Learn More About Writing

In Search of Excellence

At the end of the day (or the following morning), here are some questions you might ask as you take a break before completing the final draft:

• Have you put forth a conceptual scheme governing the paper, a rationale for selection of topic and focus of thesis?
• Is there any difficulty making transitions? Are transitions direct rather than flowery?
• Is there an overreliance on style at the expense of thinking through an argument?
• Is there an overreliance on quotations at the expense of interpretation?
• Are there any sentences placed in a topic-sentence location that don't really say anything?
• Is there an overreliance on chronology?
Remedies:
1) attach commentary to summary
2) couch plot summary in terms of the argument
3) get to the point; cut the verbiage (such as reference points in the narrative) on the way to getting to the point

Check for these style flaws:

• wordiness
• pretense
• inflated levels of diction

What is a good writer pretending for? Possibilities include fear about originality of ideas (anxiety of influence), or about using natural diction, or about attempting to tell a story in academic language (especially when working with literary texts).

Other techniques for further activating good writing:

• cut & paste--literally
• outline after writing the first draft
• verbalize the purpose of each paragraph for a responsive reader