essay writing contest

essay writing contest

The Importance of Essay Writing Skills

1. The Benefits of Participating in an Essay Writing Contest

An essay writing contest is of great good to those students or people who have creative instincts in them and feel their works are worth to be recognized. Essay writing is an art, which brings out your writing skill. It is an art, through which you pen down your knowledge and perception about the given topic. The levels of creativity which is followed in a essay cannot be written in any other as it demands a thought and energy and time. Students learn to organize their time wisely and write well structured essays. College students especially have trouble writing essays that meet all the requirements. When one has the pressure to write and finish essays quickly, support and help is needed from parents, teachers and peers. When a student has the chance to put down what they learnt in class and write about it out of class, they are more able to connect what they have learnt and be able to articulate that knowledge to the written word. Although they may improve on the essay writing contest, it does give them an opportunity to share and showcase their knowledge. Some essay contests will have certain guidelines or rules for a participant to follow. This allows students to respect the better and understate what the contest means. Rules and guidelines teach planning and skills of essay writing and the steps needed to write an essay. This is important because if a student just writes non-stop without any plan, it would not make for a good essay. Also, if students are taught the ‘right’ way to go about their essay and to focus on the guidelines and not themselves or their family and friends, they can learn to understand objectives which are necessary to submissions. If students learn to analyze the entry of essay contests for coverage of the guidelines and the use of correct grammar and spelling, then they will be better prepared for success in the real world. Professors always harp on one’s ability to write using good grammar and spelling and it is important that students use the practice given. Winning an essay contest is also rewarding on many different levels. For instance, contest winner can put on college applications that they have writing achievements and may be accepted to a college where the contest prize includes a scholarship. Furthermore, essay contests can help to enhance the person’s self-esteem and confidence. It is like showing someone a mirror of who they are and challenging them to be better then that person. Often the outcome of the mirror results in the desire to be better and this helps in a personal and well rounded growth in a person. The feedback that comes from winning and essay contest serves to assist in the personal growth in terms of a challenge conquered, and using the feedback of others as a learning tool.

2. How to Choose a Winning Essay Topic

As a passionate author, I understand the struggle of what it can be like trying to make a masterpiece. We stare at our displays, waiting to produce that ‘wow factor’ and most of us never attain the brilliant status of a Shakespeare. But fret not, dear authors! Writing a winning essay can be very easy– and it’s for you to decide. What assists you establish a penchant for essay writing and whether you can actually develop a unifying concept around the variety of things that you are good at. I think I might be able to provide you some problems and a number of options to begin to find a fantastic piece of work, a great topic, an intriguing viewpoint that will permit you to show what you are. You will find your writing will flow and be more natural once you have that basic arch. First, one of the most important things that successful authors constantly have to push towards is essentially just discovering a way to ‘get that essay started’. It is necessary to think about what will intrigue the reader most. A lot of writers like to have ideas, the first glimmers of concepts and like to mull over potential story traces. However, the truth is that more often than not, as soon as one begins to really think about putting down something that begins to resemble a potential essay, one gets stuck. Typically, the best ‘hook’ is a personal anecdote, a brief amusing story about yourself, a response to an event or crisis, et cetera. By writing about something you feel serious or passionate about and getting a personal connection with the start of the essay, you might find it easier to draw in the readers instantaneously.

3. Effective Strategies for Writing a Compelling Essay

The thesis statement of any essay is crucial to writing. A thesis statement is a one or two-sentence summary of the central analysis or argument of an essay. Usually, the thesis statement will appear at the end of the first paragraph of your paper. There are also two big do’s and don’ts in terms of the thesis statement. However, many students make the mistake of writing their thesis statement first and then trying to make their evidence fit into their arguments, but few writers do this successfully. Most teachers will write better in the middle of the paper, so do not write directly the thesis statement at the beginning. Another big don’t in writing a thesis statement is the phrase “I think”. There is no need to state the obvious that we dislike many of our nation’s college sports. Do not write in the first person.

4. The Art of Persuasive Writing

Persuasive writing is a type of writing skill that is a bit different from the other writing skills as it requires careful planning of everything right from the topic to the conclusion. It tries to convince the readers to adopt a view, concept or to take some action. It needs a deep knowledge, research, strong writing skill and the most important is the power of selecting the right topic. A good persuasive essay is drafted with a provoking introduction, well-built body with assuring arguments and concluded with an emphatic conclusion. When we indulge in essay writing competition, we should be well accustomed to the importance of persuasive essay which entails to discover proper arguments and raise productive questions for the discussions. Writing an essay helps in two ways, firstly it enhances our abilities and skills and secondly, it gives a chance for an existence of new ideas. It is one of the best ways to develop a creative thought. It gives a lot of help in boosting our personal reasoning. With the help of critical thought, existing belief can get challenged and new concepts can be illuminated, in the most persuasive way. In the process of writing, inductive and deductive reasoning helps in applying the personal thought into argument strategies so that to get a conclusion, which is a clear viewpoint. Finally, adopting a critical thought in practice can help in making a very productive and reliable decision. So, the persuasive power in essay writing comes up with the unique thoughts, ability of reasoning and the many ways to justify the given argument. We must remember that the essay task is not just to write an essay and to have a nice and clean sheet of paper, in fact, it is a transfer of those exceptional and unique thoughts into a persuasive argument; such power comes with the practice which polishes the skills from inside. This practice involves the right methods and better understanding of the essay task to strengthen the roots of the power of argument.

5. Tips for Polishing Your Essay and Maximizing Your Chances of Winning

First, be sure to stick to the word limit. Normally, you are not allowed to go over the specified word limit, such as 800 words for a writing contest. Going over the word limit gives the judges the impression that you have nothing important to say. Second, proactively review your essay’s order and focus. Check to see that your essay flows from one idea to the next and that it presents a focused, organized argument. Third, grab the reader’s attention in the opening sentence or by starting with a short, engaging statement such as a commonly recognized truth, thought-provoking question, or insightful and personal anecdote. Make sure you stick to the topic. Don’t begin with a sentence like, “Since the beginning of time, humans have had to go through a lot of changes?” Also, don’t just make your essay your opinion. This may be about getting your opinion out there, but it should be supported and factual. It is recommended to not use first person for writing the essay. In third-person writing, people and characters are referred to as “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they”; spoken words are represented by quotation marks. Every time thoughts are put into the essay, it should be a quote. This will liven up the writing. Use the assistance of your peers, teachers or parents to get multiple viewpoints and a more general bias. Use the opportunity to show a range of vocabulary and your ability to manipulate sentence structure. Quality is much more important than quantity when trying to maximize winning chances. Read carefully through your essay and make sure the sentences are concise and don’t waffle. Work towards forceful and compelling openings and closings. Vary sentence length, use punctuation intelligently and use powerful or emotive words sparingly and with precision. Work on creating an introduction that pulls the reader into your argument. Remember: Not everyone worries about word count as you do but the general rule is don’t waffle. Every sentence should provide a useful piece of information, doubling your word count by discussing general topics that everyone knows would not help whatsoever. Try and complete your argument within 800 words. This will impact your use of time as you are working on a strict deadline. Make sure to work on your introduction as you need to grab the reader’s attention instantly. Don’t overwrite it by including irrelevant information and remember when you’re through, the best should be what you have written last.