Hartz: Keys to writing well
These simple rules will improve your papers
By Jenny Hartz (Contact)
Thursday, October 25th, 2007
Most of us would say we write pretty good. I mean, we don’t want to brag or anything, but we just have the skills.
Well. No, not well as in, “well, I beg to differ” (although I do). I mean well as in that is how you write. You write well, not good. At the Writing Center, whose main office is located in 4017 Wescoe, we see lots of people who write good and some who write well. But, regardless of a writer’s skill, it amazes me how people make very basic grammar mistakes over and over. It’s like not knowing that one plus one equals three.
Today I will provide you with a fun writing guide to remind you of the basics. For further details, consult a writing manual like “The Everyday Writer.”
1. Your thesis statement determines the whole purpose of your paper, kind of like how your major declaration determines your whole life. The thesis should be specific, but not too specific that it limits what you can write about. It should also be intriguing, but not too intriguing or your professor might actually read the rest of your paper. For example, check out the thesis for my article: This article will be amazing because I wrote it.
2. Titles of books, movies, magazines, and other major works go in italics (unless they’re in a newspaper, in which case they’re in quotations, as seen here). Titles of songs, episodes, articles and other works found within a bigger work go in quotation marks. Example: I caught my boyfriend in the bedroom with my Britney Spears’ Oops, I Did it Again album. He was rocking out to ”Lucky.”
3. Please do not go comma decorating, as my previous roommate put it. Commas should not be placed randomly about like shiny ornaments on a Christmas tree (or, to be PC, a holiday tree). Here are a few times when to use them:
a. Comma to connect two complete sentences with a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so, a.k.a. FAN BOYS) Example: It was Friday, so I didn’t go to class.
b. Comma after the dependent clause (introductory phrase) Example: After I drink a can of Mountain Dew, I write many insightful things and don’t sleep for days.
c. Comma to offset appositives (phrases further explaining or defining something). Example: Facebook, a synonym for stalking, is being sued.
4. Their vs. There: We think Kansas State University is there in Manhattan. We know their team isn’t that good.
5. Affect is a verb. Effect is a noun. Example: The snowstorm affected everyone on campus. The effects were devastating: people started wearing Ugg boots.
6. Try to not start sentences with “there is” or “there are.” Example: You can change, “There is a limited number of parking spots on campus” to, “Parking doesn’t exist at KU.” See? There are many other ways to start a sentence.
7. Literary present tense must be used when talking about any written work. This also includes movies and other such sources. Even though these things happened a long time ago, they must be discussed as if they are happening right at this moment. Of course, if something has already happened at the point of the story you are describing, then it is okay to use past tense. Example: Aeneas prays to the gods to save his ship from the storm because they saved him from a pit of man-eating spiders on Thursday.
8. Always end your paper with a conclusion. Usually it should sum up the paper and provide new insights on the topic, possibly on how the topic relates to the larger picture. For example, here is the conclusion to my article, which I feel contains profound ideas and leaves readers with something to think about.
In conclusion, overall, to sum things up, looking back on it all, all’s well that ends well, happily ever after, what I really think is, the end.
Hartz is a Stilwell junior in creative writing.
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