Download Writing Style

Effective Writing at the
Graduate Level:
Academic Writing Style
Student Development Services
Writing Support Centre
UCC 210
www.sds.uwo.ca/writing
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Writing in a style that is easily read by different audiences is essential in the academic setting. This presentation will detail some methods of improving the flow of your writing.
Layers of Effective Writing
Layer 1: Appearance
Spelling, Grammar, Formatting
Layer 2: Writing Style
Sentence Flow
Layer 3: Organization
Connecting the Ideas
Layer 4: Content
The Ideas
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As seen here, the writing style is only one component of effective writing, but it is vital to ensure that your content is communicated to your audience.
Academic Writing Style
Discipline specific
Most areas encourage a clear and concise writing style
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While writing style can be discipline specific, most areas encourage a clear and concise writing style that maximizes the amount of material communicated in the shortest amount of time.
Clarity
If it can be misinterpreted, then it is wrong
Word choice is key
Many clarity issues are caused by inappropriate words
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In the academic setting, where words have so much power and can not be clarified once published, if a text can be misinterpreted by a reader, regardless of the author’s intent, it should be considered wrong. Using the correct words is essential.
Vague Words
Be as precise as possible
Avoid words that are unclear (“good”)
It was a good analysis.
The analysis addressed three major concerns...
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Vague words should be replaced by words and phrases that precisely convey the intended meaning. “Good” is a word with many meanings is not descriptive enough in many situations. In this example, we have completely changed the sentence in order to address
why we the analysis was “good.”
Absolute Words
In academia, nothing is ever certain
Avoid words like “proves”, “always” and “exactly”
Deer mice never eat insects.
Deer mice are not known to eat insects.
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Absolute words can get you into trouble when things end up being less certain than you thought, especially in the sciences where the word “proves” should almost never be used. In this example, we address the current state of knowledge by saying that we do not
know deer mice to eat insects, but we are not talking at all about the future. While you might feel that this takes away some of the forcefulness of your writing, you should always feel that being correct is more important than being persuasive.
Incorrect Word
Many words have precise definitions that may be different
than what you expect
A few examples:
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While a graduate student’s vocabulary is no doubt extensive, there are many words that are often used incorrectly that can obscure the meaning of a phrase. It is unlikely that you will be able to learn all of the definitions, but you should be aware of the
possibility that you are not using a word correctly.
Between and Among
Between: Comparing two things
Among: Comparing three plus things
I have a hard time choosing between Hamlet and
Macbeth.
Among The Tempest, Othello and Julius Caesar, I would
choose Othello.
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The word “between” compares only two objects while the word “among” compare three or more objects, as shown in this example.
Affect and Effect
Generally, affect is a verb (meaning “influence”) and effect
is a noun (meaning “result”)
Effect can be a verb (as in “effect change”), but it is formal
and other words can be used (“produce”, “cause”)
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The word “affect” is usually used as a verb meaning influence, and the word effect is usually used as a noun meaning result. However, there are exceptions.
Resource
www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/errors/errors.html
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These examples are just some of groups of words whose definitions are often misunderstood. “Common Errors in English Usage” is a free web resource with many more examples. Give it a look if you’d like to learn the difference between “indifferent” and
“ambivalent,” among other confusing pairs.
Conciseness
Shortening the text without impacting clarity
Not the same as brevity
Usually improves clarity
If a word or phrase can be removed or shortened without
losing meaning, do it
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Writing concisely involves shortening the text without impacting its clarity. It is not the same as brevity, since some very long texts can be written concisely and many short texts are not as concise as they could be. By removing excess words and shortening a text,
it is usually easier to read, so it has the added bonus of improving clarity. In general, you should remove any phrases or words while keeping the original meaning.
Redundancy
Repeating information
The end result, future plans
The result, plans
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Cutting out repetitive information is one easy way to reduce your word count. Some common phrases, like these examples, can be changed while maintaining the same meaning. On a larger scale, some texts often have entire sentences that do little but repeat
information that has already been discussed. Repetition can be important to help the reader orient him or herself within the text, but in other times it can just be redundant. You must use your own discretion to decide.
Unnecessary Modifiers
Words that add little
Achieving peace without some kind of armistice is
impossible.
Achieving peace without an armistice is impossible.
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There are many small linking words that we use all the time during oral speech that add little to the meaning of a sentence. These words should be avoided when we can look back and edit out these filler words, like “some kind of” in this example.
Circumlocutions
Long circular descriptions
For the reason that, in light of the fact that
BECAUSE
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Circumlocutions are unique unnecessary modifiers that add little while going around in a circle. Each of these multi-word circumlocutions can be replaced by the simple yet effective “because.”
Expletives
Filler words like there is, there are, it is
There is evidence to suggest that fumigation causes...
Evidence suggests fumigation causes...
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Expletives can often be removed without losing meaning, with the benefit of making your writing a little more
forceful.
Proactive Solutions
Active Voice
Positive Form
Subordination
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The cases and examples we have looked at show ways of reacting to wordy sentences, but there are some proactive methods of keeping your writing concise.
Active Voice
Contrast with the passive voice
Subject is acting, not being acted upon
More direct and usually cuts out words
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The active voice is a writing style that places the emphasis on the subject acting, rather than being acted upon. Writing in the active voice makes your writing sound more direct and it usually cuts out words
Active Voice
Example:
Passive: The shoulder was rotated 70 degrees
Active: We rotated the shoulder 70 degrees
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In the first correction, we see the change of emphasis from the shoulder being acted upon, to doing the action. In the second correction, we insert the author as the subject.
Active Voice Warning
Not used in all disciplines
Science:
Saline was added to treatment A.
I added saline to treatment A.
Treatment A contained saline.
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Evident in the last section, using the active voice can change the meaning of a sentence. In some disciplines, it is not appropriate to use first person pronouns in academic writing (some people feel it takes away from the objectivity of the study). Thus, the active
voice may not always be a quick fix. However, there are some ways to incorporate the active voice, like this example, that do not use the first person pronoun.
Positive Form
Convert negative phrases into positive
Eliminates phrases like “does not”, “will not”
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Using the positive form will save a few words. It is also often more forceful to describe what something is, rather than what it is not.
Positive Form
Example:
He was usually not on time.
He usually came late.
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Here, we have cut out some words and given a more complete account of how “he”
acts.
Active and Positive
Example:
Deer mice have not been shown to eat insects.
Deer mice primarily eat seeds and roots.
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We can see how incorporating both the active voice and the positive form shortens and improves the flow of a
sentence.
Subordination
Restructuring clauses within other clauses
Changes the relative importance, but also eliminates a lot of
words
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Subordinate clauses are sentence fragments that support the rest of a sentence. By turning a sentence into a subordinate clause (subordination), we can save space and change the emphasis in a sentence.
Subordination
Example:
The procedure was used to extract magnetite, and it took
five steps.
The procedure was used to extract magnetite in five steps.
The five-step procedure was used to extract magnetite.
The five-step procedure extracted magnetite.
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The first sentence has two short independent clauses and could be shortened using subordination. In the first correction, we tack the second clause onto the first. In the second correction, we make the second clause into an adjective, further cutting down on our
word count. In the final correction, we convert the sentence into the active voice. In the end, we reduced a 12-word sentence to a 6-word sentence.
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Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style” was one of the first and is still considered by many to be the best style guide. It is available from many of the libraries at UWO.