Mr. Cheney
Forty Rules and Tips of Writing (Keep this forever)
For your first essay, if you break any of the first ten rules, you lose a point. For each subsequent essay, breaking any of
the succeeding ten rules will each cost you a point. Thus, the fourth essay and beyond must follow all mandatory rules.
(Note that this handout doesn’t follow all the rules, but bear in mind it’s not formal writing, I needed to save space, and,
well, I’m the teacher.) The following mistakes will cost you one point for each transgression within a rule. (Note: all rules
marked with a * are elaborated on the other handout.)
Basics of formatting, punctuation, and capitalization:
1. Formatting: Use a double-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font, with one-inch margins. No extra space between
paragraphs. (For the last one, go to “Format/Paragraphs/Page LayoutSpacingboth 0 pt.)
2. Avoid first person: I, we, us, our, etc. Especially avoid “in my opinion,” “I will argue,” etc. This INCLUDES referring to the
U.S. or even our species in the first person. When writing formally, pretend you’re a Martian studying Earth. Also avoid second
person: “You have to realize…”
3. Avoid contractions. Don’t ever use them. You can’t. You mustn’t. They’re bad. Also avoid apostrophes when you’re not
showing possession. The Nazis were evil. The Nazi’s shows possession.
4. Writing dates: Write “1500s,” not “1500’s.” Write “1920s,” or “twenties,” NOT “1920’s” or “20s” or “20’s.” No
apostrophe! Also, when writing about a range of dates, don’t use a hyphen to separate them. (World War II raged from 19391945.) Also #2, AD comes before a date. BC comes after it. (The Roman Republic began in 509 BC. The Western Roman
Empire fell in AD 476.) Also #3, no “st,” “nd” “rd” or “th” with dates. June 15, not June 15th.
5*.Quotation marks: Periods and commas almost always go inside quotation marks. (Historians call this era the “Middle
Ages.”) Question marks go outside. Always use double quotation marks, unless you have a quotation within a quotation, in
which case use single quotes (apostrophe) for the interior quotation.
6. Avoid exclamation points, as essays are neither texting nor Facebook. You get one exclamation point a quarter. Use it wisely.
God help you if use another. Exclamation points do not roll over into the next quarter.
7. Avoid abbreviations in formal writing, unless they are VERY common, spoken-aloud acronyms, like the US, USSR, NATO,
etc.. WWI, for example, is unacceptable, because you never say that. If you use periods in your acronyms, make sure all your
acronyms have them. U.S.S.R. or USSR is fine, but all abbreviations in paper must either use them or not. Also, avoid symbols,
like: a hyphen for “to,” “etc.,” “i.e.,” “e.g.,” the slash mark, %, #, &, and all of their lazy, smelly friends.
8. Pay close attention to proper capitalization, and make it consistent in your paper. The “Middle Ages” or the “middle ages”
each work fine, but keep it consistent. The C in Catholic Church should be consistently capitalized.
9. Write out numbers for nine or less. Use the numerals for 10 or more. Never EVER start a sentence with a numeral, no matter
how awkward the number, even if it is a year. Write out the whole number at the beginning of a sentence. Too awkward?
Rework the sentence. Roman numerals are appropriate when talking about people, like Louis XVI or Elizabeth II.
10. Use paragraphs. You should not write an entire page as a single paragraph. Indent paragraphs at 0.5 inches. Paragraphs
ought to have more than two sentences.
Citing and quoting:
11. When citing, the period comes after the citation. There is no comma between author and page number (Eudy 3). If you’re quoting
something at the end of a sentence, “close the quotes, cite, then put the period” (Gwudz 16). There should be no punctuation mark
before the citation, except for the quotation marks. That includes commas and ellipses. Don’t cite in the middle of a sentence. Leave
“the citation for the end” of the sentence (Gamble 42). If you have consecutive sentences that both cite a document, you don’t cite
until after the chain of sentences. This practice avoids having consecutive sentences with the same citation.
12. Don’t cite Wikipedia. You will lose a point each time you do. Wikipedia is a wonderful tool and my favorite website
(except, of course, upsidedowndogs.com), but any website that allows me to edit it into saying I killed JFK cannot be cited.
Often, however, Wikipedia will link you to its sources. If the sources are viable, you may use them.
13*. Do not have ever refer to a “document” in your writing. Don’t ever say, “As shown in Document 5, Columbus did not
discover America” (Doc. 5). Also, don’t be all weird and say, “According to a map, Germany lost land after World War I”
(Doc. 1). In either case, just give the fact and cite it.
14*. IMPORTANT: For the love of all that is holy, don’t “pluck and drop” your quotes. Save quotes for important people
saying important things, or at least a historian who said something well. Always introduce the speaker of a quote, even
though you’re still citing the source. (Alternative to setting up quotes: paraphrase the quote and cite it like normal.)
15*. When using ellipses ( . . . ) to remove a part of a quoted sentence, there is a space before and after each period. If the
ellipses separate sentences, “you’ll need a fourth period without a space before it. . . . The first period denotes the end of a
sentence” (Doc. 4). You do NOT use ellipses at the beginning or end of an excerpt. (See examples on other handout.)
Other writing requirements follow on the reverse side:
16. Don’t ever go through a paper, “The first/second/final reason why,” etc. While we’re at childish phrases, “It all began” and
“This essay will explain” are comically bad phrases to use in formal writing, so don’t use them.
Mr. Cheney
17. Introductions must be more than two sentences. They should include:
a. Background to the historical setting (including years or centuries and location), specifically how it’s relevant to topic.
b. Background to the topic.
c. Thesis statement (position and supporting reasons), which must be the last sentence of the introduction.
18*. Use topic and closing sentences in your body paragraphs. The first and last sentence of body paragraphs should reference
the paragraph’s reason while connecting to your thesis. Wording should vary. Try not to be too specific in a topic sentence.
19*. Transitions should be used wisely and often. They MUST be used between body paragraphs in the topic sentence. They
should connect the last idea to the new one, while also referencing the main idea. (This will be a challenge at first, but you’ll get
better at it. If you’re really stuck, using a one-word transition like Furthermore, Additionally, or Moreover can suffice.) Also try
to use other transitions inside your paragraphs in appropriate places. Try Correspondingly, Consequently, As a result, and
Ultimately. Avoid Sheepishly, Hilariously, and Cutely, especially when referring to massive casualties.
20. Avoid “of course,” “clearly,” “obviously,” and “needless to say.” If things are clear, obvious, or needlessly said, there’s no
point in saying them. Moreover, avoid “as stated above,” “aforementioned,” and words like these. We read it. We know already.
21. Do not confuse their, there, and they’re (not that you should be using the last one . . . rule #3). Since you learned the
difference in elementary school, messing them up looks really, really bad. Other punishable and inexusable mistakes: confusing
“were” and “where,” “lose” and “loose,” “led” and “lead,” and “Channing Tatum” and “Mr. Cheney.”
22. The first time you refer to someone, use his or her first and last name. Then you can use just his or her last name, unless you
haven’t mentioned them in a while. Never, ever refer to a historical or modern figure by only his or her first name unless the
person is a child, or you are quoting someone else using the first name, or you do not know his or her last name. An obvious
exception is if they are known by that first name (Michelangelo, Galileo . . . Adele).
23. Use the past tense to describe things that happened in the past. “Montesquieu believed,” not “believes.”
24. Be careful with singular-plural agreement. If you mention France, you refer to it with the word “it,” not “they.” If you say
“French citizens” or “the French,” then it’s “they.” Watch out for traps, too. “Everyone” is singular, for example.
25. Know the difference between “affect” and “effect,” since both have noun and verb forms and mean different things. This
rule is especially important in good historical writing where we discuss causes and effects so often. In history, causes and
effects are everything. They show themes from which we can learn. We are living the effects of history while we cause the
future to develop in a certain way.
26. Avoid absolute words like “never” and “always,” like “Alexander the Great always led his men into battle.”
27. Avoid starting sentences with “Also.” Use smarter conjunctions and transitions, like Furthermore, Moreover, and
Additionally. (See #37 for cooler ways to sometimes use them.) Also avoid “So,” in favor of Therefore and Thus.
28*. Always include a noun after the word “this.” A particular pet peeve: “This shows.” Every time I see an uncreative sentence
opener that starts “This shows,” a puppy misses its real parents.
29*. Kknow the difference between dependent and independent clauses. The most frequent mistake with them is using , and to
join two ideas. If you use , and, make sure that whatever comes after it could stand alone as its own sentence (making it an
independent clause). If it couldn’t stand alone (if it’s dependent on what precedes it), change it so it can, or lose the comma
before “and” so the dependent clause can be fully united with its bff in front of it.
30. Avoid words like “really” and “very.” They’re childish. They’re tolerable, but barely. Use sparingly (once a paper, tops).
You won’t lose points for the following, but mind these tips if you wish to improve your writing:
31*. Avoid the passive voice. “Luther decided,” not “It was decided by Luther.” The second is unfocused. (See handout.)
32. Avoid clichés and colloquialisms. Look those words up if you don’t know what they mean.
33. When you write an unwieldy, long sentence, and you know it needs help, smash it into its component bits. Decide what
matters and write it again. Your long sentence may need two or even three shorter sentences.
34. More words in a sentence is not necessary a good thing. When editing your work, cut unnecessary words. Create direct,
precise sentences. Avoid flowery adjective and adverbs. No, you do not sound smarter by throwing them in there.
35*. Avoid ending sentences (or any clause) in a preposition. The most common are: in, on, at, by, upon, out, about, under,
beneath, above, after, and of, but there are many others. Move it to where it makes sense earlier in the sentence, sometimes
accompanied by a “which.” If you start doing this, you’re going to love how smart you sound. (See handout.)
36. Unless you really understand how to use semi-colons (;), stay away from them. Microsoft Word has a terrible record in
suggesting semi-colon usage. Like France in wars terrible.
37*. The word “however” is usually followed by a comma, and when it is in the middle of a sentence, it’s usually preceded by
one as well. Slide conjunctions! It looks sooooo good. “Napoleon’s effects, however, were inadvertent.”
38*. EVERY sentence has one thing: a verb. Go. Sit. Help! Think. Strong writing uses relatively few state-of-being words (is,
am, were, was, are, be, being, been). Active, descriptive verbs—not state-of-being ones—produce great writing. (See challenge
to your honor on attached handout.)
39. Strong writing generally avoids “of the” constructions, especially one after another, in favor of more direct ways of saying things.
For example, instead of “the decision of the student of the class was to skip the essay,” try “The student’s decision was to skip the
essay.” Or, even better would be to use an active verb instead of a state-of-being verb: “The student decided to skip the essay.”
40. When possible—and it usually is—finish an essay over a day early so you can sleep on it then re-read for mistakes/fluency.
Mr. Cheney
Tips on Some of the Writing Rules
Some of the 40 rules are difficult to understand or you might not know how to fix them. Here’s how.
5*. Yes, seriously. This rule is one of the most commonly broken of this entire list. There is no reasonable circumstance in
American English under which a comma or period “will go outside of the quote,” okay? Don’t even try. “This is bad”, but
this is great.” (The British do it the more logical way, but we basically waged the American Revolution to do it our way,
so you better respect our founders.)
13*. Instead, the actual author of the quote can and should be referenced in the sentence. If there is no author that you can
find—like a chart or map—you probably don’t want to quote it. Just paraphrase the information then cite it at the end.
14*. Even though I caps-locked “IMPORTANT,” I think I still understated the importance of this rule. It’s really, really
important. It looks super bad if you just have a full sentence as a quote. “Then you have no idea who’s talking until you
get to the end of the sentence” (Eudy 21). Instead, you want to say who is speaking and why they are important before
using the quote.
Example 1, BAD: “The only thing to fear is fear itself” (Document 7). This shows how resolute Roosevelt was.
Example 1, GOOD: The resolute President Roosevelt insisted, “the only thing to fear is fear itself” (Document 7).
Example 2, BAD: Even though “Napoleon’s biggest impact was probably that he ushered in an unprecedented era of
European cooperation,” he’s still pretty important (Vandalay 278).
Example 2, GOOD: Importer-exporter Art Vandalay, author of “The Rise and Fall of Napoleon,” argues, “Napoleon’s
biggest impact was probably that he ushered in an unprecedented era of European cooperation” (Vandalay 278).
Try to vary the verb you use in these circumstances. Options:
acknowledges
cautions
continues
explains
notes
remarks
addresses
charges
criticizes
expresses
objects
replies
adds
claims
critiques
finds
observes
reports
admits
clarifies
declares
grants
offers
responds
advises
compares
demonstrates
identifies
opposes
reveals
agrees
complains
describes
illustrates
points out
says
analyzes
concedes
determines
implies
posits
shows
announces
concludes
disagrees
indicates
presents
specifies
answers
concurs
discusses
insists
proposes
states
argues
confirms
disputes
interprets
raises
suggests
asks
considers
elaborates
introduces
recalls
thinks
asserts
contends
emphasizes
maintains
refutes
translates
believes
contests
examines
mentions
rejects
writes
15*. Examples (first a single-sentence example, then a multiple-sentence example; note no ellipses at the beginning of y):
a. Original quote: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but
because they are hard” (Kennedy).
b. With ellipses: “We choose to go to the moon . . . and do other things . . . because they are hard” (Kennedy).
x. Original quote: “Over one century later, the United States of America, Britain’s successor as global superpower,
emulates its former master’s position as world colossus. Modern America is not historically exceptional in regards to its
supremacy” (Cheney).
y. With ellipses: “The United States of America . . . emulates its former master’s position as world colossus. . . . Modern
America is not historically exceptional in regards to its supremacy” (Cheney).
18 & 19*. Suppose you’re writing an essay on why Rome fell. One of your reasons is a split empire and a second reason is
Germanic invasions. Here’s a good topic sentence for your second body paragraph:
After the empire’s split weakened the western half, Germanic invasions increased the rate of its decline.
-transition
-reason (Stretched borders and Germanic invasions)
-connection to thesis (This factor played a role in the fall of Rome), and, importantly,
-you’re not too specific. You’re not offering a single year or referencing one Germanic tribe, for examples. Each of
those will be discussed in that body paragraph, as will other supporting facts, but neither of those will you talk about
during the entire body paragraph, thus making it undesirable for the topic and closing sentence.
Mr. Cheney
28*. Another way of looking at this one is to never follow “this” with a verb, as you are permitted to have an adjective
that precedes a noun. “This shows” is super bad, but not much worse than “this was” or “this is.” Examples:
BAD:
a. Hitler killed millions of Jews during the Holocaust. This shows what kind of person he was.
GOOD:
b. Hitler killed millions of Jews during the Holocaust. This barbarism shows what kind of person he was.
c. Hitler killed millions of Jews during the Holocaust, which shows what kind of person he was.
d. Hitler killed millions of Jews during the Holocaust. This awful butchery haunts German history to this day.
BAD: x. In his farewell address, President Washington warned to avoid the “insidious wiles of foreign influence”
(Doc. 5). This shows his last message to the US.
GOOD: y. In his farewell address, President Washington warned to avoid the “insidious wiles of foreign
influence” (Doc. 5). This directive was his last message to the US.
29*. Independent vs. dependent clauses. Examples:
1) The rise of the Catholic Church and feudalism is why the Middle Ages can be called the Age of Faith, and the Age of Feudalism.
Verdict: bad. “the Age of Feudalism” could not be a sentence by itself, so it doesn’t work after “, and”
Fix: Drop the comma.
2) During this era, Europe became feudalistic, and was marred by darkness and despair
Verdict: bad. “Was marred by darkness and despair” would not work as a sentence.
Fix: Drop the comma OR change it to: “, and it was marred by darkness and despair.”
31*. Passive voice is a tough one. Memorize this example and remember it when you’re stuck:
It’s not, “Great roads were built by the Romans.”
It is: “Romans built great roads.”
The first is passive, the second is active. Active is good. The general rule is you want subjects (in this case, the Romans)
acting upon objects (in this case, great roads). You don’t want objects acted upon by subjects. There’s a difference. Make
sure you see it. Examples:
BAD: a. Aqueducts were constructed by the Romans.
GOOD: b. Romans constructed aqueducts.
BAD: o. In Europe alone, 40 million lives were taken by the Black Death.
GOOD: p. In Europe alone, the Black Death took 40 million lives.
BAD: x. The class was frustrated by the history teacher’s emphasis on good writing.
GOOD: y. The history teacher’s emphasis on good writing frustrated the class.
35*. Prepositions. Definition: A preposition describes a relationship between other words in a sentence.
Re-read the rule then look at some examples:
a. The soldiers of World War I did not even know what they were fighting about.
b. The soldiers of World War I did not even know about what they were fighting.
o. Checks and balances are ideas that the founding fathers built the country on.
p. Checks and balances are ideas on which the founding fathers built the country.
x. World War II unleashed atrocities that the world had never seen before.
y. World War II unleashed atrocities before which the world had never seen.
37*. This tactic of sliding a conjunction and putting commas around it only works if the transition word would work at the
beginning of the sentence. If it doesn’t work at the beginning of the sentence, you’ll want to drop the second comma, and
probably not force the word “however” at all. There’s nothing wrong with “but.” [Insert joke here.]
a. The shoes were black. However, the belt was brown. That works. Therefore, so does this:
b. The shoes were black. The belt, however, was brown.
x. The shoes were black. The belt was brown, however, the other side had black. That’s bad. We know because:
y. The shoes were black. However, the belt was brown, the other side had black. That doesn’t read right! The fix:
z. The shoes were black. The belt was brown, but the other side had black.
38*. Want a good challenge? Write an entire essay without a state-of-being verb. You won’t do it. You’re too scared.
However, perfect this skill—along with all others on this sheet—and a decade from now you can be paid for your writing.