Old Pueblo Academy

High school essay writing manual

The biggest thing that students struggle with in high school is probably essays. They are the most dreaded type of assignment, and a lot of students get very frustrated with them. Essays can take a lot of time as well, and that just isn’t something that most students have. In high school, it can be important to have a part time job or extracurricular activities, and that takes your time away from your studies. This creates an overwhelming situation where you can’t get your homework done on time and your stress will seep through into your job or football practice or other parts of your life.

Tips on Writing High School Essays

The first thing you should do is make an outline. I know, that sounds like even more work, but it will save you a lot of time in the long run. Having an outline to go by will help you to rush through your first draft just by filling in the holes from the foundation up, and then you can spend more time on editing and polishing your essay to perfection. Another thing that helps with essay writing in high school is to talk to your friends. Get a study group together and discuss your essays, ideas, struggles, etc. and you might be able to help each other figure out what you can’t on your own. This is a great way to collaborate as well as get help for individual (not group) assignments.

Libraries are great. Even if you don’t have much research that you need to do, it always helps to know more about a subject. If you’re writing about something that you really like then that makes it easy. Go read more, watch more, and find out more about what you’re writing about. If you’re stuck with an assigned topic you don’t like much, this is your chance to find something within the overall topic that you do enjoy. Focus on the positives and you’ll find you don’t hate writing this essay so much.

Lastly, get a second opinion. When you’re done writing, show it to someone you trust. Whether that’s a classmate or your mom, just have someone else read it so that they can check for errors. Often, it’s hard to find mistakes in your own writing because your brain knows what it’s supposed to say and can skip over things you think should be right.

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