4 Tips on Good Writing Practices for College | Reference Point Software
There’s more to writing an A-worthy college paper than what you put in it. How you present facts and insightful wisdom is equally as important. There are a few common mistakes college students make when writing papers that cost them marks. In this article, I will describe four of the most common blunders and suggest good writing practices to avoid them.
1. Eliminate flowery language.
Flowery language, or overly descriptive language, is the result of using too many adjectives and adverbs. It may be tempting to include them to dress up your ideas or hit your word count requirement. However, they often have a counter-productive effect, making your essay less impactful. If you include more than one adverb or adjective in a sentence, your writing can look immature. Read your work aloud and listen carefully to how it sounds. You can cut many adjectives and most adverbs if you use strong verbs. Try eliminating any excessive adjectives and adverbs and then re-reading your new text. Your ideas will be more concise and assertive. In academic writing, less is often more.
2. Rid your college papers of weak verbs.
As mentioned above, weak verbs invite flowery language. Strong verbs provide enough punch to stand on their own. Overuse of the verbs “to be”, “have” or “there is” are prime examples of weak verbs. Good writing means choosing active, precise verbs. Avoid the following words when possible: am, are, is, was, were, will be, has been, have been, and had been. For example, “this idea is an improvement on Peter’s design” changes to, “this idea improves Peter’s design” and immediately your essay sounds more assertive and less like your opinion.
3. Limit your use of the passive voice.
The passive voice is not a grammatical error. However, it can impede clarity, confusing your audience. Check your sentence structure for passive voice by asking yourself who is doing what to whom? Active voice structure is subject, verb and object. A passive voice sentence structure has the object taking the position of the subject and has the thing performing the action in the sentence either tacked on the end of the sentence or missing altogether. For example:
Active voice: Noise abatement teams will post flyers in the community.
Passive voice: Flyers will be posted in the community by noise abatement teams.
Passive voice: Flyers will be posted in the community.
4. Apply the right citation style.
Good writing skills include referencing other works in your college papers in an impactful way. Citing third-party works adds frames of reference for readers who may be unfamiliar with your topic, and it enhances the credibility and clarity for your main points. You need to follow a specific citation style for each paper based upon your courses or your professors’ directions. This is where students lose points, especially freshmen and students who have to switch between styles.
If you aren’t well versed on the differences between the APA vs. MLA formats, it’s easy to forget the specific guidelines. To avoid losing points, verify the proper formatting style for each assignment. If it isn’t stated with the instructions for your assignment, ask your professor. Then, research the latest guidelines or use formatting software to ensure that each paper adheres to the proper citation style.
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David Plaut is the founder of Reference Point Software (RPS). RPS offers a complete suite of easy-to-use formatting template products featuring MLA and APA style templates, freeing up time to focus on substance while ensuring formatting accuracy. For more information, log onto http://www.referencepointsoftware.com/ or write to: info@referencepointsoftware.com
Reference Point Software is not associated with, endorsed by, or affiliated with the American Psychological Association (APA) or with the Modern Language Association (MLA).
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