Stokol’s Writing Tips to her Beloved Students

Some Writing Tips I Hope you Find Useful (Because Isn’t Helping Others Learn from my Mistakes the Reward for Having Made Them?)

Ms. Stokol, March 18 2010

• As told to me by a Professor: The only way to know what good writing is is by reading; the only way to write well is to keep writing.

• An essay is at once like a geometric proof, a moebius strip and a set of bookends.

• On the virtue of Outlines: Make them, and use them. They will help you. An essay is the written form of an “argument.” That is why long-dead and unnamed folks dubbed the meat of your essay the “argument.” You’re arguing a position, trying to prove your point. The point you seek to prove is your claim. You claim something that needs backing up—otherwise what would be interesting or controversial about the fact that you stated it? The point you wish to prove, your claim, usually contains a few elements. Those are the few elements you need methodically to prove—one element per paragraph and one paragraph at a time. In order for your essay or argument to be logical and to flow smoothly, write an outline of what you wish to say (see outline below). Once you do this, the writing process will become IMMEASURABLY EASIER. All you will need to do at that point is flesh it out. Your structure is incredibly important. Even if you write the most scintillating, stirring and poetic of prose, an essay that lacks structure will be weak —meandering aimlessly with no sense of direction or purpose. So let outline, outline, outline become a mantra…

• What a five paragraph essay looks like (later, the structure you use will likely change, and you will add paragraphs or even have many tiny paragraphs per big idea or even place your claim/thesis at the end of your introductory paragraph, rather than in the beginning. But for now, this is what it looks like):

Intro Paragraph:            Main claim: x=1,2,3

Background

Body Par. 1      :             Secondary claim: x=1

Clarification: 1 means…

Context: x has just…

Evidence: “Blah…”

Explanation: Analyze the evidence and the context to show x=1

[Restatement of claim and showing you proved your claim: Because 1 means, and x is all of those things, x=1.]

Transition: Though x=1, it also = 2…

Body Par. 2      :             Secondary claim: x=2

Clarification: 2 means…

Context: x has just…

Evidence: “Blah 2…”

Explanation: Analyze the evidence and the context to show x=2

[Restatement of claim and showing you proved your claim: Because 2 means, and x is all of those things, x=2.]

Transition: And while x=2, it also = 3…

Body Par. 3:                        Secondary claim: x=3

Clarification: 3 means…

Context: x has just…

Evidence: “Blah 3…”

Explanation: Analyze the evidence and the context to show x=3

[Restatement of claim and showing you proved your claim: Because 3 means, and x is all of those things, x=3.]

Conclusion:            Topic sentence regarding x’s exploits…

Because x=1

Because x=2

Because x=3

x=1, 2, 3 (Thus, you’ve proved your main claim, and your ending echoes your beginning, your beginning your ending.)

• Each body paragraph is its own mini essay, complete with its own

claim/thesis/topic sentence (people use different names (or “nomenclature”) for the same concept, so I included some different ones

clarification/definition

context/set-up

evidence (as a big chunk or as a series of words peppering the sentences)

explanation/analysis and concluding sentence that shows how you proved your claim.

• Regarding essay-bound Clarifications: We ask you to include them in the beginning of your essays (right after you use that specific term in your claim) not out of some sick or sadistic urge to prescribe formulaic exercises that torture young minds, but to help you establish parameters in which to stay. If you have a specific definition with which to work, you will remain focused on that definition and will set about proving just that. Adding a clarification does not simply benefit the now-focused writer, it benefits the reader as well, who now understands what you, the writer, mean by a certain term. If I claim “The Cyclops is a barbarian,” I need to define barbarian—1) because it’s a loaded word, 2) that the reader comprehend my statement and 3) that he/she have the necessary information to determine whether I will have proven that claim by the end of my essay.

• Be formal in your essays; that does not mean tapping into huffiness is necessary–or even recommended–or that writing like you speak is not a good thing, but most essays should avoid colloquial language that is too casual or flippant [flippant: the show of an inappropriate lack of contextual gravity].

• Tense use should be consistent. These essays usually use the present tense, but if you end up writing in the past tense, use it throughout the work.

• Passive voice is not necessarily incorrect; it’s just tacky and boring. Why say The butter-drenched onions were sautéed by the sprightly young cook when you could just as easily write The sprightly young cook sautéed the butter-drenched onions?

• Who/Whom: Who takes the place of he, she and they. Whom replaces him, her and them. If it makes it easier, just remember that if there’s an “m” at the end of the word (with the exception of “her,” but that’s the female of version of him and them, anyway), whom belongs in its stead.

• When writing about a person, use who rather than that. E.g. A felicitous, but grief-stricken, swordsman, Inigo was the man who doggedly sought the six-fingered man.

• Direct (often short) present tense-using sentences > Sentences in the present progressive: I.e. Why write Odysseus is zealously beheading the nefarious diviner when you can write Odysseus zealously beheads the nefarious diviner?

• Subjunctive/Conditional: Ah yes, arguably the most beautiful, and hopeful, of linguistic tenses—while also the most butchered by speakers and writers alike. Think Fiddler on the Roof or Gwen Stefani (or both , or neither–whatever works): “If I were a rich man, I would have all the money in the world…”

• Just a quick reminder on conjunctions/FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so): just because there’s an “and” or another conjunction after a sentence/independent clause does not mean there needs to be a comma before it. The comma only belongs there if it precedes another sentence/independent clause (e.g. She had a hot chocolate, and she felt better. Rather than She had a chocolate and felt better.)

• If you use “so” as your conjunction of choice, you may not need an “and” before it. (He felt grouchy, and so he took a nap becomes He felt grouchy, so he took a nap.)

• Should you wish to take a break from the whole comma before conjunction as two independent clause-divider business, you know you can use a semi-colon (e.g. She had a hot chocolate; that made her feel better).

• Shying away from the use of Prepositions at the end of sentences: I know whom you are referring to becomes I know to whom you refer [you are referring to him or her, so whom is correct here]. (Oh yes, sounds deliciously pretentious, doesn’t it? Well, it’s correct.)

• Learning idioms is wonderful; using clichés is not. Embrace idioms. Seek them out! Find out from where they sprang. The only way to really get to know a language is through its idiomatic phrases (e.g. it’s raining cats and dogs [believe me, the history behind that one is quite random and interesting], time flies when you’re having fun or the grass is always greener on the other side, etc.). But unless you’re using them with an obvious touch of irony, their earnest placement in essays will come off as cliché.

• Back up your work; back up your computer. Put your essays on flash drives. Email them to yourself. (This is as much a reminder to myself as it is to you.)

• ***Read your work aloud! You will catch errors, clunky phrases, awkward construction and will often be able to chop long sentences into two or even three. If it doesn’t make sense to you, it probably won’t make sense to a reader either. Reading pieces out loud can be so helpful; it will catch weaknesses and can strengthen even strong work.

• For other writing questions, defer to William Strunk and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style (yes, that E.B. White. If his name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the delightful man who brought you Charlotte’s Web, The Trumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little.)

I hope this helps!

Tags: conditional, nefarious, strunk and white, subjunctive, the elements of style, writing tips

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