Writing

Here are some general tips and resources to help improve students’ writing skills.

STEP ONE: THE PLANNING PHASE

Be sure that you understand the topic and questions at hand, and make note of all of the issues that need to be addressed in your writing project. Consult with the person who commissioned the piece (your instructor, your editor, your boss, etc.) to be sure that you understand the issues to be addressed. If you are writing an assignment focused on specific questions or subjects, you will need to answer these questions directly and demonstrate familiarity with the subject matter. Keep in mind the ultimate audience for your writing. Identify all the questions and topics to be addressed, and how you plan to address them, and keep your audience in mind when you evaluate what kind of information you will include. Be sure to gain as full a grasp as possible of the existing literature and available information on your topic. Begin researching and reviewing the information that you will need to answer the main questions at hand. As you gather information, begin to develop a central thesis and supporting assertions help to address the questions at hand. Be sure to anticipate alternative perspectives and possible objections, and be prepared to address them adequately and fairly. Prepare an outline to structure and sequence  your main points, but be prepared to be flexible and ready to alter the structure if necessary at different stages in your writing.

STEP TWO: WRITING YOUR ESSAY

Give your writing the attention it deserves: be comfortable and focused when you are writing. Be sure to block out a fixed amount of time specifically for the writing process so that you are not distracted by the other important things in your life (e.g. family, chores, errands, rest, entertainment, work, hygiene, etc.). Write in places where you are comfortable and undistracted. This could mean writing in the library, your room, your basement, a favorite cafe, with or without headphones, etc. If writing on a computer, be sure to save your work periodically and try to make hard copies periodically, in case something terrible happens. If you have planned well, you will cover all the points necessary to support your thesis, so be sure to refer regularly to your outline. Your introduction should engage your reader and state your main points clearly and promptly. Because your introduction provides a preview of coming attractions, the first thing your reader sees (the introduction) should be the last thing you write! That way you can describe exactly what follows in the coming pages. The body of your work should develop and support your thesis. In composing the body, each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence, and the other information in that paragraph should develop that topic by presenting supporting facts, examples, or assertions. Be sure to try to make smooth transitions between ideas, so that each sentence and paragraph should relate to those immediately before and immediately after. Your body should build to a conclusion that reiterates your thesis and explains how you supported it in the preceding pages. You may wish to point out additional questions raised in the process and provide ideas about how those might be addressed in the future. While writing, remember that you will have to do much editing in the future. When writing your first draft, stick to the point and don’t get too distracted by the details. The point is to make your point completely and coherently as you can so that you can enhance later.

STEP THREE: EDITTING AND REVISING YOUR ESSAY

Since no written work is ever perfect, good writers produce a series of drafts to refine a piece as much as possible. This means editing your work not just once, but several times. Here are some tips for editing and revising your work: Check your own work carefully: • You can revise as you go or wait until you have a complete draft. Just be sure to keep copies of older drafts in case you need to go back for information that you might cut from subsequent drafts. • Read carefully for two types of problems: 1.) technical or mechanical errors (spelling, grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, etc.) and 2.) weaknesses in the substance and logic of your arguments (effective presentation, organization, coherence, factual accuracy, etc.).

• Technical: It is difficult to check for mechanical errors by yourself. One good way to check for such errors is to read your work aloud at a moderate pace. You may want to also try reading to a sympathetic audience (e.g. a patient friend, mother, etc.). Also, don’t rely on a computerized spell-checker as your soul (sole) means of correction!

• Substantive: An argument is logically valid when its conclusion (thesis) is necessitated by its claims (e.g. All dogs are purple. Jo-jo is a dog. Conclusion: Therefore, Jo-jo is purple.). An argument is logically sound when it is both valid and factually accurate (e.g., All living dogs eat. Jo-jo is a living dog. Conclusion: Therefore, Jo-jo eats.). Remember an argument may be factually accurate, but not logically valid (e.g., All living dogs eat. Jo-jo eats. Conclusion: Therefore, Jo-jo is a living dog.).

Although you worked hard to come up with good ideas and examples, be brave and eliminate irrelevant material, arguments, and examples which do not support your thesis. For best results, don’t try to read from a computer screen, print out your work on scrap paper and read with pencil in hand to make notes and corrections. Pay special attention to the conclusion; make sure that it strongly reasserts your thesis and provides a good summary of the essay as a whole. Consult with your peers and instructors about your work and ask them for advice, editing assistance, and critiques. When asking someone to read your work, be sure to specify what aspects to focus on and what kind of feedback you want. Sometimes you may want help with mechanical problems, other times you may want to test the strength of your thesis, other times you may want encouragement on things you’ve done well, etc. Always remember you are not your work, so do not take criticisms of your work personally.

STEP FOUR: EVALUATING WRITTEN WORK

Evaluating written work is difficult, time consuming, and often very subjective. Since different audiences (e.g. employers, activists, instructors) have different priorities, it is important to be sure of the expectations your reader will have about your work. Grades for written work in a course are typically given on the basis of whether your essay has met certain expectations, both technical and substantive. Writing which is logical and factually accurate can be weakened by poor mechanical presentation, and vice versa. When discussing another person’s evaluation of your work, try to figure out what specific criticisms they had. Did your writing actually address the reader’s concerns? If so, explain exactly how this was done. If not, think about how you can do so in the established context of the essay, or by adding new sections or supporting evidence. Keep in mind that –even if you have addressed an issue– the way that information is presented can weaken your essay, thesis, or argument! Since no written work is ever perfect, always ask your editor, critic, or grader for suggestions on how to strengthen your paper or writing skills. Think about strategies for following their suggestions, such as reading more challenging literature in your spare time, expanding your vocabulary by looking up unfamiliar words, keeping a journal, etc. Again, remember that criticisms of your work are not personal attacks on you. Great people can write bad work. Great work is the product of perseverance.