comes to mind.
3. Create a Clear and Flexible Outline
An outline helps you map out your essay. Once you’ve got your main idea, avoid jumping straight into writing.
Start with an outline. Write down the headings, subheadings, and the ideas, while ensuring the main structure is divided into an introduction, body paragraph, and conclusion.
It helps you stay focused, hit all your key points, and avoid getting lost along the way.
You don’t need every sentence planned out, only the main ideas you’ll cover.
A good outline can save you time and effort, which may otherwise be wasted on writing things that later don’t add up.
4. Avoid Generic Language and Clichés
If you want your essays to not sound boring, you need to avoid generic language and clichés.
Things like “since the beginning of the time” or “in today’s era” sounds pretty generic.
These are things your readers are already well-aware of and have read them multiple times before.
What you should do instead is add examples that relate to your point. Keep things specific and to your point, like how you speak in real life.
Examine your essay and check if a sentence sounds like something you’ve read many times, and ask yourself: Can I rewrite it in a more direct or personal way?
This simple approach to essay writing helps you avoid sounding like an AI tool.
5. Write Simply
Simple writing is the key to getting your ideas across readers’ minds. It helps you express yourself better, be more clearer, and connect more deeply with readers.
In some cases, you never know who is going to read your writing. In this case, simple language helps make your work accessible to a wider audience, those with advanced vocabulary as well as those with basic.
Your ideas don’t need flowery language to sound powerful. In fact, that can give the opposite impression; fancy wording can make it feel like you’re trying too hard to make a point.
Why? Is it not strong enough without the overtly elaborate language?
Plus, the fewer words you use to express something, the more succinct and clear you sound. Fancy terms can distract readers.
You never know if it shifts their attention toward the fact of the writing being overly fancy.
So, keep the language simple. Use simpler words and simpler sentences. It will enhance your text’s flow and readability, making it engaging to read.
6. Focus on Flow and Transitions
Connecting your ideas is as important as having them. When you have great ideas, but aren’t able to connect them well, the essay can feel weak and disheveled.
Jumping from one paragraph to another without warning or connecting them can confuse readers and break their focus.
Instead, use transitions to smoothen out your essay’s flow.
Transitions like, “on the other hand,” “whereas,” and “as a result” create a natural flow from one sentence and idea to the other.
These can also bridge paragraphs.
Sometimes, using conjunctions like “and” in the beginning of sentences can also help.
Also, make sure each paragraph builds on the one before it. Your essay should feel like a conversation — not a list of disconnected thoughts.
When your ideas flow well, the reader stays engaged and follows your argument more easily.
7. Avoid Plagiarism
A unique essay can’t have plagiarism now, can it?
Plagiarism can be neglected by students sometimes. But it is crucial for impactful academic writing.
If you need to know, plagiarism means copying someone else’s work, and can equal theft of intellectual property.
This can include ideas, words, research etc. And if your essay has plagiarism in it, it cannot be considered unique.
In fact, plagiarism is seriously looked down upon in academia.
So, a plagiarized essay can not only ruin your impression — making it seem like you copied someone — but also get you into trouble, such as losing your grade or even suspension from the institute.
So, you must ensure your essay is free of plagiarism before submitting. Here’s how you can do it:
Use a plagiarism detector to check if your essay has plagiarism before and after removing plagiarism.
Cite the sources that you consult or refer to.
Use PlagiarismRemover.co for effective paraphrasing and removal of plagiarism.
Use direct quotes to indicate references.
Ensuring zero plagiarism is just as important as writing the essay. So, don’t neglect it.
8. Revise with Purpose
Finishing writing an essay means you’ve only finished your first draft. A first draft tends to have mistakes and potential improvements.
So, your job might be far from done yet. Your writing really shines when you rewrite.
Revise and proofread your essay with purpose.
Aside from finding typos, look for more subtle mistakes, like awkward phrases, long-winded sentences, and parts that just don’t sound right.
Look out for fluff and things that can be omitted.
Consider asking yourself if something makes sense or not. And if it’s the best way to say it. If something feels off, it probably is.
Aside from the grammar and language, consider checking for more substantial flaws, like whether you’ve answered the prompt clearly or not. Is the point clear?
Are your examples solid? Is the structure clean? Revision is your chance to cut what’s not needed, sharpen what is, and make sure your voice comes through.
Don’t worry about making the essay perfect, but about making it better.
Conclusion
You can write a compelling essay with these eight simple yet smart practices:
Take time to understand the prompt or question, brainstorm a fresh angle, build a simple outline to guide your thoughts, stay away from generic language, keep the language simple and easy, connect your ideas smoothly, and revise and proofread thoroughly.
With these steps, your essays will be unique and compelling.
