Improvements in writing

Generalities

• Read, read, read
• Refine, refine, refine, refine
• Generalities and negatives should be avoided. Each make you vulnerable. General phrases are often hard to support.
• Be careful with superlatives, they also make generalizations. I use them far too often for literary force, but it becomes imprecise.

Clear precise ideas

• Be precise. Everything written should have a precise logical meaning that clearly leads the reader.
• Follow a single flow of ideas. Be willing to throw out "stuff" that breaks clarity.
• Avoid "fuzzy," imprecise words to slip into a paper.

Keep it simple

Dr. Gao cited the following quote:

Saying exactly what you mean, saying it precisely and saying not a word more -- this still is considered the best possible behavior in the English-speaking world. ¹

Make a sentence as simple as possible.

The supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience. (Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.) ²

Keep it simple, keep sentences and chapters simple

Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte. (I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.) ³

Words

The following are useful after a paper is written. It will bog you down if there is to much concern about these strict details when writing.

• Be careful with the word "which." It is a connecting word that connects ideas. Ideas must be strongly coupled in a sentence. Often it is clearer to break up sentences than connect them. Connecting ideas can cause confusion.
• Reduce the number of times the article "the" appears. It is often superfluous and exclusive.
• Check for repetitive unclear words listed below. A search for these words at the final phase of a paper is helpful.

word	issue
that	causes many extra phrases
which	connects strongly coupled ideas
do	not precise or descriptive4
the	often superfluous and exclusive

• Some words come with common errors

word	common error
this	requires "this something." It can not dangle by itself.

• Avoid double words that only create noise. For example, "the research work" simplifies to "the research."
• Use verbs instead of nouns. For example Table[nouns_verbs]

noun	verb
by the introduction of	by introducing
for the allocation of	for allocating
of the provision of	of providing

• Use simple words instead of complex phrases. For example Table[shorten_phrases].

phrase	simple
at the present time	now
in the event of	if
in the majority of instances	usually
in the fact that	in
thought of	viewed
able to be	applicable
being able to	ability
can be	is
some of the	""
is that there is	""
x of the y	the y x
that does not require the use of	without

• As much as possible, use active verbs versus passive.
• Name the agent that is performing the verb.
• End sentences well. Put simple and old information at the beginning and new and complex, at the end.
• Use a positive style versus negative. Nots are unneeded, but some nots are used to maintain a positive tone, for example: not good versus evil.
• If something is clear, it can be left out.
• Check the use of relative pronouns. Make sure words such as it and this clearly refer to the proper place.

Sentences

Sentences should be simple and smooth. The brevity should not be choppy.

Strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that's already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what—these are the thousand and one adulterations that weaken the strength of a sentence. ⁵

Paragraphs

Look for the topic sentence in a paragraph. It should be clear the other sentences should support or explain it in a logical and clear manner. Searching for the topic sentence is good for critical reading as well. Using aao I try to write a title for each paragraph.

Miscellaneous hints

• Continually, ask so what? This question forces conversation oriented thinking and writing.
• Leave out trivial derivations in a technical paper. Anyone interested in the paper should know the trivial steps.
• Have many other different kinds of people review your writings.

Hints from C.S. Lewis

• Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn't mean anything else. ⁶
• Always prefer the clean direct word to the long, vague one. Don't implement promises, but keep them.
• Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean "More people died" don't say "Mortality rose."
• In writing, don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the things you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us the thing is "terrible," describe it so that we'll be terrified. Don't say it was "delightful"; make us say "delightful" when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers "Please, will you do my job for me."
• Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

Long term improvements

• Read all types of topics from good writers and thinkers. Your brain will assimilate and see the world clearer.
• Journal, read and write as much as you possibly can in your professional and personal life.
• Never give up.

Page constraints

• Look for paragraphs that contain a line with a single dangling word. Removing any word in the paragraph gains an entire line.
• Considering the way things are packed together with automatic type setting, a single word can yield a few lines.

Review

• have others review who are not familiar with the material
• have others review who are familiar with the material
• review it yourself several months later with a fresh look
• orally read, record or have the computer audibly read
• Without feedback and criticism there is no way for correction.

Outlines

Outlines for proposals

1. introduction
2. problem formulation
3. literature review
4. proposed method

Outlines for research

1. introduction (importance)
2. problem formulation
3. literature review past solutions
4. solution method
5. results, contrasts and comparisons
6. conclusion

Online examples

Panda and Colorado give some examples of dissertation research outlines.

Sections

Introductions

• The most difficult part is the introduction.
• The job is to articulate the problem. Why is it important to solve?
• Give the key idea and then nail it.

Conclusions

The conclusion should be specific to the work and results. It is not a repeat of the introduction, but rather a concise summary. The conclusion contains just concluding ideas; a detailed progression of thoughts is not needed.

Types of documents

Technical writing

"Technical writing is not charming but it is common." -- Gao

thesis vs. papers

A thesis should be self contained and a paper should be concise. Ask so what. The literature review for a thesis could have a paragraph for each paper.

Concise papers

• 1st paragraph: Background of field.
• 2nd paragraph: Literature review. One sentence may contain five papers as opposed to one paragraph for each paper.
• 3rd paragraph: Convince the what and why.

Improvements for presentations

• Face people
• Hold a thought, let it sit and slow down. Think on two levels: your thoughts and the audience's thoughts.
• Slow down and move slowly around the room.
• Keep your hands down.

Critical thinking

Ask what is the problem?

You ask how should to define the problem instead of assuming a solution and looking for a problem.

Ask so what?

If a statement is made, you should ask what the implications may be. The reader is wondering the importance of what is being said.

Paper development stages

1. Throw thoughts down in a brainstorming session
2. Sort ideas and generate a clear outline
3. Fill in connecting thoughts and sections
4. Write an introduction and abstract
5. Clarify every sentence and thought at the lowest level
6. Re-read and clarify every sentence
7. Have a computer read your paper out-loud to you
8. Have someone else re-read and clarify the paper
9. Submit or publish

Other thoughts

Writing clearly is a powerful tool that should not be used to crush other people. To think clearly and communicate ideas well should be worn humbly. If pride grows you are not thinking clearly. "Knowledge puffs up but love builds up." ( 1Cor8:2-3 ⁷) Instead, clarity should be used to lead responsibly.

Resources

• Strunk ⁸ wrote the standard and is available online. Itself is an example of precise writing. It has opened my eyes to the world of clearly conveying ideas.
• The Allyn & Bacon handbook ⁹ is a helpful resource with many great examples
• Li ¹⁰ has provided a standard guideline for IEEE technical writing. ¹¹ are several other IEEE style guidelines.
• Other online sources include mit and harmonize.
• Both anglia and hmc give good guidelines for dissertations.