Three Steps to Better Writing
I.
Paragraphing
-- ONE idea per
paragraph
-- Idea must be one
you can develop
-- Idea must be
expressed in the topic sentence
-- Anything that does
not support or clarify the idea expressed in the topic sentence should be:
1. deleted
2. be considered as the
topic of another paragraph
3. be incorporated into
the existing topic sentence
-- last
sentence does not need to sum
up the paragraph
-- last
sentence should not introduce
the topic of the next paragraph
-- develop your topic
sentences by brainstorming on scratch paper the ideas you want to cover in your
essay
-- draw arrows
between the ideas that seem to relate well; this helps you organize your essay
before you even begin to write
-- transitions:
topic sentences are generally better for transitions than the final sentence of
the previous paragraph. Some words are good “transition” words: “Accordingly…”;
“Consequently…”; “On the other hand,”; “In addition to...”;
Nonetheless…”
II.
Active,
vivid, and precise verbs
-- Active voice is
nearly always better because it gives your writing punch and precision
“Who did
what to whom.”
Subject
of the sentence does the action:
“Drought brought famine.” NOT
“Famine was caused by
the drought.”
How to
spot passive voice?
Be on
the lookout for the verb “to be” + “by”
The verb “to be” à is/are was/were
“The finicky Professor is annoyed by students who write in the
passive voice.”
Instead:
“Students who write in the passive voice annoy the finicky professor.”
-- Avoid the weak
verb “to be” whenever you can.
Don’t say, “She was successful.” Say, “She succeeded.”
Lead with your point, don’t bury it at the end of
the sentence.
For example,
Don’t say, “Another
example of Wilson’s idealism was his determination to create a League of
Nations.”
Instead, say, “
-- Don’t “waste” your
main verb.
“Hitler was a man who ruled
In this case “Hitler
was a man” is the “guts” of your sentence – not an especially good use of your
main verb. (Most readers already know that Hitler was a man.) Instead, say:
“Hitler ruled
-- Give your writing
precision by choosing just the right verb
“conceded” vs “acknowledged” vs “admitted”
“said” vs “explained” vs “mumbled” vs “thundered”
Ask yourself: “What exactly is my subject doing?”
Picture the scene in your head, then use verbs
to create a mental picture in your reader’s mind.
Don’t dress up a weak verb with an adverb – find a better verb. Don’t
say, “said quietly;” say “whispered.”
Words to avoid: strong, big, large, interesting (all are not very precise)
III.
“No
Repeats”
-- Vary your word
choice. Don’t use the same words over and over.
Check on the printed page to make sure you’re not repeating the same words too
often.
-- When referring to
historical actors, use their full name the first time you mention them: “John
F. Kennedy”; thereafter refer to them by their last name: “Kennedy.” If you are repeating their name several times
in a paragraph, use other identifiers: “the president”; “the administration”; “
-- Eliminating
“repeats” of verbs will also enhance precision by forcing you to choose words
that say exactly you mean.
BONUS RULE: “K. I. S. S. ”
-- No
“inter-office memos.” Never say, “In this paper I will…” or “As I said
previously…”
-- Don’t annoy or distract the reader by
intruding your own voice into the story. This means avoiding the first person
“I.”
-- Don’t tell the reader what you’re going to
do, just get to it.
-- Prune excess or flowery words and
imprecise, confusing phrases
For example...
Don’t say, “utilize” à say “use”
Don’t say, “Because
of the fact that” à say “Since”
Don’t say, “The
mistrust that Stalin held…” à “Stalin’s mistrust”
“in
terms of” à ???? (avoid this phrase, it confuses more than it clarifies)
COMMON ERRORS
-- Make sure your
nouns and pronouns agree in number
“party,”
“government,” “
“The Communist party
had always valued abject loyalty. In fact, they insisted that
everyone wear red underwear.” “they”
should be changed to “it.”
“The Kennedy administration had little interest in the Cuban
government’s perspective since they assumed Castro had no legitimacy.” “they” should be changed to “it.”
-- Do not use
contractions in formal writing.
-- It’s vs its
RULE OF THUMB:
since you will never use contractions, you will never use “it’s” (which means
“it is”) So, “its” is always right. If you find an
“it’s” in your paper, change it to “it is.” If it
sounds weird, you’ve made an error and the correct form should be “its.”
-- For smoother prose, avoid sentences that don’t
reveal important information and keep your use of prepositional phrases to a
minimum.
AWKWARD:
Mark J. White is the
author of a book called Missiles in Cuba. In his book he argues that a crisis in which
the world was in danger was the result of the reckless diplomacy of both
superpowers.
BETTER:
Mark J. White’s Missiles in Cuba argues that both
superpowers’ reckless pre-crisis diplomacy precipitated a dangerous
international situation.
Check your prose to
be sure you’ve used the fewest sentences and fewest words to convey the
greatest amount of information. For example, there is no need to spend a
sentence telling your reader that Mark White is the author of a book when you
really want to tell the reader what the book argues.
-- Failure to attribute quotes. When the
voice of the paper changes from your voice to someone else’s, the new speaker
must be introduced. This is different
than citing the quote.
WRONG:
Kennedy modeled his
RIGHT:
Kennedy modeled his
NOTE that both quotes
are cited, but only one is attributed.
Usually you don’t have to identify a historian by name,
after all if your readers want to know which historian, they can always look at
the footnotes.
Sometimes the
attribution sounds smoother when you put it in the middle of a quote,
particularly if the quote has a natural pause:
“Throughout his years
in the White House,” one historian has observed, “Robert Kennedy remained
intensely loyal to his brother.”
-- Overuse of quotes.
Your paragraphs should not simply be strings of quotes. Only quote directly if
the quote is vivid, cleverly phrased, or effectively illustrates the point you
are trying to make. Otherwise, use your own words. You will be less likely to overquote if you attribute all your quotes. After a while,
it just gets awkward to have to say repeatedly, “As one historian has noted,”
or “According to one scholar.”
-- It’s better to
quote historical actors than historians. Quotes from historical actors
reinforce the immediacy of the moment; quotes from historians interrupt that
moment.
-- Sentence Structure
WRONG
“Looking for every source of revenue it could
find, tax increases seemed the only option for the administration.”
RIGHT
“Looking for every source of revenue it could
find, the administration concluded that tax increases were its only option.”
NOTE that the phrase
before the comma should modify the word immediately after the comma. In this case, the phrase modifies “the
administration” not “tax increases,” so “the administration” must follow the
comma.
-- Spell out numbers
up to 100 and round numbers thereafter
Exception:
percents: 93 percent.
-- Spell out numbers
over 100 (and percents) when they begin a sentence. Never begin a sentence with
a numeral.
-- Spell out
centuries: 19th century (wrong); nineteenth century (right)
-- Don’t use “WWI” or
“WWII.” Spell them out.
-- “while” vs
“though”
While means “at the
same time as” not “although”
WRONG
“While Kennedy never
trusted Khrushchev, he knew he had to work with him.”
RIGHT
“Though Kennedy never
trusted Khrushchev, he knew he had to work with him.”
“While Kennedy
negotiated with Khrushchev, Castro fumed in
-- “affect” vs “effect”
“affect”
is a verb; “effect” is usually a
noun.
WRONG
“The conflict effected the exchange of goods in the region.”
“The new drug had
many side affects.”
RIGHT
“The conflict
affected the exchange of goods in the region.”
“The new drug had many side effects.