1. Write purposefully.  Whether or not you state your thesis, topic sentence, or other principal focus explicitly, you should always have it in mind. Every essay, and every part of every essay, needs a chosen direction. If at any moment you do not have a point you are urgently trying to communicate, question, or test, you've run off course: you need to re-position yourself and get clear about what you are trying to do.

2. Write for a reader.  Remember that your writing is demanding attention, and that you are responsible for someone's reading experience.  Consider the consequences of your choices, in terms not only of how they represent your thinking but also what reactions they may elicit from someone else.

3. Revise deliberately and fully.  It is up to you to select structure, diction, and methods appropriate to what you are trying to accomplish; but these are unlikely to come together in a first draft.  Indeed, good writers frequently discover their true purposes and their best devices in the process of writing.  So even as you write your first draft, be prepared to undertake a genuine re-vision, a re-seeing of the paper once you've drafted it.  When you are revising, make sure your essay structure is not, on the one hand, leading you to repeat points unnecessarily, or, on the other hand, leaving your reader uncertain of your purpose and direction. Make sure your word choices neither unhelpfully obscure your meaning nor undermine its intelligence; make clear when you are presenting your own impressions and decisions and when you are reporting things you consider demonstrably true.

4. Follow only rules that have been stated in the course or assignment, or that you have good reasons for believing appropriate.  Commonly understood principles can help make your writing effective, but they can also hinder you.  (For instance, deciding--as many students do--never to use "I" in a school paper means having to write deceptively or awkwardly on those occasions when you are indeed required to present your personal experiences or reactions.)  Whenever possible, ask about what restrictions and options are built into the specific writing situation.

5. Make strong transitions.  Present your written ideas in a logical, continuous order. Where necessary, indicate the relationship between different parts of your essay with transitional signals (e.g. "but," "then," "however," "nonetheless").  Guard against transitions that amount to nothing more than additions ("and," "also," "in addition"); these indicate that a paper is merely a list--a series of points rather than an essay or exposition.

6. Vary sentence and paragraph structure.  Varying paragraph lengths allows for emphasis and prevents monotony. Using a variety of sentence structures--simple, compound, and complex--allows for logical complexity by creating a range of relations among ideas while ensuring that ideas receive their proper relative emphasis.

7. Proofread carefully.  Whenever in the slightest doubt, consult a dictionary or spell checker.  Always read your work through for typographical and other minor errors.  Reading your own prose aloud will help you catch both errors and unidiomatic or awkward expressions.  Use a word processor and always check your final hard (printed) copy before you turn it in.