Write it Right

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Shows students how to make their writing effective and grammatically correct. Organised into mini units and easy to read, it deals with everyday tasks and problems. This second edition adds further guidance on common questions raised by students, for example 'When does one use italics and/or underlining?'

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• About this book (p. x)
• 1 The Logic of Effective Writing (p. 1)
• 1 The naked truth about writing (p. 1)
• 2 If you can write an effective letter, you can write anything (p. 2)
• 3 Familiarise yourself with, and employ the standard conventions of, the writing exercise you are undertaking (p. 4)
• 4 Establish a logical and orderly sequence in what you write (p. 7)
• 5 Control the length of sentences (p. 9)
• 6 Always check your English, and always be prepared to rewrite (p. 12)
• 7 When you write anything, think hard about the impression you are creating (p. 13)
• 8 I only want to write something! You make it sound as if there are about a million rules that have to be mastered first (p. 15)
• 9 How do these guidelines about letter writing relate to other forms of writing? (p. 16)
• 10 Do the conventions and rules about letter writing apply to emails? (p. 17)
• 2 Applying for a Course, Applying for a Job (p. 19)
• 11 I would like to make a personal statement (and I would like someone to read it) (p. 19)
• 12 How do you sell yourself? (p. 20)
• 13 There is no excuse for carelessness (p. 22)
• 14 The importance of structure (p. 24)
• 15 æToo much gush, too much guff, too much altogether' (p. 26)
• 16 How to impress: be organised, direct and clear (p. 28)
• 17 Interpreting advice (p. 29)
• 18 The master plan: three paragraphs, and three steps in each paragraph (p. 31)
• 19 Cutting/editing (p. 33)
• 20 Applying for a job (p. 35)
• 3 Writing Correct and Convincing Sentences (p. 38)
• 21 The sentence secret: keep it simple (p. 38)
• 22 Sentences: the terms you need to know (p. 40)
• 23 Enlarging a sentence (p. 42)
• 24 If it is so easy, why is it so hard? (p. 44)
• 25 Clustering, enlarging, cutting (p. 45)
• 26 Make sure that your sentences really are sentences: the problem of fragments (p. 48)
• 27 Make sure your sentences really are sentences: the problem of the comma splice (p. 49)
• 28 Corrective surgery for a comma-spliced sentence (or for a 'fused' sentence) (p. 51)
• 29 Taking stock: the comma splice (p. 52)
• 30 Taking stock: keep it short, keep it simple (p. 53)
• 4 Punctuating a Sentence: Commas, Colons and Semicolons (p. 54)
• 31 The punctuation secret: everything else falls into place if you can use commas correctly (p. 54)
• 32 The six uses of the comma, no. 1: punctuating linked main clauses (p. 55)
• 33 The six uses of the comma, no. 2: setting off the introductory element of a sentence (p. 57)
• 34 The six uses of the comma, no. 3: additional and subordinate clauses at the end of sentences (p. 58)
• 35 The six uses of the comma, no. 4: subordinate and parenthetical elements within a sentence (p. 59)
• 36 The six uses of the comma, no. 5: appositives (p. 61)
• 37 The six uses of the comma, no. 6: commas between items in a series, and between two or more adjectives that equally modify the same word (p. 62)
• 38 Moments of doubt and hesitation: do I need a comma? (p. 65)
• 39 Convincing use of the colon (p. 66)
• 40 Stylish use of the semicolon (p. 67)
• 5 Avoidable Errors (p. 70)
• 41 If it looks wrong and sounds wrong, it probably is wrong (p. 70)
• 42 Make sure you are using a word that exists, and make sure you are using the right word (p. 71)
• 43 Slang in a sentence and too many words in a sentence (p. 73)
• 44 Agreement (p. 75)
• 45 Apostrophes (p. 78)
• 46 Its and it's (p. 81)
• 47 Punctuation blunders: the comma splice again (p. 82)
• 48 The misplaced comma (p. 84)
• 49 You can't invent punctuation; you have to follow the rules rather than make up your own rules (p. 85)
• 50 An accumulation of irritating errors (p. 88)
• 6 Tricks of the Writer's Trade (p. 90)
• 51 Some of the secrets of writing that good writers know (p. 90)
• 52 Think and write in independent clauses (p. 91)
• 53 The rule of proximity (p. 93)
• 54 Perform what you have written (p. 94)
• 55 Don't waste words (p. 95)
• 56 Use the most direct words (p. 95)
• 57 Short words to end a sentence (p. 97)
• 58 Active writing (p. 98)
• 59 Judging tone (p. 100)
• 60 Use the conventions of writing to organise your thoughts (p. 101)
• 7 Essay Writing: Structure (p. 103)
• 61 First principles of essay writing (p. 103)
• 62 The shape of an essay (p. 104)
• 63 Working with a paragraph plan: theory into practice (p. 106)
• 64 Look at this essay: consider its underlying logic, structure and pace (p. 108)
• 65 How to get the first paragraph right (p. 113)
• 66 A strategy for every paragraph (p. 114)
• 67 Making essay plans (p. 115)
• 68 The essay as a problem-solving device (p. 117)
• 69 The role of paragraph endings (p. 118)
• 70 Troubleshooting (p. 119)
• 8 Essay Writing: Paragraph Control (p. 120)
• 71 The opening paragraph of an essay (p. 120)
• 72 Write tight (p. 122)
• 73 Paragraph organisation (p. 123)
• 74 Paragraph transitions: moving from paragraph to paragraph (p. 125)
• 75 Constructing paragraphs (1) (p. 127)
• 76 Constructing paragraphs (2) (p. 129)
• 77 Paragraph endings (p. 130)
• 78 The final third of an essay (p. 131)
• 79 Moving from paragraph to paragraph (p. 133)
• 80 Writing a conclusion (p. 134)
• 9 Make Every Essay an Effective Essay (p. 136)
• 81 What are they looking for? (p. 136)
• 82 Planning and preparation (p. 138)
• 83 The three-step plan (p. 139)
• 84 The longer essay (p. 141)
• 85 Reports (p. 143)
• 86 Longer essays (up to 5,000 words) (p. 145)
• 87 Dissertations (10,000/15,000/20,000 words) (p. 147)
• 88 Salvage operations on essays, reports and dissertations (p. 149)
• 89 The importance of editing and polishing (p. 151)
• 90 Examinations (p. 154)
• 10 Taking Stock (p. 157)
• 91 Writers on writing (p. 157)
• 92 When in doubt, strike it out (p. 159)
• 93 Is making a fuss about splitting infinitives just splitting hairs? (p. 160)
• 94 An alphabet of errors (p. 161)
• 95 Why is English so awkward? (p. 164)
• 96 The importance of good manners (p. 166)
• 97 The importance of the right tone (p. 166)
• 98 An alphabet of advice (p. 167)
• 99 Don't be afraid to break the rules (p. 173)
• 100 Why every word matters (p. 173)
• 11 Twenty Questions (p. 175)
• 101 How correct does my writing need to be? (p. 175)
• 102 What do people mean when they talk about a zero-tolerance attitude in relation to punctuation? (p. 176)
• 103 I've tried to grasp the rules about apostrophes, but still feel at a loss. Can you help? (p. 177)
• 104 Do Newcastle United play football at St James' Park or St James's Park or St James Park? (p. 177)
• 105 Do you have a view about the use of exclamation marks? (p. 178)
• 106 My teacher says that there should be a comma at the end of each line of the addresses in a letter, but you do not follow this rule. Have I spotted an error in your book? (p. 178)
• 107 My mum is chairman of our local Women's Institute. I keep on asking her, how can you be the chairman when you are a woman? Shouldn't she be the chair? (p. 179)
• 108 You refer to emails, with no hyphen, but The Times newspaper calls them e-mails. One of you must be wrong, and I suspect it is you (p. 179)
• 109 When does one use italics and/or underlining? (p. 180)
• 110 A lecturer reprimanded me for using the word 'hopefully' in an essay. Apparently I used it in an incorrect way, but I couldn't understand what the problem was. Can you help? (p. 181)
• 111 One of my lecturers said I needed to use an Oxford comma in an essay, but I had no idea what she meant. Can you explain? (p. 181)
• 112 My teachers say I 'gabble' in essays, but I can't control my gabbling. Can you help? (p. 182)
• 113 You keep going on about choosing to write in short sentences, but do proper writers, such as novelists, go about their task in this kind of simple way? (p. 184)
• 114 How much reading do I need to do before writing an essay? (p. 185)
• 115 Does all this really matter in the age of the Internet and smartphone, when a written communication has become instant rather than something carefully crafted? (p. 185)
• 116 Possibly everyone has an obsession. Yours seems to be the comma splice. Why do you go on about this so much? (p. 186)
• 117 My lecturer has referred to a 'rule of three' in writing. What does this mean? (p. 186)
• 118 My essays usually seem to start well but, my teachers tell me, are less impressive as they go on. Why is this? What is going wrong? (p. 187)
• 119 I was taught at school that sentences should never begin with 'And' or 'But', but you seem to ignore this rule over and over again. (p. 187)
• 120 I want to write a novel. Any advice? (p. 188)
• Glossary (p. 189)
• Index (p. 196)