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What is academic writing? - OWLL - Massey University

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Academic writing has its own set of rules and practices around a formal order or structure in which to present ideas, in addition to ensuring that ideas are supported by author citations in the literature.

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A Twitter Challenge - but it's about how to summarize and paraphrase, too.

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Author : Cathy Relf

Posted : 18 / 02 / 13

Last week, we set our readers a challenge: to shorten a paragraph and tweet it to us at @EmphasisWriting, with the hashtag #EmphasisTest, using Stan Carey's tips on writing concisely for Twitter.

We've had some excellent responses - which you can see here on Storify - and choosing a winner has been very tricky indeed.

The paragraph given was:

It is generally agreed among writing specialists that the more unnecessary detail you include in a piece of prose, the more work it becomes for the typical reader. Or as the English poet Robert Browning expressed it: 'Less is more.'
What to keep in?
This paragraph breaks down into three concepts: first, that this is advice from writing experts; second, that unnecessary detail makes it harder for your reader; and, third, that Browning summed it up with 'Less is more'.

These three elements are vital to conveying the meaning of the paragraph. Remove the first and you lose the context. Remove the second and you lose the advice. Remove the third and you lose the wit.

Most people who responded sensed this and kept all three, reducing the character count by trimming. But a few opted for a more strident approach. For example:

@ emphasiswriting Good prose is brief. #EmphasisTest

(Doesn't give any advice about how to achieve it, or why, and omits the quotation.)

@ emphasiswriting adage "Less is more" = good both for reader & writer #EmphasisTest

(Doesn't put the quotation in context, or give advice about how to achieve it.)

These are both nice and snappy, and work well on their own. But they don't convey the whole sense of the original paragraph. Whenever you're editing, especially if it's someone else's material, be cautious when cutting content.

Make sure that you only cut unnecessary detail, and otherwise restrict yourself to tightening up the wording and phrasing. Be careful, also, not to introduce suggestions that weren't in the original. For example:

@ emphasiswriting #EmphasisTest At least writing specialists agree on one thing - leave out unnecessary detail

(Omits the quotation, then adds a sense of incompleteness with 'at least' and '[agree] on one thing'.)

Choose your words carefully
When you're trying to shave off a character here and a character there, it can be tempting to switch to a shorter word or an abbreviation, even if it slightly changes the meaning. Treat this temptation with caution.

In the following example, the tweeter saved five letters by replacing 'unnecessary details' with 'useless details'.

However, and unnecessary have subtly different meanings. The former is of no use, no merit, ever. The latter is simply not needed - possibly ever, or possibly just at this time or in this situation. For the sake of brevity, could be a good alternative. It's one character longer than useless, but then you can scrape one back again by cutting details to detail. Be strict, too, with your contractions. The there's in the tweet below, for example, feels rather unnatural.

An alternative might have been to spell out the there is, but contract the it will to it'll.
Keep an eye on tone
As anyone who's ever sent a 'cheeky' email that landed them in hot water will know, in writing there's a fine line between wit and bad manners. You can't count on the person reading your message in the same playful spirit that you wrote it. Combine this with the fact that brevity can sometimes come across as brusqueness, and you've got a small but perfectly formed powder keg.

I don't think I'd dare to word client advice like this, for example:

The shortlist We've received many excellent tweets, and choosing between them has been very difficult. We loved this one (though note it comes from a professional editor):

And this one (again, a professional editor):

And this one (though we'd suggest using a single em- or en-dash before 'Robert Browning', rather than brackets):

And many more.

But the one we've chosen as the winner is:

So congratulations to @WalesPPA, AKA Jac Bond, soon to be the happy owner of a slick, swish, shiny prize, the envy of all his acquaintances. (OK, OK, it's a book on mnemonics. But we think it's very cool.)
So, what would you have done, smartypants?
Before we opened the challenge to the public, both Emphasis CEO Rob Ashton and I had a go ourselves. Feel free to use the comments section below to put us through the mill, as we surely deserve.

Rob's version:

@emphasiswriting Most writing experts say extra detail means extra work for the reader. Browning was right: less is more. #EmphasisTest

And mine:

@EmphasisWriting The more unnecessary detail you put in a piece, the harder it is to read. To quote Browning, 'Less is more.' #EmphasisTest

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Twitter challenge: the results - Emphasis

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Last week, we set our readers a challenge: to shorten a paragraph and tweet it to us at @EmphasisWriting, with the hashtag #EmphasisTest, using Stan Carey's tips on writing concisely for Twitter. We've had some excellent responses - which you can see here on Storify - and choosing a winner has been very tricky indeed.

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They call their site Plagiarism 101, but it's a how NOT to, not a how to.

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Plagiarism is a common (and often misunderstood) problem that is often the result of a lack of knowledge and skills. Our mission is to support the education community with a comprehensive set of resources to help students write with integrity.

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The Paterson Library - Start Researching..

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Over the coming months we will be embarking on a project to make more space in the Chancellor Paterson Library for students.

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Are you an accurate proofreader? Take the challenge.

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Author : Catie Holdridge

Posted : 20 / 10 / 11

Taking the time to proofread your writing - whether it's a letter, report, proposal or even just an email - shouldn't be an optional extra. After all, it can mean the difference between sending 'I'll definitely be done by five' and 'I'll defiantly be gone by five'.

But proofreading is a skill and it can take a bit of practice. So why not test your ability on our example? Simply copy and paste the text into the comment box below, and correct all of the mistakes. We'll mark them on Friday 7 October, and send the five people who spot the most mistakes a free copy of our style guide, The Write Stuff.

From: Anna Gooding
To: All office staff
Subject: The need for poofreading

Hi eveyrbody

As your probably aware, it's become apparant that weve recently been sending out a lot of letters and emails wih an umber of typo's in them Their is no excuse for this this and it really can't goon, as it makes us look utterley unprofessional. From now on, lets make sure that nothing is snet out with out first being proof read (this includes email.) To begin with, Id like to see how we get on checking each others work. If neccessary, we may look into some traning . If anyone has any question about this, please bring them up at the staff on meeting tuesday.

Many Tanks

Anna
The proofreading competition is now closed. Thanks to all those who took part. The winners and the corrected email can be found here and our tips for better proofreading are here.

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The proofreading competition is now closed. Taking the time to proofread your writing - whether it's a letter, report, proposal or even just an email - shouldn't be an optional extra. After all, it can mean the difference between sending 'I'll definitely be done by five' and 'I'll defiantly be gone by five'.

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Simon Fraser University shows how to document Canadian Government Sources in APA Format

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Simon Fraser University Library is grateful to be located on the lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), qiqéyt (Qayqayt), qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen), Səmyámə (Semiahmoo), and sc̓əwaθən (Tsawwassen) Natio…

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What's a Conjunction? Here are three of them at School House Rock

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Communication Barrier - Frame of Reference Error

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Best Sexy Funny Banned Commercial Compilation

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Ameriquest Advert - You're Getting Robbed

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One of the series of 'Don't Judge Too Quickly' ads from Ameriquest Mortgage. This one features a guy 'holding up' a convenience store

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This site has the best grammar checker.

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Work with an AI writing partner that helps you find the words you need⁠-⁠to write that tricky email, to get your point across, to keep your work moving.

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