Tips on Writing Reports and Papers
This page is an adaptation of Sonoma State University geographer
Brian Baker's page. I’ve added other common student writing errors.
Do not plagiarize! Do not present an author’s words as your own.
Do not over quote. One becomes a better writer with practice not
sampling. Do not include lengthy and/or frequent quotations in your
essays. Instead, paraphrase.
Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation
It's = it is -- only used as a contraction. Its is the possessive form
(e.g., "its mapping program," where its refers to an agency). Any time
you use it's, see if substituting "it is" makes sense. If not, use its.
“Their” = a possessive pronoun. As such, it shows possession (e.g.,
"their cuisine," which means you are referring to someone's, maybe
the Italians' cuisine). Any time you use their, see if substituting
would require the use of an apostrophe. It should.
"There" is not a possessive pronoun. It does not show possession or
ownership. "There" is not a contraction. It does not mean "they
are."
They're = a contraction of "they are." Do not contract "they are"
and you will avoid making this mistake.
The plural of "country" is countries. The possessive form of
"country" is country's. The possessive form of "countries" is
countries'.
Use apostrophes to indicate possession.
“finical” means finicky. If you misspell “financial” Spell-check
might insert this word. Spell-check might also insert “activates”
when you meant “activities”.
A spell check tool would not catch the common errors mentioned
above. The lesson here is that you must proofread your writing
before submitting it.
Learn to use apostrophes correctly so that you can avoid using “of
the”. For example:
“The energy use of the farmers…”
“The farmers’ energy use…”
Even better:
“Farmers energy use…”
Capitalizing: We are not writing in German. Do not capitalize all
nouns. Capitalize only proper nouns, i.e., names of specific things -the European Union is one object, but geographic information
systems and biology aren't, so don't use initial capitals.
“Bay Area” is the name of a place. Capitalize it.
You should not capitalize cardinal directions (east, west…) unless
they occur as the first word in a sentence, or a part of a proper noun
(East Biggs)
Word Use
Very is a very weak adjective. “Very unique”? The word “unique”
already implies “very”.
Nice, very, good, fairly, good-sized. These are useless
adjectives in a landscape description. Do not use them.
Quality requires a modifier. The phrase “quality work” does not
indicate the work’s quality.
Principle vs. Principal. A principal can be a noun, such as the chief
administrator of a school. Principal can also be an adjective, which
means the most important, primary, basic or main. So, when Hart
identifies the principal components of a landscape, he means the
three main components of a landscape.
Principle is always a noun. It means an idea, law, proposition…
“Since” refers to the passage of time, not a causal relationship. To
indicate a causal relationship, use “because”.
Style
Usually you should not use the words of my questions to create a
sentence. The result is often awkward.
Long, complex sentences: Break these into two or more simpler
sentences. Long sentences are difficult for readers to follow.
Newspapers are some of the worst offenders, by the way!
Often a period is more appropriate than a comma. If you have
written a sentence that includes 3 or more commas, and does not
include a list of items, you should break it down into two or more
sentences.
Avoid passive voice whenever possible. Example of passive: "The
coal deposits were exploited by incipient industrialists." Active
substitute: "Incipient industrialists exploited coal deposits."
There is (are, was, were)... Reword sentences beginning with "there
is" or “there are” whenever possible. This construction is distracting
and boring. Example: "There are many different landscapes in France
like bocage, forested uplands, elite, coastal fringes ..." Substitute
"France includes diverse landscapes like bocage, forested uplands,
elite, coastal fringes ..."
Do not write in a conversational style. If you want to have a
conversation, come to office hours and we will converse. For
example “way more”.
Omit parenthetical phrases. Integrate the information within the
parentheses into your sentences.
Do not use clichés.
Organize your responses to the readings in paragraphs, not a single
block of text. Often your answer to a single “question to consider”
can comprise a complete paragraph.
Do not use my question in your answer. For example, here’s one of
my questions: “What are Madison’s ideas related to the district
becoming self-sufficient in energy?” Some of you began you answer
like this, “Madison’s ideas related to the district becoming selfsufficient in energy.” Creating a clear and grammatical sentence out
of this is difficult if not impossible. Instead, you can begin your
answer like this: “Madison believes production of canola and
safflower will lead the district to energy self-sufficiency.”
Be certain that you clearly identify the correct actor that is
performing the action of a verb. For example, in the following
phrase the actor is incorrectly indicated. “by emphasizing his
procedure for landscape study which advocates...” A procedure does
not advocate. An author might advocate.
Keys to Concision: Our motto is “Cut, cut and when in doubt
cut some more.”
Eliminate “in order” from your papers. For example, “In order to
describe the landscape…”. Just write “To describe the landscape…”
Often you can eliminate the direct article of a noun without creating
an awkward or ungrammatical sentence. “To describe the
landscape…” “To describe landscape…”
Use one verb instead of two. “give indication”? Why not simply
“indicate”
Symbols.
I write symbols on your papers to communicate. Below I define
those symbols.
Star (within the body of the text) = That is interesting. What a great
idea! This is a fine sentence.
WDYM = What do you mean? Your sentence makes no sense.
RTTY = Read this to yourself.
SF = Sentence fragment
Look again = You missed the author’s point. You should re-read that
section.
Words that I have crossed out indicate that I’ve shown you how to
improve your sentence by eliminating and/or re-arranging words.
A circle around a word = Poor word choice.