In addition to possessing an in-depth knowledge of the subject and good literary skills, every essay writer should master additional tools which will not only make their job easier and more streamlined, but improve their essay writing skills, as well. By automating certain processes that are tied to writing itself with the help of the right tools and services, a writer can focus on the subject more closely, while increasing the quality of their essays. We have chosen 21 essay tools, tips and tricks which will take your essay writing skills into the stratosphere.

Writing.com

This free online resource allows you to easily share your essay work with other and receive honest, objective criticism. In turn, you are also allowed to comment on other people’s work. This way, everybody benefits, because the worst thing a writer can do is fall in love with their own work.

A Research Guide for Students

Thorough research is the starting point of every good essay, so if your research skills are limited, we suggest you check out A Research Guide for Students. This website has some great guides and tips on how to format your essays properly, implement different citation styles, avoid plagiarism, and use search engines to your advantage.

Writinghouse

If you are not sure on how to do proper referencing, or to apply a certain citation style, Writinghouse is a tool that does all of that for: automatically! The entire process consist of you providing the source, choosing the desired citation style and that’s it.

Daily Writing Tips

This tool is aimed at improving your writing skills in every single aspect, and that includes sentence structure, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, formatting and just about anything else you can think of. All you have to do is read their excellent guides and articles.

LibrarySpot

Finding the right data to support the claims you’ve made in your essays is sometimes next to impossible, but this website should change that. One of the best places for digging up reliable information resources.

University of Waterloo: Essay Structure Section

This resource provides you with a very detailed guide on how to structure, write and reference your essays. It is a bit general, but if you manage to apply it to your writing, you will wind up with an excellent essay.

Essay Writing Checklist

This website is sort of like your last pre-flight check. Follow the checklist to make sure the structure and the length of the essay are just right, as well as your grammar, spelling and use of certain words.

Essay Mama

If you want to learn from the best, Essay mama is your go-to essay writing destination. They are true professionals that can help you polish your essays and take your writing to the next level. Their blog section is an absolute gem, as well.

Vocaboly

Having a rich vocabulary is imperative for essay writing, and if you feel like you need to expand yours, Vocaboly’s innovative approach will assist you in doing so. Check it out.

Hemingway App

Ernest Hemingway’s style is famous for being short and direct, and this automated app will apply the same principle your writing. It will suggest where you need to split a large sentence in two, for instance, and generally push you to be more clear and concise with your writing.

StoryToolz

Sometimes the hardest part of writing an essay is finding the conflict around which you’re going to base your work. In addition to doing that through its Story Idea Generator, StoryToolz also helps you avoid certain writing clichés, and improves readability of your essays.

GrammarNOW!

If you are having a dilemma regarding the grammar, structure or composition inside your essay, this free online resource will provide you with a custom answer to your custom question, instead of the usual generic advice you’ll find on the web.

Essay Forum

Another place where you can get custom answers to any sort of essay writing question. But, remember that being a part of the community means you have to give something back as well. Help other members just as they’ve helped you.

SpellCheckPlus

If you feel like your text editor is not doing a thorough enough job at picking up all the spelling mistakes you’ve made in your work, this online tool is a helpful alternative which points out all of the spelling mistakes, and provides correct suggestions.

Read-able.com

Every good essay needs to read well. All you have to do is paste your work and you will get a readability rating for your website or your essay. Each aspect of the rating system is thoroughly explained.

Novelguide

Novelguide is one of the richest online resources for every essay writer, in terms of literature notes, as well as study guides. Another bonus is a very active forum where you can exchange opinions, get answers and find useful tips.

Parapal-Online

This website offers a multitude of different language exercise which are designed to improve your writing, reading and grammar skills, as well as spelling and vocabulary. Suitable for both non-native speakers and natives who want to brush up on their English.

Essay Punch

Essay Punch is useful for both beginners and seasoned essay writers, because it helps the former write an essay through a series of interactive steps, and the latter to improve their skills though interactive exercises.

TED

TED needs no introduction. Its inspirational speeches delivered by remarkable people are an excellent source inspiration, especially for essay writers.

Evernote

Ideas have been known to strike at the oddest times, so if you need a tool to write down a thought, or a sentence you want to insert into your essay, and access them from any platform, Evernote is worth looking into.

Dropbox

After you are done writing your essay, you need to backup all your work, and Dropbox is the easiest way you can do that. with just a few clicks.

Getting your essay writing skills up to certain level takes time, and these tools are there to make that time a lot shorter. Give them a try. You won’t regret it.

Author: Kenneth Waldman, a freelance writer and English tutor. You can get in touch with him on Linkedin.