Here are a few tips and rules for writing. I found these after thoroughly cleaning my room and cleaning out my notebooks from the past school year. They are from my English and Creative Writing classes.
Writing Conventions
Conventions include spelling, punctuation, grammar, paragraphing, and capitalization – all the little details that determine how “correct” your text is. When everything else is done, you must review your text with a proofreader’s eye, checking everything and making changes as needed. It isn’t easy spotting your own mistakes. You can skip right over them if you’re not careful. Besides, you may feel it’s the ideas and voice of the piece that count most. You’re right. But mistakes come between your reader and the meaning of your work. They get in the way and keep the reader from understanding your message. They also irritate some readers. Good editing polishes your work, sets it off, and showcases it so that the ideas and voice can be appreciated. But editing is a skill in itself – a little different from writing. To be an editor of your own work, you must practice. Teach yourself to read slowly, and with care. Be honest; dare to see what is. Use plenty of resources to help you – a dictionary is a must. A good handbook is helpful, too.
Voice
The voice is you coming through your writing. It’s what gives your writing personality, flavor – a sound all its own. Only you can give your writing this special touch, for no one else sees the world just as your do. But to give your voice power, your must be very honest. You must say what YOU truly feel and think – not what you think someone else might want to hear. This takes courage. You must write from the inside out – from that part of yourself that’s in touch with your feelings. This means you need to know yourself, listen to yourself, and trust those thoughts and feelings. You need to think of your reader, too. Write right to that person, as if you were having a conversation. Don’t try to impress the reader; just be yourself. If you sound irritated or bored, that will probably rub off on the reader, too. Write with confidence – as if you know what you’re talking about and as if you find it fascinating. Your enthusiasm will be contagious.
Organization
The organization of your paper is the inside structure – like the frame of a house. Without it, ideas collapse or crash into each other. Organization gives your writing direction and purpose. You need to begin with a strong lead – one that hooks the reader right off. Then, build to your most important point (or the most important moment of your story) by tossing your reader interesting details that work like stepping stones – each one getting the reader a little closer to the “center” of your paper. Think about order. Ideas shouldn’t dive bomb the reader out of the blue; they should seem to come at the right time. Everything should fit, with a strong connecting line back to the main idea. Don’t get bogged down in trivial details (what color the hero’s socks were, or whether she had milk on her cereal). Keep it moving. Don’t give away the whole game plan at once either. If you’re writing a mystery, keep the reader guessing for a while. It’s more fun that way. When you’ve said it all, stop – but make your last sentence count. Leave the reader with something to think about.
Ideas and Content
Ideas and content are what you have to say, your message. If you can choose your own topic, pick something that is important to you, and that you know a lot about. Keep it small. If your topic is too big (like “Animals of Africa”) you’ll wind up trying to tell too much and not having time or space to tell anything very interesting. Skinny it down (“Why Lions Hunt In Pairs”) so you can handle it. Put in the kinds of details that show you pay attention to the world and notice things. Don’t tell the reader what he/she already knows. Don’t say, “Cooking in a restaurant can be hard work.” Even people who don’t cook can figure that out. Instead, tell people what goes on in the kitchen when an angry customer sends food back. Surprise you reader with what you know. Make it clear. Avoid general statements: “Our trip was exciting.” Exciting how? Instead, say, “I chased two hungry black bears away from our camping supplies.” Be specific.
Writing Errors
Status Marking
Nonstandard verb forms in past or past participle: brung instead of brought; had went instead of had gone
Lack of subject-verb agreement: We was instead of We were;Jones don’t think it’s acceptable instead of Jones doesn’t think it’s acceptable
Double negatives
Objective pronoun as subject: Him and Richard were the last ones hired.
Very serious
Sentence fragments
Run-on sentences
Noncapitalization of proper nouns
would of instead of would have
Lack of subject-verb agreement (non-status marking)
Insertion of a comma between the verb and its compliment
Nonparallelism
Faulty adverb forms: He treats his men bad.
Use of transitive verb set for intransitive sit
Serious
Predication errors: The policy intimidates hiring.
Dangling modifiers
I as an objective pronoun
Lack of commas to set off interrupters like however
Lack of commas in a series
Tense switching
Use of a plural modifier with a singular noun: These kind of errors
Moderately Serious
Lack of a possessive form before a gerund
Lack of commas to set off an appositive
Inappropriate use of quotation marks
Lack of subjunctive mood
Writing That is her across the street
Use of whoever instead of whomever
Use of the construction The situation is...when
Failure to distinguish between among and between
Comma splices
Minor or unimportant
Use of a qualifier before unique: That is the most unique city
Writing different than instead of different from
Use of a singular verb with data
Use of a colon after a linking verb: Three causes of inflamation are:
Omission of the apostrophe in the contraction it’s
SHOWING vs. Telling
Telling is the use of broad generalizations. By contrast, showing enlivens writing through the use of words, phrases, and sentences which create distinct and colorful scenes in the reader’s mind. A writer (YOU) should be aware of the value of sensory detail. When you describe something, you must recreate a scene for the reader, painting a picture with words. An effective writer can appeal to all of the reader’s five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Sensory language combined with emotion can cause readers to experience vicariously the author’s description.
Below is an example of a general statement that would not provide enough information for the reader to get a complete picture of the author’s intent. This is a TELLING sentence.
She is so cute.
The above sentence leaves you wondering: Who is cute? Is she young or old? Why is she cute? What exactly does she look like? What is it that makes her cute? Is she doing something that makes her cute? Where is she?
This is the same sentence re-written to be a SHOWING sentence:
The petite four year old girl with “Cindy Brady” pig tails bobbed across the stage in her ping ruffled skirt-suddenly she stopped in the center...turned her head, stuck her tongue out at the little boy behind her and then flounced off.
With use of details that allow the reader to form a mental picture in their mind, or experience the action as it is being described an author draws the reader into his/her work and makes the words come alive.
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