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The art of essay writing has transformative power, but there are few people who can use it to its maximum extent. Unfortunately, the vast majority of college students have little idea of what high-quality essay writing looks like. As a result, they start with the worst writing experiences that can sometimes lead to irreparable harm, preventing learners from possible future success.
Therefore, reading bad writing examples, analyzing them, singling out mistakes, and dealing with similar aspects can help advance writing skills and make writing more efficient. Excessive descriptive language, unnecessary details, cliches, inappropriate dialogues, overuse of passive voice, and an array of other issues are the most vivid signs of bad essay writing.
Most Common Mistakes People Make Writing Academic Essays
Bad and ineffective writing is something most students are afraid of. They make maximum effort to eliminate the risk of making critical mistakes that will affect the quality of their papers. Have you ever asked, "Why am I so bad at writing?" Then, it is time to analyze the most critical and the most common pitfalls most writers get into as they start writing. Analyze your papers and compare them to the examples of bad academic writing so that you know the exact aspects you have to improve in your writing.
Inapproproate Dialogue
What is bad writing? There are dozens of bad writing signs, but inappropriate dialogue is one of the most common and vivid ones. Natural and real conversations with generic language are what writers are looking for. Nonetheless, in the vast majority of books and journals, characters talk unnaturally, which creates the feeling of a fake atmosphere. Unusual language is another example of bad writing. As you know, characters should speak like real people, which will reflect their background and personality. But sometimes, they use complex language, jargon, and other elements that create the weird feeling of poorly written paper example.
Ineffective Description
If you ever happen to compare good writing vs bad writing, you will notice one critical discrepancy in the way descriptions are made. It is obvious that description is an indispensable part of educational and other types of writing. However, the writers do not always manage to describe the scene correctly, as either they use too few details or they become too excessive. Striving to keep the writing effective, it is inevitable to incorporate descriptive writing that helps to understand the setting, main characters, and other aspects mentioned in the text without being overwhelmed with unnecessary details.
Confusing Point of View
The inability to present the specific stance is one of the mistakes that makes readers confused. A consistent and clear point of view is one aspect that can contribute to effective writing. Reading some papers, it is challenging to specify the writer's perspective, which breaks the consistency of storytelling and keeps the reader puzzled reading the piece.
Inconsistent Characterization
What makes writing bad? Another mistake a lot of students make is poor characterization. What does it mean? In the vast majority of cases, the inconsistency of the character's traits, actions, emotions, and reactions described in the paper do not align with what has been really established in the story. Talking about good writing, it is inevitable to mention the step-by-step evolving of the characters, their gradual growth and advancement, which helps readers understand the reasons for their actions and thoughts more clearly.
Misuse of Common Settings
Describing common settings, some writers pay too much attention to the unnecessary details that make no sense in this or that situation. Striving to keep the paper consistent, the writer should follow basic educational trends and keep emphasizing the most prominent aspects of the story.
Ineffective Language Use
Incorrect word usage, redundant phrases, and unusual sentence structures are the extra signs of bad writing. Honing language skills, analyzing top-quality papers created by more skilled and experienced writer, focusing on powerful writing tools, and sticking to language rules are the guidelines that will contribute to the quality of the essay writing and will make each paper stand out.
Low Quality Writing because of Redrafting
Browsing the web, writers will come across a multitude of effective writing tips that can potentially improve the quality of their papers. However, redrafting and rewriting can sometimes also lead to complete failure. Therefore, make sure you take your time to analyze numerous examples of bad essays so that you know what mistakes you need to avoid in your writing. Then, follow the writing tips and guidelines to make your final draft look exceptionally professional and comprehensible.
Punctuation Issues
If you take some time to read multiple examples of poor writing, you will notice that a considerable number of writers have problems with their punctuation and grammar. For some reason, most of them do not pay due attention to these aspects, as they are not considered to be influential. At the same time, trivial typos and the wrong use of punctuation marks can be a certain way to academic writing failure.
The Use of Cliches
It is complicated to deny that cliches can sometimes make the writing more interesting and appealing. However, in the vast majority of cases, it is nothing but a way to make a good paper look bad. Flawless balance is a must here, as it is the only way to avoid the overuse and misuse of cliches.
Examples of the Poor Writing Essays?
Detecting the examples of bad essay writing is not complicated. Why is it important to read and analyze poorly written papers? Just because you can learn from them and avoid making the same mistakes in your work and prevent poor writing skills from being your burden. Check out a few samples that will help you understand how trivial issues can affect the quality of the paper.
Monday was an incredible, uplifting day, excellent for our usual slow and cozy strolls around the magnificent autumn park. It was late glorious November outside, and the whole town was covered with yellow, red, brown, and crimson crispy leaves. The blue sky with fluffy white clouds in it looked impressive as if all the sad miseries of unhappy people living under it were none of its business but its own. I put on my violet warm sweater of large viscous, pushed an old ragged door of my tiny apartment, and went outside and went outside, oh, went outside.
Too many details, excessive descriptions, grammar and punctuation issues are the key mistakes that make this passage look ineffective.
Emotional detachment between us during manifested harmony in friendship was causing a cognitive dissonance within me: my mind was wandering in Kafkian labyrinths of doubt, guilt and sorrow, while my mouth almost subconsciously produced sparkling words that people usually associate with love.
In this passage, the writer appeals to certain notions most people are not aware of, which can make them puzzled and confused. Besides, there are also some punctuation issues that make the paper look overwhelming.
"Hi Lauren," announced Ann, spotting her in the street. "It's a bit since I've seenyou."
"Hi Ann," exclaimed Lauren with surprise. "You're correctly. I haven't seen you since Mark's party. How are you?"
"I'm great, thank you," smiled Lauren. "How about you?"
"I'm perfect, thanks," Ann laughed. "In fact, I was about to get a coffee. Do you want to join with me?"
Overly used names, poor dialogue tags, wrong words, confusing phrases, irrelevant details, and other aspects make this part of the text be considered ineffective and terrible writing.
Mason and Steve quickly walked down the block. Mason was wearing a grey coat and a black hat that he thought looked warm. It was a sunny day but he was feeling a bit cold.
This short part of the text seems to be quite good, but if you look closer, you will notice the confusing use of pronouns, some irrelevant information and multiple other details that make it look bad.
"Shall I get the teas, John?" enquired his friend.
"Thank you, Scottie. That's very sweet of you. But I insist on I purchase them," John insisted.
"Absolutely not," exclaimed Scottie, wanting to pay as John was visiting his town. "It's my time."
Once you have read poorly written paragraph examples and are aware of the most common mistakes people make in their papers, you can notice that the dialogue is filled with inappropriate pronouns, punctuation issues, and similar aspects that affect the quality of the text.
FAQ
What are the most common mistakes students make in their academic writing projects?
Academic writing is quite demanding. Therefore, it is indispensable to make maximum effort to keep it effective. Avoiding cliches, wrong wording, inappropriate dialogues, insufficient descriptions, meaningless sentences, and similar elements can help to keep the paper academic and high-quality.
How is it possible to avoid bad writing?
There are lots of guidelines and recommendations that can help students turn bad writing into good one. Pause for a while before you get back to paper editing, then focus on various aspects of the paper analysis. Scan the essay for grammar, punctuation, and similar mistakes before you get to more complicated aspects. Avoid cliches, too long sentences, wrong vocabulary use, and similar aspects that can make writing ineffective.
