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achieving writing effectiveness

The mechanics of writing

Effective writing requires a sound understanding of the mechanics of good writing. A useful analogy in thinking about the mechanics of writing is that of driving a car. Important information includes

• the various components of the car (or parts of speech in writing), and how they function together (the rules of grammar), and
• what is needed to keep the car moving along, stopping and starting in the right places, and pausing whenever it is necessary (punctuation).

The various parts of speech and how they function together

The basic element of writing is the word. The first important thing to recognize is that there are several types of words used in written and spoken speech, each with its defining characteristics and its specific purposes.

Nouns are naming words, those that give names to people, to things, or to places. The following sentence shows some examples (italicized) of nouns.

• Although UNSW is located in Sydney, Australia, it is a university where you are likely to meet students who come from many countries in the world.

All the italicized words are nouns. Some of them are singular nouns (for example, university, world) and others are plural (for example, students, countries). Some are proper nouns, or those that name places and people (for example, UNSW, Sydney, Australia). Note that they begin with a capital letter. Nouns can also express collectivity, that is, groups of people or entities (for example, the family, the parliament, the Committee) and it is important to note that they are treated like singular nouns (for example, The committee believes that there was insufficient information to make an evaluation of the scientific merit of the proposal).

Pronouns stand in place of nouns. They can be personal pronouns standing for people (for example, he, she, you) or impersonal pronouns that stand for things (for example, it, those). Pronouns can also be subjective case, which means they are the subject of the sentence (for example, I want to write effectively; or You are reading about writing). They can be objective case, or the object of the sentence (for example, This material interests you; or I am pleased to know about it). Also, pronouns can denote possession (for example, Your understanding pleases me; or My reading of the novel captures their interest).

Verbs are doing words. They express action. The following sentence shows some examples (italicized) of verbs.

• Although UNSW is in Sydney, Australia, it is a university where you are likely to meet students who have come to study from many countries in the world. Like many Australian universities, UNSW grew during the 1970s and 1980s. Who knows how large UNSW will become in the next twenty years.

All the italicized words are verbs. Some of them indicate that the action is taking place now, and are therefore in the present tense (for example, is, knows), others are in the past (for example, have come), and still others indicate action that is to take place in the future (for example, will become).

Verbs can be in the active or in the passive voice. That simply refers to whether the subject of the verb acts (for example, Sally drove the car) or is acted upon (for example, the car was driven by Sally).

Some parts of speech that sometimes present problems are present participles, which might be thought of as almost verbs. These are words that end in "ing" (for example, driving, or writing). The most important thing to note about present participles is that they cannot function as verbs. The following sentence shows some correct and incorrect uses of present participles.

• Learning to write effectively.
  The students are learning to write effectively.

Articles have a definite form (that is, the) and two indefinite forms (that is, a or an). The difference between them is that the definite article indicates one particular noun or thing is being referred to (for example, in the sentence, "The student who enjoys the psychology lectures", the refers to a particular student), whereas when the indefinite article is used, it could be any of a number of people or things (for example, A student who enjoys the psychology lectures). An is the form of indefinite article used with a noun that begins with a vowel (for example, an argument).

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns and adverbs describe or modify verbs or adjectives, as the italicized words in the following sentence show.

• UNSW is an Australian (adjective) university where students willingly (adverb) make a strong (adjective) commitment to learning and actively (adverb) engage in particularly (adverb) coherent (adjective) programs of study.

Prepositions are used to denote relationships between nouns and pronouns and other parts of speech. The italicized words in the following sentences are prepositions.

• Students at UNSW are engaged in the learning of various disciplines with the primary aim for some students being employment within a particular profession, and for others, simply the path by which they come to decide the area of work in which they will ultimately want to move.

Conjunctions are joining words. And is a conjunction that provides the link between two words (for example, "The teachers and the students arrive by bus each day"). Other conjunctions (as, although, than) are required to link two things in the same sentence (for example, "Although learning to write effectively can take some time, it is worth the trouble in the end"; or "As should be apparent, the issues here are straightforward"; or "Psychology is more interesting than Mathematics"). The conjunctions that often present problems for writers are however, nevertheless, and moreover). They must be used to link ideas in adjacent sentences. The following sample sentences show correct and incorrect usage of these conjunctions.

• Learning to write effectively can take some time, however, it is worth the effort, and you might have to work hard, nevertheless, you should try.
  Learning to write effectively can take some time. It is, however, worth the effort. You might have to work hard. Nevertheless, you should try.

Relative pronouns that we use often are who, whom, which and that. These relative pronouns are often used incorrectly, so it is worth drawing attention to a few important points about them. First, while who and whom are used to refer to people, that generally refers to objects, animals or things (for example, "The students who come to university are generally learning the subject that interests them most"; or "the students about whom I was speaking, are in this class"). Second, that should be used to introduce a clause indispensable to the meaning of a sentence (for example, "The component of this material that is of greatest value is the section on grammar"). In contrast, which should be used to introduce a parenthetical clause, or one that could be omitted without changing the meaning of the sentence (for example, "These programs, which attract many highly able students, cover diverse skills and abilities").

A phrase consists of more than one word. Phrases express a component of an idea. The following sentence is broken into its phrases.

• The students (phrase 1) at the University of New South Wales (phrase 2 = prepositional) who come (phrase 3) from overseas (phrase 4 = prepositional) contribute much (phrase 5) to the cultural life (phrase 6) at UNSW (phrase 7 = prepositional).

A clause also consists of more than one word. A clause contains a verb and at least a subject. Some clauses are dependent because they are incomplete and cannot stand on their own as a sentence, whereas others are independent and contain a complete thought, as in the following example.

• The students at the University of New South Wales who come from overseas (dependent clause 1) contribute much to the cultural life at UNSW.

A sentence contains a verb and a subject. A sentence is a complete idea in itself. A simple sentence can include a subject and a verb (for example, He goes.), can have an object of the verb (for example, She rode the waves), or can be more complex and consist of more than one clause, as in the preceding example concerning the students at the University of New South Wales.

Punctuation

A well written piece of work must also have good punctuation. By learning to use different forms of punctuation you will be able to communicate and express your ideas and arguments more clearly. Below, we have listed the most frequently used forms of punctuation and their functions.

Full Stops (.) have three distinct uses. 1. to mark the end of a sentence; 2. to indicate abbreviated words, and 3. to punctuate numbers and dates.

Colons (:) are used to separate a clause that introduces a list, quotation or summary.

• For example, You must take the following on the trip: sweatshirt, swimmers, and clipboard.

A colon can also be used to separate an initial sentence or clause from a second clause, list, phrase or quotation that supports the first in a particular way.

• For example, Writing an assignment is not easy: to begin with you have to do a lot of research.

Semi-colons (;) separate two complete sentences that are, however, closely linked. The semi-colon can be replaced by a full-stop, but the direct link between the two parts is lost.

• For example, To err is human; to forgive, divine.
  Do not go near the lions; they could bite you.

Commas (,) have a vital role to play in longer sentences. They separate information into readable units. Skilful use of commas can ensure the correct reading of a sentence, especially one that starts with a long introductory element.

• For example, Although the ironic theory of mental control can explain the increase in unwanted thoughts that occurs when the suppression of those thoughts is attempted, it is unable to explain why this occurs for some types of thoughts and not others.

Sets of commas also serve to separate items in a list.

• For example, Clinical psychologists assess and treat a wide range of psychological disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and schizophrenia.

Question marks (?) are used at the end of a sentence that is a question.

• For example, What are some of the causes of depression?

Apostrophes (‘) have two uses. 1. One is to show that something has been left out.

• For example, when we use the words or phrases, Don’t, It’ll, She’ll

2. The second is to indicate ownership or possession.

• For example, The boys’ locker room.
  The dog’s tail

Hyphens (-) link two or more words that would not normally be placed together, in order that they work as one idea.

• For example, There are several dieting-related disorders.

Dashes (--) are like brackets; they enclose extra information.

• For example, There are three major types of eating disorders — anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder — and the diagnostic criteria can be seen in DSM-IV.

Commas work just as well, and they are probably more frequently used than dashes in academic writing.

• Now try this activity on using punctuation: punctuation activity

Acknowledgements: "Editing" from "The Academic Preparation Program" of The Learning Centre UNSW, and O’Shea’s "Writing for psychology" provided the starting point for the material in this module. The car driving analogy, cited by O’Shea, is borrowed from the writer of a letter to the Editor of the Bulletin magazine.

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Last updated September 12, 2016
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