An essay contest gives you a fun way to turn your creativity into great prizes. Everyone wants to give their essay an edged that gets it picked from among all of the other entries. No doubt writing is not an easy task to do. But by following these steps you can make your writing stand out and increase your chances of winning the contest.
Read the rules
Reading the rules thoroughly will help you understand what the essay should be about. Pay attention to the submission dates, word limit, or any other specific details you need to follow.
If you don’t follow or miss any of the details your essay will be disqualified, so make sure to read it carefully. You can even take a printout of the guidelines and refer to them while you are writing.
Brainstorm the essay ideas
Before jumping right into the essay it is a good idea to take some time and brainstorm different ideas. Write down those ideas and pick the one which you think would make the most interesting essay. Always remember to stick to the theme of the essay when you are writing.
For Example, if the contest asks you to write about the most inspiring freedom fighter, make a list of the freedom fighters you think are the most inspiring and choose the one on whom you can write a good essay and give some examples.
Write a draft
The first draft does not need to be perfect, but it should incorporate all the points you want to make. It is totally fine if you have more than one draft for your essay. It will help you organize your writing and let you see where your ideas fit and where you need to restructure them.
Revise the essay
Once you have finished writing your essay, read it again and delete all the unnecessary parts and add anything you think will make it better. Make sure your essay has clarity and is interesting for the readers. You can ask your friends to read the essay to see if it’s interesting or not. Keep the essay aside and revise it after a day or two, it will give a fresh perspective.
Proofread the essay
Edit the essay for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. One way to identify the mistakes is to read it out loud as it will make the process of identifying the mistakes much easier or you can ask your friend or family member to read the essay and spot the mistakes if any.
Attention-grabbing introduction
The jury members will have a lot of essays to go through. Make the first few sentences of the essay i.e., the introduction super interesting to make a strong impression.
Be original
Try to have at least one original element in your essay. Read the essay again and again and find places where you can make even the simplest sentence an interesting one. Think of such an idea that won’t be present in another person’s essay. Invest as much time as you need to come up with a striking idea, as the uniqueness of the idea on the issue is about 75% of your success.
Neat and readable essay
Make sure that it is neatly typed, double spaced, and has correct margins on all sides. A decorated and readable essay will surely give you an advantage over the others. You can also include bulleted points, and highlight the main points with italic or bold.
Consistency
There is always a world limit in an essay contest and to need to express yourself fully within that limit. You must ensure to disclose the matter as completely as possible and leave no questions behind.
Reads the guidelines again
You have already read the rules in the starting. Now that your final draft is ready and you have time to think over it again, read the rules one more time to make sure you haven’t overlooked anything. Go through the requirement of your essay while keeping the essay in front of you to make sure you have hit them all.
The final step is to submit your essay for the contest.
Writing is not an easy task. You need to make sure that you have read all the guidelines carefully, come up with an interesting topic, and craft a detailed and descriptive essay. I hope these tips will help you to write an excellent essay for your essay contest. Try to make your essay original and error-free to increase your chances of winning the contest. Remember practice makes you perfect so never give up.
By: Ishita Sharma
Write and Win: Participate in Creative writing Contest & International Essay Contest and win fabulous prizes.
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