Rules of Writing

The quality of scientific writing would be enhanced enormously if only scientists would learn to adhere more carefully to seven easy rules. These rules can be illustrated by applying them to a simple declarative sentence such as:    Modern Minnesota barns have roofs.

1. Every sentence should begin with a passive verb:
   There are modern Minnesota barns which have roofs.


2. The verb "to have" should always be replaced by the verb "to be characterized by":
   There are modern Minnesota barns which are characterized by roofs.


3. Every sentence should begin with a conjunction; "and", "but", and "yet" are quite acceptable, but "however" is preferred:
   However, there are modern Minnesota barns which are characterized by roofs.


4. Terms such as "occur in", "are located", and "presence of" should be used as often as possible:
   However, there are modern barns located in the state of Minnesota which are characterized by the presence of roofs.


5. The noun "time" should never be used without the prefix, "period of":
   However, there are barns located in the state of Minnesota in the modern period of time which are characterized by the presence of roofs.


6. Important points should always be emphasized:
   However, the attention of the reader is called to the fact that it is important to note that there are barns located in the state of Minnesota in the modern period of time which are characterized by the presence of roofs.


7. Every scientist should use such terms as "spatial", "factors", and "environment" as often as possible, to demonstrate that he really is a scientist, and he should also use such terms as "socioeconomic" and "perception" to show quite clearly that he is a behavioral and social scientist, but such old-fashioned terms as "parameter" should be avoided like the plague:
   However, the attention of the reader is called to the fact that it is important to note that there are barns spatially located in the socioeconomic environment of the state of Minnesota in the modern period of time which are perceived to be characterized by the spatial presence of roofs.

The improvement is obvious. A serious scientist, of course, would replace such ridiculously simple and patently unscientific terms as "barn" and "roof" by a vastly more impressive and scientific terminology.


Back to Owl Editing

Avoid Sexist Language

To avoid sexist language that favors one gender, use words that are gender-neutral.

According to Linda Elizabeth Alexander, biased language can alienate any potential reader. If you alienate your readers, you lose credibility. Without their faith in your words, you have lost your audience and cannot make your argument. Therefore, avoiding sexism in your writing benefits everyone. Here are some tips for avoiding common mistakes regarding sexist language.

The use of a masculine pronoun (he, him) to refer to both genders is offensive to many people. Also, using terms such as "man" to define people can often be confusing - are you referring only to "men" or to "all people"? The easiest and best way to get around this is to rewrite the sentence in the plural, or avoid using a pronoun altogether.

Example:
Poor: A teacher must communicate clearly with her students.
Better: Teachers must communicate clearly with their students.


Avoid the use of "s/he" as a substitute for a proper pronoun. Although some have proposed the use of "s/he" as a substitute for "he or she," "s/he" is not a word and is awkward to pronounce.

Example:
Poor: The successful lawyer will shepardize all cases cited in a memo. S/he also will avoid quoting from headnotes.
Better: Successful lawyers will shepardize all cases cited in a memo. They also will avoid quoting from headnotes.


Don't assume that a particular job is filled by a particular gender. Female construction workers or female engineers are plentiful, and male nurses and office assistants are common.

Example:
Poor: The executive cannot do his job properly until he understands how.
Better: Executives cannot do their jobs properly until they understand how.


Usually, it's best to talk about "mail carriers" instead of mailmen, "flight attendants" instead of stewardesses, and "police officers" instead of policemen. Nevertheless, certain job titles refer to both men and women ("lineman" for example).

Do not go overboard; however, or become confusing by using awkward terms. Common sense will inform you that "sales associates" will work for sales women and salesmen, and "chair" can be used for forms of "chairman/woman/person."



Exercise. Make the following sentences gender-neutral:
1. The average employee is concerned about the quality of his work.
2. Anyone who wants to sign up for the seminar should bring his ID.
3. See your floor supervisor, and he will explain the new procedure.
4. The chairman started the meeting at 9:00 a.m.


See answers below...





Answers:
1. Average employees are concerned about the quality of their work. [use plural]
2. If you are interested in signing up for the seminar, please bring your ID. [address reader directly]
3. See your floor supervisor, and the supervisor will explain the procedure. [repeat title]
4. The chairperson started the meeting at 9:00 a.m. [use alternative word]



References:
http://www.enursescribe.com/avoidsexist.htm
http://ualr.edu/owl/avoidsexistlanguage.htm
http://www.basic-learning.com
http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/lrw/grinker/LwtaGender_Neutral_Language.htm

Owl Editing

Copyright on the Net

Here are some questions you have to ask before re-using materials that have been sent to you by e-mail:

1. Is the message being sent to you as a personal message? If so, you will in any case have to ask the sender's permission to use it elsewhere, since it is as protected by copyright as a personal letter.
2. If it is a personal message, you need to consider the issue of privacy - you might be violating the sender's right to privacy. Another reason to ask permission.
3. If you are receiving the information on a list, your position may be safer, since the work has already been "broadcast" or "communicated to the public" (most list archives are searchable on the Internet), but I would still make the effort formally to clear the rights before republishing the work in a commercial publication of any kind.
4. Has the sender asserted that the contents of the message (joke, article, etc.) are his/her own work? If not, just because someone else has done the original "borrowing" of copyright material does not save you from the charge of abetting the offence by disseminating it further.
5. If the sender is simply re-sending material picked up elsewhere, you should be very careful. The materials may have been sent to you as a part of a personal communication, but it is quite a different thing if you, in turn, send it further to a list, or onto a website or re-publish it elsewhere. You have no certainty that the sender has cleared the rights for such use, and you should therefore either try to clear them yourself, or ask the sender to secure the clearance.

There is actually quite a body of law that applies to the Internet. Don't believe that you are immune out there or that "it is still vague".


Thanks to Christopher Zielinski of the UK for these comments.

Email Writing

Tip: Make it easy for your email reader to respond with a "yes/no" answer or short response.

For example:
Original: "Let me know what your thoughts are on Harry's proposal."
Better: "Should we adopt Harry's proposal?"


Tip: Save time brainstorming via e-mail.

When an important project needs brainstorming, but the key employees are at different locations, do this:
1. The project leader e-mails an outline of the project .
2. The e-mail should have a routing list.
3. The first employee on the list provides input and e-mails it to the next person.
4. The project leader takes the appropriate action.


(Adapted from "Simple Things You Must Do to Keep Your Job Today.")

Kurt Vonnegut's Tips for Writing Fiction

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Vonnegut qualifies the list by adding that Flannery O'Connor broke all these rules except the first, and that great writers tend to do that.

From his book Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction

Adding Emphasis

Emphasis in text can be added through underlining, italicizing, or using quotation marks. Italics are preferred unless their use would not be sufficiently noticeable.

Emphasis is typically added in the following cases:

• When identifying special words. The identified word is introduced with the phrase "the term" or "the word." e.g., The term "cougar" refers to older women dating younger men.
• When using foreign expressions that are not part of the English language. e.g., Pardone moi, I was not familiar with the rules.
• When identifying a word or phrase that would have been stressed in speech. e.g., The timesheets must be submitted before five o’clock.
• When writing titles of books, magazines, journals, or newspapers. e.g., Have you read "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People?"

Quiz
Add emphasis where needed:
1. The article in the New York Times focused on the state of the current economy.
2. Safety rules absolutely have to be enforced.
3. The word bloke is used in Britain to refer to a man.
4. Dios mio! That was awful.


http://www.basic-learning.com

Paragraphs

A paragraph is a basic unit of writing that unites sentences into meaningful groups. Contrary to what many of us were taught in school about the five-sentence paragraphs, a paragraph can be anywhere from one sentence to half a page long as long as it presents ideas in a unified manner. A strong paragraph should be unified around a central or main idea.

A new paragraph can begin:

• when the topic or an aspect of the topic has been fully discussed; or
• when the focus shifts to a new or different thought (or new time or location).

For example, if you are discussing business meetings scheduled for Monday, start a new paragraph when you switch to the discussion of the meetings on Tuesday.

http://www.basic-learning.com

Avoid a Succession of Loose Sentences

This rule refers especially to loose sentences of a particular type, those consisting of two co-ordinate clauses, the second introduced by a conjunction or relative. Although single sentences of this type may be unexceptionable, a series soon becomes monotonous and tedious.

An unskillful writer will sometimes construct a whole paragraph of sentences of this kind, using as connectives and, but, and less frequently, who, which, when, where, and while, these last in non-restrictive senses.

The third concert of the subscription series was given last evening, and a large audience was in attendance. Mr. Edward Appleton was the soloist, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra furnished the instrumental music. The former showed himself to be an artist of the first rank, while the latter proved itself fully deserving of its high reputation. The interest aroused by the series has been very gratifying to the Committee, and it is planned to give a similar series annually hereafter. The fourth concert will be given on Tuesday, May 10, when an equally attractive program will be presented.

Apart from its triteness and emptiness, the paragraph above is bad because of the structure of its sentences, with their mechanical symmetry and sing-song. Contrast with them the sentences in the paragraphs in any piece of good English prose, as the preface (Before the Curtain) to Vanity Fair.

If the writer finds that he has written a series of sentences of the type described, he should recast enough of them to remove the monotony, replacing them by simple sentences, by sentences of two clauses joined by a semicolon, by periodic sentences of two clauses, by sentences, loose or periodic, of three clauses-whichever best represent the real relations of the thought.

from Weekly Business Writing Tips
http://www.basic-learning.com

How Can I Improve My Writing?

GRAMMARCHECK:
Good question. Here are several suggestions:

1. Read as many different kinds of writing as you can (e.g., newspapers, magazines, novels, short stories, and so forth). Reading other people's writing helps you to learn new ways of putting words and sentences together to make meaning.

2. Write as often as you can. Keep a private journal. Commit to writing at least one letter a week and mailing it to a friend or family member. Write something for fun--a short story, a letter to the editor, a letter to your state representative, a novel, or any other type of writing that you enjoy.

3. Take a writing course at your local community college. You're never too old to learn more about writing.

4. Join a writer's club and share your writing with other writers. Savor their praises, but don't be defensive if you receive negative feedback. Consider your time there as a learning experience.