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Writing Skills

skills for general, academic, and creative writing – plus publishing

skills for general, academic, and creative writing - plus publishing

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

How to write   Buy the book at Amazon UK

how to write   Buy the book at Amazon US

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

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How to write a business document

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effective business communication skills

What is a business document?

A business document can be any form of writing connected with commerce, administration, government, industry, or non-personal communication — any of the following:

Business document

These are normally documents printed onto paper, but modern business also includes documents in the form of email messages, web pages, Powerpoint presentations, and online instruction manuals.

You should follow the same principles for writing such documents, no matter in which form they will finally appear.

Five stages of planning

There are five basic stages in the process of writing a business document.

If you are conscious of each one as a separate activity, it will help to make the task of writing a business document easier.

  1. Visualise the document
  2. Determine the content
  3. Create a structure
  4. Write the first draft
  5. Make any revisions
Visualise the document

Visualise the finished document as a material object. We now know that visualisation is a great aid to achievement.

For this stage you need to know what the business document looks like. Make sure you have at least one good example of the following:

  • a letter
  • a report
  • a proposal
  • a memo
  • a bulletin

Keep these examples in a handy place in your office where you can refer to them at any time. It is a good idea to keep them in a binder, each in its own plastic wallet, so that you can browse and find them easily.

Set up some templates in your word-processor which correspond to the list of document types shown above. This way, you save yourself the repeated task of creating a new layout for every document.

Your templates should conform to the principles outlined in How to Write a Report as follows:

  • Modules — write text in bite-size chunks
  • Relevance — one topic only – exclude anything which doesn’t belong
  • Navigation — use headings and sub headings to guide your reader
  • Consistency — of vocabulary, expression, layout, visual features
  • Hierarchy — multi level text with correspondence between levels
Writing the content

Be sure you know exactly what it is you need to write. If you are not sure about your purpose, it makes the writing more difficult.

Here are some tips for making sure that you start out with a confident and accurate idea of what is required.

Write down the purpose(s) of your document and the response you require.

Put yourself in the place of the person receiving the letter. Answer the three crucial questions yourself before you start writing your document. There are three questions a reader asks about a document:

  1. What is this? — a letter, proposal, memo, report
  2. What’s it about? — new rules, I’m fired, I’m going on a trip
  3. What do I do? — reply, accept an invitation, disagree with the points, give my permission
Creating the structure

Create an overall structure using diagrams or titles in a hierarchy. This will give you confidence – because you can see the complete outline of your document before you fill in the detailed content.

Create a structure using a form you find useful:

  • Lists of topics — every important topic you wish to include
  • Diagrams — which works for you – spider, matrix, mind-map
  • Boxes — a page with several rows of blank boxes, each representing a level of your document

This writing strategy will also deter you from meandering from the topic, because you are writing your text according to the part titles you have created.

You may also wish to use the OUTLINER facility in your word-processor.

You can also create an overall structure using working titles in a hierarchy. Make up quick working titles for your modules chapters and sections.

Don’t agonise about them. You can always change them easily after you have written your draft document.

Here’s an example of an outline in titles

  • New services available
  • Advantage to customer
  • New pricing structure
  • Special discounts
  • Ordering details
  • Names, contacts, numbers

If the document contains a lot of material which needs to be organised in some way or other, use one of the common approaches to creating structure. The parts can be arranged in –

  • logical progression
  • increasing significance
  • equal significance
  • chronological order
  • narrative sequence
  • category groupings
Document titles

There are three kinds of title in business documents.

  1. function title
  2. topic title
  3. combination title

A function title — tells your reader what the section or module is doing. This kind of title is independent of the topic in the text. Here are some examples:

  • Introduction
  • Problems
  • Background
  • Criteria
  • Solution
  • Comment
  • Recommendation

A topic title — tells your reader what the section or module is about. Examples of topic titles:

  • Additional monthly benefits
  • Loan payment methods
  • Calculating overtime
  • Cash-flow difficulties
  • Recruitment methods

A combination title — is made up of two parts, which are topic and function. The combination title does most work in terms of communication. Examples of combination titles:

  • Problem of information overload
  • Solution to staffing problems
  • Way forward for programmers
  • Introduction to new parking rules
  • Action by team members
  • Decision on compliance issues
Titles in general

Be clear — Use titles that clearly describe the function or the content of the module.

Be brief — Make titles brief. Shorter titles are better than longer ones, provided they don’t create any ambiguity. Use no more than three to five words.

Be consistent — Use the same vocabulary in the title as you use in the text module.

Be familiar — Use terms which are generally familiar to any reader. Avoid technical jargon except when you write as one specialist to another.

Be independent — Make each title stand alone and act as an advance organiser for a document, section, chapter, module.

Write the first draft

Write your initial draft in separate sections, parts, or modules. This is a very efficient way of writing your first draft.

You already have your data and the structure of your argument worked out. Now you write the separate sections for each title you have created.

This is much less stressful than trying to write the whole document at once. If you find one section getting out of hand, then break it down into two or three smaller parts.

You can also re-write any individual part which is not successful.

Make revisions

Now is the time to take an overview of what you have done so far. First check the structure of your document and put the parts in order.

Put yourself into the shoes of your reader and ask yourself if the content is properly structured. If you are satisfied that you have created a clear and logical arrangement for the contents of your document, then you can complete the piece with confidence.

If you have followed the five stages, any alterations required at this stage will be minor ones and easily carried out. This process is very easy if you use the editing facilities of a word-processor.

You might also wish to save different versions of the document – in which case, make sure you label them clearly.

© Roy Johnson 2014

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How to write a personal statement

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making a good impression on paper

What is a personal statement?

A personal statement is an account of your own qualities, skills, and ambitions which is made to accompany job applications, funding bids, sponsorship requests, and applications for a place in further or higher education.

Think of it as being like a personal introduction, presenting yourself to an individual or an organization, and putting a human personality to a formal request.

Personal Statement

do yours with a word-processor

A personal statement is separate from your curriculum vitae (CV) which lists your formal qualifications and your previous experience.

A personal statement is most commonly required in the UK by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) when you are applying for a place at a university.

The personal statement is where you can tell your preferred universities why they should offer you a place on the course you have chosen.

Who will read a personal statement?

The reader of your statement will be a potential employer, a personnel manager, or an admissions tutor in your chosen faculty of study – arts, science, or technology.

The admissions tutor might be a lecturer on your chosen course (if you are lucky). He or she will decide whether to offer you a place on the course or an interview, based on the information you have written on the form.

First they will look at your academic achievements and decide whether you seem capable of completing their course.

Then they will read your personal statement, and judge whether you are the kind of person who has the motivation and personality to complete the course successfully.

First impressions

Your personal statement is an opportunity to make a positive impression. You will need to convince them that you are also a person who should be accepted on the course or considered for employment.

You need to show the reader that you are:

  • able to express the reasons for your choice of course
  • motivated, and committed to your subject
  • aware of your career options and have some clear ambitions
  • somebody who has outside interests, apart from your studies

You may be applying to several different universities in the hope of securing a place. But your personal statement should not be identical in each case. You need to tailor the statement to your chosen subject of study, or the ethos of the institution.

The same would be true of a personal statement made in conjunction with a job application. You’re trying to convince that particular employer that you are suitable for the position and interested in working for the company.

The same would be true if you were applying for a bursary, a grant, or funding of some kind. Your personal statement confirms that there is a fully rounded human being making the application. It is also an opportunity to say what you would do with the funding if it were granted.

Interviews

If the university or the employer does not interview prospective applicants, then a personal statement is your only chance to convince them to accept you.

Many institutions and employers no longer conduct interviews with all prospective applicants, because of the costs involved. They make a preliminary choice by skim reading through written applications, and only interview the few they select on written evidence.

If you are offered an interview, the interviewers will use the personal statement as a starting point for the questions they ask you. So it’s important for your statement to be interesting, fresh, and honest.

If you’ve written something which isn’t true, you’re likely to become confused if you’re asked a question about it at the interview.

Warning

There are lots of web sites that show you examples of personal statements. Many of them ask you to pay for this service. You should avoid using these services because they may encourage you to do two things:

  • pay to see other people’s personal statements
  • copy parts of other peoples statements instead of writing your own original words

It’s far better to write your own statement, honestly and imaginatively. Everyone is different, and you should be proud of your achievements and aspirations, and pleased to express them.

You can apply online using the UCAS Apply system – but you should prepare all your information in advance.

Use the UCAS guidelines if necessary.

How to write the personal statement

Don’t imagine you can sit down and write your personal statement in one attempt. First you need to plan the structure of the statement, and then generate its content in several drafts.

Planning

Sit down and make a list of all the general areas you might wish to cover in your statement. The list might include items such as:

  • hobbies
  • personal achievements
  • part-time jobs
  • life skills
  • social activities
  • special interests

If the personal statement is to accompany a curriculum vitae (CV) do not list your formal educational qualifications or a record of your employment.

These items should be arranged to create a clear structure. Show your first ideas to family and friends. They might think of skills or advantages that you possess but have taken for granted or forgotten.

Here are some general points about generating ideas for writing your personal statement.

Multiple drafts

Do it all your preliminary writing in rough first, and be prepared to do two or three versions before you get the right combination of words.

Do not be tempted to cut and paste materials off the Internet. There are now plagiarism checkers which will spot text that has been copied from somewhere else.

If you are applying to university, try to link your hobbies and experience(s) to the courses you are applying for. You need to show why you are interested in your chosen subject.

Write the final draft in short clear sentences, and use short paragraphs that make the content easy to read. Use sub-titles that indicate clearly what each section is about.

When you have produced your final draft – no matter how long it has taken – always check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation before submitting the final document.

© Roy Johnson 2014

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How to write book reviews

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book reviewsnotes and style guide for reviewers

1. Good book reviews should as a bare minimum be informative, but if they are good they will also be entertaining. Keep three things in mind whilst writing – your readers, the type of review, and the purpose of the review.

2. Your readers may be beginners – or advanced specialists. You should write reviews in different ways, according to the audience. A general reader will not have detailed technical knowledge. Advanced readers will want specialist information. The type of audience is likely to be determined by the publication – either in print or on the Web.

3. The kind of publication will also determine the type of review that is required. Popular newspapers and magazines have very short reviews – some as short as 100-200 words. Specialist journals might have reviews up to 2,000 words long. Make sure you have a clear idea of the type of review you are writing by getting to know the publication first.

4. The purpose of a review is to give an account of the subject in question (the book, film, play, or event) and offer a reasoned opinion about its qualities. Your main task is to report on the content, the approach, and the scope of the work for the benefit of your readers.

5. Even short reviews will be more successful if they have a firm structure. Here’s a bare-bones plan for a review:

  • Brief introduction
  • Description of contents
  • Assessment of value
  • Comparison with others
  • Conclusion

6. Unless you are writing for a specialist journal, you should write in an easy reader-friendly manner.

7. Some publications give their reviewers scope for showing off or being controversial. (Pop music, restaurant, and television reviewers seem particularly prone to this.) In general however, you will be doing your readers a favour by putting their interests before your own.

8. If you are writing for the Web (in pages like these) remember to write in shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs than you would for a print publication. Reading extended prose on a computer screen is not easy. You will keep your reader’s attention by ‘chunking’ your information.

9. Apart from professional journalists, most reviewers do not get paid. However, you will get to keep the book, CD, or the object you are reviewing.

Review Structure

Here is the structure of a typical book review from this Mantex web site.

1. Title

2. Sub-title

3. One-sentence summary (ten words maximum)

4. Opening paragraph. This should be attention-grabbing, conversational in tone, and it might be slightly provocative. It’s purpose is to introduce the work under review – and to encourage the site visitor to read on. (Fifty words maximum)

5. Body of review. This will be a series of short paragraphs – around fifty words each in length. The total length of the review should be between 500 and 1,000 words – with longer reviews for exceptionally good or interesting works.

6. The review should give some account of the work’s positive qualities.

7. A typical review might take into account any of the following topics:

  • What is the intended audience?
  • Is it physically well produced?
  • Is it pitched at the right level?
  • Does it have any unusual features?
  • What distinguishes it from similar publications of its type?

8. Concluding paragraph (fifty words maximum). This can summarise the reviewer’s opinion and may offer a personal flourish which echoes the introduction.

9. Full bibliographic details of the work under review – Author(s) – Title and Sub-title – Place of publication – Publisher – Date of publication – Number of pages – Full ISBN

10. The review should be accompanied by a graphic file of the book jacket or the software package design. These can be taken from the publisher’s site, or from Amazon.

Some Do’s and Don’ts

Do give examples
A brief quotation to illustrate good qualities of the work will brighten up your review. But keep it very short. Alternatively, use it as a ‘pull quote’. This is a statement which can appear separated from the main text of your review – placed in a box or highlighted in some way. These are usually chosen to capture the flavour of the work under review.

Don’t go on too long
Reviews which are short and to-the-point are more effective than ones which go on at great length. Unless you have lots of interesting things to say, readers will quickly become bored.

Don’t be over-negative
If you think something is entirely bad, then it’s probably not worth writing the review. After all, why bother giving publicity to bad work? There are only a couple of exceptions to this. One is if you wish to counter other reviews which you think have been mistaken or over-generous. The other is if the author is very well known and seems to you to have written badly. In such cases, make sure you give convincing reasons for your negative opinions – otherwise you risk seeming prejudiced.

How to write reviews of fiction

1. When reviewing fiction you are writing as an experienced reader, and your review is a personal response to your reading experience. A first person mode of address is permitted more than normal.

2. If possible you should consider the text in the context of the type or genre to which it belongs. It’s no good judging science fiction against the conventions of a traditional realist novel.

3. However, it always helps to have the full range of literary traditions in mind. If somebody writes about ‘floating islands’ you will look fairly silly if you don’t know that Jonathan Swift did it in 1726.

4. Give a brief summary of the plot – but don’t on any account give away any surprise or trick endings. You can say that the book ends in a dramatic or unexpected manner, but don’t spoil the reader’s pleasure.

5. Consider the book in the light of others of its kind. Is it offering something new, or just a variation on an old theme? Maybe the variation itself reflects some contemporary issue?

6. Comment on the quality of the writing. Is the prose style worthy of mention? Here is where a brief quotation can be very telling. Does the author do anything original in the way of presentation?

7. Are any large scale contemporary themes being explored? What are the underlying issues beneath the surface story-line? These may not be immediately evident, and sometimes authors write about one subject as a metaphor or a symbol for another.

8. Are the characters vividly portrayed and memorable? If so, try to give a brief example.

9. Has the author given obvious thought to the plot and the structure of the novel? Plot is usually easy to perceive, but structure can be a more difficult feature to isolate and describe.

10. You do not need to cover every detail of the book. It will be enough if you deal with the most important issues. Make your review as interesting as possible.

return button   Publish your writing

© Roy Johnson 2004

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How to Write Good

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tips for guaranteed success with words

How to Write Good is a little catalogue of wisdom written by Frank L. Visco. It was originally published in the June 1986 issue of Writers’ Digest, where he claimed: “My several years in the word game have learnt me several rules.”

  1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
     
  2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
     
  3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They’re old hat.)
     
  4. Employ the vernacular.
     
  5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
     
  6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
     
  7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
     
  8. Contractions aren’t necessary.
     
  9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
     
  10. One should never generalise.
     
  11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
     
  12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
     
  13. Don’t be redundant, don’t use more words than necessary, it’s highly superfluous.
     
  14. Profanity sucks.
     
  15. Be more or less specific.
     
  16. Understatement is always best.
     
  17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
     
  18. One-word sentences? Eliminate!
     
  19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
     
  20. The passive voice is to be avoided.
     
  21. Go round the barn at high speed to avoid colloquialisms.
     
  22. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
     
  23. Who needs rhetorical questions?
     
  24. Abjure polysyllabic obfuscations.
     
  25. Finally, chech for pselling errors and typeos.

How to Write Good Also see 26 Golden Rules for Writing Well

Most writing guides will give similar advice – but without the fun. Here is a collection of style guides for different types of writing – from academic scholarship, to business communications and commercial report writing. These guides cover topics such as word choice, clear expression, grammar, syntax, and case agreement, plus punctuation, editing and proof reading. It’s important to note that there are specific style conventions for different types of writing. What works for scientific writing may not be suitable for an engineering report or a business proposal.

How to Write Good Writing Guides

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Internet Writer’s Guide

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advice  plus extensive online resources for authors

How can the Internet help authors today? Isn’t writing still just a matter of putting pen to paper? There are so many new developments in electronic publishing, free web space, media mergers, and online bookshops: won’t these take our attention away from being creative? Well yes, they might. But they also open up exciting new possibilities. That’s why Jane Dorner has written The Internet: A Writer’s Guide – as a road map through the maze.

Internet Writer's GuideShe starts from the most logical point – how to get connected, what equipment you need, and how to operate the essentials. In the discussion of email she begins to consider the special needs of writers – how to send attachments; how to submit work to publishers; even how to conduct email interviews.

On the Web, she explains the techniques of efficient searching, how sites are used for publishing, and what to do when it all goes wrong.

She touches on writing groups which exist in the form of mailing lists, websites, newsletters, chat groups, and conferences. The strength of this approach is that given a little trial and error, most writers will be able to locate the sort of forum which suits them best.

There’s an interesting chapter on electronic publishing and what are now becoming known as e-book readers. This is very timely, as the market potential for this type of distribution has just opened up again with the success of products such as the 3″ X 5″ PalmPilot – the latest version of which can download Web pages and e-books off the Net, but still fit in your shirt pocket.

She then explores both the new opportunities for writers created by the Internet and the practicalities of publishing on your own web site. I was glad to see that she didn’t waste too much time with coding and page layout, all of which can be picked up easily elsewhere. She concentrates instead on issues of copyright, payments, encryption, plagiarism, and censorship. These topics will be far more live issues for the majority of writers tempted by the possibilities of online publication.

But by far the best part of the book – the ‘killer app’ so far as most writers will be concerned – is the final chapter listing online resources. She gives annotated lists of all the sources a writer could possibly wish for – from libraries to bookshops, dictionaries to writing circles, newspapers to writing style guides, electronic publishers to free Internet service providers. Just working your way through the list with your browser open would be an education in itself. The list has been enlarged for the second edition – and made available at the book’s website.

What I like about this guide is that it combines a lightness of touch with a thoroughness of approach. It gets straight to the point, uses a minimum of technical jargon, and covers a wide range of topics pertinent to aspiring authors. If you are a writer, and you’re ready to explore a rich source of suggestions for what to do next with the Net, then buy this book. You will not regret it.

© Roy Johnson 2002

The Internet: A Writer's Guide   Buy the book at Amazon UK

The Internet: A Writer's Guide   Buy the book at Amazon US

Jane Dorner, The Internet : A Writer’s Guide, London: A & C Black, second edition 2001, pp.200, ISBN: 0713661267

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Microsoft Manual of Style

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guidelines for clear technical writing

Microsoft Manual of Style was produced in-house at Microsoft as the style guide for its army of writers who produce the help files and documentation for its products. Except that it’s been re-written for the public, and it’s completely non-prescriptive. They don’t say “This is the way it should be done”. They say “Here’s how we do it at Microsoft. You may find this approach useful”. It starts with a chapter describing the principles on which its house style is built – and these could profitably be adopted by any other organisation or business. Or any individual for that matter.

Microsoft Manual of Style They are not at all particular to Microsoft, but aimed at producing seamlessly efficient communication. The principles include consistency of language, an empathetic attitude towards readers, precision, plain language, simplicity of sentence construction, a nod towards avoiding gender bias, and maintaining grammatical parallelism (which is very useful if you are writing instructions).

These issues are all illustrated by good and bad examples that show clearly the distinction to be made between for instance two apparently identical instructions::

Use this procedure to make any changes to your password.

Follow these steps to change your password.

The second has seven words instead of ten, less fuzz, and more clarity.

There’s a separate section on writing efficiently for the web. You should use the power of headings, sub-headings, bulleted lists, and well-chosen hyperlinks to maximise readability. There’s a specially valuable tip here. In each paragraph, put the conclusion first (what’s called the ‘inverted pyramid’ style) so that readers know if they wish to read on. People scan web pages rather than read them.

It’s not all about instructions and programs. The guidance assumes you might be using videos, blogs, and community-provided content such as wikis. It also keeps in mind that you might be writing for an international audience – but it points out that the guidelines for accommodating this are the same as for writing clearly and persuasively for English-speaking readers anyway. The maximum length of sentences should be twenty-five words.

For those people who will be writing about technology there’s a whole chapter on user interfaces – screens, menus, dialogue boxes, and toolbars – and how to write instructions that are clear and unambiguous. This is bang up to date, because to interact with contemporary devices you now need to include gesture (pich, swipe, zoom) as well as input via speech instructions and keyboard shortcuts.

More technical advice follows – on writing procedures (how to navigate through folders) how to describe cloud computing accurately, how to show code in support documentation, and fine details such as how to use filename extensions and when to use capitalization and bold.

There’s quite a lot on how to display numbers and when to use words (seven databases but a 24-hour day) how to show dates (February 12, 2012 – which is very non-standard) plus how to write captions and compile bibliographies.

On grammar and punctuation they understandably go for simplicity, clarity, and brevity. All the basic common sense rules are illustrated – but are then followed by some not-so-obvious but fascinating illustrations of indexing and list-ordering, including the order in which numerical entries will be listed. For instance 12-hour clock comes before 2-D charts.

There’s a huge list of acronyms with advice on when and when not to spell them out, and then the last half of the book is an alphabetical list of technical terms and commonly used words and phrases with illustrated explanations of good styling. They range from am/pm, through less and fewer, to ZIP codes and how to spell the plural of zero.

There are two indexes – one at the front and another at the back of the book – so it’s easy to find any detail you need to check. The latest fourth edition does its best to keep up to date with the ever expanding language of technology – app, cloud, and sync as well as terabyte (TB), petabyte (PB), and on up to yottabyte (YB). And it’s interesting to note that E-mail and Web site have now become email and website as these terms have now become part of everyday language.

Microsoft Manual of Style   Buy the book at Amazon UK

Microsoft Manual of Style   Buy the book at Amazon US

&copy Roy Johnson 2012

Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Manual of Style, Microsoft Press: Redmond (WA), fourth edition, 2012, pp.438, ISBN: 0735648719

Style guide links

Red button Writing guides compared

Red button Writing skills – an annotated bibliography

Red button Editing and Revising Text

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MLA Style Guide

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What is the MLA Style Guide?

MLA Style GuideMLA stands for the Modern Language Association (of America). Its style manual has the full title MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. This presents a full set of protocols for the writing and presentation of documents and research in the humanities (literature, languages, media studies, and cultural studies). The guide and its standards are in general use throughout north America and Europe.

The guide does not cover the protocols used in disciplines such as history, sociology, philosophy, or sciences. These use either the Chicago Manual of Style or the Harvard System of referencing.

In the notes which follow, the terms citation (US usage) and referencing (UK usage) are used interchangeably.

Buy the book from Amazon UK
Buy the book from Amazon US

What does the MLA Style Guide do?

The MLA Style Guide offers a complete set of standards showing you how to present academic writing and research. These standards are not questions of correct or incorrect writing: they are merely a coherent system which ensure consistency and rigour in the presentation of academic writing. The standards show you how to –

  • embed quotations
  • cite secondary sources
  • give bibliographic references
  • present names and titles
  • avoid plagiarism
  • cite electronic sources
How does the MLA Style Guide work?

The MLA citation style uses a simple two-part system for citing sources. When you refer to or quote from a secondary source within your work, you provide a citation which points to an alphabetical list of Works Cited that appears at the end of the essay or term paper. The citation is an abbreviation given in brackets (Smith 128) and the full details of this source are listed at the end of your work. This example refers to page 128 in work written by someone called Smith.

This system of referencing identifies and credits the sources you have used in the essay. It allows someone reading the essay to identify and if necessary consult these secondary sources.

References within your text

In MLA style, you place references to secondary sources in the essay to briefly identify them and enable readers to find them in the list of Works Cited. These references should be kept as brief and as clear as possible.

Give only the minimum information needed to identify a source. The author’s last name and a page reference are usually sufficient. Example – (Barber 45).

Place the reference as close as possible to its source, preferably where a pause would naturally occur, which is often at the end of a sentence.

Information in the brackets should not repeat information given in the text. If you include an author’s name in a sentence, you don’t need to repeat it in your reference.

The reference should precede the punctuation mark that concludes the sentence, clause, or phrase that contains the cited material.

Electronic and online sources are cited just like print resources in references. If an online source lacks page numbers, omit numbers from the bracketed references.

Examples

Author’s name in text Browning has expressed this concern (122-25).
Author’s name in reference This concern has been expressed (Browning 122-25).
Multiple authors This hypothesis has proved very persuasive (Bradley, Morgan, and Smith 46).
Two works cited (Beetham 68; Covington 34)
Volumes and pages Robinson 3: 14-19
Corporate authors (United Nations, Economic Report 51-56)
Online sources Fetting, pars. 5-8)
List of Works Cited

References cited in the text of an essay or a research paper must appear at the end of your work in a list of Works Cited. This is also known as a bibliography. This list provides the information necessary to identify and retrieve each source that has been used in your work.

Arrange the entries in alphabetical order of the authors’ last names (surnames), or by the title for any sources without authors.

Capitalize the first word and all other principal words of the titles and subtitles of cited works listed. Do not capitalize articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, or the “to” in infinitives. (The Angel at the Grave)

The titles of books and journals should be shown in italics. Choose a font in which the italic style contrasts clearly with the regular style.

Shorten the publisher’s name. For example, omit articles, business abbreviations (Co., Inc.), and descriptive words (Press, Publisher).

When multiple publishers are listed, include all of them, placing a semicolon between each.

When more than one city is listed for the same publisher, use only the first city.

Use the conjunction ‘and’, not an ampersand [&], when listing multiple authors of a single work.

Do not use the abbreviations p. or pp. to designate page numbers.

Indentation: Align the first line of the entry flush with the left margin, and indent all subsequent lines (5 to 7 spaces) to form a ‘hanging indent’.

Bibliographic description

References to an entire book should include the following elements:

  • author(s) or editor(s)
  • complete title
  • edition, if indicated
  • place of publication
  • shortened name of publisher
  • date of publication
  • medium of publication

The basic format

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

One author

Nabokov, Vladimir. Strong Opinions. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973. Print.

Another work, same author

—. Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited. New York: Knopf, 1999. Print.

Two authors

Cresswell, Susan, and Charles Hoffman. Theaters of Experiment. London: Thames and Hudson, 2004. Print.

Three authors

Loewen, Thomas, Bentham Ginsberg, and Stuart Jacks. Analyzing Democratic Government. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 1994. Print.

More than three authors

Sander, Jefferton et al. Beyond the Utility Principle. London: Heinemann, 1993. Print.

Editor (anthology or collection of essays)

Hillman, Charles, and Margery Hamilton, eds. Defining Milton’s Poetics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print.

No author or editor

The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. 2014 ed. London: A and C Black. 2014. Print

Articles in books

Jones, Josephine Teresa. “Within These Walls.” Feminism and its Relation to Architecture. Ed. Maureen Harrington. New York: Lexington Books, 2010. 109-24. Print.

Reprinted article

Huntford, Thomas. “The Misreading of Ken Kesey.” Review of Contemporary Fiction 4.3 (1985): 30-43. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Carleen Rilmont. Vol. 61. Detroit: Gale, 1990. 308-10. Print.

Articles or entries from reference books

If the article or entry is signed, put the author’s name first; if it is unsigned, give the title first. For well-known reference works, it is not necessary to include full publication information. Include only the title of the reference source, edition, and date of publication.

Dictionary entry

“Hostages.” Def. 1a. Shorter Oxford Dictionary. 1993. Print.

Encyclopedia entry

Merrington, Barbara. “Cooking with Gas.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. Ed. Andrew F. Smith. Vol. 2. 2004. Print.

Articles in journals, magazines, and newspapers

References to periodical articles must include the following elements:

  • author(s)
  • article title
  • publication title
  • volume number
  • publication date
  • inclusive page numbers
  • medium of publication

Issue numbers should be stated as decimals to a given volume number. For instance, the number 25.4 refers to Volume 25, issue 4. When citing newspapers, it is important to specify the edition used (early ed. or late ed.) because different editions of a newspaper might contain different material.

Journal article, one author

Mentone-Cassidy, David. “Beyond Boundaries: Reaching Multi-Cultural Development.” Journal of Tourism Research 37.4 (2010): 141-63. Print.

Journal article, two authors

Langton, Jennifer, and Warren Furst. “Exploring Challenges and Opportunities Associated with Sharing Medical Resources.” International Journal of Hospital Management 29.2 (2010): 261-7. Print.

Magazine article

Keinster, Donald A. “Corporate Greed: The New Economics.” Vanity Fair 23 Nov. 2012: 84-91. Print.

Newspaper article, no author

“American Independence Day: The View from England.” The Guardian 31 May 2012, 16. Print.

Film, video, or audio recordings

Film

Manhattan. Dir. Woody Allen. 1979. Videocassette. MGM/UA Home Video, 1991.

Sound recording

Bob Dylan. Highway 61 Revisited. Columbia / Sony, 2004. CD.

Specific song

Bob Dylan. “Desolation Row.” Highway 61 Revisited. Columbia / Sony, 2004. CD.

CD-ROM

Citations should include the medium of the electronic publication (CD-ROM), the name of the vendor that made the material available on CD-ROM, and publications dates for the version used, if relevant.

“Matrimony.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. CD-ROM. London: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. Multimedia, 2014.

Citing online sources

References to online sources, like those for printed sources, should provide the information that both identifies a source and allows it to be located and retrieved again.

All references should include the medium of publication (Web) and the date the content was viewed.

If the source is difficult to locate, you should list the complete Web address (URL) within angle brackets after the date. In many cases, it is also necessary to identify the Web site or the database that has made the material available on line.

There are currently no fixed standards governing the organization and presentation of online publications. Consequently, the information that is available can vary widely from one resource to another. In general, references to online works require more information than references to print sources.

For instance, the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia is being edited and updated all the time – so in some instances it might be necessary to record not only the date of an entry being visited, but even the time of day.

See sections 5.6.1-4 in the MLA Handbook for more complete information on creating references to online sources.

Web page

This example includes the optional URL. All other examples below use the shorter citation format.

Cornell University Library. ‘Introduction to Research’. Cornell University Library. Cornell University, 2009. Web. 19 June 2009 <http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/intro>.

Personal web site

If a work is untitled, you may use a genre label such as Home page, Introduction, etc.

Remington, Gregory. Home page. Web. 16 Nov. 2008.

Entry in an online encyclopedia

‘Epstein, Jacob’. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1999. Web. 27 Apr. 2009.

Article from a less familiar online reference book

Norton, John S. ‘European History and Islam’. Encyclopedia the Muslim World. Ed. Richard C. Martin. New York: Macmillan Reference-Thomson/Gale, 2004. Web. 4 July 2009.

Article in an online periodical

If pagination is unavailable or is not continuous, use n. pag. in place of the page numbers.

Chatterton, Heather. ‘The Epidemic in Saratoga’. Salon 19 Feb. 1999: n. pag. Web. 12 July 1999.

Article in a full-text journal accessed from a database

Valentino, Jose Antonio. ‘The Other Side of Facebook’. New Yorker 86.28 (2010): 54-63. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Jan. 2011.

Online book with print information

Henderson, Robert. South of Boston. 2nd ed. New York: Henry Holt, 1915. Google Books. Web. 30 June 2009.

The examples of MLA style and format listed on this page include many of the most common types of sources used in academic research. For additional examples and more detailed information about MLA citation style, refer to the following resources:

MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 3rd ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2008. Print. [Amazon US]

MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 3rd ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2008. Print. [Amazon UK]

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2009. Print. [Amazon US]

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2009. Print. [Amazon UK]

The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors and Publishers. 16th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2010. Print. [Amazon US]

The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors and Publishers. 16th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2010. Print. [Amazon UK]

© Roy Johnson 2014

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On Writing Well

by

best-selling guide to sharpening your writing style

William Zinsser is professional journalist (former writer and editor on the New York Herald Tribune) who manages to express a love of writing and an appreciation of good style without ever dragging readers into the swamps of grammatical nit-picking and rule-governed instruction. In On Writing Well he expresses himself in an urbane and conversational style typical of popular magazines. This is a reassuring approach for those who want a guided tour of writing issues, held by the hand of someone experienced in the craft. It’s rather like having a writing coach at your shoulder as he talks you through what writers think and the decisions they make.

On Writing Well He’s particularly alert to the fear of those who lack confidence. The first part of the book is taken up with his principal recommendations. These are to cultivate brevity and clarity, and to omit any form of ‘clutter’. He has some wonderful examples of equivocation, ambiguity, and deliberate obfuscation drawn from American public life – including such gems from Alexander Haigh as “at this juncture of maturization” [that is ‘now’] and “We must push this to a lower decibel of public fixation. I don’t think there’s much of a learning curve to be achieved in this area of content.”

He then covers the means by which this clarity is to be achieved. It involves, logically enough, choosing your words carefully, and developing a unity of approach and subject matter.

The third part of the book deals with different forms of writing – such as reportage, interviews, and travel writing. It also covers scientific writing, business and even sports. These chapters are aimed at aspiring journalists, but there’s much to be learned from such details as his sharp-eyed analysis of the travel cliché: ‘villages nestling‘ and ‘byways half-forgotten‘:

Half the sights seen in a day’s sightseeing are quaint, especially windmills and covered bridges

The latter part of the book relaxes into its real subject – journalism – on which Zinsser speaks with feeling about its craft and techniques. In fact he ends by giving a paragraph-by-paragraph account of writing a travel article, explaining the subject options, the choice of vocabulary, and the strategies of approach which he tried and rejected. There’s a certain amount of patting himself on the back after-the-event in this, but aspiring writers might find it interesting to be taken through the generation of a piece of work in this way.

At its best, this approach will make readers sensitive to the effects they produce, and at its weakest it’s like a well-written guidebook on ‘How to Write Stories for Magazines’. But on balance, more people are likely to improve their writing by becoming conscious of rhythm and structure than are likely to fall into the abyss of verbal entertainment which fails.

© Roy Johnson 2006

On Writing Well   Buy the book at Amazon UK

On Writing Well   Buy the book at Amazon US

William Zinsser, On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (6th edn), New York: Harper, 2006, pp.336, ISBN: 141775057X

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Overcome writer’s block

by

techniques for getting started

Overcome Writer's Block1. Writer’s block is much more common than most people imagine. But it can be overcome. Don’t imagine that you should be able to write impeccably at your first attempt. Most successful writers make several drafts of their work. They edit what they write, correct mistakes, make additions and deletions, and generally re-write extensively. Writing fluently and clearly is an advanced skill.

2. Don’t just sit staring at the blank piece of paper or the editing screen: it will only make you feel worse. Do something else, then come back to the task. Best of all, write something else – something you know you can write. This will help you to feel more confident.

3. Do some different type of writing as a warm-up exercise. Write a note or a letter to one of your friends. Re-write some of your earlier work, or just write something for your own amusement. This may help to release you from the blocked condition.

4. Don’t try composing in your head if you get stuck. Put down even your scrappiest ideas, so that you can see what you are dealing with. It may help you to identify any problems which are holding you back. If in doubt, put it down anyway. You can always delete it or change it later.

5. Get used to the idea of planning and making notes for what you are going to write. Don’t try to work with all the information stored in your head. A sound working plan and good notes will take the strain off you – and will prompt you with ideas, which in turn will prevent any ‘blocks’ developing.

6. Be prepared to make two or three attempts at anything you write. The first may not be very good, but it can be corrected, altered, changed – or even thrown away. Nobody need see your first attempts, so you don’t need to worry how bad they are – provided you pass on to a second or a third draft.

7. Some people develop a block because they think that mistakes and crossings-out on the page will result in ‘wasted paper’. Use scrap paper for your first drafts. The most common causes are a lack of preparation and the misguided idea that it is possible to write successfully at the first attempt.

8. If you are using a computer, you might try printing off your first attempts and editing them on paper. Some people work best in this combination of two mediums. Even professional writers edit on both screen and paper.

9. Writer’s block is a very common problem. Even experienced writers sometimes suffer from it. Don’t think that you are the only person it affects. What you need to know is how to get out of the blocked condition.

10. Here are some statements made by people suffering from writer’s block. They could help you identify your own case if you have this problem. They are followed by tips on how to effect a cure.

‘I’m terrified at the very thought of writing’

Cause – Perhaps you are just not used to writing, or you are out of recent practice. Maybe you are over-anxious and possibly setting yourself standards which are far too high.

Cure – Limber up and get yourself used to the activity of writing by scribbling something on a scrap of paper or keying in a few words which nobody else will see. Write a letter to yourself, a description of the room you are in – anything just to practise getting words onto paper. Remember that your attempts can be discarded. They are a means to an end, not a product to be retained.

‘I’m not sure what to say’

Cause – Maybe you have not done enough preparation for the task in hand, and you don’t have any notes to work from and use as a basis for what you want to say. Perhaps you haven’t yet accumulated enough ideas, comments, or materials on the topic you are supposed to be discussing. Possibly you have not thought about the subject for long enough.

Cure – Sort out your ideas before you start writing. Make rough notes on the topics you wish to discuss. These can then be expanded when you are ready to begin. Brainstorm your topic; read about it; put all your preliminary ideas on rough paper, then sift out the best for a working plan. Alternatively, make a start with anything, then be prepared to change it later.

‘My mind goes blank’

Cause – Maybe you have not done enough preparation on the topic in question and you are therefore short of ideas or things to write about. Perhaps you do not have rough notes or a working plan to help you make a start. Maybe you are frightened of making a false start or saying the wrong thing.

Cure – Make notes for what you intend to write about and sort out your ideas in outline first. Try starting yourself off on some scrap paper or a blank screen. You can practise your opening statement and then discard it once you are started. Put down anything that comes into your head. You can always cross it out or change it later.

‘It’s just a problem of the first sentence’

Cause – These can be quite hard to write! There is quite a skill in striking the right note immediately. You may be thinking ‘How can I make an introduction to something which
I have not yet written?’ Maybe you have not created a plan and don’t know what will follow any opening statement you make. Perhaps you are setting yourself standards which are much too high or unrealistic. Maybe you are fixated on the order of your statements – or just using this as an excuse to put off the moment when you will have to start.

Cure – Leave a blank space at the beginning of what you are going to write. The first sentence can be written later after you have finished the rest. Make a start somewhere else and come back to it later. Alternatively, write any statement you wish, knowing that you will change it later.

‘I’m not quite ready to start yet’

Cause – This could be procrastination, or it’s possible that you have not finished digesting and sorting out your ideas on the subject.

Cure – If it is procrastination, then use the warming up procedure of writing something else of no importance just to get yourself into the mood. If it is not, then maybe you need to revise your notes, drum up a few more ideas, or make a working plan to give you a point from which to make a start.

‘I’ve got too much information’

Cause – If you have several pages of notes, then maybe they need to be digested further. Maybe you have not selected the details which are most important, and eliminated anything which is not relevant.

Cure – Digest and edit your material so as to pare it down to what is most essential. Several pages of notes may need to be reduced to just one or two. Don’t try to include everything. Draw up a plan which includes only that which is most important. If your plan is too long, then condense it. Eliminate anything which is not absolutely necessary for the piece of work in hand.

‘I’m just waiting for one small piece of information’

Cause – Maybe you feel that a crucial piece of background reading – a name, or just a date is holding you up. You may be waiting for a book to be returned to the library. But this is often another form of procrastination – making excuses so as not to face the task in hand.

Cure – Make a start without it anyway. You can always leave gaps in your work and add things later. Alternatively, make a calculated guess – which you can change if necessary at a later stage when you have acquired the missing information. Remember that your first draft will be revised later anyway. Additional pieces of information can be added during the editing process.

‘I’m frightened of producing rubbish’

Cause – Maybe you are being too hard on yourself and setting standards which are unnecessarily high. However, this can sometimes be simply a fear of putting yourself to the test.

Cure – Be prepared to accept a modest achievement at first. And remember that many people under-rate their potential ability. It is very unlikely that anybody else will be over-critical. If you are a student on a course, it is the tutor’s job to help you improve and become more confident.

‘I’m stuck at the planning stage’

Cause – This may be a hidden fear of starting work on the first draft, or it may possibly be a form of perfectionism. It may be that you are making too much of the preparation stages, or alternatively that you are stuck for ideas.

Cure – Make a start on the first draft anyway. You can create a first attempt which may even help you to clarify your ideas as you are writing it. This first draft may then be used to help you devise and finalise another plan – which can then be used as the basis for your second or final draft.

‘I’m not sure in what order to put things’

Cause – Maybe there are a number of possibilities, and you are seeking the best order. Perhaps there is no ‘best’ or ‘right’ order. You are probably looking for some coherence or logical plan for your ideas.

Cure – Draw up a number of different possible plans. Lay them out together, compare them, then select the one which seems to offer the best structure. Be prepared to chop and change the order of your information until the most persuasive form of organisation emerges. Make sure that you do this before you start writing, so that you are not trying to solve too many problems at the same time once you begin.

‘It’s bound to contain a mistake somewhere’

Cause – You may be so anxious to produce good work that your fear of making a mistake is producing the ‘block’. Alternatively, this may be a form of striving for the impossible, or setting yourself unreachably high goals so as to create an excuse for not starting.

Cure – Your first efforts should only be a draft, so you can check for mistakes at a later stage. Be prepared to make a start, then deal with any possible errors when you come to re-write the work later. Very few people can write without making mistakes – even professional authors – so there is no need to burden yourself with this block.

© Roy Johnson 2004

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