i can write well but can t speak thesis
One of the most effective and practical strategies aspiring writers can use to improve the quality of their writing is to commit to using much simpler sentences. Zinsser’s On Writing Well is a highly-praised and esteemed book on the craft of writing and for good reason. Why do you think this is? Strip every sentence to its cleanest components. 6. “Without exception, writing begins inside the mind. If your verbs are weak and your syntax is rickety, your sentences will fall apart.” (p. 19). Is it easy or difficult to anticipate which ideas follow each other? To speak metaphorically, you should take a scalpel to your words and, as Zinsser advises, “prune [them] ruthlessly” (p. 17) until they’re as exact as can be. ( Log Out / Or do they provide a bit of context and background first and then progress towards articulating their thesis and main argument? I guess the only reason I wanted to comment is to say that I know how you feel and you are SO not alone. ( Log Out / In this article, I’m going to explore 10 pivotal lessons from the Principles section, each of which offers crucial insights into and concrete guidance on one or more aspects of the writing process. Take a look at the bottom of this article for a list of suggested resources to help you on your journey. Factually speaking, however, there are right and wrong ways of doing certain things. Just look at how different the first and fifth draft of this book excerpt are! My job has a set schedule, so I could easily plan around that. Learn how your comment data is processed. I won’t be able to tell you if this was a bad move until I have some hindsight on it, but lately it has begun to feel that way, so I’m looking for some advice. … Perhaps the writer has used a word incorrectly by not taking the trouble to look it up.” (p. 9). This is actually really helpful! This is a weak thesis statement because the reader can’t decide whether the paper is about marketing on the Internet or Web pages. Anybody who can think clearly can write clearly, about any subject at all.” (2001, p. x). Writing drafts can turn a good paper into an excellent paper. Therefore I urge people to write in the first person: to use ‘I’ and ‘me’ and ‘we’ and ‘us’.” (pp. When it comes to the online world specifically, one of the biggest mistakes I see people make when publishing content is ignoring or significantly under-attending to the needs and wants of their audiences. Here’s how I think about this apparent paradox: In other words, remain faithful to your own voice but always keep your reader in mind whilst doing so. Besides, you’re busy. Disclaimer, Why I Had to Unlearn Everything From the 7th Grade to Finish Writing My Thesis, 7 Rules You Must Violate to Finish Writing Your Thesis & Get Your PhD. Continuously Rewrite Your Words to Make Them Great, Strip Every Sentence to Its Cleanest Components, It’s Your Responsibility to Not Confuse or Lose the Attention of Your Reader, Write as If Your Reader Is Encountering Your Writing for the First Time, Be Vulnerable in Your Writing, and Use Inclusive, Welcoming Language That Helps Create Relationships Between You and Your Readers, Actively Study — Don’t Ignore — the Foundational Principles of Good Writing, Learn the Meaning of Words, and Use Your Dictionary Often, build authentic connections with your audience, Clarity is the foundation of effective writing, To Break the (Writing) Rules, You Must First Master Them, Yes, Writers, It Is Possible to Get Past Your Fear of Marketing Yourself as an Author, When Narrative Summary Takes Over a Novel, Confessions of a Writer Posing as a Couch potato, Every time you write a piece of content you should ask yourself, “How, exactly, does this help, inspire, or teach my reader?”, If you struggle to answer this question, it’s likely a sign you’ve fallen into the trap of writing. Achieving clarity often requires writing in much simpler and less elegant ways than we may prefer. In short, take Zinsser’s advice and put as much effort into editing your words as you do to initially writing them out; this will do wonders for the clarity and readability of your writing. Thanks! In this article, I’ve extracted 10 timeless lessons on writing from what I consider to be the most inspiring and instructive quotes featured in Part 1 of Zinsser’s text, Principles. Thanks so much! In virtually every case, it’s possible to express your ideas more effectively, to better respect the technical rules of grammar and syntax, and to connect with your readers in more meaningful and impactful ways. 20–21). A good habit to develop is the practice of constantly asking yourself, “Do I really need this word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph? They see the former as the initial, unimpeded, and furious ‘dump’ of ideas whereas the latter is said to comprise the meticulous reconsideration, reworking, and enhancement of everything to which a first draft gives rise. If you become frustrated whilst trying to rework your sentences, take refuge in Zinsser’s concession that: “Writing is hard work. Don’t assume that because an article is in a newspaper or a magazine it must be good.” (p. 35). I need some help writing a thesis statement for an essay on Novel "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson.? Brilliant ideas often get lost in the murkiness of unclear prose. * Rather than getting your tea and starting your work day, wake up half an hour earlier and before you even brush your teeth, just sit down and start writing. Good writing doesn’t come naturally, though most people seem to think it does.” (p. 12). “Writing is learned by imitation. Do I have to maintain consistency between tenses in this paragraph? If you can’t adequately answer the question, “Why would anybody care to read or share this?”, you probably need to work harder on building meaningful connections between your own story and insights on the one hand and the interests and concerns of your readers on the other. Nevertheless, enough has been written about the ‘most important’ and ‘most influential’ writers of the last several hundred years for you to at least develop a sense of which authors and essayists you should (and shouldn’t) try to emulate. Oh, and even with that, I’m still way behind where I need to be. But, alas, I sit, surrounded by my thesis research at my feet, within a week of my first draft deadline, and not motivated at all to write. If they doze off in the middle of your article because you have been careless about a technical detail, the fault is yours.” (pp. I actually got a couple of pages written. Or do they use half- or three quarter-page paragraphs that address many different but related ideas? Continuously rewrite your words to make them great. Is every word doing new work? “It’s always better to explicitly articulate your thoughts than to presume your words are being received as you intend them to be.”. Do it in short spurts, but make sure that you stick to whatever short spurt you have started. I’m at the point where the only thing standing between me and graduating is my thesis. Don’t shy away from using your dictionary, and never stop learning (and relearning) the meanings of words. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. This quote alone is enough to justify purchasing Zinsser’s book and reading it from front to back several times. Without well-defined goals, writing your thesis for 2 hours can produce absolutely nothing. Good luck! Well here’s the thing that no one really says out loud. As a writer, it’s your responsibility to familiarize yourself with and apply the formal rules that govern proper written communication.”. If you skip a day, make it up the next day by writing twice as much. As an undergrad, I would set schedules and keep to it. I was supposed to be a mean, green, writing and researching machine! But I can identify with this so much that I had to wonder for a moment how you were spying on me! Systematic, clear, and logical writing emerges only from systematic, clear, and logical thinking. Are their paragraphs generally short, focused, and self-sufficient? In the absence of efforts to continuously improve the quality of your thinking, you become much more likely to produce disorganized, jumbled, and disconnected writing. Part 1 of his book, Principles, contains dozens of valuable lessons, practical bits of advice, and candid warnings on what writers ought and ought not to do in their work. Group writing sessions? What are your tricks for getting this done? … Writing is an intimate transaction between two people, conducted on paper, and it will go well to the extent that it retains its humanity. As for how, exactly, to write clearer sentences, read this. No tech at all. “It might go against the advice you’ve received from others, but, often, the considered use of a few words can actually be far more effective than the clumsy use of ‘flowery’ language.”. It’s your responsibility to not confuse or lose the attention of your reader. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. In that piece, I argued, as Zinsser does above, that: Writers ought to use inclusive and welcoming language that helps foster a relationship between reader and writer. Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it’s beautiful?” (p. 17). Most Sunday mornings, I wake up early, grab a mason jar of water along with a cup of tea or coffee, and quietly proceed to start my work day. Sequester? More often than not, however, verbosity does little more than make our writing needlessly complicated, if not outright frustrating to read. How do they stress their most important ideas to the reader? Although their specifics will differ by language, reference system, and/or country, the following kinds of questions have definite answers, i.e., they are (usually) not a matter of interpretation or debate: These questions, and a host of similar ones, have correct and incorrect answers you have no choice but to study, learn, and memorize. Form and support a strong thesis. I swear to God I seem to live my life with that ever-present “one more thing.” I have actually in the past two weeks had to cancel just about every other thing I need to do (within reason) and just force myself to sit and write. When you write, say exactly what you mean to say and nothing else. It’s your responsibility to ensure you use words correctly, which requires regularly consulting the dictionary. “You can’t change people’s lives with your words if your words are incomprehensible.”. One essential component, then, of enhancing your writing is enhancing your thinking. If it’s not, some fuzz has worked its way into the machinery. It’s far too easy to let wordiness undo the good work an excellent idea performs. I have to start by saying that I have no answers for you. I Can’t Write My Thesis! If you don’t have access to the OED, I suggest using Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. Then they must look at what they have written and ask: have I said it? Zinsser’s final bit of timeless writing advice is to imitate the best writers out there in order to elevate your own abilities. Nearly every type of academic writing has a thesis. If anyone asked me how I learned to write, I’d say I learned by reading the men and women who were doing the kind of writing I wanted to do and trying to figure out how they did it. In fact, if you were to do an M.R.I. Zinsser admits that writers have to achieve a delicate balance between expressing vulnerability and authenticity but without losing the attention and interest of their readers (pp. Your thesis is the central idea of your writing. Or do they favour more of a measured and exact approach, being patient with their words and staying focused on one detailed point at a time? You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose.” (p. 13). The clear writer is someone clearheaded enough to see this stuff for what it is: fuzz.” (p. 12). Sometimes a little ‘company’ can help with perspective! Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Then I get so many different examples, I get hung up on trying to figure out which sample is most like what I should be doing. Yet, I had the foresight early into my grad career to consider that I, perhaps, I would need a break. When should I write out numbers as words as compared to their numerical forms? “Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Eliminating potential confusion requires that you assume very little, if anything at all, of your reader. Each time you write something, you must put yourself in your reader’s shoes, as it were, and ask yourself, “Would this make sense to me if I were encountering it for the first time?”. But more and more, I actually find it much harder to be as disciplined as I was once. You should always try to write as straightforwardly as you can. As writers, we sometimes convince ourselves that the use of complex, loquacious language somehow enhances the quality of our ideas or the attractiveness of our prose. Writers are responsible for ensuring not only that their words remain comprehensible to their readers, but also that such words keep readers engaged and interested. — Help, Inspire, Teach — Strategy for writing articles people actually want to read. … Perhaps a sentence is so excessively cluttered that the reader, hacking through the verbiage, simply doesn’t know what it means. The topic is "Melinda is lonely, negative, and frightened". One way to revise the thesis would be to write: But you can never forget that you are practicing a craft that’s based on certain principles. And do it *first. I will definitely try this technique, but the struggle is still very real and I only have a few more weeks to knock it out! … Writing is talking to someone else on paper. Good luck and hang in there!! More practically, analytical thinking and strong writing emerge in the context of explicit efforts to create environments that allow you to concentrate and to perform at your best. It’s impossible for a muddy thinker to write good English. I’ve made the case that studying philosophy is an extremely effective way of elevating your thinking so that you can achieve greater clarity in your writing. If they feature only a single idea in each sentence, what is the apparent purpose of doing so? Actively study — don’t ignore — the foundational principles of good writing. If the answer is ‘no’, you have no choice but to rewrite your words until they are more accessible to your audience. Now is not the time for me to get burned out! If you’re even slightly unsure about the meaning of a word, you should always take the time to check its definition(s) and thereby correct any confusion you might have. After all, what something does or should mean — including both its formal definition and its wider significance or importance —often rests at the heart of our most passionate and fierce social and political debates. 1: Where is St. Helena Island and What does it have to do with the Slave Trade? Thesaurus.com is one browser tab I never close. … If you have any doubt of what a word means, look it up. Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Writing a thesis doesn’t have to be a full work day. To revise the thesis, the relationship between the two ideas needs to become more clear. If I could choose to highlight only one line from part 1 of Zinsser’s book, it might very well be: “You can never forget that you are practicing a craft that’s based on certain principles.” (p. 19). In order to convince people to engage with your work, you must think about and approach your writing in a different way than you would if you were merely writing for yourself, e.g., writing in a personal journal. As a writer, you must learn how to be yourself and not care what others think of you and please your audience and not let your readers slip into boredom or confusion. When composing a thesis, you must consider not only the format, but other qualities like length, position in the essay, and how strong the argument is. … See if you can gain variety by reversing the order of a sentence, or by substituting a word that has freshness or oddity, or by altering the length of your sentences so they don’t all sound as if they came out of the same mold.” (p. 37). Comment is to imitate the best writers out i can write well but can t speak thesis in order to your... Several times must I use the Oxford English dictionary ( OED ) a... 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Often get lost in the first-, second-, or third-person or by using combination. You want. ” ( p. 33 ) subject at all. ” ( p. 35 ) were! 8 Comments Oxford English dictionary ( OED ) on a daily basis, particularly when I ’ m my! On how many points it mentions MPH but I discovered that I had to do one better and head the... Relationships between you and your syntax is rickety, your blog can not share posts by email a! One last thing: get more stories like this one here the craft of writing and it. The singular or plural version of this book excerpt are their audience reason your writing is not the to... Make it up the next day by writing twice as much add elegant finials, if ’! And I have not had successful follow through once much that I had to do one and! Mind to quiet down elevate your own abilities MPH but I discovered that I had wonder... 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