Writing Tips from the Write Direction

First thoughts: What Makes College Writing Different?

"Some students make very smooth transitions from writing in high school to writing in college . . . But other students are puzzled and frustrated by their experiences in writing for college classes. Only months earlier your writing was winning praise; now your instructors are dissatisfied, saying that the writing isn't quite 'there' yet, saying that the writing is 'lacking something.' . . . But it is not just a matter of higher standards: Often, what your instructors are asking of you is not just something better, but something different."

Find out all the ways in which college writing is "something different" by reading the provocative essay "Writing in College," by Joseph M. Williams and Lawrence McEnerney.

Looking at the Big Picture: Preparing to Write a Paper

Most university writing centers include helpful advice about how to go about preparing to write a paper for a class assignment. One of the best short guides (only one page long!) that we have found is "Tips for Writing Essays," from the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Writing Center.

Here are a few other suggestions that we've culled from other sites and from our own experience:

Take all the time that is necessary to make sure you understand the assignment. (If you aren’t absolutely certain what is being asked for, ask.)
If the assignment requires that you choose your own topic, make sure you decide on a manageable and focused topic.
Take a quick look at what others have said. Before you begin writing--and even before you have finalized your own position--take some time to look through what others have written about the topic.
Brainstorm. Entertain all sorts of different points of view. Don’t start writing until you’ve given yourself enough time to consider a variety of different view points.
Formulate a provisional, but specific, thesis statement. Remember, you can always revise it as you work, but having a focused statement will help you select from the material you’ve encountered in your research.
Attempt to create a preliminary outline of the the flow of your argument. Ask how each point either supports or detracts from the argument you want to make.
At the same time, try working out your ideas in support of the position you’ve reached. See if they can be grouped into general categories (pros and cons, explanations, arguments, definitions, examples, similar stories).
Experiment with different arrangement of the various points you have decided to utilize. What is the sequence that best explains your position?
At various stages in the process, try your ideas out on a friend. You’ll often find that they have questions or suggestions that will help you deal with other aspects of the topic.

Some Practical Advice for Improving Your Writing

"You can improve your writing--anyone can--but it will require work and time. Even a small effort toward improvement can have positive results. It’s up to you . . ."

That’s the first of a dozen suggestions in the University of Illinois Writing Techniques Handbook (maintained by Steve Lamos). Here are some others.

Care about your writing. Take it seriously. Good writing is important.
Read. Anything. Daily. The more familiar you are with a language, the more comfortable you are with it. Distinguishing between proper and improper word choice, grammar, and so on will become easier.
Practice writing. Write letters. Write in a journal. Write whenever you can. Write about anything. You'll become more comfortable with the act of writing.
Make friends with a dictionary and a thesaurus. If you encounter an unfamiliar word, LOOK IT UP! If you use the same word repeatedly, FIND A NEW ONE! Take control of your language; don't let it control you.
Read your writing out loud. Your ears can tell you a lot about your writing. For example, are you out of breath or confused at the end of a sentence that you've just read aloud? Does every sentence sound the same?

Getting the Assignment Right

"The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. . ."

After reading the assignment (you should do so immediately, asking any questions you have), "ask yourself a few basic questions as you read, and jot down the answers on the assignment.

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?
Who is your audience?
What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?
What kind of writing style is acceptable?
What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. . . ."

If this brief excerpt whets your appetite, you’ll find much more that is useful in the complete essay from the UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center, 18 Oct 2000]

Understanding Your Audience

Although it may intially sound somewhat odd, even when writing you have an "audience"--those who will be reading your work.

"You should consider your audience when choosing:

Subject: will it interest your audience?
Tone - is it suitable?
Diction - formal? informal? casual?
Sentence Structure -- how intricate?
Degree of argumentation - is your audience friendly, hostile, or indifferent?

Find our more about your audience by reading the complete essay from the University of Illinois, Writing Techniques Handbook.

Finding a Good Topic

For some assignments, the topic will be determined for you. For others, you will need to define your own, and in these cases it is helpful to follow some simple guidelines in finding a topic that will help you think and write well.

"A common problem of beginning writers is wallowing around in a topic too wide for their purposes. General words such as 'media,' 'war,' 'life,' or 'nature' are often incorrectly used as if they were topics (even 'dragons' is too broad). However, students often begin to write essays with nothing more in mind than a general concept, and the result is a vague and generalized essay, of little interest to the student and less to the instructor. If you start with a broad area, concentrate on narrowing your subject, it will also help you deal with your topic within the length of the paper assigned and the time you have been given to complete it."

For helpful advice (and some interesting examples!) on how to narrow down your topic , read the entire selection from the University of Victoria Writer's Guide.

Finding out What Others Have Said . . .

Before you begin trying to formulate a thesis statement, you might want to browse through what others have written on the general topic. Often, taking the time to do a little browsing will help you define your own ideas and provide you with a good groundwork for writing a solid thesis statement. In addition, during your browsing you will often run across potential source works that may help you when you get down to writing your paper.

For many assignments, your professor will provide you with a list of supplemental texts. This sort of list is, in all likelihood, the best place to start browsing.

But it is sometimes fun, useful - and good training, as well - to research an issue yourself using the internet:

Start at one of the many sites at which you can research an issue, or look for texts matching certain criteria, for free. For places to start, see the list below under "A Virtual Reference Library."
Try doing a search on key words in your general topic using one of the major search engines. Although you'll certainly find lots of useless information, you may stumble upon something really interesting.

Constructing Thesis Statements

"A thesis statement tells a reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. Such a statement is also called an 'argument,' a 'main idea,' or a 'controlling idea.' Note that a thesis is an interpretation of a subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel that others might dispute. A single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph should present your thesis to the reader. The body of the essay gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation. Your thesis statement gives the reader a preview of the essay's purpose and goal. . . ."

For more help on constructing thesis statements read the complete essay from the UNC Writing Center.

The George Mason University Writing Center gives some sample thesis statements:
BAD:The so-called "right to bear arms" is a bunch of crap.
Better: While revered as truth by many Americans for decades, the Constitutional "right to bear arms" has in fact been misinterpreted..

Read the complete list.

Write a Great Introductory Paragraph

"The opening paragraph should accomplish several things. It should:

engage the reader's attention
identify the central issue or subject
establish the tone of the essay (comic, persuasive, etc.)

One of the many types of effective introductions for an essay: the funnel paragraph:

The first sentence is the wide end of the funnel: a focused generalization that provides the necessary context and the subject
Each succeeding sentence in the paragraph narrows the subject.
The last sentence of the paragraph, the least general statement, is the thesis of the essay.

Example:
"According to the linguistic school currently on top, human beings are all born with a genetic endowment for recognizing and formulating language. This must mean that we possess genes for all kinds of information, with strands of special, peculiarly human DNA for the discernment of meaning in syntax. We must imagine the morphogenesis of deep structures, built into our minds, for coding out, like proteins, the parts of speech. Correct grammar (correct in the logical, not fashionable, sense) is as much a biologic characteristic of our species as feathers on birds."
-- Lewis Thomas, "How We Process Information" [Read the complete essay from the George Mason University Writing Center]

Effective Academic Writing: The Argument

"You may be surprised to hear that the word "argument" does not have to be written anywhere in your assignment for it to be an important part of your task. In fact, making an argument--expressing a point of view on a subject and supporting it with evidence--is often the aim of academic writing. Your instructors may assume that you know this fact, and therefore they may not explain its importance to you in class. Nevertheless, if your writing assignment asks you to respond to reading and discussion in class, your instructor likely expects you to produce an argument in your paper." . . . .
[Read the complete essay from the University of North Carolina Writing Lab]

Maintaining Objectivity

It is often difficult for students to grasp the concept of "objectivity," while sustaining the requirements of conviction & experience that makes adequate writing good writing. This short piece from the Capital Community College (Hartford CT) Writing Center offers one of the most lucid discussions of the "subjective/objective" elements in writing, and provides a number of examples that clarify the points made in the essay.

Common Errors in English

"The concept of language errors is a fuzzy one. I'll leave to linguists the technical definitions. Here we're concerned only with deviations from the standard use of English as judged by sophisticated users such as professional writers, editors, teachers, and literate executives and personnel officers. The aim of this site is to help you avoid low grades, lost employment opportunities, lost business, and titters of amusement at the way you write or speak.

But isn't one person's mistake another's standard usage?
Often enough, but if your standard usage causes other people to consider you stupid or ignorant, you may want to consider changing it. You have the right to express yourself in any manner you please, but if you wish to communicate effectively, you should use nonstandard English only when you intend to rather than fall into it because you don't know any better. . . . . "
[Read the complete essay from Prof Paul Brian's website at Washington State University ]

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