Speaking proper English is always useful. If one is in academia, if one aspires to politics, if one wants to convey linguistic agility, the ability to speak the Queen’s English is important. It promotes an image equal to that of being well-dressed or driving an expensive car. It suggests learning, status, money, and the affectations of the upper classes.
With the arrival of technology (namely the Internet and text messaging) people prefer to keep things short and sweet using acronyms such as “lol” (“laugh out loud”), using letters instead of words “u” (“you”) and emoticons such as 
. However, the very use of this new type of language is diminishing English as we know it. many writers no longer care about their good grammar, all they care about is getting their point across.
Search engines love content. Graphics may make your site look great, but a nice picture does not attract a search engine. Or a searcher for that matter. Good, relevant content does.
Choose a singular focus
Each paragraph should have a clear, singular focus to it. If there is an overriding error students make in writing essays, it is shifting topics within the same paragraph, rather than continuing to develop the same idea they began with. A paragraph is a discrete unit of thought that expands one specific idea, not three or four. If you find yourself shifting gears to start a new topic, begin a new paragraph instead.
Use an outline to plan
Can you imagine a construction manager working on a skyscraper without a set of blueprints? No way! Similarly, writers construct essays using sets of blueprints or outlines to guide them in the writing process. Of course writers don’t have to use outlines, but the effect is about the same as a construction worker who “freebuilds.”
After researching, analyzing, and brainstorming, you should have an worthwhile insight to write about. Now it’s time to convert that worthwhile insight into a polished thesis statement, which will then guide and shape the rest of the essay.
Find an original idea
As you research your topic, you will naturally be analyzing the arguments of different authors. In contrast to more popular reading, in the academic world, authors must supply copious amounts of evidence and nuanced reasoning in order persuade other scholars of their ideas. To enter the scholar’s “gladiator arena,” you will need to understand the principles of argument. Both analyzing an argument and coming up with your own will require careful thought.
A common misconception among students is that the library is full of old, out-of-date, musty books — probably none from this century — and therefore any books found there would be so out of step with the current discussion on the topic that the books, and any effort to retrieve them, would be utterly useless.
