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How to summarize a book

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What is a book summary?How to summarize a book

A summary of a book is a digest of all its main points. It should be a shorter version or a précis of its main arguments or topics – depending on the type of book.

It should capture the purpose of the book and include the most important parts of the original. Smaller details and illustrative examples will not be included.

The summary should re-cast and express the original material in your own words. It is not enough to quote parts of the original text. That would be a collection of extracts rather than a summary.

A summary should be a reasonable and impartial account of the original, without intruding any bias or value judgements. If you add your own opinions, it will become a book review rather than a summary.

How to summarize

Before you start, get some idea of the length and type of summary you are going to create. Have a look at examples from the field in which you’re working. If this isn’t possible, set yourself a word limit and create an outline plan.

First of all check your book for a table of contents. If it has one this will immediately provide you with some idea of its structure and the nature of the topics it covers.

Next look through the book quickly to get a rough idea of its subject and scope. This will give you a general idea of what to cover in the task ahead. If the book has chapters, these can provide a set of headings for your plan.

You should immediately start making notes. Don’t worry if they are not grammatically complete or well formed. These are the raw materials from which you can make your finished summary later.

Your main task is to capture a general outline of the contents. The amount of effort you put into
creating the summary will depend upon the seriousness of the task and the amount of time you have at your disposal.

Draw up a list of the topics the book covers – or make a diagram. A simple picture of boxes or a spider diagram can often be helpful. Some people visualise their ideas in this way, and it can be a fruitful approach for ‘non-literary’ people.

Look out for topic sentences that signal the main lines of arguments. These are often the first sentence in a paragraph. In good quality writing the remainder of the paragraph should explain and expand on the topic sentence.

Write a one or a two-sentence account of each section you identify. Focus your attention on the main points. Leave out any illustrative examples. Don’t be tempted to fill out your work with a detailed examination of minor details just to fill up the space. This will only weaken the summary.

Work through the text to identify its main sections or arguments. These might be summarized as short paragraphs. Remember that the purpose and definition of a paragraph is that it deals with one issue or topic.

Writing the summary

When you have finished reading the book, you should have a series of jottings, notes, and sentences, maybe a list of topics, and perhaps some half-formed observations. These fragments need to be arranged in some logical or persuasive order, then fashioned into something readable.

You are not obliged to follow the same structure or sequence of events as the original text, but your summary certainly needs a shape or structure as an independent piece of writing. You might choose any of the following approaches in arranging the items of your notes:

  • logical progression – from A to Z
  • increasing significance – from small to big
  • chronological order – from older to newer
  • narrative sequence – from first to next
  • grouping of topics – fruits, vegetables, wines

You might create the plan first, then fill in its parts with your own text. Alternatively, the plan might emerge from your work as you flesh out the parts into complete sentences. Don’t imagine that this part of the process can be done easily at your first attempt.

Expand each of your notes or topics until it makes a grammatically complete sentence. Then put statements dealing with the same topic next to each other. Be prepared to move the parts around until you find their best order.

The central structure of your results will be determined by the content of the book you are summarising. But any summary will be more successful if it has a good introduction and a satisfying conclusion.

The introduction is usually a general statement which presents an overview for the reader. It should launch the subject of enquiry and give some idea of what is to come. The conclusion does the converse – it wraps up the summary with a general statement that encapsulates the whole piece of writing.

Summary or review?

There is a difference between a book summary and a book review. A summary should be a reasonably neutral account of the book and its contents, whereas a review is a personal response to the book which might include criticising or praising the author’s approach. A review might also draw comparisons with other works of a similar kind.

In a summary you will be keeping your personal opinions in check, and concentrating on giving the best account possible of what the book offers. In a review on the other hand, you are often expected to make some sort of evaluative judgement on the approach that has been taken. The sample summary that follows combines both of these approaches.

Sample summary

Chris Baldick is a specialist in literature of the early twentieth century, and this collection of his essays covers the period 1910 to 1940, which is essentially the highpoint of what is now called ‘modernism’.

In terms of structure the first group of chapters covers the social, linguistic, and aesthetic background of the period, and then he discusses writers grouped according to literary forms – short stories, drama, poetry, and the novel. He highlights major figures – James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, D.H.Lawrence, and T.S.Eliot – but also considers writers who were once best sellers and held in high esteem, such as Arnold Bennett and Somerset Maugham. These are accompanied by almost-forgotten figures such as Dornford Yates, Aldous Huxley, and Elizabeth Bowen who were very successful in their own time. Part three of the book covers sociological issues such as English names, the Great War, childhood, sexuality, and censorship.

He starts with a well informed discussion of the writer’s relationship with literary commerce. Those who earned most (Arnold Bennett) were successful at exploiting new markets and media such as the newspapers and magazines. He reveals those writers who were sponsored by rich patrons (Joyce) as well as others who were kept by a wealthy spouse. D.H. Lawrence not only made a handsome profit from the subscription-published Lady Chatterley’s Lover but invested it in stocks and shares on Wall Street and made even more.

Each chapter is prefaced by a discussion of new words that became current in the period, a device which provides both flavour and intellectual context. He also includes an interesting consideration of theories of the novel. This involves a detailed consideration of first and third person narrative modes.

There are separate interpretations of all the major works of the period – Howards End, Mrs Dalloway, Ulysses, Women in Love pitched at a level which make his approach to literary criticism accessible to beginners and interesting to those who know the novels well.

The other major strand of his argument is a sympathetic reconsideration of the lesser-known works of the period, such as Walter Greenwood’s Love on the Dole, Elizabeth Bowen’s The Death of the Heart, Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage, and Aldous Huxley’s Chrome Yellow, as well as novels by Robert Graves, Naomi Mitchison, and Sylvia Townsend Warner.

The latter essays are studies in cultural history which take in the attitudes and issues of the period as they were mediated via its literary products. This covers the shattering effect of the first world war on the romantic and pastoral visions of Englishness which had been the establishment ideology during the first two decades of the century. He then traces this effect through the twenties and thirties, showing how a view of modern Britain came to be formed.

There’s a very good collection study resources and suggestions for further reading. These entries combine notes on the author biographies, together with available editions of their major works, plus secondary studies and criticism.

This is the fifth volume of the Oxford English Literary History series. It can be read continuously as an in-depth study of the period, dipped into as an introduction to literary modernism, or used as a rich source of reference.

Chris Baldick, The Modern Movement, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, pp.477, ISBN 0198183100

Why summarize?

There are a number of reasons why a summary of a book might be required. The following are the most common in academic and commercial life.

Exercise

A book summary is often set as a writing exercise, instead of a formal academic essay. It tests both understanding of the book’s content, an ability to digest and express its ideas, a grasp of structure, and the writing skills necessary to produce a readable préis.

The task in such cases is to show your ability to put somebody else’s ideas into your own words, to give a coherent account of the topic under consideration, to produce a coherent structure for your account, and to come to some sort of conclusion concerning the book’s overall value to another reader.

Research

In some subjects of study, you may be required to provide what is called a ‘literature review’. This is a survey of currently available knowledge in the subject. Its object is to show that you understand the latest state of research in your subject.

You are expected to have a full command of the terminology of the subject, and to show that you are aware of its theoretical and methodological issues. You will also be expected to have a full grasp of the academic writing style with regard to footnotes, referencing, and bibliographic presentation.

Assessment

Sometimes a book summary is called for so that other people can judge whether it is suitable for their requirements. This could be when providing librarians with information on which they will base purchasing decisions. Or it could be written for the research division of a company with information which might inform their development plans.

In both cases an impartial summary of content is required, along with an account of any special features which might help the reader reach a decision.

Cataloguing

Sometimes a summary of a book is required for a catalogue, a card index, or an inventory. In such cases the summary is likely to be very short – just enough so that somebody else can see if it’s the sort of book they require.

In these cases it’s important to record all the book’s metadata – that is, information about it’s author, title, publisher, date of publication, and ISBN number. You might also need to describe it physically – noting if it is hardback or paperback. if it contains illustrations, and even its size on the shelf.

Summarize a book without reading it completely?

Is it possible? The quick answer to this question is – “Yes – but only if you are experienced”. You require an intimate knowledge of the subject in question, and you need to be confident in writing summaries. But how is it done?

If you know your subject well, you will immediately put into effect the summarizing skills listed here above. You take into account such matters as the level at which the book is pitched, its potential readership, the range of its contents, its structure, and any critical apparatus which may be attached, such as illustrations, tables, bibliographies, and suggestions for further reading. This provides you with an overview.

Then you need to glance through the preface or any introductory remarks to pick up the general argument or the individual approach of the author(s) to the subject. This requires good skim-reading skills.

Most books are split up into sections or chapters. You need to look through these quickly, making a summary of each one – then combine the notes you make to form a general summary. It may not be a lengthy or in-depth account of the book, but it should be enough for your purpose.

© Roy Johnson 2012

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How to take notes

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important skills for successful study

1. In preparation for writing a piece of work, you should take notes from a number of different sources: course materials, set texts, secondary reading, interviews, or tutorials and lectures. You might gather information from radio or television broadcasts, or from experiments and research projects. The notes could also include your own ideas, generated as part of the planning process.

2. The notes you gather in preparation for writing will normally provide detailed evidence to back up any arguments you wish to make. They might also be used as illustrative material. They might include such things as the quotations and page references you plan to use in an essay. Your ultimate objective in planning will be to produce a one or two page outline of the topics you intend to cover.

3. Be prepared for the fact that you might take many more notes than you will ever use. This is perfectly normal. At the note-taking stage you might not be sure exactly what evidence you will need. In addition, the information-gathering stage should also be one of digesting and refining your ideas.

4. Don’t feel disappointed if you only use a quarter or even a tenth of your materials. The proportion you finally use might vary from one subject to another, as well as depending on your own particular writing strategy. Just because some material is not used, don’t imagine that your efforts have been wasted.

5. When taking notes from any source, keep in mind that you are attempting to make a compressed and accurate record of information, other people’s opinions, and possibly your own observations on the subject in question.

6. Your objective whilst taking the notes is to distinguish the more important from the less important points being made. Record the main issues, not the details. You might write down a few words of the original if you think they may be used in a quotation. Keep these extracts as short as possible unless you will be discussing a longer passage in some detail.

7. Don’t try to write down every word of a lecture – or copy out long extracts from books. One of the important features of note-taking is that you are making a digest of the originals, and translating the information into your own words.

8. Some people take so many notes that they don’t know which to use when it’s time to do the writing. They feel that they are drowning in a sea of information.

9. This problem is usually caused by two common weaknesses in note-taking technique:

  • transcribing too much of the original
  • being unselective in the choice of topics

10. There are two possible solution to this problem:

  • Select only those few words of the source material which will be of use. Avoid being descriptive. Think more, and write less. Be rigorously selective.
  • Keep the project topic or the essay question more clearly in mind. Take notes only on those issues which are directly relevant to the subject in question.

11. Even though the notes you take are only for your own use, they will be more effective if they are recorded clearly and neatly.

12. Good layout of the notes will help you to recall and assess the material more readily.

General guidelines
  • Before you even start, make a note of your source(s). If this is a book, an article, or a journal, write the following information at the head of your notes: Author, title, publisher, publication date, and edition of book.
     
  • Use loose-leaf A4 paper. This is now the international standard for almost all printed matter. Don’t use small notepads. You will find it easier to keep track of your notes if they fit easily alongside your other study materials.
     
  • Write clearly and leave a space between each note. Don’t try to cram as much as possible onto one page. Keeping the items separate will make them easier to recall. The act of laying out information in this way will cause you to assess the importance of each detail.
     
  • Use some system of tabulation. This will help to keep the items separate from each other. Even if the progression of numbers doesn’t mean a great deal, it will help you to keep the items distinct.
     
  • Don’t attempt to write continuous prose. Notes should be abbreviated and compressed. Full grammatical sentences are not necessary. Use abbreviations, initials, and shortened forms of commonly used terms.
     
  • Don’t string the points together continuously, one after the other on the page. You will find it very difficult to untangle these items from each other after some time has passed.
     
  • Devise a logical and a memorable layout. Use lettering, numbering, and indentation for sections and for sub-sections. Use headings and sub-headings. Good layout will help you to absorb and recall information. Some people use coloured inks and highlighters to assist this process of identification.
     
  • Use a new page for each set of notes. This will help you to store and identify them later. Keep topics separate, and have them clearly titled and labelled to facilitate easy recall.
     
  • Write on one side of the page only. Number these pages. Leave the blank sides free for possible future additions, and for any details which may be needed later.
Tony Buzan explains mind mapping

Mind-mapping guru Tony Buzan gives a brief demonstration of how the system works. Mind maps can be used for both note taking and note making.

This approach works for some but not all people.

Sample notes

What follows is an example of notes taken whilst listening to an Open University radio broadcast – a half hour lecture by the philosopher and cultural historian, Isaiah Berlin. It was entitled ‘Tolstoy’s Views on Art and Morality‘, which was part of the third level course in literary studies A 312 – The Nineteenth Century Novel and its Legacy.

Isaiah Berlin – ‘Tolstoy on Art and Morality’ – 3 Sep 89

1. T’s views on A extreme – but he asks important questns which disturb society

2. 1840s Univ of Kazan debate on purpose of A

T believes there should be simple answers to probs of life

3. Met simple & spontaneous people & soldiers in Caucasus

Crimean Sketches admired by Turgenev & Muscovites but T didn’t fit in milieu

4. Westernizers Vs Slavophiles – T agreed with Ws

but rejects science (Ss romantic conservatives)

5. 2 views of A in mid 19C – A for art’s sake/ A for society’s sake

6. Pierre (W&P) and Levin (AK) as egs of ‘searchers for truth’

7. Natural life (even drunken violence) better than intellectual

8. T’s contradiction – to be artist or moralist

9. T’s 4 criteria for work of art

  • know what you want to say – lucidly and clearly
  • subject matter must be of essential interest
  • artist must live or imagine concretely his material
  • A must know the moral centre of situation

10. T crit of other writers

  • Shkspre and Goethe – too complex
  • St Julien (Flaubert) inauthentic
  • Turgenev and Chekhov guilty of triviality

11. What is Art? Emotion recollected and transmitted to others

[Wordsworth] Not self-expression – Only good should be transmitted

12. But his own tastes were for high art

Chopin, Beethoven, & Mozart

T Argues he himself corrupted

13. Tried to distinguish between his own art and moral tracts

14. ‘Artist cannot help burning like a flame’

15. Couldn’t reconcile contradictions in his own beliefs

Died still raging against self and society

© Roy Johnson 2004

How to use abbreviations

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commonly used abbreviations in academic writing

1. The following is a list of abbreviations you will often see in the text, the index, or the bibliography of books designed for serious readers.

2. They are nearly all brief or shortened forms of expressions in Latin.

3. Many people also make use of abbreviations when taking notes, and they are also used in the footnotes and endnotes of academic writing. Examples are shown below.

4. Don’t use abbreviations in the main text of any formal writing. If you wish to use these terms, they should be written out in full.

5. That is, don’t put e.g., but write out for example.

6. Notice that a full stop is placed after an abbreviation, but not when the full word is used.

7. This is correct usage, but sometimes the full stop may be omitted in order to avoid double punctuation.

8. Note that these terms are often shown in italics.

9. You should never begin a sentence with an abbreviation.

10. If you are in any doubt, always write out the expression in full.

Abbrev. Full term
app. appendix
b. born. For example, b.1939
c. (circa) about: usually with a date.
For example: c.1830.
cf. (confer) compare.
ch. chapter (plural chaps.)
col. column (plural cols.)
d. died. For example, d.1956
do. (ditto) the same.
e.g. (exempli gratia) for example.
ed. edition; edited by; editor (plural eds.)
esp. especially.
et al. (et alii, aliae, or alia) and others.
For example, Harkinson et. al.
et seq. (et sequens) and the following.
For example, p.36 et seq.
etc. (et cetera) and so forth. [An over-used term. Worth avoiding.]
fig. figure (plural figs.)
f./ff. following.
For example, 8ff. = page 8 and the following pages.
ibid. (ibidem) in the same place: from the source previously mentioned.
i.e. (id est) that is.
inf. (infra) below: refers to a section still to come.
l. line (plural ll.) [NB! easily mistaken for numbers ‘One’ and ‘Eleven’.]
loc. cit. (loco citato) at the place quoted: from the same place.
n. note, footnote (plural nn.)
n.d. no date given
op. cit. (opere citato) from the work already quoted.
p. page (plural pp.) For example, p.15 [Always precedes the number.]
para. paragraph (plural paras.)
passim in many places: too many references to list.
q.v. (quod vide) look up this point elsewhere.
For example, q.v. p.32.
sic thus. As printed or written in the original. usually in square brackets [sic].
supra above: in that part already dealt with.
trans. translator, translated by.
viz. (videlicet) namely, that is to say.
For example: Under certain conditions, viz…
vol. volume (plural, vols.)

Examples

Here’s the use of abbreviation in an academic footnote. The first reference used edn for edition and p for page. The second reference uses ibid for ‘in the same place’.

2. Judith Butcher, Copy Editing: the Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Authors, and Publishers, 3rd edn., Cambridge University Press, 1992, p.234.

3. Butcher, ibid., p.256

Here’s an example which uses the abbreviated names of two well-known organisations:

The BBC reported yesterday that the leaders of NATO had agreed to discuss the crisis as a matter of urgency.

Abbreviations are commonly used in displaying web site addresses:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/BUBL/home.html

Every term in this address, apart from the names ‘Bath’ and ‘home’, are abbreviations

http = hypertext transfer protocol

www = world wide web

ac = academic

uk = United Kingdom

html = hypertext markup language

© Roy Johnson 2000

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How to use and in a sentence

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And – definition

How to use andMany people have difficulties knowing how to use and in a sentence. That’s possibly because it is such a common word.

The term ‘and’ is a conjunction – which is a word used to connect other words or clauses that are to be taken jointly.

The term ‘and’ occurs regularly in expressions such as –

  • bread and butter
  • fish and chips
  • two hundred and forty
Lists

The term ‘and’ is commonly used when describing a number of objects or listing characteristics.

  • She gave me an apple, an orange, and a banana.
  • There were three articles on the table: a hat, a scarf, and a penknife.
  • She is a tall, blonde, and attractive woman.

The use of the comma after the final item in a list is optional. However, using the final comma is never wrong, and it always helps to remove possible ambiguities. The following example is confusing.

  • The cafe offers a full range of snacks, meat and vegetable pies and sandwiches.

This suggests that the sandwiches contain meat and vegetables – which is probably not true. The statement should be punctuated as follows, keeping meat and vegetable pies as a distinct unit.

  • The cafe offers a full range of snacks, meat and vegetable pies, and sandwiches.

The final comma is often called the ‘serial comma’ or the Oxford comma. That’s because the Oxford University Press has traditionally insisted on its use as part of their famous house style.

Clauses

‘And’ is used to connect separate clauses that have a logical connection:

  • We crossed the road and then went into the park.
  • They have a large house and a cottage in the country.
  • I like apples and I’m very fond of bananas.

Incorrect use

When the separate clauses are not connected by logic, sequence, or topic, using ‘and’ to establish a connection is wrong.

  • Jane is twenty years old, blue-eyed and has red hair.
  • It was a rainy day, very windy and soon we felt tired.
  • Given training, workers can acquire the skills and interest in other jobs.
The ampersand

The ampersand (&) is a symbol that is often used as a substitute for the word ‘and’.

It often appears in company titles: Webster & Co – instead of writing Webster and Company.

It should not be used in any formal writing, such as academic essays, reports, or business letters.

The ampersand is actually a symbol that has evolved from the Latin word et, which means ‘and’. It combines the letters e and t into one shape.

Grammar rules

There is a traditional notion that it is incorrect to start a sentence with ‘and’. This is somewhere between a myth and a superstition. There are many cases where it might be appropriate.

However – unless you are experienced in writing, it is often dangerous to start a sentence with a conjunction (and, but, or, although). This can easily lead to the production of sentence fragments and grammatically incorrect expressions – such as this:

Although the weather was appalling, with arctic temperatures, a howling blizzard, and a solid sheet of sleet-covered ice over all the roads, which made it difficult to keep upright.

Actually three conjunctions (Although, with, and) combine in this example to kill off the creation of a proper subject and principal verb.

When ‘and’ is used as a conjunction to link together names, no comma is required.

  • London and Paris are major European cities.
  • Hemingway and Scott-Fitzgerald were once popular American writers.

The word ‘and’ is often used as a conjunction in expressions of emphasis.

  • “I’ve told you time and time again not to do that.” [repeatedly]
  • There are holidays and holidays. [different kinds]
  • This new exhibition should run and run. [last a long time]
Poetry

The technique of using ‘and’ to start a sentence is often used for poetic or dramatic effect. For instance, in John Betjeman’s poem, Christmas, four of the last stanzas begin with ‘And …’ to represent a child-like form of expression.

And London shops on Christmas Eve
Are strung with silver bells and flowers
As hurrying clerks the City leave
To pigeon-haunted classic towers,
And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.

And girls in slacks remember Dad,
And oafish louts remember Mum,
And sleepless children’s hearts are glad.
And Christmas-morning bells say ‘Come!’
Even to shining ones who dwell
Safe in the Dorchester Hotel.

The first part of the King James Bible begins with an account of the creation of the world which uses ‘and’ to generate a sense of magisterial force, logic, and inevitability.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Puzzle

Can you add the necessary stress to make sense of the following statement?

“The sign is OK, but there should be more space between Marks and and and and and Spencer.”

If you can’t work that out, maybe this will help:

“The sign is OK, but there should be more space between Marks and &, and & and Spencer.”

© Roy Johnson 2013

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How to use bulleted lists

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how to write, structure, present, and punctuate lists

Bulleted lists – the basics

Bulleted lists are used when you wish to draw visual attention to a number of similar items.

  • works of fiction
  • diaries and biographies
  • dictionaries and reference books

This arrangement makes it easier for the reader to see, absorb, and understand the items. You can see that it is much easier than if the items were listed as part of one continuous sentence. Here are the same three items.

  • This section of the library contains works of fiction, diaries and biographies, plus dictionaries and reference books.

A bulleted list draws attention to the similarities of the items. It is a form of categorization, which also helps the reader digest the information. You can see at a glance that this is a group of European capital cities.

  • Paris
  • Berlin
  • Madrid
  • Rome
Presentation

Most word-processors or text editors will give you a choice of presentation styles for your bulleted lists. The list items may be preceded by

  • a bullet   (•)
  • a numeral   (3)
  • a letter   (A)
  • an icon   (†)

If you stick to the suggestions made here, a short bulleted list should serve most purposes. Use a numbered list only if the numbering system is related to the sequence of the items or has some other significance. There is no purpose in having numbers for their own sake.

Numerals may be offered as Arabic numbers (3, 4, 5, 6) or Roman numerals (iii, iv, v, vi). Unless you have a pressing need to do so, avoid lower case Roman numerals (viii) – because this gives the reader extra work in comprehension.

Icons should be used with restraint. Many documents and PowerPoint presentations are spoiled by huge arrows, tick marks, blobs, and pointers distracting the reader’s attention from the importance of what is being said.

Golden rules for bulleted lists

There are a number of different styles and conventions for presenting bulleted lists, but these are the most important (yet most-neglected).

  • The maximum number of items should be five.
  • The listed items should be similar in kind.
  • The statements should be grammatically parallel.
  • The statements should be of similar length.

Five is the golden maximum

With a maximum of five items in a bulleted list, the reader can recognise the individual items and the group as a whole. Once there are more than five items, it is not possible to see the group as a whole at the same time as understanding individual items. The more items you put into a bulleted list, the less effective it becomes.

Similar kinds of items

A bulleted list is most effective when the items listed are of a similar kind, the same order, or have something obviously in common. Here’s an example.

  • shoes
  • shirts
  • ties
  • trousers
  • jackets

This is obviously a collection of items in men’s clothing. You can see the separate items at a glance, but you can also see what they have in common, or to which general category they belong.

But if a bulleted list contains items which do not have a logical connection, this element of immediate categorisation is lost – as in the following example.

  • potatoes
  • raising flour
  • olive oil
  • frying pan

This could be the items in a recipe, but it could equally well be a shopping list.

It is not unusual to see bad examples of bulleted lists even in public announcements – such as a job advertisement.

  • two years experience
  • a first class degree
  • three weeks annual holiday
  • Equal opportunities

This is a collection of different kinds of items. The individual items are related to the job, but the first two are requirements of the applicant, whereas the third is a benefit of employment, and the fourth is a condition of employment.

Grammatical parallelism

If your list items are statements or instructions, each one should be expressed using the same grammatical pattern as the others. Here’s a good example that uses instructions.

In the event of a fire, all employees should immediately

  1. Vacate the office
  2. Use the fire escape
  3. Exit the building
  4. Assemble in the car park

The grammatical formula here is very simple – Verb + Noun.

Here’s a bad example of the same set of instructions

In the event of a fire, all employees should immediately

  • When you hear the fire alarm, you should leave the office immediately
  • Do NOT use the main stairs, as this could be dangerous.
  • All exits are clearly marked and should be used.
  • There is an emergency assembly point at the far end of the car park.
  • Copies of Health and Safety regulations are kept in the manager’s office. Any complaints should be entered on the incidents sheets. Please note – it is an offence to make false entries or accusations.
Punctuation of bulleted lists

Bulleted lists are often used to give examples of something mentioned in a previous statement – as in the following example.

For breakfast visitors will be given a choice of –

  • corn flakes or rice crispies
  • fruit juice or yoghurt
  • grapefruit or museli with cream

The opening statement can be left without any punctuation, a dash may be used, or you can use a colon. But the question arises – should the listed items be regarded as the conclusion of a sentence or not? That is, do they need to be punctuated with commas (or semicolons) and a full stop?

Some people try to continue the grammar and punctuation into the list – as if they were separate possible endings to the statement. If the bulleted list has been constructed properly, this should not be necessary. That’s because the natural grammar and punctuation of the ‘statement’ has already been visually disrupted by the introduction of the list.

Punctuation is only necessary if the statements in the list are complete sentences.The modern tendency is to minimalise punctuation.

If the items in the list are clearly separate statements, a new question arises. Should the items in the list begin with a capital letter? The answer is ‘Yes – but only if they are complete sentences’. Have a look at this example.

When first attending the exhibition, you will have three options.

  • You can visit all zones if you have a full day pass.
  • You can visit sections in the red zone with a half day pass.
  • You can top up to a full day pass at any time.

The items in this list are short, separate statements, so they are punctuated by an initial capital letter and ended with a full stop.

Indentation

Bulleted lists are normally indented – just as they appear on this web page. The same indentation would apply on a paper document. Most word-processors will arrange this automatically, just as the HTML code does the same for a web page.

Nested lists

Sometimes it might be necessary to have a list within a list. This often happens in lengthy and complex reports.

There are two popular methods for dealing with nested lists. The first is to use a numbering system. The second is to change the bullet styling.

  • The government recognises the need for housing subsidies.
  • It will provide subsidies for three types of housing.
  1. council housing
  2. private housing
  3. mixed housing
  • Subsidies cannot be claimed for office buildings.

© Roy Johnson 2012

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How to use Harvard referencing

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standard system of academic citation and quotation

1. Some subjects adopt the Author-Date method of referencing – which is also known as the Harvard referencing system. Full details of the texts you have quoted are placed in a bibliography at the end of an essay or a report. These details are recorded in the following order:

Author – Date – Title – Place – Publisher

Smith, John. (1988) The Weavers’ Revolt, Chicago, Blackbarrow Press.

2. References in your text give the surname of the author, plus the publication date of the work to which reference is being made. This information is placed in brackets – thus:

Some research findings (James and Smith 1984; Brown 1987) have argued that these theories are not always reliable.

3. When you wish to draw attention to a particular page, this is done by simply adding the page number directly after the date of publication:

The development of these tendencies during the 1960s have been discussed by Brown (1977,234) and others (Smith 1992,180 and Jones 1993,88-90).

4. Note that when the author’s name is given in your text, it should not be repeated in the reference. You should simply give the date, then the page number(s). When you give the author’s name, the reference should either follow it directly, or it may come at some other point in the same sentence:

Smith (1987,166) argues that this was …

Smith, who is more positive on this issue, argues (1987,166) that …

5. If two or more works by the same author have the same publication date, they should be distinguished by adding letters after the date. This can be quite common with articles in journals.

Some commentators (Mansfield 1991b and Cooper 1988c) have argued just the opposite case, that …

6. The list of texts which appears at the end of your essay should be arranged in alphabetical order of the author’s surname. The list differs from a normal bibliography in that the date of publication follows the author’s name:

Mansfield, M.R.1991a. ‘Model Systems of Agriculture in Early Britain’, Local History Journal Vol XX, No 6 ,112-117.

Mansfield, M.R.1991b. ‘Agriculture in Early Britain’, History Today Vol 12, No 3, 29-38.

7. Don’t list works you have not consulted or from which you have not quoted. Doing this creates the impression that you are trying to claim credit for work you have not actually done.

8. You might find that your bibliography repeats much of the information given in your endnotes or footnotes. Don’t worry about this: these two separate lists have different functions. In addition, your bibliography may contain works from which you have not directly quoted.

Bibliography

Beeton, I. 1991 Beeton’s Book of Household Management,
Chancellor Press.

Best, G. 1979 Mid-Victorian Britain 1851-75, Fontana.

Burman, S. 1979 (ed), Fit Work for Women, Croom Helm.

Darwin, E. 1890 ‘Domestic Service’, The Nineteenth Century, Vol.28,
August.

Davidoff, L. 1973 The Best Circles, Croom Helm.

Davidoff, L. 1974 ‘Mastered for Life: Servant and Wife in Victorian
and Edwardian England’, Journal of Social History,
Vol.7.

Davidoff, L. 1987 and Hall, C., Family Fortunes, Hutchinson.

[…and so on]

© Roy Johnson 2004

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How to use quotation marks

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Quotation marks

quotation marks Quotation marks or quote marks are the single or double raised commas used at the beginning and the end of a written quotation.

quotation marks Single quote marks are shown ‘thus’.

quotation marks Double quote marks are shown “thus”.

quotation marks There are a number of instances where they are used.

quotation marks The simplest case to remember is that double quote marks should be reserved to show speech

“Good gracious!” exclaimed the duchess.

quotation marks The next most common use is when discussing somebody else’s writing:

In his recent account of the phone hacking scandal, Guardian journalist David Pallister mentions the ‘deep-seated culture of corruption’ shared by the police and the tabloid press.

quotation marks The words quoted are put into single quote marks for two reasons:

  • to show them distinct from the author’s own discussion
  • to respect the original and avoid any charge of plagiarism

quotation marks Remember that when a statement is ‘opened’ with a quote mark, it must be ‘closed’ at some point. It must not be left open.

quotation marks There are very few universally agreed conventions on the use of quote marks. Practice varies from one house style manual to another. The following are some general suggestions, based on current usage.

Emphasis

quotation marks In a detailled discussion, quote marks can be used as a form of emphasis, drawing attention to particular terms or expressions:

Internet users have developed their own specialist language or jargon. People ‘download’ software, use ‘file transfer protocols’, and run checks to detect ‘viruses’.

quotation marks An acceptable alternative would be to display these terms in italics.

quotation marks This distinction becomes important in academic writing where it is necessary to show a difference between the titles of articles and the journals or books in which they are published:

Higham, J.R., ‘Attitudes to Urban Delinquency’ in Solomons, David, Sociological Perspectives Today, London: Macmillan, 1998.

Quotes within quotes

quotation marks It is sometimes necessary to include one quotation within another. In such cases, a distinction must be shown between the two items being quoted.

The Express reported that ‘Mrs Smith claimed she was “deeply shocked” by the incident’.

quotation marks In this example, what Mrs Smith said is put in double quote marks (sometimes called ‘speech marks’) and the extract from the Express is shown in single quote marks.

quotation marks It’s very important that the order and the logic of such sequences is maintained – because this can affect the integrity of what is being claimed.

quotation marks Care should be taken with punctuation both within and around quotation marks.

The Express also pointed out that ‘At the meeting, Mrs Smith asked the minister “How could we as a family defend ourself against these smears?”‘

Titles

quotation marks Quote marks are commonly used to indicate the titles of books, films, operas, paintings, and other well-known works of art. An alternative is to show these in italics.

Charles Dickens’s novel ‘Bleak House’

Francis Ford Coppola’s film ‘Apocalypse Now!’

Benjamin Britten’s opera The Turn of the Screw

Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica

quotation marks Quote marks can also be used to indicate the title of anything else which has a known existence, separate from the discussion:

photographs, exhibitions, television programmes, magazines, newspapers

quotation marks Quote marks are not necessary when indicating the titles of organisations.

Senator Jackson yesterday reported to the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives.

History

quotation marks The quotation mark started its life as a raised comma. It was used at a time when typogrphical marks available to a printer were rather limited.

quotation marks With the advent of the typewriter, a single and a double raised stroke were added to the marks available – and are still present on most keyboards.

quotation marks But typographical purists have now invented what are called ‘smart quotes’. These are single and double raised commas which are automatically arranged and inverted at the start and the end of a quotation:

"Good gracious!" cried the duchess.

© Roy Johnson 2011

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How to use quotations

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the conventions and techniques of quotation

Quotations

1. There are in general two instances when you may wish to use quotations from other writers’ work:

Evidence – when quoting from other sources to support your own argument(s)

Reference – when a text is itself the subject of your essay and you need to refer to it in your discussion.

2. The conventions of accurate quotation and referencing are relatively simple, and they are based on the need for accuracy, consistency, and clarity. There are a number of slightly different systems of notation. The two most widely used are:

  • a quotation, with an endnote giving the source
  • the Harvard system (described separately)

3. The whole purpose of both systems is that tutors marking your work should be able, if they wish, to check the accuracy of the quotations you use.

Evidence

4. In a discussion of the development of Marx’s philosophy for example, you might argue that his work was a natural development of his predecessors, supporting your assertion by quoting David McLellan. He points out that

Marx began by paying tribute to the achievements of Feuerbach, particularly in having shown that Hegel’s philosophy was no more than a rationalisedtheology. (1)

5. A bracketed number is added immediately after the quotation, and the source of your quotation is given as an endnote on a separate sheet at the end of your essay. (You might wish to place the information as a footnote at the bottom of the page, though this system can become rather complicated.)

NOTES

1. David McLellan, The Thought of Karl Marx, London: Macmillan, 1971, p.26.

6. Note that this information is given in the following order, and you should remember to indicate the titles of books by using italics.

Author – Book Title – Publisher – Date – Page

7. The material you quote is placed between two single quotation marks if it is run in as part of your text:

this is what David McLellan calls a ‘rationalised theology’ (1) in his discussion of the relationship between Marx and Hegel

8. If the length of the quote amounts to more than three lines of your own text however, it should be indented separately, and no quote marks are necessary:

Marx began by paying tribute to the achievements of Feuerbach, particularly in having shown that Hegel’s philosophy was no more than a rationalised theology, and having discovered the true materialist approach by starting from the social relationship of man to man. (1)

9. Your own argument should normally be offered first, and you then reinforce it with quotation from an authoritative source. You are using this secondary evidence from acknowledged specialists to support your own views. Do not offer the quotation first, otherwise what should be your own argument will tend to be come more a ‘commentary’ upon it.

10. The quotations you offer should be as brief as possible to make their point. Don’t be tempted to offer long quotations from other people’s work in the hope that this will act as a substitute for your own argument. Nor should you stitch together a patchwork of quotations from a variety of sources with a few words of your own. This creates the impression that you are relying too heavily on other people’s work.

11. Sometimes in more advanced essays it might be necessary to quote longer passages. You would do this if you were going to analyse the author’s arguments in detail and at quite some length. This should only be done occasionally.

12. Each main point of your argument should be made and discussed in its own separate paragraph. This should not normally need more than one quotation to support it. Too many quotations can create the impression that you are relying too heavily on secondary sources.

Reference

13. When the subject of your essay is the discussion of a text (say, criticism of a novel or an article) you should follow the same system of notation. Directly after the first quotation you should give a full bibliographic description of the text you are discussing.

14. This information could be given within brackets in the body of your essay, but you will be developing good academic habits if you place the information as an endnote after the conclusion of your essay.

15. If your essay is predominantly concerned with just one text, all subsequent quotations from it may simply be followed by page references. Simply add an explanation to the first endnote, saying – all subsequent page references are to this edition.

16. If you will be quoting from a variety of other sources in the same essay, you should number the quotations and give the sources accurately as a series of endnotes.

17. It is also possible to mix these two forms of referencing, so long as the distinctions are made clear. If your piece of work was a long essay on Bleak House for instance, it would be acceptable to identify all your quotations from the novel with page references. Quotations from other critics or sources would numbered and their sources identified as separate endnotes.

18. There must be grammatical continuity and sense maintained between any quotation and your own argument. To arrange this, it might be necessary to add or delete words from the material quoted, or to change the tense of the original. Whenever you do this, any changes should be very small. They must also be properly acknowledged.

[It was] as if she were truly loved by him, but notwithstanding this impression she regarded the man as no more than a casual acquaintance who occasionally made her laugh (p.7)

19. Square brackets are used to indicate any words which you have added in order to make the quotation fit grammatically or otherwise within your own argument.

20. If you wish to draw attention to a particular word or some part of the quotation, you should provide the emphasis by using italics. You should then immediately admit the fact ‘as if she were loved by him’ [p.7 – my emphasis] and then carry on with what you wish to say in the remainder of your argument.

21. In order to shorten a quotation or to remove some part of it which is not relevant to your argument, you may wish to omit a number of words. To denote this omission (which is called an ellipsis) you should use the convention of the three dots ‘…’ in the space which is left:

He had even a kind of assurance on his face … the assurance of a common man filled with pride. (p.7)

22. This device should not be used to change the sense of the original in any way, or to misrepresent its spirit: such practices are regarded as academically fraudulent.

23. The three dots denoting an ellipsis do not need to be placed at the beginning or the end of your quotation, even if you are quoting a few words from within a sentence.

24. The general convention for indicating quotation is to use single quote marks (‘unmitigated’) and to reserve double quotes marks for indicating speech (“Good gracious!” cried the duchess.)

25. When quoting conversation, follow these rules, but if it makes things easier put the words spoken within double quote marks even if they were in single quote marks in the original:

Kayerts is being even more hypocritical and self-deceiving when he ‘observe[s] with a sigh: “It had to be done”‘ (p.39)

26. If you are quoting more than once from a number of works in an essay, you can avoid confusion and save yourself the trouble of giving a full reference each time. Use either the op. cit. and ibid. or the short title convention.

27. Different subjects have their own conventions in this respect – but the short title system is becoming more widely used and is easier to follow. However, an enormous number of academic books have been produced using the older system, so it is worth understanding how it operates, even if you decide not to use it.

28. Using the system of Latin abbreviations, the first quotation from a text is referenced fully with an endnote. In the case of any references which follow, just give the author’s name followed by op. cit. (which means ‘in the work already quoted’) and then the page number – as follows:

11. J.D. Bryant, The Origins of Mythology, London: Carfax Press, 1971, p.234.

12. History Today, Vol XXXIV, No 18, p.123.

13. Bryant, op. cit., p. 387.

29. If the very next quotation is again from the same work, the abbreviation ibid. (which means ‘in the same place’) is followed by a page reference. You do not need to give the author’s name. The sequence just given would therefore be extended:

11. J.D. Bryant, The Origins of Mythology, London: Carfax Press, 1971, p.234.

12. History Today, Vol XXXIV, No 18, p.123.

13. Bryant, op. cit., p. 387.

14. ibid., p. 388.

30. The short title system is particularly useful for longer essays which might deal with a number of texts or different books by the same author. Second and third year undergraduate studies often require a lengthy piece of work such as this. The principle is the same one of giving full bibliographical details in the first reference. Subsequent quotations are given a reference which is composed of the author’s surname, a shortened form of the book title, and the page number. The examples shown above would therefore appear as follows:

11. J.D. Bryant, The Origins of Mythology, London: Carfax Press, 1971, p.234.

12. History Today, Vol XXXIV, No 18, p.123.

13. Bryant, Mythology, p. 387.

31. The conventions of quoting from poetry and plays are exactly
the same, but for the convenience of the reader, line numbers are given.

32. There are a number of widespread misunderstandings about the use of quotation and systems of referencing. It is worth taking the trouble to follow the conventions outlined above (or use the Harvard system). Once you have brought simplicity and clarity to the presentation of your quotations it will help to improve the appearance and credibility of your work.

Some do’s and don’ts
  • You should not put page references in margins: they are placed immediately after the quotation, within your text.
     
  • You should not locate references as part of your own argument with expression such as ‘and we see this on page 27 where he collapses slowly … then later in the paragraph where he recovers’.
     
  • Ellipses are shown by three dots only [ … ] not a random
    number scattered across the page.
     
  • References and note numbers should form part of the text of your argument. They should not be added to the essay at a later stage and written into the margins or squeezed above the text as superscripts.

33. You should avoid using too many quotations and references to secondary material. In some subjects this can sometimes be required (as in a ‘review of the literature’) but in most it is not. Packing your essay with references to other people’s ideas creates the impression that you are unable to create an argumentof your own. Remember that your own evidence or points should come first. Quotation should normally be offered after you have established your own argument.

34. Some people use quotations as a means of starting an introduction or rounding off the conclusion to an essay. This can give your work a touch of sparkle if the quote is well chosen. However, you should minimise the use of this strategy in the body of the essay itself. Paragraphs which begin with a quotation can weaken your argument – for two reasons.

  • First, you are not leading with your own ideas in the form of a topic sentence directly related to the question.
     
  • Second, the substance of your argument in what follows might give the impression of being a commentary on the secondary source quoted, rather than an answer to the original question.

© Roy Johnson 2004

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How to work from home

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working from home – living at work

Work from home – and survive

Lots of people work from home today. If you have a mobile phone, an email address, a broadband connection, and a laptop on your coffee table, nobody knows you’re a consultant dog on the Internet. You could be:

  • starting up your own business
  • switching from employed to ‘homeworking’
  • creating a job for yourself
  • downsizing from larger commercial premises
  • making money from your hobby

Making a start

Working from home can have plenty of advantages – and you can use all of them to make your life easier – and bring everything under your own control..

  • you don’t need to rent expensive offices
  • you can combine work with home life
  • you don’t have to travel to work
  • you’re your own boss
  • it’s tax deductible

Work from homeThis is a morale-boosting guide for anybody who wants to start their own business, or who harbours deep desires to be their own boss. Geoff Burch takes an entirely practical approach and shows how it can be done – by cutting your costs to a minimum and steering clear of get-rich-quick schemes. It will also be useful for all those folk who are facing early retirement and wondering what to do with themselves. Do your own thing – and walk tall!

 

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A Room of Your Own
Some people can work with very little in the way of equipment. But for most of us, if you’re going to be business-like, you’ll need a space of your own in which to work. Even if most of your activity is outside the house (working as a hairdresser, surveyor, plasterer, gardener) you need a space in the house which is your own.

The options are usually quite obvious. It could be a spare bedroom, an attic, or even the garage or a garden shed. In smaller spaces it might be one corner of a flat. The important thing is that you establish a space in which to conduct your business.

In his best-selling book on self-employment, Go It Alone! Geoff Burch describes the ultra minimalist approach were you have no office and no equipment at all. But even he agrees that you need to establish your own space – even if this is a psychological space.

Take a professional attitude and carve out a space for whatever you need. Your equipment could be no more than a few box files, a telephone, a computer, or folders full of papers. Keep this space for yourself, and don’t let it get mixed up with household matters. Don’t try to work off the edge of the kitchen table.

And Geoff Burch has another excellent piece of advice, which I firmly endorse. Don’t try to re-create a typical office environment. Why should you be surrounded by ugly metal filing cabinets and cardboard boxes full of rubbish. There are perfectly good storage solutions available at suppliers such as IKEA and Habitat which will visually enhance your environment, as well as being functional.

work from homeThis is visual proof that you don’t need to be surrounded by empty cardboard boxes and metal filing cabinets. The examples in this beautifully illustrated book include quite small family homes which have been adapted to the demands of creating a working space within a domestic environment. Learn from the principles illustrated: no clutter, clean spaces, and a well organised room.

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The home office
But if it gets more serious and you want to establish a grown-up home office, you might want to create a professional work space. The basic requirements for a home office are a desk, a telephone, and storage for paperwork. Depending on the nature of your business, that’s probably the minimum. But if you want to give yourself a chance of being taken seriously, I would recommend two additions – a computer and a connection to the Internet. Since you’re reading this on the Internet, you’ve probably already got that.

The telephone
Get a dedicated line or use your mobile telephone number exclusively for your business calls. Don’t try to piggy-back off the household telephone line. Nobody will take you seriously if they ring up and are answered by a child who says “I’ll pass you to my Mum/Dad”. You might need a separate land line or a mobile number – but this is a small and worthwhile investment. Just look around you. Painters, plumbers, decorators, sales reps – everybody these days has a mobile phone.

Don’t even share a line with your spouse/partner/wife/husband (does that cover it all?) because when the phone rings, who answers it? Believe me, it’s a recipe for arguments and territorial squabbling. A separate telephone number is a minimal requirement for anybody wanting to be taken seriously in business. You’ll also benefit by having an answerphone. They’re cheap, and will cover any time you’re not in your office.

Email
The same’s true of an email address. Your customers will not be impressed if they are asked to reply to <johnandbarbara@fireside.Yahoo.co.uk>. Who is running the business – John, or Barbara? Do they both read the emails?

You should have an email address of your own – and it should have your business as a domain name. In other words <Barry@hotmail.com> could be anybody in the world. It gives you no identity, no distinction, and no business credibility. On the other hand, <info@bigservices.co.uk> looks more professional.

Fax
A fax machine used to be a badge of pride for anybody setting up their own business. But now you’ll find that it’s only the most old-fashioned concerns such as solictors who use them. Everybody else uses documents sent as attachments to email messages. So you can save on setup expense by ditching this cumbersome bit of Old Technology. All you need instead is an all-in-one printer-scanner-copier. At the time of writing these start at only thirty pounds.

Meeting clients
If you are working from home – from an office in the box room or even a corner of the spare bedroom – there comes a moment when you make contact with a potential client and need to meet up to discuss business. Ooops! It wouldn’t look good to invite Mr Big from Megabucks Ltd to your semi at 13, Oildrum Lane. You’re certainly not going to invite them back to your house to discuss business surrounded by unmade beds and children’s toys.

Don’t worry. This happens to everybody when they start up. But there are perfectly simple solutions. Either you offer to meet them on their premises (and you turn up on time, looking smart) or you invite them to meet in a public space in a location convenient to both of you. This could be a hotel lounge, a restaurant, or a bar somewhere convenient.

Work from HomeWorking at Home shows interiors for writers, artists, musicians, and graphic designers. Most are minimalist design – plain walls and floors, no decoration, wood in teak or beech, lots of opaque tinted green glass, polished chrome fittings, simple halogen lights, chairs with tubular chrome legs, and giant settees in black leather. And the clutter which blights commercial offices has been purged – to stunning effect.

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Extra tips

Here are some tips for making your work space more professional, more visually appealing, and more productive. All the suggestions are easy to implement, and they’ll make an immediate improvement to your working life.

Straighten your bookshelves
If you have books, folders, box files, or any other items stored on open bookshelves – get them straightened up. Make the items stand up straight; get them in line; and eliminate any flopping and sloping items. Leave any empty spaces free or fill them with decorative objects, such as vases or ornaments.

Clear the desk
A cluttered desk is a recipe for constant irritation. Get rid of papers, memos, post-it notes, paper-clips, coffee mugs, photographs of the family, ‘amusing’ messages, and any other detritus from your working space. Be completely ruthless, and start from a clear working space. You’ll immediately feel better.

I know that there are exceptions. The painter Francis Bacon famously worked in a state of abject squalor. But you’re not Francis Bacon – and anyway most successful business people don’t work that way.

De-clutter regularly
Every day you will receive circulars, flyers, bills, advertising, and publicity materials through the post. Take one look at each item; decide if it’s important or if you want to keep it; and if not – throw it away. Don’t have a big IN-tray – otherwise that’s extra work to be done.

work from homeLive/Work is a collection of projects where living and working environments have been merged. The results prove that you can transform a house, a flat, or even an industrial site so that it becomes a very comfortable and attractive hybrid. Examples include the homes of architects, a painter, a photographer, a fashion designer, a restaurateur, a documentary film maker, a physical trainer, even a priest marrying people out of his own home-church.

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© Roy Johnson 2004

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How to Write

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basic writing skills explained in easy stages

This is an introductory guide to writing, aimed at people who think they can’t write, or for whom writing is an ordeal. Broken down into short topic-based chapters on everything from beginning to revising, it demystifies the writing process by taking the reader through each stage necessary to bring a piece of writing to a decent finish. Follow the advice, and you will learn how to write. Alastair Fowler kicks off by considering the advantages and disadvantages of composing and editing directly on a computer screen.

How to WriteThen comes a series of short chapters, each one dealing with a different aspect of the writing process: outlines, drafts, paragraphs, sentences, arguments, punctuation, researching, and grammar. His model is formal academic writing, but his advice will be of use to anybody who wants to understand writing skills and improve their own. He deals with those tricky issues that distress beginners, such as ‘making a start’, and offers tips which at first glance can seem counter-intuitive, but reveal a voice of experience:

For most sorts of writing, the best way to begin is not to. Or rather, to have already begun in the past.

He also covers how to plan what you intend to write, and how to create order in what it will contain; then how to flesh out your rough notes into a first draft.

Beginners will also find it reassuring that he shows how to get a feel for the scale of a piece of writing – how to assess the required length and thereby the scope of its content.

I also found his advice on paragraphs sound. Once you have grasped the concept of structure and rhythm in a paragraph, most other problems of construction and format should fall easily into place.

He goes into quite some detail on how to construct persuasive arguments. It is in this sense that the book really is fundamentally about writing essays, and I think on reflection that it’s for people who have mastered the basics of writing and who wish to hone their skills.

Next comes how to arrange the parts of a sentence to make meaning clearer, and then an explanation of all the common marks of punctuation, which he manages with being either pedantic or boring. (If you want advice on punctuation delivered in a humorous manner, try Lynne Truss’ excellent Eats, Shoots & Leaves.)

For those who really are brushing up their essay writing skills, Fowler has some useful advice on quotation – how to do it, and what real function it serves. The same is true of plagiarism, which he discusses in the light of re-working other people’s ideas in a legitimate manner.

He finishes with a conducted tour of the available reference books and guidance notes on writing skills – which is a lot more useful than just a bare, unannotated bibliography. It’s a short book, but probably all the more useful for that – and amazingly good value at the price.

© Roy Johnson 2006

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Alastair Fowler, How to Write, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp.202, ISBN: 0199278504

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