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Conventions of Writing Papers
Conventions of Writing Papers
Conventions of Writing Papers
In this metaphor there is dynamic interplay among reading, collecting, writing, connecting. It
puts forth the idea that these activities occur in no particular order and each is affected by
development in the others.
WRITING EPISODES
A writing episode involves physically producing words on paper or screen; it’s an
extended act of “transcription” which results in a progressive development of a piece of
text
Each writing act/episode influences our current thinking—what is written (or revised)
becomes new information for us to reflect upon
Writing episodes occur intermittently, although our thought is continuous—sometimes
words flow, one writing act/episode immediately following another; more usually there
are pauses of varying length between episodes because our thought is reorganizing for
forthcoming episodes or because of interruptions or distractions
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Writing is a learning experience—we discover what we “mean” through the act of
writing
SPECIFICATION OF INTENTIONS
Intentions are the basis upon which a text is formed
We have
o Global intentions—involving the purpose and overall form of a text
o Focal intentions—about the next word, phrase, sentence to be written
None of these intentions is part of the text itself; the text remains to be produced
These intentions are not a model of what the text will be like—many aspects of a text may
be different from our original intentions
We often have no intentions for what a text will be like until particular parts of the text
are actually produced
All the intentions represent the specification for the text
o The specification does not set out in detail what a text will be like
o The specification will be sketchy
o It includes:
Some general expectations or intentions for what the finished text will be
like
Some guidelines about its form
o Some parts of the specification may be quite detailed and specific (certain points
will be covered ina certain order, even certain words or phrases that will be used)
o In general, many details (whether something should be explained, how it should
be explained) will be left until the actual moment of writing
The specification lays out the writer’s “problem”—the emerging text is a solution to the
problem if it meets our intentions and expectations
The specification is never complete, it often has many blanks
The specification must always be flexible; at no point will we know everything about
what we are likely to write—
o We may have general ideas about a particular paragraph, but we can’t find the
words or get the sentences ordered satisfactorily
o Sometimes words flow but take us in directions we don’t intend
o We must let the words come because they are relevant to the general concerns
although we don’t know how to organize of constrain a particular paragraph
The specification is not an outline—it does not set out in detail the content and
organization of a particular text; the specification for a text sets out the problems a writer
has to solve in the process of writing
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THE TRANSACTION BETWEEN SPECIFICATION AND TEXT
Composition is not simply a matter of translating a specification into words—the specification
itself develops and changes as a text unfolds.
MYTHS OF WRITING
Adapted from
Frank Smith, 1983, Myths of Writing
In: Essays Into Literacy
Exeter, NH: Heinemann Educational Books: 81-88
1. Writing is for the transmission of information.
Reality: While in the end the writing may convey information, it’s major
function is to explore ideas. The danger of the information-transmission
myth is that it focuses on how texts are presented from the point of view
of the reader rather than on what the act of writing can accomplish for the
developing thought of the writer. The writer is overlooked.
2. Writing is for communication.
Reality: The writer is always the FIRST reader and may often be the only
reader.
3. Writing involves transferring thoughts from the mind to paper.
Reality: Thoughts are created in the act of writing, which changes the
writer and changes the emerging text.
4. Writing is permanent.
Reality: Speech, once uttered, can rarely be revised; writing can be
reflected upon, altered, and even erased at will.
5. Writing is a linear process.
Reality: Writing can be done in several places and directions concurrently
and is as easily manipulated in space as it is in time. Texts can be
constructed from writing done on separate pieces of paper; words,
sentences, paragraphs, whole sections can be shuffled into different
sequences. Writing is recursive.
6. Writing is speech plus spelling and punctuation.
Reality: Every kind of writing has its own conventions of form and
expression quite different from speech. Spelling, punctuation,
capitalization, paragraphing, indentation, word-dividing, layout, and so
forth, are necessary aspects of transcription necessary to make written
language readable for readers. For all writers, undue concern with
transcription can interfere with the exploratory aspects of writing.
7. You must have something to say in order to write.
Reality: We need to write in order to have anything to say! Thought
comes with writing, and writing may never come if it is postponed until
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we are satisfied we have something to say. Write first, see what you had to
say later.
8. Writing should be easy.
Reality: Writing is often hard work—it requires concentration, physical
effort, and a tolerance for frustration and disappointment.
9. Writing should be right the first time.
Reality: Writing generally requires many drafts and revisions to get ideas
into a form that satisfies the writer. A separate editorial polishing is
required to make any text appropriate for another reader.
10. Writing should be unambiguous.
Reality: There is no way writing can be unambiguous. “The” meaning of a
text is not embedded in the words on the page but constructed by readers.
The sense a reader constructs depends on what the reader knows and
brings to the text. There is no way for any writer to know exactly what any
reader brings to a text.
11. Writing can be done to order.
Reality: Writing is most often reluctant to come when it is most urgently
required, yet quite likely to begin to flow at inconvenient or impossible
times.
12. A fixed period of “prewriting” should precede composing.
Reality: Writing involves a lifetime of preparation—of experience,
reading, reflecting and arguing. It is only from a transcription point of
view that an author can say that work began on a particular text at a
particular time. In fact, writing itself can be prewriting. As we draft one
part of a text, we reflect on what we might write next or on what we have
written already.
13. Writing is a solitary activity.
Reality: Writing often requires other people to stimulate discussion, to
listen to choice phrases, to provide feedback of various kinds.
14. Writing is a tidy activity.
Reality: Writing is messy, it spreads itself all over the writing surface, in
many different files.
15. Writing should be the same for everyone.
Reality: Each of us develops an idiosyncratic set of strategies we’re
comfortable with and that work for us.
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ABOUT WRITING
WRITING IS CREATING MEANING
The wonderful thing about writing is that, contrary to popular belief, meaning is
constructed as a result of writing not something worked out before you begin.
Writing isn't the transcription of pre-existent knowledge; every episode of writing requires an
active construction of new meaning.
WRITING IS MESSY
Writing is a messy business.
I have notes to myself jotted on scraps of paper, on post-it notes, and on backs of envelopes.
When I'm composing I keep paper handy so I can jot down ideas that I'm not sure I want to use
or where I might use them. I have piles of reference material all over the desk and sometimes on
the floor—I need that information handy so I can refer to something if I need to.
I write all over printouts of text; I save the mess because I never know if something I've thought
of might be useful later. When I cut sections from a document, I paste them into an "out-takes"
file so I won't regret having lost material.
There are false starts, and I get side-tracked but it's all part of the writing process. By the time
I'm done, the document has been checked carefully for spelling, grammar and punctuation. It
looks presentable; the mess is no longer visible. It's because the mess isn't visible in final
versions that we forget that writing, of necessity, is a messy activity.
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INVENTION TECHNIQUES
INITIATING AND SUSTAINING COMPOSING
There are probably an infinite number of invention techniques; some popular
ones are described below. Read about each one to see which works for you.
Experiment and try to have some fun.
FREE WRITING
Set a timer for five to ten minutes (you can always keep going after the
beeper's gone off but an initial time limit is great for keeping you focused)
Look at the topic and mull it over, roll it over your tongue, inhale it, let it
bounce around the neural pathways of your brain for a second or two
Now ready? set? write! and don't stop! Keep your fingers typing or your
pen moving on paper for the entire duration
Get it all out; a sort of intellectual diarrhea or stream-of-consciousness
writing where you write what you think as you're thinking it
Don't worry about grammar, spelling, or forming sentences. Some of it
won't make sense and that's okay. If you find yourself drawing a blank at
some point, then just write, "I'm drawing a blank" to keep the flow going
or try and articulate why you think you can't get very far with the subject
There are no rules for this idea-generation technique except that
1. you have to think (don't groan) and
2. you can't censor yourself or read over what you've done until the
timer has sounded (if you're doing this on a computer, a neat trick
is to darken the screen to prevent this kind of senseless cheating)
BZZZZTTTT! Time's up: now you can finally look over your stuff.
Freewriting is great because sometimes you'll find you'll be able to lift off
entire sections and use them in your first draft
BRAINSTORMING
This is quite similar to free writing but the organization—the way you jot down
ideas—is a bit different. Instead of an endless, non-punctuated, free-flowing
paragraph, you only note down key words or short phrases on a page.
Set a timer, take a deep breath, and go crazy. If you get stuck, look at one of the
ideas you’ve already written down and see if they don’t trigger something new.
Assume nothing is self-explanatory—at this stage stating the obvious is the best
way to tap into original territory.
When you're done, use your word processor's cut and paste features (or arrows
or color coding for you paper planners out there) to re-organize your terms and
find relationships and common threads that might form subheadings.
CUBING
The general strategy of looking at your topic as you would a three-dimensional
object with many sides. Sometimes you'll hear it called the “Many Parts Strategy”
because it asks...no, pushes....you to consider your topic from a minimum of six
different angles or avenues.
HEURISTICS
An impressive word that basically just means a learning aid or problem-solving
technique that uses "self-education." Self-education is a bizarre but appropriate
concept here because what you essentially do with any heuristic is interview
yourself, tap into your own wealth of knowledge with the right drills in the right
places, as it were. This is done by using questions as prompts.
One popular heuristic is the list of journalistic 5 Ws (and one H!): who, what,
when, where, why, and how:
What am I writing about? (topic)
What am I trying to say about my topic? (controlling idea)
Why am I writing about my topic? (purpose)
Why should my reader(s) be interested in my controlling idea? (audience)
What knowledge do I have that makes me the right person to write about
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this topic?
FOCUSING QUESTIONS
What’s most important?
What will my readers be looking for?
What will my readers want to know more about?
Can I identify a logical progression of ideas here?
Might there be a better order for the content?
Have I captured enough of the specifics?
DEVELOPING FOCUS
Get yourself a set of colored highlighter pens
Work with a hard copy of your document
Take one pen, quickly read through your document, highlighting
everything that seems to have some kind of common theme
Take a second pen, again quickly read through the document marking
other paragraphs/sections that seem to have a different theme.
Repeat a third and fourth time, if necessary
Now lay out your pages according to the predominant highlighting color
Open your document file, “Save As” using a new file name—now cut all
the information that’s highlighted in other than the predominant color (Be
sure to paste this material into your out-takes file—you might well want it
later!)
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Now read what you have – it will certainly be shorter, and it ought to have
a definite focus
The aim of editing is not to change the text but to make what is there optimally readable.
It is not necessary for a writer to do the editing; in fact, writers who publish typically are
not responsible for final editing. Editing is essentially a transcription skill. If you are
editing yourself, you must try to respond to the text as a different reader.
The mistake most people make with editing is to plunge in and start editing the language
of the text first, working from the written line back to form and then to meaning. That's
got it backwards! You need to start with the overall meaning.
PROOF—When you have done all re-conceiving and revising you have time to do, then
it's time to go through the text and eliminate superficial problems that will interfere with
readers making meaning.
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EFFECTIVE EDITING
WRITER AS READER
Developed from "Clarity"
by Don Murray in "Write To Learn"
1984, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, pp. 166-182
Effective Editing is usually the result of three separate and distinct readings,
each with its own pace, strategies, and techniques:
The "First" Read is for meaning
The "Second" Read is for order
The "Third" Read is for voice, language &
conventions
EDITING PRINCIPLES
Build on Strength—Identify what you think is working well and carry it
through the rest of the text
Cut What Can Be Cut—Everything in the text must relate to the single
dominant meaning of the text. If it doesn't, it should go!
Simplicity is Best—The writing should be as simple as possible; write so
your readers understand what you want them to
Listen to the Writing—Your ear is a better editor than your eye. Read
aloud. The piece will tell you when it needs a definition woven in, some
additional clarification, more evidence, a change of pace
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CHECKLIST FOR A "SECOND" READ
READING FOR ORDER
Continue reading at a good clip. Don't stop for language problems—that will
come later. Now you're dealing with chunks to make sure each section is
developed well and is in the right place.
Is the title on target?
Does the lede establish the voice for the piece?
Does the draft "show" as well as "tell"?
Is each section an answer to readers' questions?
Is each piece of documentation appropriate for the point being made?
Does the pace keep readers moving but allow time to absorb your
argument?
Does the end echo the lede and give readers a sense of completion?
Does the argument follow logically?
Have you tried rearranging elements?
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Have you cut unnecessary words: that, would, quite, very...
Have sentence elements been reordered so they read naturally and
smoothly?
Have you used parallel structure in lists?
Does each paragraph make one point?
Have you developed that point fully?
Do paragraphs vary in length, with shorter paragraphs used for
clarification and emphasis?
Are the paragraphs in order, do transitions make sense?
Have you cut unnecessary introductory and concluding paragraphs?
Can you think of questions readers might still ask?
Have you checked punctuation?
Have you checked spelling?
Are the numbers correct?
WRITING FAST
Writing fast is about uninhibited invention and good organization
Allow yourself to start anywhere; you don't have to start at the beginning
Move to some other aspect of the topic if you find yourself bogged down
Let digressions happen; they may prove fruitful later
Don't try getting it right the first time—draft / rewrite as many times as you need to
make the writing clear
Write down thoughts when they strike you even if you're doing something else
Keep a separate "thoughts" file
Try talking your thoughts out loud
Write about your frustrations
False starts and dead ends are normal; just pick up somewhere else
Be willing to throw stuff away
You have a reasonably good idea of what you want to write—then make an outline
Don't let yourself be trapped by your outline; abandon it if you find it draining your
energy
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Don't edit or proofread before you have a complete draft
You can save time by putting in a placeholder and filling in a section later
You don't need to wait until you've "completed" your "research" before you begin—
research will still be necessary while you're drafting, rewriting, editing and even
proofing!
Allow yourself to be messy—spread paper all over your desk and floor; scribble, use
arrows all over your printouts
Talk out your ideas to someone else
Just write and keep writing
Make lists
Use highlighters
Always create a separate "references" file; fully record each reference (including page
numbers) as soon as you've cited it in your writing
Save all deleted sections to an out-takes file; that material might be useful
Brainstorm on index cards—they're easy to move around
Don't worry about order in your writing—you'll shift elements around later
Use point form; it forces you to be succinct and it's easy to flesh out
Revisit your thoughts file—there may be ideas there to strengthen what you've written
While you're inventing / drafting: If in doubt—PUT IT IN!
During rewriting: If in doubt—TAKE IT OUT!
Be sure to leave enough time to do a careful "third" read
Solicit feedback from naive readers and from experts
Develop an outline after you're finished; this lets you check the architecture of your piece
Introductions are often best left to last! It's not until you're finished that you really know
what the piece is about
Remember, no part is done until the whole is done! Don't "finish" one part before
working on another—the parts need to interact
Set yourself deadlines
ON BEING STUCK
There are two kinds of writing blocks:
Procedural Blocks — we have difficulty deciding what to write next
Psychological Blocks — we cannot bring ourselves to write anything
PROCEDURAL BLOCKS
We can be in the position of not knowing what to write next
At a global level we know and can specify clearly what we want to write
about, and we have no trouble putting one word after another—we're lost
in between—perhaps in deciding precisely what we want in the next
paragraph
Procedural blocks are particularly acute at the beginning—the problem
arises because we can visualize a set of alternatives without obvious
reason for selecting any particular one
There are several reasons for procedural blocks
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o Trying to pack too much information into a sentence, a paragraph,
leaving too many directions to follow at once
o Digressions which we've been led into by our developing ideas
o Our proliferating intentions getting ahead of us
o Crossing into a new section of the writing
PSYCHOLOGICAL BLOCKS
We can't let words come—the most difficult moment with any piece of
writing is at the beginning when the first words should come
It's not a matter of having no words, but we can't bring ourselves to let
them appear on paper or screen
There are three major reasons for not being able to write:
o The magnitude of the task seems overwhelming
o Anxiety regarding our fears that what we produce won't be good
enough
o Being afraid we don't have anything worthwhile to say—being
reluctant to write anything
Not sure how to shape the next part? Try a couple of alternatives
Don't have the next bit sufficiently clear in your head?
Take a walk, cook a meal, watch TV, sleep on it...
Our brain doesn't solve problems under pressure, give yourself incubation
time.
Can't pick up from where you left off? Begin rewriting the last paragraph,
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or just start somewhere else.
Avoiding a particular writing project by answering mail?
Stop procrastinating and make yourself write on the task you're avoiding
DON'T EXPECT WRITING TO COME OUT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
Anything you write can be thrown away (or put in an "out-takes" file for
later rescue if necessary)
INTERPRETIVE COMMUNITY
WHAT'S IMPORTANT FOR TECHNICAL WRITERS TO JUDGE IS THE BREADTH OF
KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE SUBJECT THEIR READERS ARE LIKELY TO HAVE. IF THE
AUDIENCE IS LARGE, IT'S UNREALISTIC TO EXPECT ALL OF YOUR READERS TO COME
TO YOUR TEXT WITH THE SAME BACKGROUND. REALIZE THERE ARE LIKELY TO BE
GAPS; DO YOUR BEST TO ANTICIPATE THEM.
WHAT WORKS IN YOUR FAVOUR IS THE INTERPRETIVE COMMUNITY—THE
POTENTIAL SHARED MEANING OF A GROUP OF PROFESSIONAL READERS. YOUR
SENSE OF WHAT YOUR INTERPRETIVE COMMUNITY IS LIKELY TO KNOW ALLOWS YOU
TO MAKE SOME ASSUMPTIONS AS YOU WRITE.
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BUT REMEMBER, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE ANY PARTICULAR READER SHARES YOUR
INTERPRETIVE COMMUNITY. THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN WRITE A TEXT THAT
MAKES A PARTICULAR INTERPRETATION A CERTAINTY! SO TRY OUT YOUR WRITING
ON BOTH NAIVE AND EXPERT READERS.
INTER-TEXTUALITY
WHAT'S IN ANY PARTICULAR TEXT ITSELF CAN ONLY HINT AT THE INFERENTIAL
MEANING A READER IS INVITED TO MAKE. TO PARTICIPATE FULLY IN READING ANY
TEXT REQUIRES A SENSE OF INTER-TEXTUALITY. READERS RELATE THE CURRENT
PIECE THEY'RE READING TO OTHER TEXTS THEY'VE READ ON THE SAME SUBJECT, AS
WELL AS CONNECTING INFORMATION FROM THINGS THEY'VE READ ON RELATED
SUBJECTS.
READERS MUST BE FAMILIAR IN ADVANCE NOT ONLY WITH THE GENERAL CONTENT,
BUT HAVE SOME PARTICULAR BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE OF THE SPECIFIC DOMAIN
OF THE TEXT. THIS IS A KEY ASPECT OF THE TRANSACTIONAL NATURE OF READING
ALONG WITH TECHNICAL, CULTURAL, AND LINGUISTIC CONTEXTS AND THE MORE
WIDELY READ THE AUDIENCE, THE MORE LIKELY THEY WILL MAKE SENSE OF YOUR
WRITING—ALTHOUGH NOT NECESSARILY THE SENSE YOU INTEND THEM TO MAKE.
TO THE EXTENT THAT THE WRITER AND READER SHARE SUCH CONTEXTS, THERE
WILL BE CONVERGENCE OF INTERPRETATION. TEXTS ARE NOT TRANSPARENT; THEY
DON'T DIRECTLY REVEAL THEIR MEANING. READERS CONSTRUCT MEANING BASED ON
A LARGE NUMBER OF FACTORS. WRITERS HAVE TO REMEMBER READING IS A PROCESS
OF MAKING INFERENCES.
RESPONDING TO WRITERS
Adapted from
Writing Without Teachers
Peter Elbow, 1973, London: Oxford University Press
All writers experience trepidation when they contemplate showing their writing to someone
else! That’s a by-product of what happened to your writing in school—your teachers told you
what they thought were the weak and strong points and suggested things you should change.
However, to improve your writing you DON’T need advice about what changes to make. You
DON’T need theories of what is good and bad writing. What you need to know is what sense
your readers have made, what questions they have, where they got confused, what digressions
they took off on when they read your words. You need what Peter Elbow calls “movies of
people’s minds”.
Here are some suggestions for giving movies of your mind when reading for another writer.
This is the same feedback you’ll find helpful from your readers, as well.
Start by simply pointing to the words and phrases which stood out for you, either
because they seemed particularly apt or because they were jarring for some reason.
Summarize the writing:
o Tell quickly what you thought were the main points, the center of gravity of the
piece
o See if you can summarize the whole thing in a single sentence
o Don’t plan or think too much about it; the point is to help the writer see what
stood out in your head—it’s not a test to see if you got the meaning “right”!
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Tell the writer everything that happened to you when you read the writing—it’s useful to
tell it as a story: “I felt confused about …, but then I saw a connection…. I especially
liked… I found myself going back after …”
The important thing in telling is not to get too far away from talking about the actual
writing; remember the writer is interested in how his or her writing worked.
When you read something you have perceptions and reactions that you’re not fully
aware of and therefore can’t “tell” about. However, you may be able to SHOW them:
o Talk about the writing as if you were describing voices: it lectured, it droned, it
ran…
o Talk about the writing as if you were talking about weather: it was foggy, clear,
crisp…
o Talk about the writing as if you were talking about motion: it marched, strolled…
o Describe what you think the writer’s intentions were
o Writing is like a lump of clay—tell what you’d do with that clay
o Paint the picture the writing conjured up for you
Try writing a quick synopsis and share it with the writer
Telling is like looking inside yourself to see what you can report; showing is like
installing a window in the top of your head so the writer can see for him or herself.
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IT DEPENDS
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on a new blank page or where you happen to be writing
You can do all of the above using scrap paper or a yellow writing tablet,
but the wonderful thing about doing this writing on the computer is you
can cut and paste what you produce directly into your document—you
don’t have to type it over!
Some writing tasks you do over and over again. Automate them by
building a template which outlines the major categories of information you
want to include. It may take some time to set up a good template but it’s
worth it in the long run.
HINDRANCE
There are three major pitfalls to writing on a computer:
A major trap is revising and editing too soon.
Rather than just letting ideas come when you’re inventing, you can find
yourself caught up by how the words on the screen look, see something
you want to change, and lose your flow of thought.
Resist at all costs the temptation to “fix” your writing when you’re
generating a draft
A second danger is forgetting to SAVE!
Be sure to set your Autosave to backup your writing every 5 minutes or so
(in MS Word you find that function in the Preferences / Properties under
“Save”). That way you can recover most of what you’ve written. It’s worse
than discouraging to have your word processing software freeze and lose
everything you’ve done for the last hour.
Also be careful to save the file to the location you intend. Some word
processors remember the last place you saved to—that may not be where
you wanted to save your current document.
Be wary of the spell checker.
Either it won’t recognize the word you intend and prompt you with words
that have no relationship to the one you want, or it accepts what you’ve
written because it doesn’t differentiate homophones—words that sound
the same but are spelled differently such as “mayor” and “mare” or
“their”, “there”, and “they’re” .
On the other hand the Thesaurus is often useful, although often it won’t
give you as many alternatives as a good dictionary of synonyms will.
TECHNICAL WRITING
The first step in any kind of non-fiction writing is to collect information—to do research. For the
medical writer that can involve actually conducting experiments, or patient trials. It usually
involves reading relevant research papers, clinical trials, and review articles. It can also include
obtaining data from adverse event and other databases. Relevant information may come from
interviews with researchers, discussions with colleagues, or from notes made at critical
meetings....
It's a good idea to begin by asking yourself "What am I trying to achieve?" If you can't answer
that question. the chances of writing a good piece are slim. If you can identify your global
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intentions, then you can evaluate your information, arguments, and recommendations against
those intentions.
You don't have to wait until all of your "research" is done before you start sorting through the
evidence/ information—start immediately to identify main issues, to think about how to
organize them, to make some notes, to brainstorm, and so on.
By focusing your thoughts, you've started to think about what your readers might want or need
to know.
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14. A helpful hint when you're drafting: If in doubt, PUT IT IN!
15. Another helpful hint: When you quote from other writing or make an attribution, make
sure you put the complete citation (including page numbers) in a separate file. This
"references" file doesn't have to be in any kind of order at this point—it will be easy to
order it later—but it's invaluable not to have to track down an obscure citation after
you've forgotten where you got it from!
16. A third hint: Instead of deleting passages from your evolving text, cut and paste them
into a separate "out-takes" file—that way you can review what you've deleted and have it
on hand should want or need it later
17. Once you have a draft, ask some readers for feedback—at this point you're interested in
what meaning they make, you're not interested in editing help, so be sure to let them
know what information you're looking for
18. Test your document with the intended audience
19. Revise based on their feedback
20. Remember that editing / revision isn't just about errors. You want to polish your
sentences at this point, making them smooth, interesting, and clear. Watch for very long
sentences, since they may be less clear than shorter, more direct sentences
21. Pay attention to the rhythm of your writing; try to use sentences of varying lengths and
patterns. Look for unnecessary phrases, repetition, and awkward spots
22. When you're revising—if in doubt, TAKE IT OUT!
23. Published authors usually have access to editors; if you have to edit your own work here
are some things to think about: Effective Editing
24. Think about layout
25. Use examples and illustrations; consider tables and visuals that might explain your
arguments
26. Use diagrams, flowcharts, and graphs
27. Don't forget to proofread: Checklist for a "Third" Read
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS
The audience of a technical report—or any piece of writing for that matter—is the intended or
potential reader or readers. For most technical writers, this is the most important consideration
in planning, writing, and reviewing a document. You "adapt" your writing to meet the needs,
interests, and background of the readers who will be reading your writing.
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The principle seems absurdly simple and obvious. It's much the same as telling someone, "Talk
so the person in front of you can understand what you're saying." It's like saying, "Don't talk
rocket science to your six-year-old." Do we need a course in that? Doesn't seem like it. But, in
fact, lack of audience analysis and adaptation is one of the root causes of most of the problems
you find in professional, technical documents—particularly instructions where it surfaces most
glaringly.
TYPES OF AUDIENCES
One of the first things to do when you analyze an audience is to identify its type (or types—it's
rarely just one type). Audiences are commonly categorized as:
Experts: These are the people who know the theory and the product inside and out. They
designed it, they tested it, they know everything about it. Often, they have advanced
degrees and operate in academic settings or in research and development areas of the
government and business worlds. The non-specialist reader is least likely to understand
what these people are saying—but also has the least reason to try. More often, the
communication challenge faced by the expert is communicating to the technician and the
executive.
Technicians: These are the people who build, operate, maintain, and repair the stuff that
the experts design and theorize about. Theirs is a highly technical knowledge as well, but
of a more practical nature.
Executives: These are the people who make business, economic, administrative, legal,
governmental, political decisions on the stuff that the experts and technicians work with.
If it's a new product, they decide whether to produce and market it. Executives are likely
to have as little technical knowledge about the subject as non-specialists.
Non-specialists: These readers have the least technical knowledge of all. Their interest
may be as practical as technicians', but in a different way. They want to use the new
product to accomplish their tasks. Or, they may just be curious about a specific technical
matter and want to learn about it—but for no specific, practical reason.
AUDIENCE ANALYSIS
It's important to determine which of the four categories the potential readers of your document
belong to, but that's not the end of it. Audiences, regardless of category, must also be analyzed
in terms of the following characteristics:
Background-knowledge, experience, training: One of your most important concerns is
just how much knowledge, experience, or training you can expect in your readers. If you
expect some of your readers to lack certain background, do you automatically supply it
in your document? Consider an example: imagine you're writing a guide to using a
software product that runs under Microsoft Windows. How much can you expect your
readers to know about Windows? If some are likely to know little about Windows,
should you provide that information? If you say no, then you run the risk of customers'
getting frustrated with your product. If you say yes to adding background information
on Windows, you increase your work effort and add to the page count of the document
(and thus to the cost). Obviously, there's no easy answer to this question—part of the
answer may involve just how small a segment of the audience needs that background
information.
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Needs and interests: To plan your document, you need to know what your audience is
going to expect from that document. Imagine how readers will want to use your
document; what will they demand from it. For example, imagine you are writing a
manual on how to use a new microwave oven—what are your readers going to expect to
find in it? Imagine you're under contract to write a background report on global warming
for a national real estate association—what do they want to read about; and, equally
important, what do they not want to read about?
Other demographic characteristics: And of course there are many other characteristics
about your readers that might have an influence on how you should design and write
your document—for example, age groups, type of residence, area of residence, gender,
political preferences, and so on.
Audience analysis can get complicated by at least two other factors: mixed audience types for
one document, wide variability within audience, and unknown audiences.
More than one audience. You're likely to find that your report is for more than one audience.
For example, it may be seen by technical people (experts and technicians) and administrative
people (executives). What to do? You can either write all the sections so that all the audiences of
your document can understand them (good luck!). Or you can write each section strictly for the
audience that would be interested in it, then use headings and section introductions to alert
your audience about where to go and what to stay out of in your report.
Wide variability in an audience. You may realize that, although you have an audience that fits
into only one category, there is a wide variability in its background. This is a tough one—if you
write to the lowest common denominator of reader, you're likely to end up with a cumbersome,
tedious book-like thing that will turn off the majority of readers. But if you don't write to that
lowest level, you lose that segment of your readers. What to do? Most writers go for the
majority of readers and sacrifice that minority that needs more help. Others put the
supplemental information in appendixes or insert cross-references to beginners' books.
AUDIENCE ADAPTATION
Okay! So you've analyzed your audience. What good is it? How do you use this information?
How do you keep from writing something that will still be incomprehensible or useless to your
readers?
The business of writing to your audience may have a lot to do with in-born talent, intuition, and
even mystery. But there are some controls you can use to have a better chance to connect with
your readers. The following "controls" have mostly to do with making technical information
more understandable for non-specialist audiences:
Add information readers need to understand your document. Check to see whether
certain key information is missing—for example, a critical series of steps from a set of
instructions; important background that helps beginners understand the main
discussion; definition of key terms.
Omit information your readers do not need. Unnecessary information can also confuse
and frustrate readers—after all, it's there so they feel obligated to read it. For example,
you can probably chop theoretical discussion from basic instructions.
Change the level of the information you currently have. You may have the right
information but it may be "pitched" at too high or too low a technical level. It may be
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pitched at the wrong kind of audience—for example, at an expert audience rather than a
technician audience. This happens most often when product-design notes are passed off
as instructions.
Add examples to help readers understand. Examples are one of the most powerful ways
to connect with audiences, particularly in instructions. Even in non-instructional text, for
example, when you are trying to explain a technical concept, examples are a major help—
analogies in particular.
Change the level of your examples. You may be using examples but the technical
content or level may not be appropriate to your readers. Homespun examples may not be
useful to experts; highly technical ones may totally miss your non-specialist readers.
Change the organization of your information. Sometimes, you can have all the right
information but arrange it in the wrong way. For example, there can be too much
background information up front (or too little) such that certain readers get lost.
Sometimes, background information needs to woven into the main information—for
example, in instructions it's sometimes better to feed in chunks of background at the
points where they are immediately needed.
Strengthen transitions. It may be difficult for readers, particularly non-specialists, to see
the connections between the main sections of your report, between individual
paragraphs, and sometimes even between individual sentences. You can make these
connections much clearer by adding transition words and by echoing key words more
accurately. Words like "therefore," "for example," "however" are transition words—they
indicate the logic connecting the previous thought to the upcoming thought. You can also
strengthen transitions by carefully echoing the same key words. In technical prose, it's
not a good idea to vary word choice-use the same words so that people don't get any
more confused than they may already be.
Write stronger introductions—both for the whole document and for major sections.
People seem to read with more confidence and understanding when they have the "big
picture"—a view of what's coming, and how it relates to what they've just read.
Therefore, make sure you have a strong introduction to the entire document—one that
makes clear the topic, purpose, audience, and contents of that document. And for each
major section within your document, use mini-introductions that indicate at least the
topic of the section and give an overview of the subtopics to be covered in that section.
Create topic sentences for paragraphs and paragraph groups. It can help readers
immensely to give them an idea of the topic and purpose of a section (a group of
paragraphs) and in particular to give them an overview of the subtopics about to be
covered. Roadmaps help when you're in a different state!
Change sentence style and length. How you write—down at the individual sentence
level—can make a big difference too. In instructions, for example, using imperative voice
and "you" phrasing is vastly more understandable than the passive voice or third-
personal phrasing. For some reason, personalizing your writing style and making it more
relaxed and informal can make it more accessible and understandable. Passive, person-
less writing is harder to read—put people and action in your writing. Similarly, go for
active verbs as opposed to be verb phrasing. All of this makes your writing more direct
and immediate—readers don't have to dig for it. Obviously, sentence length matters as
well. An average of somewhere between 15 and 25 words per sentence is about right;
sentences over 30 words are to be mistrusted.
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Work on sentence clarity and economy. This is closely related to the previous "control"
but deserves its own spot. Often, writing style can be so wordy that it is hard or
frustrating to read. When you revise your rough drafts, put them on a diet-go through a
draft line by line trying to reduce the overall word, page or line count by 20 percent. Try
it as an experiment and see how you do. You'll find a lot of fussy, unnecessary detail and
inflated phrasing you can chop out.
Use more or different graphics. For non-specialist audiences, you may want to use more
graphics—and simpler ones at that. Writing for specialists and experts tends to be less
illustrated, less graphically attractive—even boring to the eye! Graphics for specialists
tend to be more detailed, more technical. In technical documents for non-specialists,
there also tend to be more "decorative" graphics—ones that serve no strict informative or
persuasive purpose at all.
Break text up or consolidate text into meaningful, usable chunks. For non-specialist
readers, you may need to have shorter paragraphs. Notice how much longer paragraphs
are in technical documents written for specialists. (Maybe a 6- to 8-line paragraph is the
dividing line.)
Add cross-references to important information. In technical information, you can help
non-specialist readers by pointing them to background sources. If you can't fully explain
a topic on the spot, point to a book or article where it is.
Use headings and lists. Readers can be intimidated by big dense paragraphs of writing,
uncut by anything other than a blank line now and then. Search your rough drafts for
ways to incorporate headings—look for changes in topic or subtopic. Search your writing
for listings of things—these can be made into vertical lists. Look for paired listings such
as terms and their definitions—these can be made into two-column lists. Of course, be
careful not to force this special formatting—don't overdo it.
Use special typography, and work with margins, line length, line spacing, type size,
and type style. For non-specialist readers, you can do things like making the lines shorter
(bringing in the margins), using larger type sizes, and other such tactics. Certain type
styles are believed to be friendlier and more readable than others. (Try to find someone
involved with publishing to get their insights on fonts.)
These are the kinds of "controls" that professional technical writers use to fine tune their work
and make it as readily understandable as possible. And in contrast, it's the accumulation of lots
of problems in these areas—even seemingly minor ones—that add up to a document being
difficult to read and understand. Non-professionals often question why professional writers
and editors insist on bothering with such seemingly picky, trivial, petty details in writing—but
they all contribute to making your document readable.
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers are visual illustrations of verbal or written statements. One
common trait found among graphic organizers is that they show the order and
completeness of a writer’s thought process. Many graphic organizers show
different aspects of an issue or problem—in close and also the big picture. Since
many graphic organizers use short words or phrases, they are ideal for many
types of writing and reading tasks.
Graphic organizers show at a glance the key elements of the whole and their
relationships. They are very useful for sorting out the structure of an argument or
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the architecture of a piece of writing. They represent a handy tool when your
read—you can quickly sketch an outline of a piece.
They’re helpful if you’re reading for someone else, they focus you directly on
questions about content. They are useful at various points during your own
writing, most particularly when you’ve just finished a draft, to check that you’ve
included all the elements you need to make your arguments clear.
Here are the seven structural patterns commonly used in technical writing
showing their “generic” graphic forms.
Pattern Clues to Pattern Strategies Suggested Diagram
Enumeration introductory 1. look for topic
statement 2. look for sub-
contains a topics
number word or 3. organize
words like details
"many" or related to
"several" topics
subtopics
signalled by
"first", "second",
"third", "more",
"also", etc.
Question/ introductory 1. look for
Answer question question
answer signalled 2. note words
by words like that signal
"first", "second", answers
"one", "another" 3. isolate
answer
General most common 1. look for
Statement/ pattern generalizatio
Elaboration offers n
generalization 2. look for
followed by supporting
supporting specifics
examples
Cause / Effect causes leading to 1. look for
effects effect
words like 2. look for
"cause", "reasons cause (must
for", "first", answer
"second", "why" about
"finally", etc. the effect)
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Sequence steps in a process 1. look for
chronology introduction
events leading to which sets
a specific purpose and
outcome lists steps to
follow
2. look for
steps
3. look for
order of
steps
___________
_
4. look for
steps in
sequence
5. separate
background
information
from steps
6. look for
meaning of
sequence
Comparison/ always more
Contrast than one topic
uses cues: "in the
same way", "on
the other hand",
"although", "yet",
"however", "even
though"
Problem lays out details 1. look for the
Statement of a problem problem
2. look for
significant
details
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MANAGING INFORMATION
We’re all swamped with information during the day – email, memos, ordinary
mail, articles, synopses, instructions, manuals… the list goes on and on. It’s not
all equally important—the challenge is prioritizing what comes in and deciding
what to do about it.
A useful system is comparable to the “triage” system used by the medical
community:
1. TRIAGE
Urgent: Deal with it immediately
Important: Put it in a dated TO DO pile/folder/bin and deal with it when
you have time
Unimportant: Discard – if it is really important it will come back to you
Here’s another way of handling information:
PURPOSE
Being able to summarize succinctly is a valuable skill for academic, personal, and professional
writing, and can be used for many purposes. For example, summaries can:
convey a general idea
give only necessary information
shorten material
reference material
set up quoted material
provide support
add credibility
establish background
offer an overview of a topic
describe common knowledge
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WHAT A SUMMARY SHOULD CONTAIN
Effective summaries are made up of concise, coherent sentences that communicate the key
information of a passage. Summaries may involve simply deleting extraneous material,
highlighting key points, synthesizing the overall meaning, or miniaturizing primary ideas.
It is important to remember that a summary must remain faithful to the author's interpretation
and emphasis. Summaries should focus on what the author is saying, not on how he or she is
proving it. Also, you should not give your own opinions about the author's message; instead,
maintain a neutral tone. The only time your summary should be biased is if the original passage
is biased.
HOW TO SUMMARIZE
1. Read the passage you are going to summarize at least twice so that you fully
comprehend what the author is saying.
2. Isolate the thesis, or main idea of the passage to be summarized.
3. Work through the text to identify the portions that support the author's main idea;
highlight or underline these sections
4. Rephrase the main points into your own sentences, but remember to keep the author's
intended purpose and message. It is generally not necessary to include examples and
details.
5. Make up a new thesis that explains the essential idea of the passage. You should not
simply restate the author's thesis; you want to prove that you understand the information
in the passage by forming your own sentence. Writing in this way helps you to re-create
the meaning of the original in a way that makes sense for you.
6. While you are summarizing, you must remember to change sentence structure,
vocabulary, and the thesis in order to avoid plagiarism. Also, your summary does not
have to be in the same order as the original passage unless arrangement is necessary for
comprehension.
7. Always remember to cite the passage's original source information. You can do this
somewhere in the body or at the end of your summary.
8. Finally, revise and edit to ensure accuracy and correctness.
CHECKLIST
1. Is the main idea clear and accurate?
2. Is your summary concise?
3. Are there few (if any) details and examples?
4. Does your summary include only information found in the original?
5. Does your summary read like a unified paragraph?
6. Did you include bibliographic information?
REMEMBER
Always write a summary with the author's purpose in mind.
The length of a summary depends on what is being summarized.
Summarizing can always be improved with practice!
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TEMPLATES
Developing templates for different writing tasks is one way to speed up your writing. An
effective template provides you with a ready made architecture for your document; it reminds
you to include specific information. A template is easily adapted if your categories change.
INSTRUCTIONS
Instructions, in general, are simply steps explaining how to do a particular task. However,
instructions shape a reader's attitude toward a process, a product, or the writer of the
instructions. Therefore, good instructions are not necessarily easy to write. First, they must be
clear and able to be followed. Second, they must be correct. Third, they must contain the
appropriate amount of information.
Many people do not like reading, interpreting, and following instructions, yet you may have a
very good reason for wanting people to follow your instructions. Therefore, you must persuade
the reader to use your instructions. You can do this by creating instructions that have an
inviting and clear visual design, precise and pertinent information, and a good balance between
reading and doing.
Visual design and page layout are very important. Your instructions must be easy to read, and
readers must be able to find their places again if they set the instructions aside to perform a
step. It should be obvious where the reader is to begin and what the next step might be, and the
connections between steps should be easy to grasp. Therefore, be kind to your readers and use
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plenty of white space and visual aids. Also, number the steps within your instructions clearly
and place illustrations near the text to which they are related.
Precision and correctness are also important. Once instructions are written, they must be tested.
Testing is best done by someone who is representative of your intended audience or readers.
Finally, instructions must contain the appropriate amount of information for the reader or
audience. You must carefully consider the group for whom you are writing. What do they
know? What is their background? How basic must your instructions be? What steps in a process
can you safely skip? How much detail should you include? What assumptions can you make?
How much background must you give? Sometimes, if you are writing for two very different
audiences, you must write both a detailed and an abbreviated set of instructions. This is also
true if you are writing instructions intended to train a set of readers who, after training, refer to
the instructions for reminders of important steps.
EXAMPLE
1. First Major Step
1.1 First Sub-step
1.2 Second Sub-step
1.2.1 First sub-sub-step
1.2.2 Second sub-sub-step
2. Second Major Step
2.1 Sub-step
2.2 Sub-step
2.3 Sub-step
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2.3.1 Sub-sub-step
2.3.2 Sub-sub-step
Restrict each step, sub-step, or sub-sub-step to one, individual piece of information. Steps
should never, never be multiple bits of information or paragraphs.
Make liberal use of headings and subheadings.
Use the active voice and imperative mood. Begin each step with a verb.
Use illustrations to show where things are, how to perform a step, and what should
result.
Place warnings where readers will see them--surrounded with plenty of white space--
before the step to which they apply. Use the words WARNING or CAUTION and
consider using a graphic or symbol with the warning to catch the reader's eye. Warnings
are used to signal danger to self or others, potential or real damage to equipment, and
destruction of or bad results.
Tell your readers what to do in case of a mistake or unexpected result.
List alternative steps if readers may take them. Place the alternative steps where readers
can find them easily.
Provide the appropriate amount of details for your audience or readers.
Include a troubleshooting guide at the end of your instructions. The guide will list
potential problems and their solutions. Troubleshooting guides often use a table format
with the problem in the left column and the solutions to the right
Writing Conventions
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GRAMMAR
SOME BACKGROUND
Grammar refers to the system of structural rules which describes how words combine with each
other to form sentences. In this sense, as a speaker of English, you already have an instinctive
knowledge of English grammar. It is this knowledge which enables us to distinguish a well-
formed English sentence from one which is clearly ill-formed.
For example, native speakers know that the following sentence is well-formed and
`grammatical':
David plays the piano
Native speakers can produce and understand a sentence like this without ever thinking about
its grammar. Conversely, in the course of everyday communication, no native speaker would
ever produce this:
*piano plays David the
We know there is something wrong with this second example, not least because it doesn't make
sense. It is ill-formed—we say it's `ungrammatical'.
Now if it's true that native speakers have a functional grammar, then it is reasonable to ask why
we need to study grammar at all. If we know instinctively that the first is acceptable and the
second example is nonsense, then what more do we need to know?
In the most general terms, a knowledge of grammar is part of our knowledge of the world and
of ourselves. The use of language is a distinctively human activity, so it is appropriate for us to
understand how it works. The study of grammar enables us to say why example 1 is acceptable
and the second is not. It enables us to externalise and formalise our instinctive knowledge of our
own language.
The study of grammar helps us to communicate more effectively. Quite simply, if we know how
English works, then we can make better use of it. For most purposes, we need to be able to
construct sentences which are far more complicated than David plays the piano. A knowledge
of grammar enables us to evaluate the choices which are available to us during composition. In
practice, these choices are never as simple as the choice between the first and second example
above. If we understand the relationship between the parts of a sentence, we can eliminate
many of the ambiguities and misunderstandings which result from poor construction.
In the interpretation of writing, too, grammatical knowledge is often crucially important. The
understanding of literary texts, for example, often depends on careful grammatical analysis.
Other forms of writing can be equally difficult to interpret. Scientific and academic writing, for
instance, may be complex not just in the ideas they convey, but also in their syntax. These types
of writing can be difficult to understand easily without some familiarity with how the parts
relate to each other.
The study of grammar, then, enables us to go beyond our instinctive, native-speaker
knowledge, and to use English in an intelligent, informed way.
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DANGLING MODIFIERS
DEFINITION
A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence.
A modifier describes, clarifies, or gives more detail about a concept.
(The article--the subject of the main clause--did not read the original study.)
possible revisions:
After reading the original study, I find the article unconvincing.
-or-
The article remains unconvincing in light of the original study. (no modifying phrase)
dangling modifier:
Relieved of your responsibilities at your job, your home should be a place to relax.
(Your home--the subject of the main clause--is not relieved of your responsibilities.)
possible revision:
Relieved of your responsibilities at your job, you should be able to relax at home.
possible revision:
They failed the experiment, not having studied the lab manual carefully.
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They often have an -ing word (gerund) or a to+verb (infinitive) phrase near the start of the
sentence.
Squinting modifiers:
Related to dangling modifiers, squinting modifiers occur when the word modified is not clear
or could be more than one word. These problems can usually be solved by rearranging the
elements already present in the sentence.
squinting modifier:
The mystery has been solved after ten years of the missing portrait.
possible revisions:
After ten years, the mystery of the missing portrait has been
solved.
-or-
The mystery of the missing portrait has been solved after ten
years.
STRATEGIES FOR REVISING DANGLING MODIFIERS
1. Name the appropriate or logical doer of the action as the subject of the main clause:
dangling Having arrived late for practice, a written excuse was needed.
modifier: Who arrived late? This sentence says that the written excuse arrived late. To revise,
decide who actually arrived late.
possible Having arrived late for practice, the captian of the team needed a written
revision: excuse.
The main clause now names the person (the captain) who did the action in the
modifying phrase (arrived late).
2. Change the phrase that dangles into a complete introductory clause by naming the doer of
the action in that clause:
dangling Without knowing his name, it was difficult to introduce him.
modifier: Who didn't know his name? This sentence says that "it" didn't know his name. To
revise, decide who was trying to introduce him.
possible Because Maria did not know his name, it was difficult to introduce him.
revision: The phrase is now a complete introductory clause; it does not modify any other part of
the sentence, so is not considered "dangling."
3. Combine the phrase and main clause into one:
dangling To improve his results, the experiment was done again.
modifier: Who wanted to improve results? This sentence says that the experiment was trying to
improve its own results. To revise, combine the phrase and the main clause into one
sentence.
possible
He improved his results by doing the experiment again.
revision:
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SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
Fragments are incomplete sentences.
Usually, fragments are pieces of sentences that have become disconnected from the main clause.
One of the easiest ways to correct them is to remove the period between the fragment and the
main clause. Other kinds of punctuation may be needed for the newly combined sentence.
Below are some examples with the fragments shown in red. Punctuation and/or words added
to make corrections are highlighted in blue. Notice that the fragment is frequently a dependent
clause or long phrase that follows the main clause.
The current city policy on housing is Because the current city policy on
incomplete as it stands. Which is why housing is incomplete as it stands, we
we believe the proposed believe the proposed amendments
amendments should be passed. should be passed.
You may have noticed that newspaper and magazine journalists often use a dependent clause as
a separate sentence when it follows clearly from the preceding main clause, as in the last
example above. This is a conventional journalistic practice, often used for emphasis. For
technical writing and other more formal writing situations, however, it's a good idea to avoid
such journalistic fragment sentences.
Some fragments are not clearly pieces of sentences that have been left unattached to the
main clause; they are written as main clauses but lack a subject or main verb.†
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Fragment Possible Revisions
(incomplete main clause)
No main verb: Appositive:
A story with deep thoughts and Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," a
emotions. story with deep thoughts and
emotions, has impressed critics for
decades.
Direct object:
She told a story with deep thoughts
and emotions.
Toys of all kinds thrown Complete verb:
everywhere. Toys of all kinds were thrown
everywhere.
Direct object:
They found toys of all kinds thrown
everywhere.
A record of accomplishment Direct object:
beginning when you were first I've noticed a record of
hired. accomplishment beginning when
you were first hired.
Main verb:
A record of accomplishment began
when you were first hired.
These last three examples of fragments with no subjects are also known as mixed constructions,
that is, sentences constructed out of mixed parts. They start one way (often with a long
prepositional phrase) but end with a regular predicate. Usually the object of the preposition
38
(often a gerund, as in the last two examples) is intended as the subject of the sentence, so
removing the preposition at the beginning is usually the easiest way to edit such errors.
General guideline: Do not shift from one tense to another if the time frame for each action or
state is the same.
Examples:
The ocean contains rich minerals that washed down from rivers and streams.
Contains is present tense, referring to a current state; washed down is past, but should be
present (wash down) because the minerals are currently continuing to wash down.
Corrected: The ocean contains rich minerals that wash down from rivers and streams.
About noon the sky darkened, a breeze sprang up, and a low rumble announces the approaching
storm.
Darkened and sprang up are past tense verbs; announces is present but should be past
(announced) to maintain consistency within the time frame.
Corrected: About noon the sky darkened, a breeze sprang up, and a low rumble announced the
approaching storm.
Yesterday we had walked to school but later rode the bus home.
Had walked is past perfect tense but should be past to maintain consistency within the
time frame (yesterday); rode is past, referring to an action completed before the current
time frame.
Corrected: Yesterday we walked to school but later rode the bus home.
General guideline:
Do shift tense to indicate a change in time frame from one action or state to another.
Examples:
The children love their new tree house, which they built themselves.
Love is present tense, referring to a current state (they still love it now;) built is past,
referring to an action completed before the current time frame (they are not still building
it.)
Before they even began deliberations, many jury members had reached a verdict.
Began is past tense, referring to an action completed before the current time frame; had
reached is past perfect, referring to action from a time frame before that of another past
event (the action of reaching was completed before the action of beginning.)
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Workers are installing extra loudspeakers because the music in tonight's concert will need
amplification.
Are installing is present progressive, referring to an ongoing action in the current time
frame (the workers are still installing, and have not finished;) will need is future,
referring to action expected to begin after the current time frame (the concert will start in
the future, and that's when it will need amplification.)
CONTROLLING SHIFTS IN A PARAGRAPH OR EXTENDED DISCOURSE
General guideline:
Establish a primary tense for the main discourse, and use occasional shifts to other tenses to
indicate changes in time frame.
Hints:
Rely on past tense to narrate events and to refer to an author or an author's ideas as historical
entities (biographical information about a historical figure or narration of developments in an
author's ideas over time).
Use present tense to state facts, to refer to perpetual or habitual actions, and to discuss your
own ideas or those expressed by an author in a particular work. Also use present tense to
describe action in a literary work, movie, or other fictional narrative. Occasionally, for dramatic
effect, you may wish to narrate an event in present tense as though it were happening now. If
you do, use present tense consistently throughout the narrative, making shifts only where
appropriate.
Future action may be expressed in a variety of ways, including the use of will, shall, is going to,
are about to, tomorrow and other adverbs of time, and a wide range of contextual cues.
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This narrative style might be used to describe a scene from a novel, movie, or play, since action
in fictional narratives is conventionally treated as always present. For example, we refer to the
scene in Hamlet in which the prince first speaks (present) to the ghost of his dead father or the
final scene in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, which takes place (present) the day after Mookie
has smashed (present perfect) the pizzeria window. If the example narrative above were a scene
in a play, movie, or novel, it might appear as follows.
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GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR USE OF PERFECT TENSES
In general the use of perfect tenses is determined by their relationship to the tense of the
primary narration.
If the primary narration is in simple past, then action initiated before the time frame of
the primary narration is described in past perfect.
If the primary narration is in simple present, then action initiated before the time frame
of the primary narration is described in present perfect.
If the primary narration is in simple future, then action initiated before the time frame of
the primary narration is described in future perfect.
Past primary narration corresponds to Past Perfect (had + past participle) for earlier time
frames Present primary narration corresponds to Present Perfect (has or have + past participle)
for earlier time frames
Future primary narration corresponds to Future Perfect (will have + past participle) for earlier
time frames
The present perfect is also used to narrate action that began in real life in the past but is not
completed, that is, may continue or may be repeated in the present or future. For example: "I
have run in four marathons" (implication: "so far... I may run in others"). This usage is distinct
from the simple past, which is used for action that was completed in the past without possible
continuation or repetition in the present or future. For example: "Before injuring my leg, I ran in
four marathons" (implication: "My injury prevents me from running in any more marathons").
Time-orienting words and phrases like before, after, by the time, and others--when used to
relate two or more actions in time--can be good indicators of the need for a perfect-tense verb in
a sentence.
By the time the Senator finished (past) his speech, the audience had lost (past perfect) interest.
By the time the Senator finishes (present: habitual action) his speech, the audience has lost
(present perfect) interest.
By the time the Senator finishes (present: suggesting future time) his speech, the audience will
have lost (future perfect) interest. After everyone had finished (past perfect) the main course,
we offered (past) our guests dessert.
After everyone has finished (present perfect) the main course, we offer (present: habitual
action) our guests dessert.
After everyone has finished (present perfect) the main course, we will offer (future: specific one-
time action) our guests dessert.
Long before the sun rose (past), the birds had arrived (past perfect) at the feeder.
Long before the sun rises (present: habitual action), the birds have arrived (present perfect) at
the feeder.
Long before the sun rises (present: suggesting future time), the birds will have arrived (future
perfect) at the feeder.
SAMPLE PARAGRAPHS
The main tense in this first sample is past. Tense shifts are inappropriate and are indicated in
bold.
The gravel crunched and spattered beneath the wheels of the bus as it swung into the station.
Outside the window, shadowy figures peered at the bus through the darkness. Somewhere in
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the crowd, two, maybe three, people were waiting for me: a woman, her son, and possibly her
husband. I could not prevent my imagination from churning out a picture of them, the town,
and the place I will soon call home. Hesitating a moment, I rise from my seat, these images
flashing through my mind. (adapted from a narrative)
Inappropriate shifts from past to present, such as those that appear in the above paragraph, are
sometimes hard to resist. The writer becomes drawn into the narrative and begins to relive the
event as an ongoing experience. The inconsistency should be avoided, however. In the sample,
will should be would, and rise should be rose.
The main tense in this second sample is present. Tense shifts--all appropriate--are indicated in
bold.
A dragonfly rests on a branch overhanging a small stream this July morning. It is newly
emerged from brown nymphal skin. As a nymph, it crept over the rocks of the stream bottom,
feeding first on protozoa and mites, then, as it grew larger, on the young of other aquatic
insects. Now an adult, it will feed on flying insects and eventually will mate. The mature
dragonfly is completely transformed from the drab creature that once blended with underwater
sticks and leaves. Its head, thorax, and abdomen glitter; its wings are iridescent in the sunlight.
(adapted from an article in the magazine Wilderness)
This writer uses the present tense to describe the appearance of a dragonfly on a particular July
morning. However, both past and future tenses are called for when she refers to its previous
actions and to its predictable activity in the future.
WORD CHOICE
WHENEVER POSSIBLE, USE A SHORTER, SIMPLER WORD
You can use a thesaurus to jog your memory when you are trying to come up with a better
synonym, but never use a word with which you are not already familiar. Words often have
connotations and nuances of meaning that you can appreciate only after having seen them in
context, so you are taking a great risk if you use a word that you do not know well.
Even if you do feel comfortable with more complex vocabulary, you should use the simpler
synonym if that captures your meaning just as well. For example, instead of "ameliorated the
situation," you could just as easily state "improved the situation." On the other hand, a word
such as "exasperated" is more intense than a synonym like "frustrated," and so you should use it
if that is the sense you are trying to convey.
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substances. Good writers stick to concrete nouns that the reader can grasp, and even more
importantly, vivid verbs that are the lifeblood of active, engaging language.
Before: I ran quickly to the board where the results would be posted, with many curious people
standing around waiting anxiously to see their scores.
After: I rushed to the board to find people crowded around muttering prayers to themselves as
they awaited the deanís arrival with their score results.
The phrase "ran quickly" has become the more succinct and punchy "rushed." Instead of "many
curious people standing around," we have substituted "people crowded around muttering
prayers to themselves." Thus we gain a more vivid verb in "crowded" and a concrete image of
people muttering prayers instead of the abstract adjective "curious" and the clunky adverb
"anxiously." In focusing on nouns and verbs, we have succeeded in showing instead of telling.
AVOID REPETITION
Do not use words twice in close proximity, and avoid using the same words regularly
throughout an essay. The problem usually comes in overusing the same noun that is central to
your topic. Although precision is important when you are describing the details of experiences,
you can get away with synonyms when writing more broadly about themes and topics.
PUNCTUATION
When we talk we pause, wave our hands about, roll out eyes to let people know what meaning
we intend. When we write, however, we can't rely on such hints. So in order to give readers
clues about how to interpret the text we use punctuation.
END STOPS
These are used to mark the end of a sentence:
Period (.) at the end of statements, after abbreviations, in decimals, and in dollars and
cents
Question mark (?) after direct questions (How are you?) but not after indirect questions
(He asked me how you were.)
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Exclamation mark (!) is used at the end of an exclamation or a vigorously stressed
sentence; often overused
OTHER MARKS
Quotation Marks (" ") are used to enclose speech in conversation and words or
statements quoted from other sources
Apostrophe (') is used in contractions (words made up of two words pushed together:
isn't); they are used to show possession (judge's decision)
Ellipses (...)are used when you leave words out; for example, in quotations when you
want to quote only part of what someone has said. They are also used to show a thought
has trailed off...
Brackets ([ ]) are used to enclose words inside a quotation; they indicate that the words
enclosed are the writer's own words and not the words used in the source. They are also
used when you have parentheses within parentheses
Slash (/) most commonly used to indicate two possible words can be used in a sentence
(and/or)
Asterix (*) / Dagger (†) are used to signal further explanation in either a foot note or an
endnote
Most questions about punctuation arise when you have a choice of one mark or another, or
perhaps of using no mark at all.
There are no precise rules about punctuation (contrary to what you might have heard in school)
—there is some general advice, but you will find different practices in books, magazines, and
newspapers. The general practice, today, is to keep punctuation use relatively light.
Nobody remembers how to use all punctuation marks all the time. People who write a lot
become familiar with certain punctuation marks, especially the common ones such as periods,
question marks, and commas. They often have to look up how to use brackets, colons,
apostrophes, dashes, even semi-colons.
Much of the time, punctuation is a matter of common sense: use the marks to make the sentence
should closest to the way you speak.
THE COMMA
The comma was designed to help readers. Without it, sentence parts collide into one another
unexpectedly, causing ambiguity for the reader.
You should use a comma in the following situations:
Before a coordinating conjunction joining independent clauses
After an introductory word group
Between items in a series
Between coordinate adjectives
To set off a nonrestrictive element
To set off transitional and parenthetical expressions, absolute phrases, and
contrasted elements
To set off nouns of direct address, the words "yes" and "no", interrogative tags,
and mild interjections
To set off direct quotations introduced with expressions such as "he said"
With dates, addresses, titles
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Don't use a comma:
Between compound elements that are not independent clauses
To separate a verb from its subject
Between cumulative adjectives
To set of restrictive elements
After a coordinating conjunction
After "such as" or "like"
Before "than"
Before a parenthesis
To set off an indirect (reported) quotation
With a question mark or an exclamation point
THE APOSTROPHE
The apostrophe has three uses:
to form possessives of nouns
to show the omission of letters
to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters
Apostrophes are NOT used for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals, including acronyms.
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Contractions are common in speaking and in informal writing. To use an apostrophe to create a
contraction, place an apostrophe where the omitted letter(s) would go. Here are some examples:
don't = do not
I'm = I am
he'll = he will
who's = who is
shouldn't = should not
didn't = did not
could've = could have (NOT "could of"!)
'60 = 1960
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If you put in too many apostrophes, check every apostrophe to see if you can justify it
with a rule for using apostrophes.
QUOTATION MARKS
QUOTING PROSE
Direct quotations are another person's exact words--either spoken or in print--incorporated into
your own writing.
Use a set of quotation marks to enclose each direct quotation included in your writing.
Use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of a whole sentence. Do not
use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of part of a sentence.
If the quotation is interrupted and then continues in your sentence, do not capitalize the
second part of the quotation.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen, owners of a 300-acre farm, said, "We refuse to use that pesticide because it might
pollute the nearby wells."
Mr. and Mrs. Allen stated that they "refuse to use that pesticide" because of possible water pollution.
"He likes to talk about football," she said, "especially when the Super Bowl is coming up."
Indirect quotations are not exact words but rather rephrasings or summaries of another
person's words. Do not use quotation marks for indirect quotations.
According to their statement to the local papers, the Allens refuse to use pesticide because of potential
water pollution.
Below are some further explanations and examples of how to integrate quoted prose into your
own writing.
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BLOCK QUOTATIONS
A quotation that extends more than four typed lines on a page should be indented one inch
from the left margin (the equivalent of two half-inch paragraph indentations). Maintain double
spacing as in the main text, and do not use quotation marks for the block quotation.
QUOTING POETRY
SHORT QUOTATIONS
When you quote a single line of poetry, write it like any other short quotation. Two lines can be
run into your text with a slash mark to indicate the end of the first line. Use quotation marks.
In his poem "Mending Wall," Robert Frost writes: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall, /
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it."
LONG QUOTATIONS
If the quotation is three lines or longer, set it off like a block quotation (see above). Some writers
prefer to set off two-line verse quotations also, for emphasis. Quote the poem line by line as it
appears on the original page, and do not use quotation marks. Indent one inch from the left
margin.
In his poem "Mending Wall," Robert Frost questions the building of barriers and walls:
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
WRITING DIALOGUE
Write each person's spoken words, however brief, as a separate paragraph. Use commas to set
off dialogue tags such as "she said" or "he explained." Closely related narrative prose can be
included in a paragraph with dialogue. If one person's speech goes on for more than one
paragraph, use quotation marks to open the speech and at the beginning--but not the end--of
each new paragraph in the speech. To close the speech, use quotation marks at the end of the
final paragraph.
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QUOTATION MARKS FOR WORDS
Use quotation marks to indicate words used ironically, with reservations, or in some unusual
way.
The great march of "progress" has left millions impoverished and hungry.
For words used as words themselves or for technical or unfamiliar terms used for the first time
(and defined), use italics.
The English word nuance comes from a Middle French word meaning "shades of color."
Put commas and periods within closing quotation marks, except when a parenthetical reference
follows the quotation.
He said, "I may forget your name, but I never remember a face."
History is stained with blood spilled in the name of "civilization."
Mullen, criticizing the apparent inaction, writes, "Donahue's policy was to do nothing"
Put a dash, question mark, or exclamation point within closing quotation marks when the
punctuation applies to the quotation itself and outside when it applies to the whole sentence.
Philip asked, "Do you need this book?"
Does Dr. Lim always say to her students, "You must work harder"?
Sharon shouted enthusiastically, "We won! We won!"
I can't believe you actually like that song, "If You Wanna Be My Lover"!
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SPELLING
Standardized spelling is a convenience for reminding readers of the words they know. The chief
reason for conventional spelling is the fact that the majority of people consider it a sign of
literacy and even social respectability! People take for granted that the spelling of educated
people will be conventional; even people who are careless about their own spelling are quick to
detect and condemn misspelled words in the writing of others.
If you're one of those whose spelling is unconventional, now is a good time to analyze your
common erros and working to eradicate them. A spell checker helps but it isn't infallable. You
have to have a sense to how a word is spelled to make sure the spell checker has inferred the
word you intend.
What makes spelling in English difficult is the fact that we have only 26 letters to represent ~80
sounds. Therefore the same letter or letter combination may represent a variety of sounds
a as in aha, fare, hat, many, lay, far, was, idea...
ou as in though, bough, enough, cough, rough, through...
The converse is also true—one sound may be represented in a variety of ways:
bee, believe, precede, sea, receive...
In addition, a number of words are written with letters that are not pronounced, and others
(homophones) sound alike but are spelled differently because they have different meanings.
These inconsistencies are the result of how English has evolved—but that doesn't make them
easier to remember. Absolute correctness in spelling is impossible to achieve—the goal is to
develop a sense of what are the probabilities that a given word is spelled a particular way.
STYLE
Style means all kinds o' things.
At its grandest, it means everything about your way of presenting yourself in words, including
grace, clarity, and a thousand undefinable qualities that separate good writing from bad. At its
narrowest, it includes mechanics such as spelling, punctuation, usage, and grammar.
Questions about style have no definitive answers, only competing standards used in different
places. There are differences in spelling and punctuation in various countries. In fact, each
publishing house develops what it refers to as "house style"—the choices about (mostly minor)
matters that it sets on its own. Newspaper publishers, for instance, often use different rules than
book publishers do. It's not a question of which is "right" or "wrong"; you need to learn to suit
your mechanics to the forum for which you're writing.
Be aware that there are a good many differences within written language, just as there are in
spoken English. Words and constructions vary a good deal in what we read. It's important to
become aware of the "standards" of usage expected of a proficient technical writer; to become
sensitive to the style demands of the typical genres used in technical writing.
The best way to sensitize yourself to style is to read widely the kinds of material you find
yourself having to write so that you develop a feel for what is acceptable.
http://www.lupinworks.com/roche/pages/conventions.php
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