English and Related Literature
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Writing Makeover Tips
Follow these suggestions to create more forceful, fluid writing
1. Avoid overusing the passive tense.
NO: Tension is created by withholding Rochester’s emotions until the end.
YES: Bronte creates tension by withholding Rochester’s emotions until the end.
2. Don’t be timid or tentative.
NO: One could argue that shifts in voice and location evoke the chaos of the city in The Waste Land.
YES: One could argue that Shifts in voice and location evoke the chaos of the city in The Waste Land.
3. Eliminate unnecessary phrases that you may use to set up points.
NO: What I mean is that Charlotte vividly displays her anxiety in the interview with Irene in Look at Me.
YES: What I mean is that Charlotte vividly displays her anxiety in the interview with Irene in Look at Me.
4. Avoid using this is/there is. Replace using a phrase from the previous sentence to make your connections clearer.
NO: Carroll tells the story from a child’s perspective. This is because he wants to present the strangeness of the modern world.
YES: Carroll chooses to use a child’s perspective in order to present the strangeness of the modern world.
5. Use semi-colons, colons, and commas correctly.
6. Don’t bury your points.
See if some statements from the end of your paragraphs might be brought forward to the beginning. Many writers finally give a sense of what a paragraph is about at the very end. See if your conclusion actually works better as the introduction.
7. Vary sentence length.
Combine sentences to make more complex ones.
8. Do not italicise quotations.
Use quotation marks correctly and consistently.
9. Indent the beginning of each paragraph.
10. Transitions: However, Furthermore, Nevertheless, etc.
NO: If you have ‘Also’ or ‘In addition’ or ‘Another way . . .’ at the beginning of each paragraph then you are writing a list of examples not an essay.
YES: Use transitions to guide the reader and to note shifts.
11. Be specific, assertive, in control.
Use clear language to explain your points and why they are important.
This article is available to download for free as a PDF for use as a personal learning tool or for use in the classroom as a teaching resource.
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