My students are constantly writing essays. The dual-credit classes are learning that as their writing becomes more sophisticated, some of the things they learned in elementary school do not apply. I’m not saying to stop teaching these things because they do provide students with a place to start, and for many of them, that is key. Here are some suggestions for those who take upper-level writing classes.

1. Your essays will become more research based. A lot of the writing done in elementary, middle, and even high schools is personal or literary in nature. College writing is often more analytical and persuasive, which requires more research. When you research, you have to cite your sources. If you fail to do so, you have plagiarized, and you will fail. It is important that you remember to cite your sources. Practice doing this so that it becomes second nature to you. There are two ways to look at this type of writing. First, everything is now a mini-research paper. Second, everything is an essay, and a research paper is just a long essay.

2. There is no such thing as a minimum or maximum number of paragraphs or sentences. When teaching students to write, we often tell them to do five paragraphs, which is a nice little formula. That gives them an introduction, three paragraphs to use for examples, and a conclusion. We also tell them that paragraphs are three to five sentences, again to give them a formula so they have enough information in the paragraph to cover their topic. At the college level, this no longer applies. A paragraph can be a single, short sentence. The final product may have fifty paragraphs. At this stage, the purpose and audience are primary concerns. Different purposes and different audiences will require different strategies. If the sentence serves a legitimate purpose, use it. If the paragraph (even if it is one short sentence) serves a legitimate purpose, use it. You are no longer writing as a child. It’s time to adapt to grownup writing. Look at the essays you are assigned to read for class (those that are models for you to use for your own writing, to demonstrate what good writing looks like), and you’ll see that paragraph length and the number of paragraphs isn’t really something you need to worry about. Address your thesis statement and the rest will take care of itself.

3. Your vocabulary needs to become more sophisticated. You don’t stop using contractions in essays because contractions are inherently bad. You stop using them because they are less formal than writing out the words. You don’t stop using the “to be” verbs because “to be” verbs are inherently bad. We have to have some “to be” verbs around. They’re very useful. You reduce the number of “to be” verbs because it demonstrates a more formal and sophisticated level of writing on your part. You become a stronger writer because you have to think more to find the precise wording that works when you have to eliminate some “to be” verbs. This will take some time and practice, but you will get better at it, and your writing will improve. Those essay scores will start going up.

Writing is a skill, and like all other skills, it must be practiced in order to improve. Keep these three things in mind when you’re tackling those formal essays, and your stress levels will decrease significantly.