Final Review
Based on the cover summaries in Williams & Bizup.
Principles for Writing Clearly
Williams & Bizup offer Ten Principles for Writing Clearly
inside the front cover of the book.
That seems like a good thing to review…
Principles for Writing Clearly
- Distinguish grammatical rules from folklore.
- Use subjects to name the characters in your story.
- Use verbs to name their important actions.
- Open your sentences with familiar units of information.
- Get to the main verb quickly.
Principles for Writing Clearly
- Push new, complex units of information to the end of the sentence.
- Begin sentences that form a unit with consistent subject/​topics.
- Be concise.
- Control sprawl.
- Above all write to others as you would have others write to you.
Principles for Writing Coherently
… and inside the back cover, Ten Principles for Writing Coherently
.
Principles for Writing Coherently
- In your introduction, motivate readers to read carefully by stating a problem they should care about.
- State your point, the solution to the problem, at or near the end of that introduction.
- In that point, introduce the important concepts that you will develop in what follows.
- Make everything that follows relevant to your point.
Principles for Writing Coherently
- Make it clear where each part/​section begins and ends.
- Order parts in a way that makes clear and visible sense to your readers.
- Open each part/​section with its own short introductory segment.
- Put the point of each part/​section at the end of that opening segment.
Principles for Writing Coherently
- Begin sentences that form a unit with consistent subjects/​topics.
- Create cohesive old-new ties between sentences.