Here are a few tips to complete these essays like a pro.
Start Early
Essay writing is a time-consuming task. It may take days or weeks to complete one grade-worthy essay. Sure you can get it done in a day if the deadline is nearing, but you wouldn’t want to risk the decrease in grade this practice can lead you to, right?
So, start early. The best day to start writing an essay is the day when you receive it as an assignment. Even before that, schedule an hour or two to study your lectures and do the assignment every day. This way, when you start working on the said essay, you won’t feel that you have added an extra task to your daily routine.
Understand the Assignment
It’s an obvious step to take before starting on an assignment, right? You approach essay writing only when you have taken your time to understand its needs. Unfortunately, this obvious step is not so obvious for many students.
Students tend to go into action mode as soon as they see an assignment writers uploaded on their portal. Get the topic, think about what they have learned in the lectures, run to the library to get resources, and start noting the sources and writing the report. Many students follow this drill, forgetting about the most crucial part – understanding the assignment.
When you see an essay question, remind yourself that it always contains more than one keyword. Most students will take the topic word as the only keyword. However, you need the action word as well to understand the angle you need to take to write the essay. Both these keywords will combine to give you a clear idea of what your professor wants from you.
Also, study the rubric or marking guideline to understand which areas require the most input.
Jot Down the Important Argument
Your understanding of the assignment will lead you to formulate your argument. As you think of the whole answer, jot down every opinion that supports or counters your take. Also, note down all the resources you will use to make your point.
Keep the Outline Detailed
Once you have populated the fact list you will present in your essay, plan their structure. How will you present one fact to support the other? Which facts carry more weight and should be stated earlier than others? This structure will give you clarity on the appearance of your essay, allowing you to choose the right words and tone.
For a more productive essay writing process, develop as detailed an outline as possible. Doing this will prevent you from going back to your unstructured notes and taking ideas from there.
Set the Tone Early
Your professor wants to know the answer as early in the essay as possible. Introduction is the best place to present your case then use the body to outline reasons why you support this viewpoint. Don’t forget that law essays are written in the third person, so you need to phrase your opinion in the same way.
Write Haphazardly
Many professional essay writers will tell you that you should write the introduction first. They argue that writing the introduction first allows you to overcome the fear of initiating the writing process. However, doing so only adds to the pressure.
You see, introduction writing is the most difficult part of writing an essay, and if you intend to start your essay from this part, you may procrastinate for a longer time than you want. The solution is simple, start with the fact or argument you believe the most.
Better yet, propagate the outline in order of your ease of presenting the ideas. Don’t worry about flow and comprehension at this point. You can always think about it in the editing phase.
Leave Editing for the End
Speaking of editing, many writers have made their writing process inefficient because of their obsession with keeping the draft clean. They try to keep the paragraphs error-free, compromising on the analysis quality.
To improve the argument quality and enhance efficiency turn a blind eye to the minor mistakes you make as you go.
Choose Sources Mindfully
You need to ensure that your presented facts carry weight, and that can only be guaranteed if you choose them wisely. Choose your sources depending on their relevance to the work under question and make sure to cite them whenever you mention their findings.
Include Counter-Arguments
The depth of your understanding can be judged by two different factors. The first one focuses on the quality of your ideas based on previous work and literature. The second factor considers how much you know and understand the counter-argument. Your argument should be healthy enough to face the counter-argument you have presented.
Proofread and Edit Your Essay
Needless to say, editing enhances the quality of any literary or technical piece by multiple folds. You don’t want to present an essay that is riddled with flaws. Don’t consider one round of editing as enough. You will need at least three if not more rounds of editing to be sure of the legibility of your essay.
Moreover, if the essay carries high marks, you would want to hire a professional editing service to ensure it is of high quality.
Wrapping Up
Law essays require more care and background understanding than other essays in your studies. That’s because they have an added need for understanding your subject matter. At the same time, these essays make up an important portion of your grade in law school that you wouldn’t want to miss out on.
If you are worried about acing your law essays, you aren’t alone. However, don’t let this worry prevent you from giving your best effort. Here are a few tips to use while writing a professional lay school essay.
