50-Point Essay Writing Checklist: How to Write an A+ Essay

Writing an essay requires you to consider numerous elements, from outlining to referencing. To boost this process, we offer a comprehensive essay writing checklist designed to guide you through each stage of essay composition. Our essay checklist encompasses all critical components of a good paper: structure, grammar, punctuation, essay style, and formatting. Going through the list will help you learn how to address essential aspects like thesis statement’s clarity, evidence integration, and adherence to formatting guidelines. Follow this essay writing checklist by Custom-Writing.org to enhance the quality of your work and avoid common pitfalls!

📄 Structure
🔤 Grammar
📝 Essay Style
⚠️ Punctuation
📰 Essay Format

1. 📄 Structure

Let’s explore the organization as the first section of our checklist for writing an essay. The logical structure is the first thing you should start editing. Ignore it, and everything is lost. Nail it, and it’ll be a perfect start for an ideal essay for you.

1	Does your essay have an introduction (about 10% of total word count), conclusion (about 10% of total word count), and several body paragraphs (the rest of word count)?	Yes No
2	Does your essay have a thesis statement at the end of the introduction paragraph? (a sentence or two briefly summarizing your main conclusions)	Yes No
3	Does your thesis statement rock? A. Does it express a distinct point of view? B. Does it pass the ‘so what’ question? C. Does it give a roadmap for the entire paper?	Yes No
4	Is the rest of the paper connected with the ideas expressed in the thesis statement?	Yes No
5	Does your introduction contain an attention hook (an interesting fact, a quote, stats, a story, or disturbing observations)?	Yes No
6	Do your main body paragraphs have a hamburger structure? An opening sentence that briefly summarizes the main point you’re going to present. Actual arguments with supporting evidence. A concluding sentence that repeats what the paragraph has said.	Yes No
7	Are there transition sentences between the different sections of your paper that make it flow?	Yes No
8	Is your conclusion free from any new information not covered in the previous sections?	Yes No
9	Does your conclusion offer any directions for further research or practical implications of what has been discussed?	Yes No
10	Is your essay easy to read? Are the sentences reasonably long? In case you need to introduce some urgent fixes, try using a free sentence rewriter that will immediately alter your writing.	Yes No

2. 🔤 Grammar

Grammar should not be disappointing for a reader. What’s more, it shouldn’t be an issue for your paper. This part of the essay writing checklist illustrates the top 10 points about grammar. They deserve your attention!

11	Subject-verb agreement Wrong: She and her friends goes to the zoo. Correct: She and her friends go to the zoo.	Yes No
12	Pronoun-antecedent agreement Wrong: Everyone has unwrapped their presents. Correct: Everyone has unwrapped his or her present.	Yes No
13	Tense shift Wrong: She said she will be a rock star. Correct: She said she would be a rock star.	Yes No
14	Faulty parallelism Wrong: She likes singing, dancing, and to chat with friends on Facebook. Correct: She likes singing, dancing, and chatting with friends on Facebook.	Yes No
15	Passive voice Wrong: The window was closed by my sister. Correct: My sister closed the window.	Yes No
16	‘There are’ sentences which can be usually improved. Wrong: There are 20 students in our class. Correct: Or class has 20 students.	Yes No
17	Vague pronoun reference Wrong: Jim offended his stepfather, but it did not stop him from asking for help. Correct: Jim offended his stepfather, but it did not stop the young man from asking for help.	Yes No
18	Misplaced or dangling modifiers Wrong: When writing an essay, requirements can be unclear. Correct: When writing an essay, a student can find requirements unclear.	Yes No
19	Apostrophes Wrong: The students’ studying rituals’ can be extraordinary. Correct: The students’ studying rituals’ can be extraordinary.	Yes No
20	Easily confused words: Affect/effect, accept/except, lead/led etc.	Yes No

3. 📝 Essay Style

Style is like your face as a writer. It can make all the difference between a Facebook post and an A+ paper for you. So, make sure you’ve polished it with our checklist for essay writing.

21	No slang or semi-official language (awesome, cool, kids)	Yes No
22	No contracted forms (isn’t, he’s, etc.)	Yes No
23	No phrasal verbs (get off, go on, sit down.)	Yes No
24	No vague and overused words, such as things, matter, stuff.	Yes No
25	No first-person pronouns (I, we, my, our) *Unless it is required in your task.	Yes No
26	Some sentences start with impersonal pronouns (It is argued that It is believed that…)	Yes No
27	Some sentences include modal verbs can, could, may, might, which soften your claims.	Yes No
28	All judgments are cautious and non-discriminative (no blacks and Indians, but African Americans and Native Americans.)	Yes No
29	Connecting words act like glue, connecting the different parts of your essay, and making the relations between them clear.	Yes No
30	No biased opinions. All claims are supported by arguments and research of trusted scholars.	Yes No

4. ⚠️ Punctuation

Punctuation matters as well—don’t avoid it while revising. Hold on; just a few final touches will bring you one big step closer to your super quality academic essay.

31	No sentence fragments Wrong: Although caffeine can have negative implications for a nervous system. Correct: Although caffeine can have negative implications for a nervous system, students drink a lot of coffee when studying for finals.	Yes No
32	Comas after introductory elements Wrong: When it comes to the choice of a movie people differ in their tastes. Correct: When it comes to the choice of a movie, people differ in their tastes.	Yes No
33	No superfluous comas Wrong: Dark chocolate can have a number of positive effects, such as, enhancing cognitive ability and keeping awake. Correct: Dark chocolate can have a number of positive effects, such as enhancing cognitive ability and keeping awake.	Yes No
34	No run-on sentences Wrong: He passed all exams and his friends invited him to the beach. Correct: He passed all exams, and his friends invited him to the beach.	Yes No
35	Commas with non-restrictive elements Wrong: My coat which I bought the day I met John was old fashioned, but I loved it. Correct: My coat, which I bought the day I met John, was old fashioned, but I loved it.	Yes No
36	No quotation marks for emphasis Wrong: There is no such thing as “free” lunch. Correct: There is no such thing as free lunch.	Yes No
37	Punctuation within quotation marks Wrong: “To be or not to be: that is the question”. Correct: “To be or not to be: that is the question.”	Yes No
38	Conjunctions, connecting smaller parts of complex and compound sentences. Wrong: We wanted to stay at home we found a great series on TV. Correct: We wanted to stay at home, and we found a great series on TV.	Yes No
39	No misplaced hyphens Wrong: Home-work free holidays are every student’s dream. Correct: Homework-free holidays are every student’s dream.	Yes No
40	No monotonous sentence structures Wrong: I cooked dinner. I watched TV. I went to bed early. Correct: I cooked dinner before I started watching TV, and it allowed me to go to be earlier.	Yes No

5. 📰 Essay Format

The format is the last but not the least step to an A+ paper for you. The essay checklist below will show you which features are to consider while editing.

41	Margins 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all sides	Yes No
42	Font Arial (or Times New Roman) 12	Yes No
43	Double spacing	Yes No
44	Title page (if it’s not MLA style)	Yes No
45	Reference list	Yes No
46	Properly formatted in-text quotations	Yes No
47	Every in-text quotation has a corresponding entry in the reference list.	Yes No
48	Every entry in the reference list has at least one in-text quotation.	Yes No
49	All critical information (stats, figures, scholars’ discoveries) has citations showing where it was found.	Yes No
50	Appendices (if any) start on a new page after the reference list.	Yes No

So, that was a quick but comprehensive self-editing essay writing checklist for you. We hope now you understand how to write an A+ essay. Please let us know if it helped you eliminate some errors from your papers.

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