One of the most frequent mistakes in student essay writing and academic essay writing, whether you are tackling a weekly essay or an undergraduate dissertation, is a habit of drifting away from the question. You can write an excellent, concise essay and still get low marks if it is not throughout consistently relevant to the question.

Often essay writers make a strong start when they essay write, but begin to wander away from the question, whilst others tend to direct their essay writing in completely the wrong direction altogether.

When analyzing essay examples, it is clear that a great number of writers ought to be receiving much higher results for their weekly essays and undergraduate dissertations, but are simply incurring penalties for the failure to show strong connections between their essay and the original question, not because their essay writing is deserving of low grades at all.

This article sets out a comprehensive list of techniques to ensure that your assignment writing is always on target, and end those lost marks for good!

Essay writing: planning

One efficient technique to make sure you will stick to the question throughout your assignment is to write a complete, exhaustive plan before you start and then make sure you stick to it.

Map out your four or five key ideas and underneath each jot down the arguments you will use to convey them. Then read through each section and really ask whether it answers the question directly. Get rid of any points that aren't relevant, and ensure you keep firmly to your plan when essay writing.

Essay writing: referring back to the question

This is a simple method that can really make a huge impact. Use a signpost sentence at the beginning of each new essay paragraph or idea, which clearly shows its relevance to the question and reminds the examiner of its relevance to the overall topic.

Don't be afraid to use the specific phrases from the question itself in your essay writing – as long as it's not too repetitive it will greatly enhance the sense of cohesion and relevance of your argument when the examiner comes to read it.

Essay writing: developing your argument

many writers start out with a very clear introductory discussion that is relevant to the question, but when they start to branch out into more detailed or tangential lines of debate they stop showing that they are still dealing with the main topic of the essay.

An effective way to achieve this focus is to make the links between the different areas of your essay argument clear using signpost words like 'firstly' and 'secondly' or 'conversely' and 'furthermore' in your essay writing. This sounds so simple but it really does help the examiner to link your different ideas together and see how they all fit into the overall argument instead of writing off one of your paragraphs as irrelevant to the question.

Essay writing: conclusions

The strongest essay examples always have one thing in common: a firm, uncomplicated conclusion to sum up your essay argument. You can use this essay paragraph to really show the examiner why each paragraph of your essay was relevant to the question.

In your essay conclusion, refer back to the topic, even quoting the question itself to make it unmistakably clear , and make passing reference each of your main essay paragraphs in concluding your argument. This essay writing method will ensure the reader is reminded at the end of your essay that every part of your assignment was contributing (and relevant) to your answer to the essay question.

Final essay writing top tip

Whilst you write, keep in mind the question. Just re-reading it as you write should really help you to keep on track and guarantee that your essay writing stays relevant to the precise issue you should be focusing on.