Best practices to write well

The writing process

Following a writing process is important for successful documentation. The following steps will help to ensure that your Answer is as close to publication-ready as possible upon submission.

Outline

The best way to start writing is to begin with an outline. An outline is the initial layout of your document. It will help you organize your ideas and visualize the structure of your document. Once you begin to write, your outline will help you to stay on track and not sway from your document's purpose.

Research

Make sure that you research your topic prior to writing to make sure that all of your facts and examples are accurate and up to date. Always use reputable sources!

Write

Now it's time to flesh out your outline and expand your initial thoughts into fully formed paragraphs.

Review

Reviewing your document is a critical part of the writing process that will allow you to be able to catch inaccuracies, clarify ambiguities, and clean up poorly written sentences.

It's important to distinguish reviewing from editing. To review is to take a high-level look at your document to ensure that it satisfies its goal. To edit is to fix small errors such as punctuation or spelling errors. Typically, the review process comes before the editing process.

Examples of revision

• Adding/ removing new sections and evidence
• Reorganize the document
• Altering a thesis statement, argument, or major claim
• Adding relevant graphics to aid in reader comprehension

Examples of editing

• Fixing misspelled words
• Correcting grammatical errors
• Adding periods, commas, quotation marks, etc.

Best practices to write well

In order to write well, you need to start with the basics. The information below will improve your ability to write a good sentence and paragraph.

How to write a good sentence

Basic construction

The basic construction of a sentence is a noun + a verb. That’s all you need!

Take these sentences for example:

• I am leaving.
• We are hungry.

These sentences contain a noun and a verb. Longer sentences will add to this framework.

Where do the parts of speech go?

The basic rule of sentence structure follows this pattern:

Subject + verb + object

Once we have that structure down, we can add things like adverbs and adjectives accordingly. Take a look at these sentences and see if you can point out what is wrong:

• Running, Sally was at the beach.

All of the parts of a sentence are there, but they don’t make sense if they are not placed properly. Here is the correct structure:

• Sally was running at the beach.

First, we have the subject “Sally”, followed by the verb “was running”, and finally the object “the beach.”

This structure is clear and simple to follow. Now, where would we place the adverb “quickly” in this sentence?

• Incorrect: Sally quickly was running at the beach.
• Correct: Sally was running quickly at the beach.

Word usage

1. Fewer vs. Less. Use “fewer” when you are talking about numbers and use “less” when you are talking about intangible concepts (ex: “less than happy”)
2. It’s vs. Its. “It’s” is a contraction (where two words are combined with an apostrophe) of “it is” (it + is = it’s). “Its” is the possessive pronoun of “it” (ex: “I took its leash.”)
3. Dangling Modifiers. Phrases and clauses should be placed as close as possible to the word(s) they modify.

Example:

• Incorrect: “Rotting in the refrigerator, our office manager threw the fruit in the garbage”
• In this sentence, it is unclear what is rotting in the refrigerator.
• Correct: “Our office manager threw out the fruit that was rotting in the refrigerator in the garbage.”

4. There vs. their vs. they’re. All of these words sound the same, but they are all used very differently.
1. “There” is used to refer to a place (e.g., “Look over there.”)
2. “Their” is used to show belonging or association (e.g., “Their children are well-behaved.”)
3. “They’re” is the contraction of “they” and “are,” and is used the same way those two words would be used (e.g., “They’re looking for dinner.”)
5. Avoid sexual bias. If you are referring to an anonymous person in your shot, use “they” instead of “he” or “she.” Example: “If a developer were to log on, they would…”

Punctuation

End punctuation

End punctuation signals to the reader that the sentence is over. These signals are:

• Period
• Question mark
• Exclamation point

Commas

Commas are used for a few different reasons:

• Introductory prepositional phrases. A comma is necessary after an introductory phrase that contains five or more words. Ex: “In addition to her responsibilities in that department, she also recruits seniors.”
• Two independent clauses or short independent clauses. Use a comma when joining two independent clauses. Ex: “I live in a house, but I work at an office.”
• A series. Use commas to separate items in a list. Ex: “I am getting flour, butter, and eggs at the store.”
• Nonessential elements. If you can remove an element of a sentence without greatly changing the meaning, it is nonessential and can be separated by commas. Ex: “Dr. Kim, whom you have just met, will be your Professor this year.”

Keep it simple

Strong, effective writing is simple and concise. While there are many ways to spruce up your text with modifiers and complex phrases, it is often better to stick to the basics. Sentences that are too complex can be messy and difficult to read.

If a word or phrase is obscuring the meaning of the sentence, cut it. Let’s take a look at an example that demonstrate this:

• I really love her very long, blue dress, it is quite beautiful.

This sentence is riddled with modifiers that make the sentence clunky and unenjoyable to read. Let’s cut some of this down:

• I love her long blue dress; it’s beautiful.

Words such as “really”, “quite”, and “very” don’t add new meaning to the sentence. Cut back on using words that don’t enhance the value of your sentence.

If you want to make your sentence more valuable, focus on using strong verbs and keep adjectives and adverbs to a minimum. If you are going to use these, search for a modifier that is powerful enough that you don’t need more than one.

How to write a good paragraph

In order to write a good paragraph, we need to understand the basic elements of a paragraph and how each element contributes to the formation of a complete, coherent paragraph structure. Below is the basic construction of a paragraph:

[Topic sentence + supporting sentences + concluding sentence]

A good paragraph begins with a topic sentence and all other sentences develop, support, and explain the idea introduced in the topic sentence. The topic sentence expresses the paragraph’s central idea.

Introduction and the topic sentence

Readers understand the paragraph more quickly if the topic sentence is introduced in the beginning. This is because readers will be able to know what the paragraph is about.

When you begin your paragraph, you should immediately state the main idea of each paragraph in a topic sentence. Then, follow with details that support and clarify the central idea of a topic sentence.

Supporting sentences

Each supporting sentence should relate back to the topic sentence and add new, valuable information to the topic at hand. If you are simply re-iterating your topic sentence, then the sentence is not necessary. Each sentence should build on itself to justify the topic sentence. If the supporting sentences are off-topic, the paragraph will not be coherent or clear.

To form a clear, coherent, and well-supported paragraph:

• Stay on topic
• Always relate back to the topic sentence's main idea
• Provide evidence that justifies your topic sentence

Concluding sentence

After sufficient development through supporting arguments, the concluding sentence takes the reader back to the topic statement, re-iterates it, and takes it a step further.

The last sentence should reinforce the main idea of a paragraph and answer the question of "Why do we care?"