Writing Guide for Students

All students need to write well if they are to succeed in this program.

Or is it better written as "To succeed in this program, all students need to write well." 

Or should it be that students "...need to be able to write well."

   The point is that writing can be a frustrating and arduous process, but  graduate students are, nevertheless, expected to display some proficiency in it. Unfortunately, many students find that their writing skills have atrophied since they were in college. Many have not written anything longer than a  letter or a Power Point slide show in that time, and are somewhat intimidated by the prospect of writing 10 to 20 page papers. The resources presented here are intended to help new students to perfect their writing skills. However, it must be pointed out that students need to make the effort to improve on their own.

     Troy University Writing Center: TROY has a site devoted to helping you improve your writing. The most useful part of the site is its handouts page at http://troy.troy.edu/writingcenter/handouts.html. Also, they have links to many other resources at http://troy.troy.edu/writingcenter/links.html.

     A Starting Point: Strunk and White's Elements of Style.   For most of the twentieth century, students have been referred to Strunk and White's Elements of Style. This little book contains the basic rules of  usage and composition. It is currently in its fourth edition and can be had for less than $10 from most booksellers (Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; ISBN: 020530902X). The original (1918) version is currently available online at http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html.  Students should definitely review the Elementary Principles of Composition. 

    Another Starting Point: Purdue's OWL. Purdue University has an excellent Online Writing Laboratory (OWL) that includes information on many aspects of writing.  The OWL has handouts and  hypertext workshops on a variety of subjects. The following links will take you to most relevant of these:

Purdue OWL's Handouts:

Paragraphs

Paragraphing

Strategies for Improving Sentence Clarity

Sentence Variety

Active and Passive Voice

Planning: When you start to write.

Logic in Argumentative Writing

Writing Essay Exams

Hypertext Workshops:

Research Paper Workshop

Evaluating Electronic Sources

Outlining: Organizing ideas and facts in a manner that leads to your conclusion.

Broad Outline: Develop an outline of how you are going to present the argument. List major sections and their topics.

Topic Sentence Outline: Flesh out the broad outline by listing each "point" you want to make in each section, in the order you are going to . Note where you are going to use a Figure or Table. Include section conclusions and the paper’s conclusion.

Editing: Reviewing and developing the content of your paper to more effectively make and present your argument.

Edit the Topic Sentence Outline: Emphasis is on the cogency and strength of the argument.

Is it clear what the thesis is?

Do your section conclusions lead to the paper’s conclusion

Does the content of each section support the section’s conclusion?

Do any sections need more content?

Edit the Rough Draft: Emphasis is on coherence and clarity of the paper’s content.

Read paper aloud. Does it make sense?

Are all major points connected and the relationship between them explicitly stated?

Does the paper flow logically? At each point is it clear where it is going and why?

Do you explicitly state the implication of each major fact, quote, figure or table?

Edit the Final Draft: Emphasis is on the clarity and effectiveness of the writing.

Read paper aloud, backwards.

Make sure you explicitly state the "point" of each para and section.

Make sure you have transitions between sections.

Cut out wordiness and replace passive verbs with active ones.

Replace colloquialisms with more precise statements.

Have someone else read it. (Have them check points in previous section too)

 

Proofreading: Examining paragraph organization, sentence structure, word usage, punctuation and spelling to ensure they clearly and effectively convey your meaning.

Get someone else to look at it. (Gives you a break)

Re-read it, backwards or use a cover to focus on one line at a time.

Figure out what mistakes you make and then search for them.

Skim the paper looking for particular types of mistakes (use search function)

There is no substitute for reading the whole thing.