The Writer's Brief Handbook

The Writing Process1. Planninga. Analyzing the writing taskb. Choosing a subjectc. Focusing on a topicd. Generating ideas and collecting informatione. Determining your purpose for writingf. Establishing a thesis statementg. Analyzing your audienceh. Making an outline2. Writing a Drafta. Choosing a good titleb. Writing the body of your compositionc. Writing the beginning and ending3. Revisinga. Revising the largest elements firstb. Revising your sentences and dictionc. Conducting peer conferences4. Editinga. Editing for grammar, punctuation, and mechanicsb. Preparing the final copyc. Proofreading the final copy5. STUDENT SAMPLE: Annotated Student Essay6. Designing a documenta. Understanding the principals of designb. Understanding the elements of designc. Using visualsd. Formatting academic manuscriptII Writing in College and Beyond1. Academic writing2. Study skillsa. Time managementb. Note-taking in classc. Reading effectivelyd. Essay examinations3. Critical thinking and active reading4. Writing argumentsa. Understanding the elements of argumentb. Making appropriate appealsc. Considering your audienced. Refuting the opposition’s argumente. STUDENT SAMPLE: An ANNOTATED ARGUMENT ESSAY5. Online writinga. E-communicationsb. Composing online6. Oral presentationsa. Outliningb. Preparing and practicingc. Using visuals7. Public writinga. Business lettersb. Resumesc. Memosd. Letters to the editorIII. Paragraphs 1. Unitya. Writing a topic sentenceb. Relating all sentences to the controlling idea2. Developmenta. Developing paragraphs fullyb. Using the strategy implied in your topic sentence to develop your paragraph3. Coherencea. Arranging sentences in the most effective orderb. Using transitional words and phrasesc. Repeating key words and phrasesd. Using parallel structuree. Using transitions to link paragraphs4. Beginnings and endingsIV Sentence Clarity and Style1. Parallelisma. Use parallel constructions with coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so)b. Use parallel constructions with correlative conjunctions (either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, both/and, whether/or)c. Use parallel constructions in comparisons with than or as2. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiersa. Place modifiers where they will be most effectiveb. Connect a dangling modifier to the main part of the sentence3. Shiftsa. Use pronouns that are consistent in person and numberb. Maintain the same verb tensec. Maintain the same moodd. Keep subject and voice consistente. Avoid unnecessary shifts from direct to indirect quotationf. Keep tone and style consistentg. Maintain the same point of view4. Unified and Logical Sentencesa. Use only relevant detailsb. Avoid mixed or illogical constructions5. Subordination and Coordinationa. Use subordination to group short, choppy sentences into larger units of thoughtb. Do not subordinate excessivelyc. Use coordination to put ideas of equal importance in grammatical structures of equal weight6. Emphasisa. Achieve emphasis by placing the most important words and phrases at the beginning or end of a sentenceb. Place ideas that occur in a series in a logical and climactic orderc. Use the active rather than the passive voiced. Repeat important words for emphasise. Occasionally use a short, dramatic sentencef. Achieve emphasis by using periodic sentencesg. Achieve emphasis by using balanced constructions7. Sentence Varietya. Avoid the overuse of short simple sentencesb. Vary your sentence openingsc. Do not overuse compound sentencesV Word Choice1. Eliminating Cluttera. Focus on subjects and verbsb. Eliminate redundanciesc. Delete empty words and phrasesd. Reduce inflated expressions to their core meaningse. Convert clauses to phrases2. Exactnessa. Choose words that accurately denote what you want to sayb. Choose words whose connotations suit your purposec. Use specific and concrete wordsd. Use idioms correctlye. Use figurative languagef. Replace clichés with fresh language3. Appropriatenessa. Choose an appropriate degree of formalityb. Use standard Englishc. Avoid pretentious languaged. Use technical language only where appropriatee. Avoid vogue words4. Bias in Writing5. The Dictionary6. The ThesaurusVI Sentence Parts and Patterns1. Grammar Essentialsa. Parts of Speechb. Parts of Sentencesc. Phrasesd. Clausese. Types of Sentences2. Subject-Verb Agreementa. To choose the correct verb form, identify the subject of the sentenceb. Use a plural verb with most compound subjects joined by andc. With subjects joined by or or nor, make the verb agree with the subject that is closest to itd. Treat most collective nouns as singulare. The relative pronouns who, which, and that take verbs that agree with their antecedentsf. Treat most indefinite pronouns as singularg. Make the verb agree with the subject even when the subject comes after the verbh. Make a verb agree with its subject, not with a subject complementi. Use a singular verb with most singular nouns ending in –sj. When the title of a work is the subject of a sentence, use a singular verbk. When a word used as a word is the subject, use a singular verbl. 1l When the subject of a sentence is a noun clause, use a singular verb3. Verbs: Form, Tense, Mood, and Voicea. Use the principal parts of irregular verbs correctlyb. Use lay and lie and set and sit correctlyc. Use the correct verb tense to convey your meaningd. Use sequences of tense forms that are logically relatede. Use verbs in the correct moodf. Use the active voice4. Pronoun Problemsa. A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender, number, and personb. Be sure a pronoun’s antecedent is clearc. Use pronouns in the correct cased. Use who or whom according to how the word functions in its own clause5. Adjectives and Adverbsa. Use adverbs, not adjectives, to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbsb. Use an adjective, not an adverb, as a subject complementc. Use bad/badly and good/well correctlyd. Use the demonstrative adjective that agrees with the noun it modifiese. Use the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs correctly6. Fragmentsa. Join a phrase fragment to an existing sentence, or rewrite it as a sentenceb. Join a subordinate clause fragment to an existing sentence, or rewrite it as a sentencec. Make an appositive fragment part of a sentenced. Keep a compound predicate within a single sentencee. Use sentence fragments intentionally to add emphasis and to write realistic dialog7. Comma Splices and Run-On Sentencesa. Separate clauses into two sentences with a periodb. Connect clauses with a semicolonc. Connect clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet)d. Restructure the sentence by subordinating one of the clausesVII Punctuation1. The Comma2. The Semicolon3. The Colon4. The Apostrophe5. Quotation Marks6. Other Punctuation Marksa. The periodb. The question markc. The exclamation pointd. The dashe. Parenthesesf. Bracketsg. The ellipsis markh. The slashVIII Mechanics1. Capitals2. Abbreviations3. Numbers4. Italics/Underlining5. The Hyphen6. SpellingIX Research Writing1. Developing a research strategya. Planning a work scheduleb. Choosing a topic and research questionc. Determining what you already know about your topic2. Finding sourcesa. Determining a search strategyb. Learning to use keyword searchesc. Locating booksd. Locating articlese. Locating Internet sourcesf. Using reference booksg. Using interviews and questionnaires3. Selecting and Evaluating Sourcesa. Previewing your print and online sourcesb. Evaluating your print and online sources3. Keeping Track of Informationa. Keeping a working bibliographyb. Reading and analyzing your sourcesc. Taking complete and accurate notes without plagiarizing5. Documenting Sourcesa. MLA in-text citationsb. APA in-text citationsc. CMS footnotes or endnotesd. CSE in-text citations6. Writing the research papera. Determining a thesis and organizing the evidenceb. Avoiding plagiarismc. Integrating quotations, paraphrases, summaries, and visuals into your textd. Revising and formatting a research paperX. Writing in the Disciplines1. Overview of writing in the disciplinesa. Understanding writing assignmentsb. Methodology and evidencec. Discipline-specific resourcesd. Language and stylistic conventionse. Documentation and format guidelines2. Reading and writing about literaturea. Writing assignments for literatureb. Reading and analyzing a literary textc. Library and Web resources for literary studyd. Observing the conventions of writing about literaturee. Documentation and formatf. Annotated student essay about literature3. Writing in the humanitiesa. Writing assignmentsb. Methodology and evidencec. Literary and Web resources for the humanitiesd. Documentation and format4. Writing in the social sciencesa. Writing assignmentsb. Methodology and evidencec. Library and Web resources for the social sciencesd. Documentation and format5. Writing in the natural and applied sciencesa. Writing assignmentsb. Methodology and evidencec. Library and Web resources for the sciencesd. Documentation and formatXI. MLA Style Documentation and Format1. MLA-Style documentationa. MLA in-text citationsDirectory to MLA in-text citation modelsb. MLA information footnotes or endnotesc. MLA list of works citedDirectory to MLA list of works cited models 2. MLA manuscript format3. STUDENT SAMPLE: Annotated student MLA research paperXII. APA Style Documentation and Format1. APA-style documentationa. APA in-text citationsDirectory to APA in-text citationsb. APA references2. APA manuscript format3. STUDENT SAMPLE: Annotated student APA research paperXIII. CMS Documentation Format / CSE Documentation Format1. CMS documentationa. CMS endnotes or footnotesb. CMS bibliographyc. CMS note and bibliography modelsDirectory to CMS note and bibliography models2. CMS manuscript format3. STUDENT SAMPLE: Annotated student CMS research paper4. CSE documentationa. CSE in-text referencesb. CSE list of referencesDirectory to CSE list of referencesXIV. ESL Basics1. Verbsa. Modalsb. Perfect tensesc. Progressive tensesd. Passive voicee. Two-word verbsf. Verbs followed by an infinitive or a gerund2. Nouns, Qualifiers, and Articlesa. Noncount nounsb. Quantifiers for noncount and count nounsc. Indefinite article (a or an)d. Definite article (the)3. Adjectives and Adverbsa. Cumulative adjectivesb. Present and past participlesc. Adverbs4. Prepositions and Prepositional Phrasesa. Correct prepositionsb. Necessary prepositionsc. Unnecessary words in prepositional phrasesd. Remember that infinitives cannot be used as the objects of prepositionse. Learn some common compound prepositionsf. Learn some common adjective + preposition combinations5. Parts of Sentencesa. Omitted verbsb. Omitted subjectsc. Expletives (there, here, it)6. Special Problemsa. Word order for questionsb. Questions with who, whom, and whatc. Indirect questionsd. Reported speeche. Conditional sentences6. Confusing Words and PhrasesXV. Glossary of Usage / IndexCreditsCorrection Symbols