Give yourself time to write your paper. Whether it is a college essay or a company memo, preparation plays a large part in the understanding and overall effect experienced by the reader. Brainstorm by creating an outline, free writing, listing or clustering to get ideas, thoughts and perspective on the topic. Review all information after brainstorming. Highlight common themes and points and group them together to form paragraphs and supporting points.
Make the tone of the paper support the message you wish to convey. For example, humor shouldn't be used when writing about abortion, nor should a groom exude a mournful attitude about his honeymoon. Instead, focus on the topic and write accordingly to specify feelings and a point of view to the audience in a way that makes them yearn to know more.
Use humor, flair and style to make your paper stand out. Turn the boredom of history into a correlation of events between then and now, and liven the doldrums of research by tying it into current events, personal perspective and new ideas. Bring your paper to life with strong description and vivid imagery by using personification, metaphors and adjectives to grab the reader's attention.
Write a thesis statement to convey the purpose and overall message of your paper. The thesis statement should be located in your introductory paragraph and present to the reader your opinion on the subject at hand. It should be relatively short, capturing their attention without losing it in excess information. Use supporting paragraphs to develop your thesis, introducing visual, emotional and factual information to support it. Restate your thesis in the conclusion paragraph, reminding the reader of the overall theme and highlighting important details that support it.
Check your grammar, punctuation and sentence structure. Commas can be used to introduce a pause, periods to force a break and exclamation points to add emphasis to a thought. However, mistakes are frequently made with them and apostrophes, quotation marks and colons are commonly misused. Let someone else read the paper, preferably an instructor or experienced writer, to learn its strengths and weaknesses. Have them mark places they found confusing, want to know more about or feel should be better written. If you have enough time, let them review the edited version to see if changes and improvements have strengthened it.