Fundamentals of Writing
Organization: One Point/Topic per Paragraph
Usually a subject of writing requires subdivision into subtopics, each of which should be made the
only point/topic of a paragraph. The object of treating each point in a paragraph by itself is, of
course, to aid the reader. The beginning of each paragraph is a signal of a new step in the
development of the overall point—thesis—has been reached.
The extent of subdivision will vary with the length of the composition. For example, a short
response to an experiment might consist of two paragraphs or subtopics:
1. Account of the experiment.
2. Critical analysis of the experiment.
A report on a lab, written for a class in Chemistry, might consist of eight paragraphs or subtopics:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Introduction
Purpose
Materials
Methods
Data
Results
Analysis
Conclusions
A novel might consist of four subtopics:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Setting
Plot
Characters
Purpose
A historical event might consist of three subtopics:
1. Background to the event.
2. Account of the event.
3. Results of the event.
In treating either of these last two subjects, the writer would probably find it necessary to subdivide
one or more of the topics creating more paragraphs.
As a rule, single sentences should not be written or printed as paragraphs. However, in dialogue,
each speech, even if only a single word—is a paragraph by itself; that is, a new paragraph begins
with each change of speaker.
Fundamentals of Writing
Fundamentals of Writing
Organization: Paragraph Coherence
Coherence: when sentences within a paragraph are all clearly
relevant or related to each other and to the main idea of the
paragraph making the paragraph clear and intelligible.
Coherent:
In chemistry, energy is an attribute of a substance as a result
of its aggregate, molecular, or atomic structure. Since a
chemical transformation changes one or more of these
structures, it is invariably accompanied by an increase or
decrease of energy. Some energy is transferred between the
surroundings and the reactants in the form of heat or light.
Incoherent:
In chemistry, energy is an attribute of a substance as a result
of its aggregate, molecular, or atomic structure. Structure is a
fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the
recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns
and relationships of entities. An interpersonal relationship is
an association between two or more people that may range
from fleeting to enduring.
Fundamentals of Writing
Fundamentals of Writing
Organization: Paragraph Cohesion
(also known as “flow,” “transition,” and “liaison”)
Cohesion: when sentences within a paragraph are all clearly
connected or “bonded” to each other. This means that there is a
connection between a word (or phrase) of one sentence and a word
(or phrase) of the following sentence.
Cohesive:
A chemical reaction transforms one or more substances into one or
more other substances. The chemical transformation rearranges
electrons in the chemical bonds between atoms. It can be depicted
symbolically through a chemical equation, which usually involves
atoms as subjects. The number of atoms on the left and the right in
the equation for a chemical transformation is usually equal (if
unequal, the transformation is not chemical, but rather radioactive
decay or a nuclear reaction).
Not Cohesive:
A chemical reaction transforms one or more substances into one or
more other substances. Electrons are rearranged in the chemical
bonds between atoms. A chemical equation, which usually involves
atoms as subjects, has the number of atoms on the left and the right
in the equation for a chemical transformation is equal (if unequal,
the transformation is not chemical, but rather radioactive decay or a
nuclear reaction).
Fundamentals of Writing
Fundamentals of Writing
Sentence Structure: Emphasis
The natural stress of a sentence lies at the end. Readers assign special emphasis to the word
or words at the end of a sentence
Always look at the last few words of your sentences to see whether you have in fact ended
them on the words and phrases that deserve the most emphasis. (Consider also the type of
words you use: prepositions are relational words, therefore weak in themselves; adjectives
and adverbs are stronger than prepositions, but weaker than nouns; the strongest words of
all are nouns.)
How to revise for emphasis
1. Trim the end.
ORIGINAL: Chemists study atoms and their interactions and bonds with other atoms,
which are found in all substances around them.
REVISION: Chemists study atoms and their interactions and bonds.
2. Move peripheral ideas to the middle or front of a sentence.
ORIGINAL: Chemistry is an important field of study, in my opinion.
REVISION: In my opinion, Chemistry is an important field of study
3. Move important ideas to the end.
ORIGINAL: Whether a chemist is safe in the laboratory is more important than what he or
she is wearing.
REVISION: More important than what a chemist is wearing is whether he or she is safe in
the laboratory.
4. Move important ideas out of subordinate clauses and into independent clauses.
ORIGINAL: Marie Skłodowska-Curie pioneered research on radioactivity, for which she
was honored with two Nobel Prizes.
REVISION: Marie Skłodowska-Curie was honored with two Nobel Prizes for her
pioneering research on radioactivity.
Fundamentals of Writing
Fundamentals of Writing
Sentence Structure: Concision
Clear writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words for the same
reason that a car should have no unnecessary parts. This does not mean that writers make
all sentences short, or that that they avoid all detail. It means that every word should have
clear meaning and purpose.
Wordy
Concise
He is a boy who likes chemistry.
Chemistry is a field which interests me.
Corn is used for fuel purposes.
Her story is a strange one.
He likes chemistry.
Chemistry interests me.
Corn is used for fuel.
Her story is strange.
How to revise for concision
1. Delete words that mean little or
nothing
 kind of
 basically
 actually
 practically
 really
 generally
2. Delete doubled words
 full and complete
 hope and trust
 basic and fundamental
 first and foremost
3. Delete words that are close in meaning
 Explains and argues
 Emphasizes and reiterates
 Clearly and succinctly
5. Delete words readers infer
 basic fundamentals
 future plans
 end results
 true facts
 sudden crisis
 free gift
 terrible tragedy
 large in size
 pink in color
 round in shape
 field of chemistry
6. Change negatives to affirmatives
 not different ► same
 not many ► few
 not remember ► forget
 not the same ► different
4. Replace a phrase with a word or two
 “An attraction between atoms
that form chemical substances
that contain two or more atoms”
is replaced by “chemical bond.”
Fundamentals of Writing
Fundamentals of Writing
Sentence Structure: Action = Verb
Verbs and action can be separate from each other in sentences. Here's an example:
Action ≠ Verb: Chemists carefully make measurements of substance proportions, reaction rates, and
other chemical properties.
While grammatically correct, this sentence uses the verb “make.” However, as you can probably
see, “measurements” could easily be turned into the main verb of the sentence. A clear, active verb
is usually the better choice. In the first sentence “make” is much less clear about what the chemists
are doing. But in a revised sentence “measure” as the verb would be clearer to a reader.
Here is the revision:
Action = Verb: Chemists carefully measure substance proportions, reaction rates, and other
chemical properties.
This is a seemingly small change. However, it results in an increase in clarity. The following
diagram shows that in the original sentence, the action was not directly stated and was only implicit.
In the revised version, the verb and the action are identical.
Version
Verb
Action
Action ≠ Verb:
make
(measure)
Action = Verb:
measure
measure
Here is a more complicated example:
Action ≠ Verb: In 1972, Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould made the observation that the
history of the book is marked by long periods of stability in format alternating with periods of
radical change.
Action = Verb: In 1972, Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould observed that the history of the
book is marked by long periods of stability in format alternating with periods of radical change.
Version
Verb
Action
Action ≠ Verb:
made
(observed)
Action = Verb:
observed
observed
A final note about action:
Sometimes a writer intentionally hides the action. Let´s say someone blew up the chemistry laboratory. He or she might
not want to write, “I blew up the chemistry laboratory” (verb = action). He or she might write, “An explosion occurred in
the chemistry lab” (verb ≠ action). Remember a skilled writer can deceive a careless reader, so always be a skilled writer
and a careful reader.
Fundamentals of Writing
Fundamentals of Writing
Sentence Structure: Character = Subject
Subjects and characters can be separate from each other in sentences. Here's an example:
Character ≠ Subject: Oxygen and hydrogen were both named by Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier is a character in a very short story about the naming of oxygen and
hydrogen, but the sentence does not make him the subject, even though he is the true “character” of
the sentence/story.
Here is the revision:
Character = Subject: Antoine Lavoisier named both oxygen and hydrogen.
As you can see from the following diagram, the revision changes the subject from “oxygen and
hydrogen” to “Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier”:
Version
Subject
Character
Character ≠ Subject:
oxygen and hydrogen
Antoine Lavoisier
Character = Subject:
Antoine Lavoisier
Antoine Lavoisier
The true character is harder to identify in the following example:
Character ≠ Subject: The year 2011 was declared by the United Nations (UN) as the International
Year of Chemistry with the cooperation of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
(IUPAC) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Obviously, the members of the UN, UNESCO and IUPAC are the real characters—the true, fleshand-blood people—in this sentence, but they are not the grammatical subject. If you make the UN,
UNESCO and IUPAC the subject of sentence, it should also be obvious that “cooperation” should
be converted into the main verb.
Character = Subject: The United Nations (UN); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
(IUPAC) cooperated to declare 2011 the International Year of Chemistry.
Version
Subject
Character
Character ≠ Subject:
Year 2011
UN, UNESCO and IUPAC
Character = Subject:
UN, UNESCO and IUPAC UN, UNESCO and IUPAC
A final note about character:
Sometimes a writer intentionally hides the character. Let´s say someone blew up the chemistry laboratory. He or she
might not want to write, “I blew up the chemistry laboratory” (character = subject). He or she might write, “An explosion
occurred in the chemistry lab” (character ≠ subject). Remember a skilled writer can deceive a careless reader, so always
be a skilled writer and a careful reader.
Fundamentals of Writing
Fundamentals of Writing
Word Choice: Denotation and Connotation
Denotation: a literal meaning of the word
Connotation: an associated or secondary
(emotional or otherwise) of a word.
Denotation is the actual meaning of a word and connotation is an associated meaning of a
word. For example, both "woman" and "chick" have the denotation "adult female" in North
America, but "chick" has negative connotations, while "woman" is neutral. In formal
writing it is generally better to use only words based on the denotation. For example I had a
student many, many years ago write about how his “dog” was “the bomb.” It turns out he
did not own an exploding pet; he was writing about the enjoyable nature of a friend. I did
not share his denotations so I was quite confused by his essay.
Here's another example. All of the following words and phrases mean (denote) "a young
person," but their connotations may be quite different depending, in part, on the context in
which they appear: youngster, child, kid, little one, small fry, brat, urchin, juvenile, minor.
Some of these words tend to carry favorable connotations (little one), others unfavorable
(brat), and still others fairly neutral connotations (child).
Here is one more example. The word “chemistry” denotes the study of matter and its
chemical reactions, compositions, structures and properties, but its connotation can range
from rapport to even love (there is even a dating website: chemistry.com). So if you write
“I have chemistry with my friend Pat” you may be misunderstood if you are not careful.
As one final example, below are several words that describe where a person lives.
Word
Home
Denotation
Where a person lives
Residence
Where a person lives
Dwelling
House
Where a person lives
Where a person lives
Fundamentals of Writing
Connotation
Comfortable, cozy
place
Place to live with no
feeling attached
Primitive place
Actual building
Fundamentals of Writing
Word Choice: Use specific, concrete language
As you write you should try to use specific language not vague language and
concrete language not abstract language. Writers who write in particulars and
use specific, concrete details create pictures with their words.
Vague, Abstract Language
Specific, Concrete Language
An element was added to a liquid.
A small piece of sodium, about the size of a pea,
was placed in ½ liter of water in a two-liter
beaker.
He showed satisfaction as he took possession of
his well-earned reward.
The ten-year-old, toe-headed boy grinned as he
pocketed the silver dollar.
He goes to college.
John Kennedy Toole attends Shoreline
Community College.
Should writers always avoid abstract words?
No! We must use abstract words. Words like love, success, freedom, good, bad, moral,
democracy, and any -ism (chauvinism, communism, feminism, racism, sexism,…) are
necessary to understand the world. These terms are familiar and ubiquitous, but because we
recognize them, we may assume that we understand them. However we really can't,
because the meanings are constantly shifting.
Love is a good example. We have heard and used that word all our lives. Does it mean the
same to us as it did when we were four years old? When ten? When fourteen? When
Twenty? Certainly, the word changes meaning when we marry, when we divorce, when we
have children, etc. The word stays the same, but the meaning constantly shifts.
How about freedom? The word is familiar enough, but when I say, "I want freedom," what
do I want? Summer vacation? Paid-off debts? Cheap oil? My own car? Divorce? Selfemployment? The meaning of freedom changes easily.
We need abstract words. We need to develop ideas and concepts. However, we must
understand how imprecise and differently understood their meanings are, and how long
chains of abstract words can be tedious and confusing. Abstract terms are useful and
necessary when we want to name ideas (as we do in thesis statements and some paragraph
topic sentences), but they're not likely to make points clear or interesting by themselves.
Always be sure to connect them to more specific, concrete language.
Fundamentals of Writing