Improving academic writing
September 12, 2014 12:12 AM Subscribe
I'm looking to improve my essay writing skills. I have two questions:
1. Can anyone suggest a book/resource that uses a large number of examples to illustrate how various techniques work?
2. Does anyone know of a resource that has lists of the most common words that someone might need for writing an essay? One list may have all the synonyms of "finally", another of "issue" and another of "result". I know that thesaurus' exist, but they don't divide the space of words into distinct subsets. So you end up reading the same words multiple times.
1. Can anyone suggest a book/resource that uses a large number of examples to illustrate how various techniques work?
2. Does anyone know of a resource that has lists of the most common words that someone might need for writing an essay? One list may have all the synonyms of "finally", another of "issue" and another of "result". I know that thesaurus' exist, but they don't divide the space of words into distinct subsets. So you end up reading the same words multiple times.
Best answer: Many people swear by They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing.
posted by Buddy_Boy at 6:39 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Buddy_Boy at 6:39 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Replacing overused words is one way to improve writing and enforce specificity. Even though this list is directed to schoolkids/their teachers, it is still valid.
This website is built for resumes, but contains a number of lists for more direct, more powerful words.
In general: verbs rule. Choose the strongest verb without going overboard.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:15 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
This website is built for resumes, but contains a number of lists for more direct, more powerful words.
In general: verbs rule. Choose the strongest verb without going overboard.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:15 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
Here's one list, though it's probably not as extensive as you're looking for.
The best way to improve academic writing is to read academic writing, particularly academic writing in your field. Just the other day I visited an old professor and we were talking about this very topic. I confessed to her that I detest most academic writing in the social sciences--yet I've been told again and again that I'm good at it. The trick is paying attention to how these writers transition from one topic to another, the jargon they use, etc. If you can't find a resource, why not make your own? Write down your favorites. Write down the jargon they use. Pay attention to how they reference other topics or experts in the field ("Dr. Snootypants asserts..."), things like that. The other thing about academic writing is that it is often in the dreaded passive voice. If you can avoid it, great, but if that's what you need to do because it's the status quo, by all means do so.
The other thing is we need words like 'finally' and 'in conclusion' far less than we might think given how we're taught to write and structure essays. When you see a closing paragraph that doesn't use some signaling word or phrase, pay attention to how they may or may not have indicated they were wrapping things up.
And seconding dances_with_sneetches--verbs rule.
posted by katherant at 7:41 AM on September 12, 2014
The best way to improve academic writing is to read academic writing, particularly academic writing in your field. Just the other day I visited an old professor and we were talking about this very topic. I confessed to her that I detest most academic writing in the social sciences--yet I've been told again and again that I'm good at it. The trick is paying attention to how these writers transition from one topic to another, the jargon they use, etc. If you can't find a resource, why not make your own? Write down your favorites. Write down the jargon they use. Pay attention to how they reference other topics or experts in the field ("Dr. Snootypants asserts..."), things like that. The other thing about academic writing is that it is often in the dreaded passive voice. If you can avoid it, great, but if that's what you need to do because it's the status quo, by all means do so.
The other thing is we need words like 'finally' and 'in conclusion' far less than we might think given how we're taught to write and structure essays. When you see a closing paragraph that doesn't use some signaling word or phrase, pay attention to how they may or may not have indicated they were wrapping things up.
And seconding dances_with_sneetches--verbs rule.
posted by katherant at 7:41 AM on September 12, 2014
In addition to the stuff mentioned above, my writing improved dramatically once I realized I actually needed to edit it. As in, finish writing a draft, then go through the draft systematically to make corrections. This speeds up the writing process to the extent that I don't hem and haw over a particular paragraph when I'm writing, but going through a process of several drafts really helps me notice systematic problems in an essay. (The downside is you have to do it in advance; it's not clear from your question if you're a student or not, but if you are, this means you have to leave yourself time to edit before the assignment is due).
Having other people tell you about your work is very helpful in that it helps you look for problems when you're editing. For example, I had a teacher in high school mention that my essays tended to be too wordy. This (and a couple of lousy grades) lead me to develop a habit of going through each draft and literally crossing out unnecessary words or sentences that were too long or complicated. It helped a lot. You might have a problem of repeating words or phrases, which is hard to notice without reading your own work and finding how many times you use a particular phrase.
posted by dismas at 7:53 AM on September 12, 2014
Having other people tell you about your work is very helpful in that it helps you look for problems when you're editing. For example, I had a teacher in high school mention that my essays tended to be too wordy. This (and a couple of lousy grades) lead me to develop a habit of going through each draft and literally crossing out unnecessary words or sentences that were too long or complicated. It helped a lot. You might have a problem of repeating words or phrases, which is hard to notice without reading your own work and finding how many times you use a particular phrase.
posted by dismas at 7:53 AM on September 12, 2014
I took Little Red Schoolhouse, which is a great academic writing course offered by the University of Chicago (and quite possibly one of the most useful classes I ever took). The basic takeaway from that course is to write coherently with subjects that matter for your reader. Just because everyone else is so confusingly convoluted doesn't mean you have to do that too. Passive voice is 100% ok if it means the subjects of your sentences don't jump around.
I found this version offered by Penn State but not sure if that's the complete set of notes. Memail me and I'll see if I can dig up my old notes for the class.
posted by astapasta24 at 7:54 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
I found this version offered by Penn State but not sure if that's the complete set of notes. Memail me and I'll see if I can dig up my old notes for the class.
posted by astapasta24 at 7:54 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
I love Steven Pinker's writing, and I'll be reading this book when it comes out in a few weeks (I'm sure he'll have some great advice):
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century, by Steven Pinker
I would recommend two excellent books by Patricia T. O'Conner:
Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English
Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know about Writing
posted by alex1965 at 8:41 AM on September 12, 2014
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century, by Steven Pinker
I would recommend two excellent books by Patricia T. O'Conner:
Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English
Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know about Writing
posted by alex1965 at 8:41 AM on September 12, 2014
For college essay writing, I think the best one is "Writing With Style" by Trimble, which I've used successfully with undergraduates.
posted by caoimhe at 8:57 AM on September 12, 2014
posted by caoimhe at 8:57 AM on September 12, 2014
The Longman Language Activator is meant to help writers choose the word that they want. It's aimed at advanced non-native speakers, but it might be useful to you. I would find a bookstore that carries it and take a look at it.
If you mean college-style essays, Patterns for College Writing is pretty good (reviews seem to be for a different book entirely). I like it because it includes both literary and student examples. Most essay-writing books frustrate me because they don't include models of actual college essays, only of literary writing--and as much as English teachers like to pretend otherwise, the kinds of essays that we typically teach are virtually nonexistent outside of this kind of class. Literary and journalistic essays are very different and generally not useful models for simple college writing.
If you *are* looking to write essays that would survive outside of English class, then look for well-regarded anthologies/monographs/collections in your field. Reading lots and lots of good models will probably make a much bigger difference than reading lists of (probably contradictory) rules.
posted by wintersweet at 10:07 AM on September 12, 2014
If you mean college-style essays, Patterns for College Writing is pretty good (reviews seem to be for a different book entirely). I like it because it includes both literary and student examples. Most essay-writing books frustrate me because they don't include models of actual college essays, only of literary writing--and as much as English teachers like to pretend otherwise, the kinds of essays that we typically teach are virtually nonexistent outside of this kind of class. Literary and journalistic essays are very different and generally not useful models for simple college writing.
If you *are* looking to write essays that would survive outside of English class, then look for well-regarded anthologies/monographs/collections in your field. Reading lots and lots of good models will probably make a much bigger difference than reading lists of (probably contradictory) rules.
posted by wintersweet at 10:07 AM on September 12, 2014
A note on editing: once you finish your essay, leave it for a day before you pick it up again. If you try to edit your essay as soon as you have finished, you're likely to gloss over mistakes.
And read it out loud to yourself if possible.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 4:21 PM on September 12, 2014
And read it out loud to yourself if possible.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 4:21 PM on September 12, 2014
I wanted to qualify my earlier comment. Avoid passive voice, if you can. It's the bane of academic writing. The more champions of active voice, the better. I was thinking more of your grade when I wrote "by all means do so." The sad fact is passive voice is often the status quo, and the social sciences aren't the only guilty parties--you'll find it in abundance in scientific literature, too. Which means that many your professors have likely read a lot of passive voice gobbledygook and some of them might think it's good writing. I had profs who rewarded me with higher grades for obscure jargon in convoluted sentences. So I wrote that way sometimes, regrettably.
While not specific to academic writing, Sin and Syntax is an excellent and entertaining resource for understanding the nuts and bolts of great sentences.
posted by katherant at 11:19 PM on September 12, 2014
While not specific to academic writing, Sin and Syntax is an excellent and entertaining resource for understanding the nuts and bolts of great sentences.
posted by katherant at 11:19 PM on September 12, 2014
I took Little Red Schoolhouse, which is a great academic writing course offered by the University of Chicago (and quite possibly one of the most useful classes I ever took).
I took this class too and also thought it was the most useful class I ever took. There's a really great book by Joseph Williams based on the course that people often recommend in these threads: Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. It's excellent and builds up an approach to clear writing in small pieces and has great examples.
posted by rustcellar at 10:48 AM on September 13, 2014
I took this class too and also thought it was the most useful class I ever took. There's a really great book by Joseph Williams based on the course that people often recommend in these threads: Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. It's excellent and builds up an approach to clear writing in small pieces and has great examples.
posted by rustcellar at 10:48 AM on September 13, 2014
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posted by mymbleth at 3:59 AM on September 12, 2014 [2 favorites]