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Web Essay 9 – tutor comment

November 25, 2009 by Roy Johnson

Student: James Higginson
Course: An Introduction to the Internet


Congratulations on your essay James. It’s a substantial piece of work, and you have done well. I realise that the last few weeks on the course have been tough – and it’s to your credit that you’ve stuck at it.

These are my comments, made as I go through the script. Please bear with me, because I am trying to use the marking software, which is a bit temperamental.

&& – indicates where marks have been gained

** – indicates where marks have been lost

Try to avoid posing your argument in the form of questions. Even if they are answered, they usually have the effect of leading away from the question which has been asked.

Very good that you give full references to all your sources. &&

I liked the definitions of LAN and WAN which you put in as links [which worked well]. This shows your exploiting the potential of HTML. &&

[This is a very small detail] I think the references to your sources might look better as footnotes [with links]. This would leave the web essay itself less ‘cluttered’.

I also liked the fact that you made a well-reasoned attempt to ‘answer the question’ [though I was a little surprised that Donald Davies didn’t get a mention].

Your report/essay is thorough, well-executed, and effective. All the links work, and I liked the way you used the horizontal rule to emphasise the structure.

Your plan is good and shows your clear-thinking skills – &&

Your writing is clear, to-the-point, and ‘objective’ – in just the way which is required for academic work. &&

I am also giving you maximum bonus marks for having emailed Vint Cerf. Even though his reply was too late to go into the web essay, I have seen it in the conference, and I think it is in the spirit of the web that you could add it to your assignment.

You have now completed four essays – which means that there’s only the End of Course Assignment to go. You are heading towards successful completion of the course!



Home
Introduction – What is the Internet? – Internet evolution – Father of the Internet
Assignment resources – Essay plan – Definition of terms – Tutor comment

 

Copyright © James Higginson 2000


Filed Under: How-to guides, Study Skills Tagged With: Internet history, Study skills, Technology, Web essay, Writing skills

What is close reading?

September 14, 2009 by Roy Johnson

a brief guide to advanced reading skills

Close reading – explained

1. Close reading is the most important skill you need for any form of literary studies. It means paying especially close attention to what is printed on the page. It is a much more subtle and complex process than the term might suggest.

2. Close reading means not only reading and understanding the meanings of the individual printed words; it also involves making yourself sensitive to all the nuances and connotations of a language as it is used by skilled writers.

3. This can mean anything from a work’s particular vocabulary, sentence construction, and imagery, to the themes that are being dealt with, the way in which the story is being told, and the view of the world that it offers. It involves almost everything from the smallest linguistic items to the largest issues of literary understanding and judgement.

4. Close reading can be seen as four separate levels of attention which we can bring to the text. Most normal people read without being aware of them, and employ all four simultaneously. The four levels or types of reading become progressively more complex.

  • Linguistic
    You pay especially close attention to the surface linguistic elements of the text – that is, to aspects of vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. You might also note such things as figures of speech or any other features which contribute to the writer’s individual style.
  • Semantic
    You take account at a deeper level of what the words mean – that is, what information they yield up, what meanings they denote and connote.
  • Structural
    You note the possible relationships between words within the text – and this might include items from either the linguistic or semantic types of reading.
  • Cultural
    You note the relationship of any elements of the text to things outside it. These might be other pieces of writing by the same author, or other writings of the same type by different writers. They might be items of social or cultural history, or even other academic disciplines which might seem relevant, such as philosophy or psychology.

5. Close reading is not a skill which can be developed to a sophisticated extent overnight. It requires a lot of practice in the various linguistic and literary disciplines involved – and it requires that you do a lot of reading. The good news is that most people already possess the skills required. They have acquired them automatically through being able to read – even though they haven’t been conscious of doing so.

This is rather like many other things which we learn unconsciously. After all, you don’t need to know the names of your leg muscles in order to walk down the street.


Studying FictionStudying Fiction is an introduction to the basic concepts and technical terms you need when making a study of stories and novels. It shows you how to understand literary analysis by explaining its elements one at a time, then showing them at work in short stories which are reproduced as part of the book. Topics covered include – setting, characters, story, point of view, symbolism, narrators, theme, construction, metaphors, irony, prose style, tone, close reading, and interpretation. The book also contains self-assessment exercises, so you can check your understanding of each topic. It was written by the same author as the guidance notes on this page that you are reading right now.

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6. The four types of reading also represent increasingly complex and sophisticated phases in our scrutiny of the text.

  • Linguistic reading is largely descriptive. We are noting what is in the text and naming its parts for possible use in the next stage of reading.
  • Semantic reading is cognitive. That is, we need to understand what the words are telling us – both at a surface and maybe at an implicit level.
  • Structural reading is analytic. We must assess, examine, sift, and judge a large number of items from within the text in their relationships to each other.
  • Cultural reading is interpretive. We offer judgements on the work in its general relationship to a large body of cultural material outside it.

7. The first and second of these stages are the sorts of activity designated as ‘Beginners’ level; the third takes us to ‘Intermediate’; and the fourth to ‘Advanced’ and beyond.

8. One of the first things you need to acquire for serious literary study is a knowledge of the vocabulary, the technical language, indeed the jargon in which literature is discussed. You need to acquaint yourself with the technical vocabulary of the discipline and then go on to study how its parts work.

9. What follows is a short list of features you might keep in mind whilst reading. They should give you ideas of what to look for. It is just a prompt to help you get under way.


Close reading – Checklist
  • Grammar
    The relationships of the words in sentences
  • Vocabulary
    The author’s choice of individual words
  • Figures of speech
    The rhetorical devices used to give decoration and imaginative expression to literature, such as simile or metaphor
  • Literary devices
    The devices commonly used in literature to give added depth to the work, such as imagery or symbolism
  • Tone
    The author’s attitude to the subject as revealed in the manner of the writing
  • Style
    The author’s particular choice and combination of all these features of writing which creates a recognisable and distinctive manner of writing

Close reading – Example

10. Now here’s an example of close reading in action. The short passage which follows comes from the famous opening to Charles Dickens‘ Bleak House.

11. If you would like to treat this as an interactive exercise, read the passage through a number of times. Make notes, and write down all you can say about what goes to make up its literary ‘quality’. That is, you should scrutinise the passage as closely as possible, name its parts, and say what devices the author is using. Don’t be afraid to list even the most obvious points.

12. If you are not really sure what all this means however, allow yourself a brief glance ahead at the first couple of discussion notes which follow, and then come back to carry on making notes of your own.

13. Don’t worry if you are not sure what name to give to any feature you notice. You will see the technical vocabulary being used in the discussion notes which follow, and this should help you pick up this skill as we go along.

Bleak House

London. Michaelmas Term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall. Implacable November weather. As much mud in the streets, as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill. Smoke lowering down from chimney pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big as full grown snowflakes – gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun.


Close reading

14. This is the sort of writing which many people, asked for their first impressions, would say was very ‘descriptive’. But if you looked at it closely enough you will have seen that it is imaginative rather than descriptive. It doesn’t ‘describe what is there’ – but it invents images and impressions. There is as much “it was as if …” material in the extract as there is anything descriptive. What follows is a close reading of the extract, with comments listed in the order that they appear in the extract.

London
This is an abrupt and astonishingly short ‘sentence’ with which to start a six hundred page novel. In fact technically, it is grammatically incomplete, because it does not have a verb or an object. It somehow implies the meaning ‘The scene is London.’

Sentence construction
In fact each of the first four sentences here are ‘incomplete’ in this sense. Dickens is taking liberties with conventional grammar – and obviously he is writing for a literate and fairly sophisticated readership.

Sentence length
These four sentences vary from one word to forty-three words in length. This helps to create entertaining variation and robust flexibility in his prose style.

Michaelmas Term
There are several names (proper nouns) in these sentences, all signalled by capital letters (London, Michaelmas Term, Lord Chancellor, Lincoln’s Inn Hall, November, Holborn Hill). This helps to create the very credible and realistic world Dickens presents in his fiction. We believe that this is the same London which we could visit today. The names also emphasise the very specific and concrete nature of the world he creates.

Michaelmas Term
This occurs in autumn. It comes from the language of the old universities (Oxford and Cambridge) which is shared by the legal profession and the Church.

Lord Chancellor sitting
Here ‘sitting’ is a present participle. The novel is being told in the present tense at this point, which is rather unusual. The effect is to give vividness and immediacy to the story. We are being persuaded that these events are taking place now.

Implacable
This is an unusual and very strong term to describe the weather. It means ‘that which cannot be appeased’. What it reflects is Dickens’s genius for making almost everything in his writing original, striking, and dramatic.

as if
This is the start of his extended simile comparing the muddy streets with the primeval world.

the waters
There is a slight Biblical echo here, which also fits neatly with the idea of an ancient world he is summoning up.

but newly and wonderful
These are slightly archaic expressions. We might normally expect ‘recently’ and ‘astonishing’ but Dickens is selecting his vocabulary to suit the subject – the prehistoric world. ‘Wonderful’ is being used in its original sense of – ‘something we wonder at’.

forty feet long or so
After the very specific ‘forty feet long’, the addition of ‘or so’ introduces a slightly conversational tone and a casual, almost comic effect.

waddling
This reinforces the humorous manner in which Dickens is presenting this Megalosaurus – and note the breadth of his vocabulary in naming the beast with such scientific precision.

like an elephantine lizard
This is another simile, announced by the word ‘like’. Here is Dickens’s skill with language yet again. He converts a ‘large’ noun (‘elephant’) into an adjective (‘elephantine’) and couples it to something which is usually small (‘lizard’) to describe, very appropriately it seems, his Megalosaurus.

up Holborn Hill
There is a distinct contrast, almost a shock here, in this abrupt transition from an imagined prehistoric world and its monsters to the ‘real’ world of Holborn in London.

lowering
This is another present participle, and an unusual verb. It means ‘to sink, descend, or slope downwards’. It comes from a rather ‘poetic’ verbal register, and it has a softness (there are no sharp or harsh sounds in it) which makes it very suitable for describing the movement of smoke.

soft black drizzle
He is comparing the dense smoke (from coal fires) with another form of particularly depressing atmosphere – a drizzle of rain. Notice how he goes on to elaborate the comparison.

as big as full grown snow flakes
The comparison becomes another simile: ‘as big as’. And then ‘full grown’ almost suggests that the snowflakes are human. This is a device much favoured by Dickens: it is called ‘anthropomorphism’ – attributing human qualities or characteristics to things which are themselves inanimate. Then ‘snowflakes’ is a well-observed comparison for an enlarged flake of soot, because they are of similar size and texture. Notice next how Dickens immediately goes on to play with the notion that whilst soot is black, snowflakes are white.

gone into mourning
This reinforces the anthropomorphism. The inanimate world is being brought to life. And of course ‘mourning’ reinforces the atmospheric gloom he is trying to evoke. It also introduces blackness (the colour of mourning) to explain how these snowflakes (actually flakes of soot) might have changed from white to black.

the death of the sun
This is why the flakes have changed colour. And if the sun has died the light and life it brings to earth have also been extinguished – which reinforces the atmosphere of pre-historic darkness he is creating.

15. We will stop at this point. It would in fact be possible to say even more about the extract if we were to relate it to the novel as a whole – but almost everything listed was accessible even if you were reading the passage for the first time.

16. Literary studies are not conducted in such detail all the time, but it is very important that you try to develop the skill of reading as closely as possible. It really is the foundation on which everything else is based.

17. The next point to make about such close reading is that it becomes easier if you get used to the idea of reading and re-reading. The Russian novelist Vladimir Nabokov (famous for Lolita) once observed that “Curiously enough, one cannot read a book: one can only re-read it”.

18. What he meant by this apparently contradictory remark is that the first time we read a book we are busy absorbing information, and we cannot appreciate all the subtle connexions there may be between its parts – because we don’t yet have the complete picture before us. Only when we read it for a second time (or even better, a third or fourth) are we in a position to assemble and compare the nuances of meaning and the significance of its details in relation to each other.

19. This is why the activity is called ‘close reading’. You should try to get used to the notion of reading and re-reading very carefully, scrupulously, and in great detail.

20. Finally, let’s try to dispel a common misconception. Many people ask, when they first come into contact with close reading: “Doesn’t analysing a piece of work in such detail spoil your enjoyment of it?” The answer to this question is “No – on the contrary – it should enhance it.” The simple fact is that we get more out of a piece of writing if we can appreciate all the subtleties and the intricacies which exist within it. Nabokov also suggested that “In reading, one should notice and fondle the details”.

redbtn Sample close reading of Katherine Mansfield’s The Voyage

redbtn Sample close reading of Virginia Woolf’s Monday or Tuesday

© Roy Johnson 2004


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Filed Under: 19C Literature, 20C Literature, How-to guides, Literary studies, Short Stories, Study Skills Tagged With: Close reading, English literature, Literary studies, Study skills, Stylistic analysis

Writing a Research Proposal

April 21, 2014 by Roy Johnson

tutorial, instructions, and a sample research brief

What is a research proposal?

At post-graduate level of education (after a first degree) it is quite common for research tasks to be part of the curriculum. Don’t worry – you are not expected to unearth some hitherto unknown secret of the universe. The research skills you will learn are simply part of the intellectual equipment required by your subject of study.

The research itself may be preceded by the exercise of writing a proposal for the task you are going to undertake. This research proposal is rather like an extended written preparation for the work you are going to do. Its purpose is to show that you can construct a coherent plan which demonstrates that you are aware of what is required.

Your tutor or supervisor will see from your research proposal that you have prepared efficiently for a long piece of work, and that you are conscious of the disciplines required by your subject. It is also important that what you are proposing is capable of being successfully completed in the time and the circumstances at your disposal.

Here are the steps that should be followed in producing a good, sound research proposal – though some of the smaller details will vary according to the subject being studied.


1. Study the research brief

A research brief is the written instructions for the task you have been asked to complete or a description of the project you have been invited to propose. The number of words will be specified. The issues which you are required to discuss or include will be outlined, and any limitations on the scope of the exercise might be flagged up.

Copy out this research brief and its instructions completely in your preparatory notes. Write out the instruction accurately and in detail to show that you have read all the requirements – some of which it might be easy to miss in a casual reading.

The research brief and instructions will not be included in your final research proposal, but they are an integral part of the materials required to produce it.

2. Identify the formal structure of the proposal

You should demonstrate a clear understanding of the structure required in your research proposal. This might be specified by the department in which you are studying, it might be a matter of tradition in your subject, or you might need to create your own structure.

Look at examples of previous proposals that have been successful. Make a note of the principal headings and sub-headings that have been used. Your own headings should be based on and should refer to everything that has been asked for. Construct the outline headings to start planning your proposal.

3. Choose suitable topic(s) for research

Choose a research topic in which you are genuinely interested, otherwise the project work might become tedious. Make sure the topic of the proposal is something that you can actually accomplish. Do not be over-ambitious. The purpose of the research is a check that you can identify an issue or a hypothesis, then test its validity. You are not being asked to be innovative at this level.

Think ahead to the practical problems you might face in gathering your data. Choose a topic that can be modified slightly in case problems arise.

4. Follow academic conventions

Make sure you know the academic conventions of presentation for the subject. Some popular style guides include the Harvard, the Chicago, the PMLA, and the MHRA conventions.

These style guides on academic referencing and citation are designed to show that you can make accurate and consistent use of other people’s work in your own writing. They will also help you to avoid any suggestion of plagiarism.

Follow the conventions required by the system down to the smallest detail. It is easy to lose marks for not following the conventions, because mistakes are easy for tutors and examiners to spot.

5. Organise your materials

Create a separate folder for each part of your written materials and your data. This applies to both paper and digital files. Keep clearly labelled storage systems for your written arguments, data, bibliography, questionnaires, tables, and data analysis. Don’t keep everything in one long document or one folder.

Long pieces of written work deserve to be handled with respect and good organisation. You will also be able to find your work and control it if it’s well organised.

6. Use cloud storage

Create an account with iCloud or Dropbox or Microsoft Drive and store your materials in the cloud. This will reproduce the system of separate folders that exist on your own computer. Dropbox (and the others) will synchronise the work on your computer with copies stored in the cloud, keeping both up to date as you work on them. The copies are stored safely on remote servers. They can be accessed from any computer – including mobile devices. This means you can access your up-to-date documents wherever you happen to be. This system also keeps your materials safe in the event of computer breakdowns.

Copies stored in the cloud are normally password-protected and available only to the account owner (you). However, it is also possible to have shared folders, so if you happen to be working on a joint project, access can be granted to co-workers.

7. Design an outline plan

Use your list of headings (3) to create an outline plan of the research proposal. The proposal does not need to have any substantial content yet, but the outline is a reminder of all the topics you should keep in mind. The order of the items in the plan can be changed later if necessary. You can also work on the generation of your written proposal in any order you wish. It does not have to be composed in the same order as the research will be conducted.

You might find it useful to translate your proposal into some sort of visual flow chart or diagram of events. This will help you to conceptualise the work you are proposing, and it can make clear your intentions for the people who will be assessing your proposal.

Research Proposal

a workflow diagram

8. List background reading

At all times, keep a full bibliographic record of any materials you consult whilst designing your proposal. The bibliography will include text books, articles, journals, web sites, and other sources from which you have quoted or which you have consulted during the composition of your proposal. You should include page numbers for easier retrieval and checking of quotations at a later date. Follow the conventions of bibliographic presentation specified by the style guide you are using (4).

9. Acknowledge the ethics of research

Many types of research now require a formal recognition of the ethical issues which might be involved. This applies to such things as conducting surveys amongst the public; using other people’s data; asking people to complete questionnaires; observing people’s behaviour; or taking samples of public attitudes on controversial topics.

You need to show that you are aware of the possible ethical implications of your research and its methodology. You will also need to indicate what practical steps you intend to take.
Examples of any questionnaires or surveys should be included in your final research proposal submission. A successful proposal might also include a contract of agreement or consent to be used with participants.

10. Make a timetable

Work backwards from the submission deadline. Make a calendar that shows the exact number of days available to you. Allocate time in proportion to the task, and make sure you include all stages of composition – from data gathering and background reading, to writing, editing, and checking the finished proposal.


Sample research proposal brief

Extended research proposal and rationale

Submission date: May 9th, 2014.

Word limit: 4,000 words

Decide on a research question related to Linguistics, Applied Linguistics or Language Teaching, which you would like to explore in your MA dissertation. Bear in mind that the research project needs to be small-scale and realistic to complete within the 3-month dissertation period.

Devise research questions/hypotheses and a research methodology that will allow you to gather data needed to answer your research question/test your hypotheses.

Design and produce appropriate research instruments and data collection procedures.

Write up the research proposal as a short paper with an emphasis on:

  • justification/motivation for your choice of research area
  • research context: understanding of work in the area
  • explanation of the research questions/hypotheses
  • justification for the methodology used
  • reliability and validity issues
  • research ethics
  • timescale for the research
  • awareness of possible limitations of the research

You should make reference to research methodology literature in order to justify your choices throughout the paper. The paper will serve as the basis for a research proposal for the MA dissertation to be undertaken in Semester 3.

Please include a copy of your research instruments in an appendix to your proposal.

© Roy Johnson 2014



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Filed Under: How-to guides, Study Skills, Writing Skills Tagged With: Academic writing, Information design, Reports, Research

Writing for magazines

October 1, 2009 by Roy Johnson

a selection of resources reviewed

Writing for magazines can be both more profitable and less time-consuming than other forms of journalism. But you need to identify your topic of interest and match it to the most suitable publication. These guides will help you to get an idea of the marketplace.

How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines
This guide contains ten chapters dealing with getting started (generating ideas and focusing on the subject), gathering information (fact versus opinion, observation, interview), writing the effective article lead, and a sample query letter when suggesting an article to a publisher. It explains how to write newsworthy and interesting articles, how to do research, journalistic techniques, interviewing strategies, and common grammar, usage, and spelling errors.
Buy the book from Amazon UK
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Writers & Artists Yearbook The Writers’ and Artists’ Year Book
It doesn’t matter which branch of journalism, creative writing, or media publishing you wish to pursue, before you have gone very far you will need this book. It’s a compendium of contact details for agents, agencies, editiorial offices, and publishers in all fields. Book and magazine publishers, newspapers, theatrical agents, picture agencies, and publicists. Plus there are essays written by professional writers on everything from selling your manuscripts to dealing with tax problems when you win the Booker Prize. Updated every year.
Buy the book from Amazon UK
Buy the book from Amazon US

The Freelance Writer’s Handbook
The subtitle to this guide probably explains its popularity – How to Make Money and Enjoy your Life. Now in a fully updated third edition, this is the essential book for everyone who dreams of making money from their writing. It will appeal to all aspiring writers, whether they want to write as a full time profession, or simply to supplement their existing income through writing. This inspiring guide will also benefit professional writers and journalists who want ideas on how to find new markets for their work.
Buy the book from Amazon UK
Buy the book from Amazon US

The Successful Writer’s Guide to Publishing Magazine Articles
This guide gives you the latest trends, how-to instruction, and marketing essentials to write for magazines. If you want to make your dream of extra income, having your own business, seeing your name in print and/or becoming a writer, writing for magazines will do it for you. All you have to do is write and follow some simple recommendations – and of course practise your writing skills.
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The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Magazine Articles
The title sounds slightly offensive, but in fact the advice on offer here is very sensible. It provides advice to aspiring journalists on how to write effective feature articles, and explains how to sell the articles to newspapers, magazines, and trade publications. Suitable for beginners, it explains how to survive as a freelance writer.
Buy the book from Amazon UK
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Writing Feature Articles: A Practical Guide to Methods and Markets
This shows you how to write articles for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines. It analyses a variety of published articles to show what makes them succeed for their audiences. The book provides information on: formulating and developing ideas; studying the markets and shaping ideas to fit them; researching and organizing material; and matching language and style to the subject matter.
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You Can Write for Magazines
From local publications to national magazines, Greg Daugherty takes the mystery out of magazine article writing. Starting with an introduction on how magazines work, the book shows how to land assignments and avoid common mistakes. He also covers technical details such as how manuscripts should be formatted. Concise and readable.
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Writing for Magazines
This guide discusses surveying the field, ideas, research, style and structure, selling work, interviewing, supplying pictures and problem solving. It includes a section on electronic aids for the magazine writer. Written mainly for the novice writer. Jill Dick gives hints and tips on how to generate ideas for articles, which markets to aim for, how to start your research, and much more.
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The Magazine Writer’s Handbook
For all writers of magazine articles and short stories, this guide provides detailed information about 70 British magazines and comments on many more. The author examines typical issues and offers clear and concise information on many aspects, including subject, readership and payment. There’s also a pre-submission checklist and an expanded chapter listing the ‘small press’ magazines.
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return button Publish your writing

© Roy Johnson 2009


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Writing for newspapers

October 1, 2009 by Roy Johnson

a  selection of resources reviewed

Writing for newspapers is probably the hardest form of journalism to break into. That’s because newspapers have traditionally been run by ‘closed shop’ unions. They are now also threatened by falling sales as digital publishing grows. But that means they will be forced to rely on freelance writers as they shed staff. These guides will give you invaluable advice on how to deal with editors and newsrooms.

Writing for NewspapersThe Writers’ and Artists’ Year Book
It doesn’t matter which branch of journalism, creative writing, or media publishing you wish to pursue, before you have gone very far you will need this book. It’s a compendium of full contact details for agents, agencies, editiorial offices, and publishers in all fields. Book and magazine publishers, newspapers, theatrical agents, picture agencies, and publicists. Plus there are essays written by professional writers on everything from selling your manuscripts to dealing with tax problems when you win the Booker Prize. It’s updated every year.
Buy the book from Amazon UK
Buy the book from Amazon US

Freelance Writing for Newspapers
This deals with the importance of marketing and knowing your readers, first contact with editors, how to write regular columns and features, reviewing, interviewing and meeting deadlines – and how to acquire an inexhaustible flow of ideas. There is information on the essential business of writing including rights (and wrongs), tax, plagiarism, keeping records, rates of pay (and how to get paid), syndication, the power of the press, official organizations to help you, and more. Detailed chapters cover style, research, making the Internet work for you and the rewards of rewriting.
Buy the book from Amazon UK
Buy the book from Amazon US

The Freelance Writer’s Handbook
It’s the subtitle which makes this book so popular – How to Make Money and Enjoy your Life. Now in a fully updated third edition, this is the essential book for everyone who dreams of making money from their writing. It will appeal to all aspiring writers, whether they want to write as a full time profession, or simply to supplement their existing income through writing. This inspiring guide will also benefit professional writers and journalists who want ideas on how to find new markets for their work.
Buy the book from Amazon UK
Buy the book from Amazon US

The Elements of Journalism
This sets out the fundamental questions that all journalists face as they compile their stories. Is journalism’s first obligation the truth? How should journalists exercise their personal conscience? Must its practitioners maintain their independence from those they cover? This is looking at the basic principles of journalism, rather than ‘how to do it’ or how to get published.
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Print Journalism
This is a collection of essays by former journalists all now teaching in universities. They cover all aspects of newspapers, magazines, and journals: who owns them; how they work; and how to write for them. Would-be journalists are given a detailed breakdown of news features, and more importantly how to successfully pitch your ideas to editors, then how to write them if and when they are accepted. Also included is a detailed look at reporting, how news is gathered, the role of editors, and how to make your own writing as a freelancer more likely to be successful. This covers its subject from A to Z.
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Essential English for Journalists, Editors, and Writers
Written by former Sunday Times editor Harold Evans, this is an excellent guide to improving the efficiency of your writing by what he calls ‘a process of editorial selection, text editing, and presentation’. He describes the various responsibilities for writing in the newsroom, but then settles down to his main subject – the crafting of good prose – where he is quite clearly at home. There’s plenty of good advice on sentence construction, editing for clarity, choice of vocabulary, avoiding obscurity and abstraction, plus eliminating vagueness and cliche. It’s a book packed with practical examples, written by a very experienced professional.
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How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines
This contains ten chapters dealing with getting started (generating ideas & focusing on the subject), gathering information (fact vs. opinion, observation, interview), writing the
effective article lead, and a sample query letter when suggesting an article to a publisher. This little book really is focused on how to get published.
Buy the book from Amazon UK
Buy the book from Amazon US

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Magazine Articles
This offers advice to aspiring journalists on how to write effective feature articles, and explains how to sell the articles to newspapers, magazines, and trade publications. Suitable for beginners, it explains how to survive as a freelance writer. Take the mystery out of selling your ideas to magazine, newspapers, and web sites by reading this book. It explains who hires writers, what editors want from freelancers, how much you can expect to be paid, how you can write effective query and pitch letters, and how the Internet can help your writing career take off.
Buy the book from Amazon UK
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Writing Feature Articles: A Practical Guide to Methods and Markets
This shows you how to write articles for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, and examines the different techniques required. It analyses a variety of published articles to show what makes them succeed for their audiences. The book provides information on: formulating and developing ideas; studying the markets and shaping ideas to fit them; and researching then organizing your material.
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© Roy Johnson 2009


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Writing for the Web

October 1, 2009 by Roy Johnson

a selection of resources reviewed

The first thing you need to know about writing for the Web is that it’s not the same as writing for print publication. This is because reading on screen and on the page are different. Text is not as sharp on a monitor as it is when printed with ink on paper.

Most people find reading on screen quite tiring. For this reason, you need to break up what you have to say into short chunks. And your sentences should be shorter than normal too. This might affect your normal writing style.

Writers new to the Internet may be surprised to learn that one of the main skills required is that of summarising. This means writing condensed, accurate, and descriptive titles for pages; succinct paragraphs; one or two-word section titles; and hyperlinks which say more than just “Click here”.

Writing for the WebWriting for the Internet
Jane Dorner’s book is probably one of the best places to start. This is for people who want to write effective text on web sites. There’s also an element of good design principles – because these considerations are inseparable if you are writing for the screen. The topics she covers include the need for clarity, directness, and chunking; how to make text legible on a computer monitor; keeping in touch with the audience; good web page design; and – most importantly – how writing for the web differs from writing for print media.
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Hot Text - Click for details at AmazonHot Text: Web Writing that Works
If you want to look into the issues of chunking, summarising, and labelling in more detail, Jonathan and Lisa Price’s book is the most thorough approach to Web writing I have come across. It’s aimed principally at technical authors, but the book is so good anyone can profit from the principles they are offering.

It’s packed with good examples of how to produce efficient writing – leading with punch lines; reducing ambiguity; how to write menus; creating the right tone; how to arrange bulleted lists; and where to place links grammatically for best effect. They cover a wide range of digital genres – web marketing copy, news releases, email newsletters, webzine articles, personal resumes, Weblogs – and they even provide tips for would-be job seekers.
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Creative Web Writing - book jacketCreative Web Writing
If you are mainly interested in traditional creative writing Jane Dorner has another book which shows you the skills you need if you want to put your writing onto the Internet. She is speaking to those people who have been creating poems and stories in their back rooms and getting nowhere. This guide covers collaborative story-telling, research online, interactivity and flexible text, as well as the nuts and bolts of styling for screen reading. Most importantly, she explains the range of new markets, new technologies, and how to apply them. Creative genres are covered, including autobiography, poetry, broadcasting, screen-writing and writing for children.

She also describes how to look carefully at contracts, how to submit your writing to an electronic publisher, and how to deal with Print on demand (POD) outlets.There’s a very useful survey of the various delivery methods and payments for eBooks. This is one of the most popular methods for aspiring authors to reach new readers. This section will be required reading if you are thinking of venturing into this world.

The central part of the book deals with new forms of writing using Web technologies. This is one field in which she has clearly done her homework. She shows examples of writing in the form of Blogs (Web-logs) email (epistolary) narratives, fictions illuminated by graphics, the weird world of MUDs and MOOs, Flash-animated writing, and phonetic poetry.
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© Roy Johnson 2009


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Writing Guides

November 16, 2009 by Roy Johnson

best-selling writing style guides

Writing Guides Doing your Research Project - book jacketDoing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-Time Researchers in Education and Social Science is a best-selling UK guide which covers planning and record-keeping, interviewing, reviewing ‘the literature’, questionnaires, and writing the final report. Even if you are studying a subject other than education or social science, this is a wonderfully helpful guide on organising your ideas and your writing at research level. It’s a model of clarity and good sense. Now in its third edition – and deservedly so. Highly recommended.

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Writing GuidesWriting your Doctoral Dissertation: Invisible Rules for Success is a US guide to writing at post-graduate level which uses practical examples, is strong on planning, and offers advice on negotiating the process of research – from making an application to submitting a dissertation. It’s also good on the issue of selecting a research topic and developing it into a feasible project. One of the features which has made this a popular choice is that it offers tips from former students on the problems they have faced in doing research – and how they have overcome them.

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Writing GuidesIf you have any serious intention of preparing text for publication, then Copy-Editing: The Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Authors and Publishers is your encyclopedia on typography, style, and presentation. It has become the classic UK guide and major source of reference for all aspects of editing and text-presentation, covering every possible bibliographic detail. It also covers a wide range of subjects – from languages to mathematics and music – as well as offering tips on copyright and preparing text for electronic publication.

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Writing GuidesWriting at University: a guide for students is a popular UK guide to understanding questions, planning assignments, reading and note-taking, and developing arguments. It puts a lot of emphasis on the process which leads up to the act of writing, and tries to show you how to develop more confidence. Different types of writing are discussed, as well as the important skill of matching your writing to the conventions of the discipline you are studying. The approach is like that of a sympathetic counsellor.

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Writing GuidesThe Classic Guide to Better Writing is more-or-less what its title suggests. It’s a best-selling US guide with emphasis on how to generate, plan, and structure your ideas. It also covers basic grammar, good style, and common mistakes. The approach is step-by-step explanations on each topic, plenty of good advice on how to avoid common mistakes, and tips on how to gain a reader’s attention. Suitable for all types of writing, it well deserves its good reputation.

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fowlerIf you need just one book which will answer all your questions on writing – from punctuation to publication – then this is it. The Little, Brown Handbook is an encyclopaedic US guide to all aspects of writing. It includes vocabulary, punctuation, grammar, style, document design, MLA conventions, editing, bibliography, and the Internet. All topics are profusely illustrated and cross-indexed, and some of the longer entries are virtually short essays. It also has self-assessment exercises so that you can check that you have understood the contents of each chapter. The Swiss army penknife of writing guides. Highly recommended.

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New Hart's Rules - Click for details at AmazonHart’s Rules for Compositors and Readers at the University Press Oxford This is a UK classic guide to the finer points of editing and print preparation, spelling and typography. It was first written as the style guide for OUP, but quickly established a reputation well beyond. There’s no hand-holding here. Everything is pared to the bone. the centre of the book deals with ‘difficult’ and irregular spellings. A masterpiece of compression, it is now in its thirty-ninth edition. This is one for professionals rather than student writers.

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Oxford Writers Dictionary - book jacketThe Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors . This is a specialist dictionary for writers, journalists, and text-editors. Unlike most dictionaries, it does not offer explanations of the words meanings. It deals with problematic English and foreign words, offering correct spellings and consistent usage in the OUP house style. By concentrating on difficult cases, it saves you a lot of time. The latest edition also includes American spellings. Strongly recommended.

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The Elements of Style - Click for details at AmazonThe Elements of Style. This is an old favourite – a ‘bare bones’ guidance manual which cuts out everything except the essential answers to the most common writing problems. It covers the elements of good usage, how to write clearly, commonly misued words and expressions, and advice on good style. The emergency first-aid kit of writing guides. It’s very popular, not least because it’s amazingly cheap. Suitable for beginners. There’s an online version available if you do a search – but the cost of a printed version will pay dividends.

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A Manual for Term Papers, Dissertations, and ThesesA Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. This is a modern American classic guidance manual for academic writing. It covers everything from abbreviations and numbers to referencing and page layout. It also includes sections showing how to lay out tables and statistics; lots on bibliographic referencing; and how to deal with public and government documents. The latest edition also includes advice on word-processing.

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Style: Ten LessonsStyle: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. This is a popular guide – particularly amongst creative writing enthusiasts. It offers advice for improving your writing – by putting its emphasis on editing for clarity, creating structure, and keeping the audience in mind. These lessons are useful for all types of writing however. It has plenty of illustrative examples and exercises, an appendix with advice on punctuation, and a good glossary. Recommended.

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Successful Writing for Qualitative ResearchersSuccessful Writing for Qualitative Researchers. This is one for specialist academic writing at post-graduate level. It covers all the stages of creating a scholarly piece of work – from the preparation of a project through to the completion and possible publication of the finished article. Includes sections on style, editing, and collaborative writing. It takes a positive and encouraging tone – which will be welcome to those embarking on such tasks for the first time.

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On Writing WellOn Writing Well. This is a best-selling title, now in its sixth edition. It offers reassuring guidance from an experienced journalist on writing more effectively in a number of genres. He covers interviews, travel writing, memoirs, sport, humour, science and technology, and business writing. The approach is to take a passage and analyse it, showing how and why it works, or where it might be improved. It is particularly good on editing and re-writing.

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© Roy Johnson 2009


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Writing Reports

July 17, 2009 by Roy Johnson

beginner’s guide to report-writing skills

Oxford University Press have just brought out a series of short beginners’ manuals on communication skills. Their emphasis is on compact, no-nonsense advice directly related to issues of everyday life. John Seely’s book on writing reports covers all aspects of the process – from gathering information to presenting it in the most effective way. He starts by describing different types of report and then focuses quite rightly on the importance of pitching the content of a report at its intended audience. He explains the differences between recommendations, proposals, and reports, and shows how to research a topic, how to interview people, and how to record the results.

Writing ReportsThe central portion of the book – which will probably be of most use to beginners – is how to plan a report and give it structure. He also covers often-neglected issues such as the importance of an executive summary and the need to organise details in various appendices. I was glad to see that he emphasises the need to be prepared to make several drafts of any report which is supposed to be important, and he has good advice on the presentation of visual data via graphs, diagrams, tables, and charts.

This is not just aimed at those who write reports for business, but also those who participate in local societies and voluntary groups. They will be glad of the easy look-up advice and sample reports with analytical and critical commentary which is also supplied.

The chapters of this book are short, but almost every page is rich in hints, tips, and quotes in call-out boxes. The strength of this approach is that it avoids the encyclopaedic volume of advice which in some manuals can be quite frightening.

© Roy Johnson 2002

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John Seely, Writing Reports, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, pp.120, ISBN 0198662831


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