Tips from an Online Writing Instructor
Developing an Outline
Ever sit and just daydream? You look out the window and notice a weird cloud formation … then a car driving by … then a girl on a bicycle … then the postman delivering mail … then a billboard in need of repair. Suddenly, all of these sights have you thinking about your summer vacation when you WILL be outside, on a family trip to the mountains – and with THIS thought, your mind has now taken you to fishing out of a canoe … hiking up a mountain … swimming in a clear mountain lake … sitting around a campfire at night. Oops – your mind has done yet another switch, now having you mull over the kind of careers that would allow you to have this type of vacation every year, after you've left college, and moved out of your folks' home … and so a whole new set of thoughts emerge.
Welcome to the wonderful world of outlining.
Don't Think Spellcheck or Grammarcheck are Always Correct
GRAMMAR/PUNCTUATION. When the sentence below (from a student’s paper) appeared in Microsoft Word, the word “it’s” [highlighted] was underlined in green by the computer; the suggested change made by the software was that the word be written “its” – without the apostrophe. This is, of course, wrong because the form of the word written – “it’s” or “it is” – is the correct form:
But it’s better than the harsh reality of what could have happened had he still held a high-ranking political office in the Iraqi republic.
Another Writing Secret Revealed: The Edit Sheet
Think about this: you are scanning a large crowd with nothing particular in mind; when you look away, how many people wearing red shirts or folks wearing hats or individuals with glasses will you remember? Probably none, and for one very good reason: you weren’t honing in on those specific types of people. The same thing happens when we proofread: unless we are reading for a particular area of writing – incomplete sentences or spelling errors or no transition between subjects, for example -- we probably won’t pick out each of those items that translate into our writing weaknesses. The result: papers handed in, given to, and emailed out that are not our best effort.
The Concluding Paragraph
Why do you remember some things but not others? Think about it: there are people, events, and situations that we seem to carry around “forever”; they have somehow made an impression on us and – of the billions of items that we have experienced over the years – we remember these. The reason is a simple one: their impact was major in whatever way we needed something to be major. In writing a concluding paragraph, you must also seek out sentences that will have a solid impact on the readers – one that leaves the readers with the thought, “Wow – that was some good stuff!”
Non-Essential Elements and Commas
So – ever see a leech, a real, honest-to-goodness, blood-sucking leech?
If you have, you know that leeches, in order to live, must attach themselves to a host; once this is accomplished, they have a leisurely meal of good ol’ blood so they can live for yet another day. And just how does a leech attach itself to its host? Well, each leech has a mouth just full of tiny little hooks that allow the leech to attach to a host … hooks that look very much like, well, commas!
The Opening Paragraph
We’ve all heard the expression, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” While this is usually associated with job interviews and other social interactions, it’s also true in writing: the first paragraph of an essay, report, letter, summary, and other written missives longer than a few paragraphs makes a first impression on the readers -- and often is the deciding factor on whether the readers are going to continue reading or stop.