15 Pro Tips to Enhance Your Essay Writing Skills

Learn to write scary horror stories with our easy 12-step guide. Get tips and free examples to help you create fear and suspense that will keep readers on the edge of their seats!

Stephan Spencer

Published on: 04-12-2024

Reviewed by: Jojo Moyes

Essay writing is crucial academically and professionally. Whether you’re a teacher, student, or writing enthusiast, you need to write well.

The NAEP shows that only about 27% of students from grades four through twelve are good at writing.

Writing can be tough. Whether you’re drafting business documents, emails, or persuasive articles, it takes time and practice to become skilled.

This essay will share 15 tips to help you improve your writing skills. Get ready to learn and boost your writing abilities!

15 pro tips for how stories enhance essay writing skills

Stories play a big part in how we communicate with readers. When used in essays, they can make your writing more interesting. Stories are quite helpful in explaining difficult ideas, make people feel emotions, and connect you with your readers.

By adding stories to your essays, you can make your arguments stronger, your explanations easier to understand, and improve your story writing. Here are the top 15 tips on how stories can make your essays better:

1. Pick an interesting topic to engage readers

An amazing or compelling topic is the foundation of a great essay. So, select your subject wisely, stick with something that genuinely hooks you. Your passion will naturally translate into your writing and become more engaging for readers.

Consider topics that have personal significance or current relevance. For instance, if you're writing about climate change, your titles can be:

The Impact of Climate Change: Understanding Our Role in a Warming World
Why Climate Change Matters: Write 5 Reasons

This personal touch immediately draws the reader’s attention and they are ready to learn from this strong argument.

2. Write with vast collection of vocabulary

Having a bank of words like vivid, descriptive words will enhance the credibility of your writing. When you add a variety of different words, it helps you make your story more attractive and compelling for the audience.

For example, if you're writing about a historical event, your word bank might include era-specific terms, sensory details, and emotionally charged words. This technique not only enriches your vocabulary but also helps maintain consistency in tone and style throughout your essay writing.

3. Use a clear and concise writing style

When you tell stories in your short essay writing, keep your writing simple and easy to understand. Try to avoid using complex and tricky words. It will confuse the readers and make it difficult for understanding.

For example:

Instead of saying "The canine was in a state of distress," you could write "The dog was upset." This makes your story easier to read and more enjoyable.

Elements of a story that will help in enhancing your essay writing skills in a short story are:

Short sentences
Common words
Active voice (e.g., "The boy threw the ball" instead of "The ball was thrown by the boy") sentences

4. Learn grammar rules

While stories can make your essay writing more engaging, they still need to follow the proper grammar and structure. If you have a complete understanding of the grammar rules, this knowledge makes your narrative more accurate for the readers.

For instance:

Knowing how to use proper sentence structures can help you create rhythm and flow in your storytelling.

4. Hook the reader from beginning

You engage or hook your reader from the start of your writing. The opening sentence is crucial because it is representative of the rest of the information.

Consider starting with a thought-provoking anecdote, a surprising statistic presented in a narrative format, or a brief scene that encapsulates the essence of your topic. Here are the key points at which you can hook your reader:

Start your story with a brief, engaging topic related to your essay.
Begin with an engaging fact or statistic to surprise the reader.
Pose a thought-provoking question to spark curiosity.

5. Don't over-explain your information

While stories can improve your essay writing, it's important to strike a balance. Use narratives to illustrate your points, but avoid getting lost in excessive details that don't contribute to your main argument. A good rule of thumb is to keep your stories concise and relevant.

For instance, if you're using a personal anecdote to support a point about teamwork, focus on the key elements that demonstrate collaboration rather than describing every minute detail of the event.

6. Join a workshop or classes

Learning from others can really help improve your storytelling in essays. Look for writing classes at your local community center or online. By doing this practice, you can enhance your stories. In these classes, you can:

Share your writing with others
Get feedback on your stories
Learn new techniques from the teacher and other students

Along with the classes, you can use an AI tool to make stories that will help you create the perfect story. A tool like an AI story generator generates a complete story simply by providing a prompt. It allows you to specify key details like genre, setting, time period, protagonist details, antagonist details, and more.

8. Understand the argument and critically analyze the evidence

Before you start adding stories to your short essay, make sure you really understand what you're writing about. Look closely at any facts or information you plan to use in your essay. Think about:

Is this information reliable?
Does it really support my point?
How can I explain this clearly in a story?

For instance, if you're writing about inspirational stories, you might find a study about the inspiring elements. You could then tell a brief story about a story that inspires and directly relates to others.

9. Choose the format of your essay before writing it

Decide how you want to structure your essay before you start writing. This will help you figure out where to put your stories. Common essay formats include:

Five-paragraph essay (introduction, three main points, conclusion)
Compare and contrast
Cause and effect
Narrative essay (telling one long story)

For example, if you're writing a compare and contrast essay about two books, you might start each section with a short story about your experience reading each book.

10. Read writers you admire

Find authors whose writing style you like and try to write like them. This doesn't mean copying their words, but rather learning from their techniques. If you want to improve your writing style, read fiction, nonfiction, biography or auto-biography stories. For instance:

If you like how J.K. Rowling describes magical scenes, try using vivid sensory details in your own stories.
If you admire George Orwell's clear, direct style, practice writing short, powerful sentences.

Remember, the goal is to develop your own voice while learning from skilled writers. Start by copying their style, learning from their techniques and writing styles and then gradually making it your own.

11. Write a strong conclusion

Your essay's conclusion is equally important as its beginning. A good conclusion or moral should remind the reader about your main points. This revision section allows your reader to understand the overall criteria of your writing.

The moral of your story must be strong and informative, as it will increase the readers' knowledge. Your conclusion connects your ideas and leaves a lasting impression in the minds of your audience. Try ending with a short story that sums up your main idea.

For example, if you're writing about friendship, you could end with a brief anecdote about two friends helping each other through a tough time.

12. Learn from your mistakes

Don't worry if your first draft isn't perfect. Making mistakes is part of learning to write better. Each experienced writer took many years to write perfectly and engagingly. Learn from your mistakes and avoid repeating them in the future.

Determine what caused your failure and where things went wrong. Practice can help you improve your essay writing; simply try to do better the next time and avoid repeating yourself.

For instance, if you realize you've used too many long words, you can rewrite your story using simpler language. Each mistake helps you improve your writing.

13. Dialogue should bring your story to life

When you include conversations in your stories, they should sound natural and help the reader understand the characters more. Good dialogue sounds like the way people actually talk.

The tone of your dialogue is extremely important in helping your audience understand what you are saying. Dialogue assists writers in moving the story forward.

Instead of writing: “John expressed his disagreement with the proposal," try: "No way," John said, shaking his head. "That'll never work."

14. Edit until you finalized properly

After you finish writing, take time to improve your work. Proofreading helps you make your writing error free and engaging. This means:

Read your essay several times to identify the errors that caused your failure.
Cutting out unnecessary words or sentences
Making sure each part of your story fits with your main point

For example, if you have a story about playing sports in an essay about teamwork but it doesn't really show teamwork, you might need to cut it out or change it, even if you like the story.

15. Get feedback from others

Asking other people to read your essay can help you make it better. You can ask a friend or family member to read it. Fresh eyes can identify the mistakes that you cannot. Feedback helps you come up with fresh ideas and add variety to your writing. Join a writing group and observe the things that enhance your writing style.

Feedback from a mentor or a senior writer can help you perform more effectively. When you receive feedback, listen carefully and be open to suggestions. For example, someone may point out that one of your stories is confusing, giving you the opportunity to clarify it.

Final thoughts

Writing better is a skill that can help you in many areas of life. Learning a new writing style is undoubtedly one of the most challenging tasks. This process takes a lot of time but with practice, you will definitely reach your goals.

Understanding the above tips will help you improve your short essay writing skills in an effective and efficient manner.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a story be in an essay?

Keep stories concise and relevant, ensuring they support your main points without overwhelming your essay. A few well-chosen sentences or a short paragraph can be enough to illustrate your point effectively.

How do stories improve clarity in essays?

Stories provide concrete examples that illustrate abstract concepts, making complex ideas easier to understand. By offering a narrative that readers can follow, stories help to clarify and reinforce your points.

Can stories make an essay more persuasive?

Yes, personal or relatable stories can make arguments more convincing. They humanize your essay, making your arguments more relatable and impactful, which can persuade readers to see things from your perspective.