8/3/2019 Professor Heideman's Guide to Style

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Professor Heidemans Guide to Style

Writing is always a form of communication. The style of the writing follows from the goalof the communication. Writing driving directions, flirtatious text messages, or a cover letter allnecessitate vastly different styles because of the different goals of the communication. For this class,the goal of your writing is to convince your professor that you both understand the course materialand have something interesting to say about it. These points are meant to aid you in that effort.While only a small portion of what you write during your lifetime will be written with this goal inmind, the advice below will be valid for any situation in which a formal writing style will help youaccomplish the goal of your communication.

Good writing foregrounds the voice and ideas of its author. Phrases like it is known that orit has been said hide both of these (Who knows? Who says? Who cares?). Similarly, avoidusing quotations to make your points for you. Quotations should aid in the illustration of apoint you are making. By putting your voice and ideas at the center of your writing, younot only make it clearer and more pleasurable to read - you also make it more confident andconvincing.

Eliminate words like very and really from your written vocabulary. Rather than describingsomething as very important, describe it as crucial instead. The latter is concise andprecise; the former only leaves your reader wondering why, if it is so important, you could notdescribe it better. Adverbs in general (most words ending with ly) should always be treated

with suspicion, and asked what their business is in your sentences.

Be as specific as possible. If you want to convince your reader that a certain author had goodideas, dont simply say She had good ideas (and especially dont say She had very goodideas!). Describe her ideas, and explain why they are compelling, fascinating, ahead of theirtime, etc.

Paragraphs with a variety of sentence structures are far more pleasing to read than those withrepetitive structures. Multiple short sentences in a row are choppy. They make the writingsound disconnected. They break up your readers attention. This distracts from your ideas.(See what I mean?)

Although written and spoken language differ greatly, reading your sentences out loud is theeasiest test of their clarity and grammaticality. If it sounds strange when you say it, it willassuredly sound strange to your reader as well. Papers that have received this treatment areeasily distinguishable from those that have not in a variety of ways - most relevantly, by thehigher grades they tend to receive.

Always strive to make everything you write both interesting and beautiful.