Magic formula for professional essay writing

A how-to video tutorial on effective writing, offered by NeWavEssays, offers viewers detailed information about how to improve essay writing in an interesting and entertaining form.

One of the videos is dedicated to the so-called magic formula for professional academic essay writing, which consists of several stages, which the academic essays must undergo.

The steps are:

• specific assignment
• thorough research
• know the topic
• organized ideas
• information flow
• revision
• and revision

Magic formula for professional writing

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Writer-based purposes for writing

Because writing is, or should be, for yourself first of all, everything you write involves at least some purpose that benefits you. Of course, expressing yourself is a fundamental purpose of all writing. Without the satisfaction of expressing your thoughts, feelings, reactions, knowledge, or questions, you might not make the effort to write in the first place.

A closely related purpose is learning: Writing helps you discover what you think or feel, simply by using language to identify and compose your thoughts. Writing not only helps you form ideas, but actually to promote observing and remembering. If you write down what you observe about people, places, or things, you can actually "see" them more dearly. Similarly, if you write down facts, ideas, experiences, or reactions to your readings, you will remember them longer. Writing and rewriting facts, dates, definitions, impressions, or personal experiences will improve your powers of recall on important occasions such as examinations and job interviews.

Journal exercises for writers

Choose three of the exercises below and write for ten minutes on each. Date and number each entry.

1. Make an "authority" list of activities, subjects, ideas, places, people, or events you already know something about. List as many topics as you can. If your reaction is, "I'm not really anauthority on anything," then imagine you've met someone from another school, state, country, or historical period. Relative to that audience, what are you an "authority" on?
2. Choose one activity, sport, or hobby that you do well and that others might admire you for. In the form of a letter to a friend, describe the steps or stages of the process through which you acquired that skill or ability.
3. In two or three sentences, answer the following question: "I have trouble writing because..."
4. In a few sentences, answer the following question: "In my previous classes and from my own writing experience, I've learned that the three most important rules about writing are..."
5. Describe your own writing rituals. When, where, and how do you write best?
6. Write an open journal entry. Describe events from your day, images, impressions, bits of conversation — anything that catches your interest. Read the following essay by Roy Hoffman for possible ideas for open journal entries.

Explaining "Why": cause and effect writing

"Why?" may be the question most commonly asked by human beings. We are fascinated by the reasons for everything we experience in life. We ask questions about natural phenomena: Why is the sky blue? Why does a teakettle whistle? Why do some materials act as superconductors? We also find human attitudes and behavior intriguing: Why is chocolate so popular? Why do some people hit small leather balls with big sticks and then run around a field stomping on little white pillows? Why are America's farms economically depressed? Why did the United States go to war in Vietnam?

Explaining why something occurs can be the most fascinating — and difficult — kind of expository writing. Answering the question "why" usually requires analyzing cause-and-effect relationships, but the causes maybe too complex or intangible to identify precisely. We are on comparatively secure ground when we ask why about physical phenomena than can be weighed, measured, and replicated under laboratory conditions. Under those conditions, we can determine cause and effect with precision. Fire, for example, has three necessary and sufficient causes: combustible material, oxygen, and ignition temperature. Without each of these causes, fire will not occur (each cause is "necessary"); these three causes are, taken together, enough to cause fire (all three are "sufficient"). The cause-and-effect relationship, in this case, can be illustrated by an equation:

• cause 1: combustible substance
• cause 2: oxygen
• cause 3: ignition temperature
• effect: fire

Analyzing both necessary and sufficient causes is essential to explaining an effect. You may say, for example, that wind shear (an abrupt downdraft in a storm) "caused" an airplane crash. In fact, wind shear may have helped cause the crash (been necessary), but by itself wind shear was not the total (sufficient) cause of the crash: An airplane with enough power may be able to overcome wind shear forces in certain circumstances. An explanation of the crash is not complete until you analyze the full range of necessary and sufficient causes, which may include wind shear, lack of power, mechanical failure, and even pilot error.

Sometimes, explanations for physical phenomena are beyond our analytical powers. Astrophysicists, for example, have good theoretical reasons for believing that black holes cause gigantic gravitational whirlpools in outer space, but they have difficulty explaining why black holes exist — or whether they exist at all.

In the realm of human cause and effect, determining causes and effects can be as tricky as explaining why black holes exist. Why do some children learn math easily, while others fail? What effect does failing at math have on a child? What are necessary and sufficient causes for divorce? What are the effects of divorce on parents and children? You may not be able to explain all the causes or effects of something, but you should not be satisfied until you have considered a wide range of possible causes and effects. Even then, you need to qualify or modify your statements, using such words as might," "Usually," "often," "seldom," "many," or "most," and then giving as much support and evidence as you can.

Writing about investigations

Investigating begins with questions. What causes the greenhouse effect? How does illiteracy affect a person's life? How does rape affect the lives of women in America? How is AIDS transmitted? How do TV rating systems work? How do colleges recruit applicants? What can you find out about a famous person's personality, background, and achievements? At what age do children first acquire simple mathematical abilities? What kind of employee is most likely to be promoted? Why are sunsets yellow, then orange, red, and finally purple?

Investigating also carries an assumption that probing for answers to such questions — by observing and remembering, reading sources, interviewing key people, or conducting surveys — will uncover truths not generally known or accepted. As you dig for information, you learn who, what, where, and when. You may even learn how and why.

The purpose of investigating is to uncover or discover facts, opinions, and reactions for yourself and then to report that information to other people who want to know. A report strives to be as objective and informative as possible. It may summarize other people's judgments, but it does not editorialize. It may represent opposing viewpoints or arguments, but it does not argue for one side or the other. A report is a window on the world, allowing readers to see the information for themselves.

Academic essays do's & dont's

The key to success lies in focusing in each academic essay on a few illustrative incidents as opposed to giving a superficial overview. Remember that detail, specificity, and concrete examples will make your academic essay distinctive and interesting. Generalities and platitudes that could apply to every other business school applicant will bore. If you use the latter, you will just blend into the crowd.

Following Ten Do's and Don'ts for your academic essay will help you write compelling, focused academic essays that will transform you from a collection of numbers and classes into an interesting human being.

The do's of academic essays

• Unite your essay and give it direction with a theme or thesis. The thesis is the main point you want to communicate. Make sure in answers the question.
• Before you begin writing, choose what you want to discuss and the order in which you want to discuss it.
• Use concrete examples from your life experience to support your thesis and distinguish yourself from other applicants.
• Write about what interests you, excites you. That's what the admissions staff wants to read.
• Start your essay with an attention-grabbing lead: an anecdote, quote, surprising statement, question, or engaging description of a scene.
• End your essay with a conclusion that refers back to the lead and restates your thesis.
• Revise your essay at least three times.
• In addition to your editing, ask someone else to critique your personal statement for you.
• Proofread your essays by reading them out loud or reading it into a tape recorder and playing back the tape.
• Write clearly, succinctly.

The don'ts of academic essays

• Don't include information that doesn't support your thesis.
• Don't start your academic essay with "I was born in...," or "My parents came from..."
• Don't write an autobiography, itinerary, or resume in prose.
• Don't try to be a clown (but gentle humor is OK).
• Don't be afraid to start over if the essay just isn't working or doesn't answer the essay question.
• Don't try to impress your reader with your vocabulary.
• Don't rely exclusively on your computer to check your spelling.
• Don't provide a collection of generic statements and platitudes.
• Don't give mealy-mouthed, weak excuses for your GPA or test scores.
• Don't make things up.

Problem solving writing exercises

The following exercises will help you practice problem solving writing. Read all of the following writing exercises and then write on the three that interest you most. If another idea occurs to you, write a free entry about it.

1. As a student assistant for a campus residence hall, you have just listened to the twenty-third student this week complain about noise in the hall. You decide to create a policy that will solve the problem, but before you can implement it, you must present your idea at a student resident-assistant meeting. Write out the proposal you will present to the other student assistants at that meeting.
2. Read Frank Trippett's analysis of the scofflaw problem. Write a letter to the city council recommending a solution to one of the problems Trippett identifies — a solution that the city council has the power to implement.
3. Eldridge Cleaver once said, "You're either part of the solution or part of the problem." Examine one of your activities or pastimes — sports, shopping, cruising, eating, drinking, or even studying. How does what you do possibly create a problem, from someone else's point of view? Explain.
4. After being away from your high school for a while, you can see more clearly its specific problems. Brainstorm or freewrite about the most important problems students faced in your high school. Write a letter to the school principal, explaining one specific problem that could and should be solved. Then propose your solution.
5. "Let the buyer beware" is a time-honored maxim for all consumers. Unless you are vigilant, you can easily be ripped off. Write a letter to the Better Business Bureau explaining some consumer problem or rip-off you've recently experienced and suggest a solution that will prevent others from being exploited.
6. Changing the rules of some sports might make them more enjoyable, less violent, or fairer: introducing the 30-second clock in NCAA basketball, using TV instant replays in professional and college football and basketball, imposing stiffer fines for brawls in hockey games, requiring boxers to wear padded helmets, giving equal pay and media coverage for