
Tips to avoid cheating and writing disjointed nonsense papers that earn failing grades instead of finding your voice writing something radically new.
Chances are you know someone that cheated on a paper or essay. Maybe you’ve done it yourself. That kind of cheating is called plagiarism and kids get zeroes when they get caught by teachers who use a essay writing website. In colleges, that can get you kicked out. You can rationalize copying and paste for the rest of the school year, but none of those excuses go away: I waited till the night before. I’m not good at writing. I had no idea I was plagiarizing.
Most teachers and administrators have heard all of that from a lot of other kids so don’t expect any sympathy. If it was your first offense, ask to redo the assignment. Before you even start to type, learn this one simple phrase: find your voice! What that means is, write the paper or essay from your perspective.
Give yourself credit for not being a mindless drone. Just start writing. After you’re done, begin to edit. That means proofreading the paper several times. Every time you start a new paper or essay, tell yourself “this is going to be the best thing I’ve written ever. This is going to be awesome.”
How Do You Find Your Voice?
When you write something longer than a comment on a friend’s Facebook wall, you are usually writing in your voice. That doesn’t mean your paper should be full of OMG and LOL’s. Teachers want something called “standard English” – the words you find in a dictionary or that you can check out on dictionary.com. Some computer systems have “spell-check.”
You start by reading. You can’t write a paper or essay without knowing something about the topic. Take “The Causes of the American Revolution.” We all learn about this stuff in grade school but we don’t write five-page typed papers with works cited page. So start reading. Get the facts and the background. As you read, make notes:
- Taxation without representation
- The king was being a total jerk
- Prices went up because of tariffs (what’s a tariff???)
- Colonists no longer identified with life in England
- English people were jealous of the colonists
You develop a list. Once it’s done, arrange it the way you want to write about the sub-topics in the paper. Maybe start with what you think is the most important cause.
Jot down the sources you read to get your list – books, online sources, magazines, etc. You’re going to use Wikipedia even though told not to, so check out their sources and external links. But do not list Wikipedia under Works Cited unless you want to see the teacher implode.
Start writing an introductory paragraph – in your own words, that is using your voice. Can you use a quote from the reading to support what you write? Sure. That’s called an internal citation. Some teachers call it footnotes. Just make sure you put quotation marks around ANY direct quotes to let the reader know “this isn’t me. This isn’t my voice.”
Teachers tell cheating students that they only cheat themselves. In a way they are right. When you cheat, you zip your thoughts closed and let someone else get your “A.” So why risk getting caught? Use your voice to tell the story. Everything you do can be a success story. This is not some hidden truth like “Zen and the art of writing papers.” This is about you as a person writing.
What about Sources?
If I write about Roman aqueducts I’m going to the library and check out a copy of the History of Rome. I’m going to look in the index under “aqueducts.” That same library might have a computer database that you can access from home. Search “Roman Aqueducts” and you get more articles than you ever want to read. Pick the most recent ones. And read them.
Take notes as you read. Write down direct quotes you like – ones you might use in the paper. If the author is Michael Grant, for example, do the quote this way: According to historian Michael Grant, “The Romans learned to build aqueducts from the Etruscans.” (Grant, 195) Then write about how that all happened – in your voice.
Rule of thumb: 1-2 sources per typed page (double-spaced). How do you source? You can use MLA for most classes, APA for education and psychology, and Chicago (footnotes) for history. There are online websites that show you how to use each different type. There is no plagiarism if you have cited quotes in quotation marks and the source it came from. Don’t cite everything! A lot of information is “common knowledge” and doesn’t need to be cited.
- The Boston Tea Party dumped English tea in the harbor in 1763. Common knowledge.
- George Washington lived at Mount Vernon. Common Knowledge.
- Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Common Knowledge.
- Food and warming clothing were scarce at Valley Forge. NOT Common Knowledge.
- Soldiers received a pint of rum every day as part of their rations. NOT Common Knowledge.
Read a short book that contains internal citations to see exactly how they are done to see this better.
Final Step before Deadline Day
Write the final copy. Proofread it again. Is 80% of that paper or essay your voice? Are all direct quotes set off? Did you give credit to another writer’s idea even if you didn’t use them in a direct quote? Example: Dr. DeHann was right when he concluded that Britain treated the colonies harshly after the Boston Tea Party. (DeHann 55) Then give examples. Always give examples. Examples support whatever you say. Examples are your chain of evidence.
No More Getting Caught or Failing Grades
The only acceptable excuse (and it’s not acceptable, just a fact of life) is that you ran out of time. Nobody honestly believes your computer crashed. So be the geek, start early with research, gather the facts, and just sit down and start writing. Find your voice. Claim credit for a paper that is “you.” Instructors prefer to read a mediocre paper written in your voice than a copy and paste job from online sites.
You can still fail if you leave out nouns and verbs and have a heyday with subordinate clauses. Teachers detest split infinitives and revile misspelled words. “Proper English” is learned by reading and writing – lots of it. Find out what the teacher wants: a review, a report, a persuasive essay, an academic treatise with top-notch sources, or a simple journal entry.
Use your own voice and create something superb. It’s all about the attitude you don’t have, so lock yourself away, find that voice, and write. Ask a friend to proofread before calling it a final draft then buy them a cheeseburger for their troubles. Make sure the friend gets “A’s” in writing.
About the author:
Nicholas H. Parker is an essay writer at buyessayclub. He used to manage the content team at the company he worked for. Currently, Nicholas writes articles to share his knowledge with others and obtain new skills. Besides, he is highly interested in the web design sphere.

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