The Fundamentals of Academic Writing

Martin Paterson, D.Phil. (York), M.A. (U.E.A.)

The Fundamentals of Academic Writing, which I initially developed while introducing English for
Academic Purposes at the new University of Cyprus during the 1990s, now comprises, in a much revised
and enhanced form, the 2nd section of my online self-study course, Effective Academic Communication.
The 1st section of which, entitled “The Written and The Spoken”, lays the foundations by exploring how
the syntactic and communicative conventions of writing differ utterly from those of speech, reflecting the
profound phenomenological differences between listening and reading. I demonstrate how you should
structure your speaking and writing in entirely opposite ways in order to engage listeners and readers.
Once this has been grasped, the skills necessary to write in a concise, coherent and clear style can be
nurtured. Because the course concentrates on the process, not the content, of academic speaking and
writing, the skills developed can be applied to any assignment in any context. By the time you have
worked through the course, your ability to develop and communicate ideas will have been transformed.
Your grades should improve, and, more importantly, you will understand the fundamentals of good
writing and speaking and will have learned techniques that will enable you to continue improving.

Principles
Learning to write well is a long process. There are no quick fixes. Prolonged practice is the only method.
However, practice is only effective when it is based on a thorough knowledge of the principles and
techniques of good writing. This course provides such a basis. It should be worked through methodically,
as each stage builds upon the last. When you have finished, you will already be writing better and, more
importantly, you will understand the fundamentals of good writing and will have learned techniques that
will enable you to continue improving.

The Writing Process

The quality of a text depends greatly on the time that is spent writing it. The standards applied to an essay
written during a 45-minute examination are very different from those applied to an assignment that the
student has had a month to work on. Apart from reading source material and checking facts, what should
be done in the extra time to make the assignment better than the exam essay? The simple answer is
redrafting, which is the essential basis of good writing. Much of this course practises techniques to make
a second draft better than a first draft, and then a third better than a second. It then becomes merely a
question of time: can you do a tenth, say, before the deadline, or will the ninth be the final draft?
Naturally, technological advances have made the task of redrafting much easier, and blurred the
distinctions between drafts.

From First Draft to Final Draft

Final drafts are never perfect; they simply mark the point when time or motivation ran out. First drafts, on
the other hand, are always bad. Indeed, the only good thing about a first draft is that it is necessary before
you can write a second draft. Never let this fact depress or discourage you. It should liberate you. To write
effectively you should relax and allow the first draft to flow, which if it happens will produce a text
having communicative features of spoken discourse. Because the whole point of my course is to teach
you how to convert spoken discourse into written discourse, and vice versa, you should not pay too much
attention to the organisation or style of a first draft, because, if you did, you would stop writing and
perhaps endure a mental crisis. Remember that the first draft is not supposed to be good, except as a basis
for a second draft. Relax and scribble, you will be able to improve it later, but only if you have written it
in the first place! Indeed, how to transform a first draft into a second draft is the main focus of my
approach.

The entire course is available here:

https://www.udemy.com/course/effective-academic-
communication/?referralCode=57F6E17D67CC8D22F710