Are you all set to write your essay, only to realise you have a lot of ideas jumbled in your head?

That’s exactly what happened to me when I was writing the university essay that left me wondering, ‘Where should I begin to sort my ideas?’ After spending 2 hours struggling with this issue, I decided to read some guides to find solutions.

In fact, many Malaysian students find it challenging to make sense of their essays. To overcome that issue, I figured out 5 techniques that can also help you organise your essay.

Let’s get started without beating around the bush!

1. I Deconstructed the Prompt

As you already know, your prompt or assignment brief contains all the instructions that help you shape your essays, assignments, and other academic coursework. Since the different action words specify the approach you are required to use and prepare your central argument, I spent an entire hour carefully debriefing each instruction.

I deconstructed my prompt by reading it multiple times, each time with a different goal.

• I read it for the first time and focused on the topic, the case study, or any specific case that was a must-add in my essay.
• For the second time, I only noticed the word count, allowed databases, any specified theories, and data-collection limitations.
• For the third and final time, I read while carefully noticing each detail. It helped me ensure I haven’t overlooked any instructions.

2. I Made Sure My Paragraphs Had a Clear Purpose

As I did, do you also want your essay to have a clear cause-and-effect flow of all your ideas and arguments?

When I prepared the first draft, I realised that I added too many ideas in each paragraph, which made my essay difficult to understand, even for me.

To fix that problem, I came across these steps that might help you:

• I focused on creating a rough outline for all my arguments, sources, and examples.
• To be sure that I was following the right approach, I asked myself, ‘Should this point come before or after another point?’ before including any new point.
• Moreover, I used the PEEL (Point, Evidence, Explanation, and Link) structure to ensure each paragraph in my essay had a clear purpose.
• With this approach, I was able to avoid writing paragraphs that had more than one idea.

3. I Made Sure My Claims Linked Back to the Main Thesis Argument

A major mistake that many students initially make is assuming a paragraph is useful only because it contains a good point.

That’s also what I assumed.

But when I shared my writing approach with my professor, he corrected me, saying that to strengthen my paragraphs, I had to ensure each one contributed to the central argument of my essay.

• After that, I made it a habit to figure out what each claim, idea, or example proved for my argument.
• Also, I used to write my thesis statement in the top-left corner of my document when I prepared my draft.
• I found it useful to write my thesis statement at the top of my document while drafting. After completing any paragraph, I used to compare it with the central argument and make changes whenever I felt the paragraph wasn’t aligned with it.

4. I Tried the Reverse-Outline Technique

Until I applied it to my essay, I never knew the reverse outline was that effective. Basically, this technique requires you to create an outline after you have prepared your draft, which will help you evaluate and fix the flow and logical structure of your academic papers.

• I re-read my essay and wrote its main purpose at the top of each paragraph.
• It helped me understand where I mistakenly covered a similar argument, which paragraphs did not make logical sense, and identify other major or minor errors that were disrupting the logical structure of my essay’s content.

Since I was going to use the reverse-outline method for the first time, I contacted an academic expert I knew to receive professional essay writing services. I am glad that I contacted him because I had made a blunder in one paragraph that he helped me fix.

5. I Edited and Proofread My Essay with a More Focused Approach

Do you also feel that editing and proofreading any academic work requires you to simply read it from the first page to the last to fix the errors? Let me tell you that this is not the right approach. Instead, you need to fix any piece of content that breaks the flow and makes it harder for your readers to understand.

Rather than reviewing and finalising my essay in one go, I checked my essay in 3 rounds to be sure that I left no errors.

• In the first round, I focused entirely on the structure and confirmed that I had clearly presented the topic and thesis in the introduction, my body paragraphs followed a sequence that made sense, and my conclusion summarised accurately.
• As for the second round, I checked and ensured that I had not missed any in-text citations, consistently followed APA style, and included each source in the referencing list.
• Since I had already eliminated major issues, I was only left with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other minor grammar issues.

Final Thoughts

To sum up, you should understand that organising your essay when your goal is to set it into a logical structure will require a focused approach and constant practice over some days.

As I did, you can begin by decoding your prompt to define your thesis argument, record your sources, create an outline, use the reverse-outline method, link your claims back to the central argument, and write a resonant conclusion.

I hope these strategies help you submit an essay that increases your chances of earning a better score.