Basic Writing Skills (English)
Dipendra Gautam
9751020156
A Writer Writes
for
Readers
..........
Adaption
is the key
to
effective writing.
(Principle of Adaptation)
Adaptation?
• Adaptation means use of words and concepts
that our readers understand. Adaptation involves
first visualizing the readers; determine who they
are, what they know about the subject, what are
their educational levels, and how they think.
Then, keep this information in mind, and tailor
the writing to fit these readers.
A. ADAPTATION IN WRITING
INCLUDES:
CARE IN WORD CHOICE:
(Sample)
• A huge throng of people gathered at twelve noon on
Easter Sunday to debate the controversial issue.
or
People gathered at noon on Easter to debate the
issue.
1. Write Simply and Write Simple
Simplifying, a large part of adaptation, is
essential for three reasons:
• Many write at too difficult level
• Writer knows the subject better than
readers
• Results of research support simplification
2. Use Familiar Words
Unfamiliar Words
• The antiquated mechanisms
were utilized for the
experimentation.
(Exercise)
• Company operations for the
preceding accounting period
terminated with a substantial
deficit.
Familiar Words
• The old machines were used
for the test.
• The company lost much
money(amount) last year.
Some examples
Unfamiliar words
• ascertain
• contradict
• dissimilar
• erroneous
• evince
• Encounter
• glutinous
• Gradient
Familiar words
• find out
• Deny
• Unlike
• Wrong
• Show
• Meet
• Sticky
• slope
3. Use Technical Words with Caution
If readers do not belong to your field, technical words must either be
replaced by common words or supported by nontechnical description.
Technical words
Nontechnical words
• Cerebral vascular accident
Stroke
• liabilities
How much the company owes
4. Use Attractive Words
(Care words’ personality)
• Tycoon
• Supreme
• Absolute
• Eminently successful
businessperson
• Top ranked
• Cent percent or
hundred percent
•Focus verbs because they are the strongest part of speech,
closely followed by nouns.
Example: He told his opinion freely in meeting.
He kept his opinion boldly in meeting.
5. Use the Concrete Words:
• It arises interest in readers
• Concrete words are specific words
• Abstract words have general meaning
(e.g., administration, management, etc.)
• Concrete words give exactness
(e.g., 99.44 percent pure)
Abstract
Concrete
• The majority
• 62 percent
• In the near future
• On coming Sunday
What can be corrected?
• Ram lost a fortune in New York.
6. Favor Active over Passive Verbs
• Use the active voice, but do not completely avoid passive voice.
•Active voice is stronger and shorter
•Passive is better when doer of the action is not important and writer prefers
not name the doer.
Passive
• NASC will be inspected
soon by the Minister.
• This policy has been
supported by the NASC’s
Staff members
Active
• Minister will inspect NASC
soon.
• NASC’s Staff members
have supported this policy.
But:
• New mode of advertisement is criticized for its effect on culture.
•Two complaints have been made about you.
Why to Avoid Passive Voice
• Obscures the subject
• Increases the length of a sentence
• Shifts the emphasis from your subject
Note: Avoid using passive voice unless you are deliberately
emphasizing the predicate or obscuring the subject.
13
6. Avoid Overuse of Camouflaged
Verbs
• Changing action verb into
noun is camouflaged Where
We have to add action words unnecessarily.
Camouflaged Verb
Clear Verb Form
•Application of the mixture was
accomplished.
•They applied the mixture.
•We must bring about a reconciliation of
our differences.
•We must reconcile our differences.
7. Avoid Sexist words
Sexist
• When a customer needs
service, it is his right to ask
for it.
Make the reference Plural
When customers need service,
it is their right to ask for it.
• Manmade
• Businessman
• Cameraman
Nonsexist
• When a customer needs
service, it is the customer’s
right to ask for it.
• Manufactured
• Businessperson
• Camera operator (person)
Now Compare:
• On the occasion, Hon’ble
Minister, congratulating all
the new government officers
for their recent success of
becoming civil servants,
highlighted the need to be
clear about their services to
nation and said that training
was given to them so they
would gain necessary skills
required in their real work
setting.
• On the occasion, Hon’ble
Minister congratulated all
the new government officers
for their recent success of
becoming civil servants. He
highlighted the need to be
clear about their services to
nation. Finally, he
concluded that training was
given to them so they would
gain necessary skills
required in their real work
setting.
B. Emphasize Short Sentences
(Brevity of Words)
Merits of Short Sentences:
• Short sentences create
readability.
• It is clear and
understandable.
• It gives good impression.
Some Techniques to Make
Sentences Short
• Limit Sentence Content
• Avoid Redundancy:
Soothing tranquillizer
tranquillizer
Is in need of
needs
Could hold practice
could practice
Practice asking yourself, “can I
say this in less words?”
How would you shorten this:
•
•
•
•
•
other matters that were recommended
two separate buildings
In my opinion I think the plan is sound.
We should plan in advance for future.
It is the committee’s assumption that the evidence has
been gathered.
Lets Begin an Exercise.
1. Correct Answer: B
2. Correct Answer: A
3. Correct Answer: A
4. Correct Answer: B
5. Correct Answer: A
6. Correct Answer: A
7. Correct Answer: B
8. Correct Answer: B
9. Correct Answer: A
10. Correct Answer: B
11. Correct Answer: B
12. Correct Answer: A
13. Correct Answer: B
14. Correct Answer: A
15. Correct Answer: A
Some questions writers need to
think before they begin
• (Purpose) why are you choosing the topic you have
selected? Does it have a personal meaning for you?
• (Sources) What are you going to use? Where are you going
to turn for material?
• (Plan) How are you going to proceed? How are going to
focus and organize your material? What is going to be your
major point?
• (Audience) Who would be the ideal reader for your paper?
What do you expect of your audience, and what do you
expect to do for them?
• Lets have a look on some grammatical
rules.
Capitalization
Rule 1.Capitalize the first word of a quoted sentence.
Examples: He said, "Treat her as you would your own daughter.""Look out!" she
screamed. "You almost ran into my child.“
Rule 2.Capitalize a person's title when it precedes the name. Do not capitalize
when the title is acting as a description following the name.
Examples: Chairperson Petrov Ms. Petrov, the chairperson of the company, will
address us at noon.
Rule 3.Capitalize the titles of high-ranking government officials when used
before their names. Do not capitalize the civil title if it is used instead of the
name.
Examples: The president will address Congress. The governors, lieutenant
governors, and attorneys general called for a special task force. Governor
Fortinbrass, Lieutenant Governor Poppins, Attorney General Dalloway, and
Senators James and Twain will attend.
Capitalization
Continued
Rule 4.Always capitalize the first and last words of titles of publications
regardless of their parts of speech. Capitalize other words within titles,
including the short verb forms Is, Are, and Be.
Exception:Do not capitalize little words within titles such as a, an, the, but,
as, if, and, or, nor, or prepositions, regardless of their length.
Examples:The Day of the Jackal , What Color Is Your Parachute?, A Tale of
Two Cities
Rule 5.After a sentence ending with a colon, do not capitalize the first
word if it begins a list.
Example:These are my favorite foods: chocolate cake, spaghetti, and artichokes.
Quotations within Quotations
Rule: Use single quotation marks inside double quotation
marks when you have a quotation within a quotation.
• Example: Bobbi said, “Delia said, ‘This will never
work.’”
Notice that what Delia said was enclosed in single quotes.
Notice also that the period was placed inside both the
single and the double quotation marks.
• The American rule is that periods always go inside all
quotation marks.
Lets have an exercise
Using Commas, Semicolons,
and Colons within Sentences
• Punctuation within sentences can be tricky;
however, if you know just a few of the
following rules, you will be well on your
way to becoming a polished writer and
proofreader.
Rule: Use a comma between two long, independent clauses when
conjunctions such as and, or, but, for, nor connect them.
• Example: I have painted the entire house, but she is still working
on sanding the floors.
Rule: If the clauses are both short, omit the comma.
• Example: I painted and he sanded.
Rule: If you have only one clause (one subject and verb pair), do not
use a comma in front of the conjunction.
• Example: I have painted the house but still need to sand the floors.
This sentence has two verbs but only one subject, so it has only one
clause.
Rule: Use the semicolon if you have two independent clauses
connected without a conjunction.
• Example: I have painted the house; I still need to sand the floors.
Rule: Also use the semicolon when you already have commas within a
sentence for smaller separations, and you need the semicolon to
show bigger separations.
• Example: We had a reunion with family from Salt Lake City, Utah;
Los Angeles, California; and Albany, New York.
Rule: A colon is used to introduce a second sentence that clarifies the
first sentence.
• Example: We have set this restriction: do your homework before
watching television.
Rule: Use a colon to introduce a list when no introductory words
like namely, for instance, i.e., e.g.precede the list.
• Example: I need four paint colors: blue, gray, green, and red.
Hyphens with Common Prefixes
Generally, with common prefixes, you do not need to use a hyphen.
However, there are exceptions:
Examples:
uninviting ,uninterested, noncompetitive , preexisting ,etc.
Exception 1: When adding the common prefix will create a
double i or double a, use a hyphen.
Examples:
ultra-ambitious
semi-invalid
Exception 2: When common prefixes are attached to hyphenated
compounds, they take hyphens too.
Example:
non-iron-bearing sulphides
Hyphen continues…
Exception 3: Hyphenate all words beginning with self
except for selfish and selfless.
Examples: self-assured, self-respect
Exception 4: Use a hyphen with the prefix ex.
Example: His ex-wife sued for nonsupport.
Exception 5: Hyphenate prefixes when they come before
proper nouns.
Examples: un-American, non-English speaker
Writing numbers
Rule 1: Spell out single-digit whole numbers. Use numerals for numbers
greater than nine.
Examples: I want five copies. I want 10 copies.
Rule 2: Always spell out simple fractions and use hyphens with them.
Examples: One-half of the pies have been eaten.
A two-thirds majority is required for that bill to pass in Congress.
Rule 3: The simplest way to express large numbers is best. Round numbers
are usually spelled out. Be careful to be consistent within a sentence.
Correct: You can earn from one million to five million dollars.
Incorrect: You can earn from one million to $5,000,000.
Rule 4: Use the word and where the decimal point appears in the figure
format.
Example: $15,768.13: Fifteen thousand, seven hundred sixty-eight dollars
and
thirteen cents.
$1054.21: One thousand fifty-four dollars and twenty-one cents
Rule 5: Hyphenate all compound numbers from twenty-one through ninetynine.
Examples: Forty-three persons were injured in the train wreck.
Twenty-three of them were hospitalized.
Dangling Phrases and Clauses
Example: While walking across the street, the
bus hit her. Did the bus really walk across the
street?
Correction: While she was walking across the
street, the bus hit her. OR The bus hit her
while she was walking across the street.
Example: I have some pound cake that Mollie
baked in my lunch bag. Did Mollie actually
bake the pound cake in my lunch bag?
Correction: In my lunch bag, I have some
Hyphens with Common Prefixes
The current trend is to do away with unnecessary hyphens with common
prefixes.
Examples: noncompliance, copayment, semiconscious
unending
However, there are exceptions:
Exception 1: Hyphenate all words beginning with self except for selfish
and selfless.
Examples: self-assured, self-respect, self-addressed
Exception 2: Use a hyphen with the prefix ex.
Example: His ex-wife sued for nonsupport.
Exception 3: Hyphenate prefixes when they come before proper nouns.
• Examples: un-American, non-English speaker
“All good things come to
those
WRITERS who write
while they wait.”
Questions???????
Thank You.
Rewrite, Rewrite, Rewrite!
•
•
•
•
Writing will require rewriting
Here the aspect of pruning comes in
Hold every word accountable
Lay your manuscript aside for a few days
then try to read it as though someone else
had written it
Self-Editing
•
•
•
•
•
•
Is it to long?
Where can I eliminate?
Is it too short?
Are there redundant words or phrases?
Did I slip in any clichés?
Are there too many of those passive, lazy
words?
• Will my work be more effective if I moved
parts around?
• “If I were the editor, would I buy this?”
More Self-Editing
• Will what I have written here reach out to the
reader’s needs and interests?
• Is the context clear in all points?
• If quotes are used, are they correct?
• Is there a reason for everything that is there?
• Check each paragraph for flow and linkage to
its neighbour
More Self-Editing (cont.)
• Check your grammar
• Make sure you have no spelling or
punctuation problems
• Look at each individual word
• Be ruthless with your editing pencil!
Some Effective Writing Rules
Rule 1.Avoid overusing there is, there are, it is, it was, and so on.
Example: There is a case of meningitis that was reported in the paper.
Correction: A case of meningitis was reported in the newspaper.
Even Better: The newspaper reported a case of meningitis.
•
Rule 4.To avoid confusion, don't use two negatives to make a
positive. Incorrect:He is not unwilling to help.Correct:He is willing to help.
Rule 5.Use similar grammatical form when offering several ideas. This is
called parallel construction.
Correct:You should check your spelling, grammar, and
punctuation.Incorrect:You should check your spelling, grammar, and
punctuating.
Rule 6.If you start a sentence with an action, place the actor immediately after
or you will have created the infamous dangling modifier.
Incorrect:While walking across the street, the bus hit her.Correct:While
walking across the street, she was hit by a bus.
OR
She was hit by a bus while walking across the street.
Rule 7.Place modifiers near the words they modify.
Incorrect:I have some pound cake Mollie baked in my lunch bag.Correct:In
my lunch bag, I have some pound cake that Mollie baked.