Essay paragraph development is an essential part of writing a good essay—paragraphs show idea development and serve to prove a thesis when writing essays or when research paper writing. Clean, focused, unified, and generally great paragraphs are not only easier to read, but they also reflect more favorably on the writer. These term paper writing tips can assist writers who struggle to edit paragraphs and need essay writing help to cultivate cleaner and more compelling term paper writing.
Essay Writing Tips: Creating Focus During Essay Paragraph Development
Great paragraphs should have focus: a paragraph that jumps from one unrelated idea to another is very difficult to read. To generate focus, make sure that all sentences within a paragraph are interrelated, and that each sentence leads to the next. If moving on to another idea, simply create a new paragraph. Follow these tips for writing a good essay with unified ideas.
Each paragraph should be unified by a topic sentence. A topic sentence is the “mini-thesis” of the paragraph; in other words, the statement summarizes the main point of the paragraph, and all sentences within the paragraph should relate to it. It can also link the ideas of different paragraphs to further connect the essay. While a topic sentence generally begins a paragraph, it can also come toward the end, or it may be implied throughout rather than explicitly stated. However, to edit paragraphs with more ease, beginner writers should try to always have topic sentences at the beginning of paragraphs.
For research paper writing, have full essay paragraph development—short paragraphs (other than the introduction or conclusion) in an academic essay simply a lack of effort. To strengthen paragraphs, flesh out ideas with researched evidence and logical explanations. However, a long paragraph is not necessarily a good one, so do not combine paragraphs simply to make a longer one.
When Term Paper Writing, Edit Paragraphs and Sentences for Coherence
Coherent essays flow easily from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph. They do not have unintended shifts in topic, tense, or point of view, and they have smooth transitions. If sentences or paragraphs do have issues in terms of unity, fix them by properly tying the information together. The following techniques make sentences and paragraphs more unified and coherent.
Transitions are one of the most important ways to link together different parts of a paper, as they allow readers to more easily see how ideas connect. Some transitions link sentences together (such as transitional words within paragraphs like “for example” and “therefore”), and some link paragraphs together (as when different topic sentences contain similar ideas or keywords that link the two paragraphs together). These links more deeply connect the ideas within a paper, which makes the paper easier to read and more compelling.
The repetition of important words also ties paragraphs and sentences together. It alerts the reader to the fact that each sentence shares a topic—they were not haphazardly thrown together. However, repetition can become dull, so repetitions should include other versions of the word (such as “drivers” instead of “driving”), pronouns that relate to the keyword (such as “they” to refer to “drivers”), or synonyms (such as “chauffeurs” instead of “drivers,” if applicable). These repetitions of the main word or idea will help bring the paragraphs together, but they will not fix major coherence issues.
When term paper writing, edit for unintended shifts to keep paragraphs consistent. Both point of view (such as a first-person or second person) and verb tense (such as present tense or past tense) must stay the same throughout a sentence, paragraph, and the whole paper unless there is a reason for a shift. This is a common issue that people encounter when writing essays, so always edit for it when reading over academic papers.
Essay Writing Help: Create Great Paragraphs by Adjusting Their Length
For readers, an ideal paragraph is generally between one hundred and two hundred words, though scholarly writing often has longer paragraphs, and web writing has shorter ones. Introductions and conclusions are also generally shorter than the body paragraphs of a paper. Edit body paragraphs if they are too long, short, or difficult to read, assuming that such edits do not compromise the meaning or persuasiveness of the paragraph or essay as a whole.
Often paragraphs follow the progression of ideas within a paper: each paragraph explains one point or idea that supports the thesis. However, more complicated or important ideas can span several paragraphs in a larger paper. Even if a paper is organized on the principle of one paragraph per idea, very large paragraphs should be broken up into smaller paragraphs that each deal with a different aspect of the same idea. In other words, organizational flexibility is important when writing essays.
Combine paragraphs to organize an essay or to connect similar ideas; break up paragraphs to separate different ideas or to show a contrast. Both breaking up large paragraphs and combining small paragraphs can increase a paper’s clarity. If in doubt, edit paragraphs for readability: work on essay paragraph development until each is clear and easily readable.
All of this essay writing help is useful for writing a good essay and for research paper writing. While not all essay writing tips may be relevant to a particular essay, it is important to know what to look for when editing and writing essays. Remember that with term paper writing, great paragraphs are well connected and easy to read.