Mary M. Solberg, Ph.D.: Associate Professor of Religion

Writing Guidelines

Writing matters

I take it seriously. Not everyone writes well, but everyone can improve. Like a sport , writing takes practice and time—and the more time and discipline you're willing to give it, the better you're likely to get. And since writing is never going to be less important than it is now, now is a great time to develop and hone your writing skills!

I've organized some guidelines as follows:

Basic Organization 1-2-3
BEFORE you hand it in....
Drafts, Verbiage, Paragraphs, and Feelings
References
Common Errors & How to Fix Them

Skim them all; read them all carefully; or use only the one/s you think you need most!

Basic Organization: 1-2-3

At or near the beginning, say what this piece of writing will do, and how it will do it. (You don't have to write, "This essay (or paper) is about _______," but you do need to tell the reader what your focus is.)
Hint: Sometimes you may find it easier to write—or a good idea to re-write—your opening sentence or paragraph after you've finished your first draft.
Next, do what you said you'd do. Focus on what is most important. Say one main thing in each paragraph, and make sure the paragraphs have something to do with each other--and with your main point.
Hint: Try to outline what you've written when you're done. If you can't, it may be because it's not well organized. You may be able to fix it by using the attempted outline to figure out what's missing.
Finally, draw a conclusion. Then reread what you've written to be sure you've provided the evidence and/or arguments to support this conclusion.

BEFORE you hand it in....

Read what you've written out loud —to yourself or to a friend. Read slowly enough to understand what you read as you read it. Does it make sense as you hear it?

Be sure you can answer the following questions satisfactorily:

Did I do the assignment? (Really.)
Did I support my views with good reasoning and evidence (if appropriate)?
Have I used examples to illustrate my points? (How often does "For example," appear in what you've written?)
Did I use the correct format? (Double-spacing? Margins?)
Have I corrected errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.? (See "Fixing Common Writing Errors" at the end of this document.)

Drafts, Verbiage, Paragraphs, & Feelings

Do several drafts . Write a draft and set it aside for at least a few hours —overnight is better—and then revise it.
Tighten up your writing: use fewer words and make the ones you do use work better and harder. When you find brackets around words or phrases, or "need this?" in the margin, I'm guessing you could live without this verbiage. Do more and more of this work before turning in your written assignments.
Use paragraphs to help you and the reader follow your line of thought. Each paragraph should have only one key idea . Be able to say (very briefly!) what it is for each paragraph.
"I feel," "I think," "in my opinion" (personal views and feelings) do not substitute for good arguments or analysis. If you begin a sentence in this way, say why you have this view.
You are always welcome to speak with me—to clarify an assignment or your ideas, to brainstorm, to get help on how to write, etc.

References

Cite references! If you have borrowed ideas, terms, arguments, claims, or points of view from the text, or you have quoted or paraphrased portions of the text, you must use a proper note reference (either footnote or endnote). Do not plagiarize!!!

Forms for citing . There are different forms for books, journals, movies, on-line references, etc. A good writer's reference will have examples. For example, for a book, you may use this citation form for a footnote or an endnote—

¹Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith (New York: Harper & Row, 1957), p. 63.

If all your references for one writing assignment come from the same work, you may indicate the source in a footnote the first time you mention the work or quote from it in the paper, followed by something along these lines: "All quotations in this paper are taken from this source; from this point onward, page numbers following the quotations refer to this source." Then you need not continue to footnote quotations, but can use page numbers in parentheses after quoted material in the text.

Bibliographic entries. Entries in bibliographies or "Works Cited" pages have a different form from footnotes or endnotes. Check on this in a writer's reference book.

Dictionary definitions and Bible verses. Usually, you need not cite a dictionary definition or a Bible verse as you would a book or journal reference.

Dictionary definitions. In the text, you may want to indicated which dictionary your definition comes from (Webster's Collegiate, Random House, American Heritage, Oxford English Dictionary, etc.) by saying something like, "According to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the word 'faith' means, '.......'" (Notice use of double and single quotation marks!)
Bible verses. When quoting the Bible, you are usually fine if you use this form: "For God so loved the world...." (Jn 3:16). You can find abbreviations for other books of the Bible in a writer's reference. Please notice that the biblical citation is not part of the verse quoted, so it is not included inside the quotation marks.

Common Errors & How to Fix Them

Work on fixing these common writing errors. Your writing handbook, a friend who knows about these things, or the Writing Center, can help.

b iblical (adjective), but B ible (noun)
OK or okay, not ok
cannot is one word
Standard American usage is toward, not towards.
often, not oftentimes or often times or many times or a lot of times or a lot of the time (frequently works, too!)
not in regards to, but in regard to; better yet, just plain regarding
One thing or person is different from another, not different than another.
Used in the middle of a sentence, however and though (when it means however) are surrounded by commas ; used at the beginning of a sentence, However (when it means, on the other hand or in contrast) has a comma after it.
First, I told him I'd go. Second, I packed my bags. Third, I locked the front door. (Don't use -ly—as in firstly, secondly, etc.—listing points or items.) Same thing applies to important. Ex. More important, don't cough in someone else's face.
When you mean one or a person or someone, don't use you.
When you use the pronoun they or we, clarify whom you are talking about.
When you use the pronoun it, tell the reader what it refers to.
It's =it is (It's my turn!); its = possessive pronoun (The cat acted as if its toy was a real mouse). Know the difference!
Quotation marks go outside the final period in a sentence and after a comma in the middle of a sentence. Ex. I'm not sure whether to call this action "moral ." Ex. When you say "hot," please tell me what you're referring to!
Some people are prejudiced (with a final d) toward some other groups of people. Prejudice is a noun, as in Pride and Prejudice, or as in this sentence: If you had ever experienced prejudice, you would understand how deeply it hurts.
Than is used to compare or contrast one something with something else; then refers to time, or logic. Ex. He's taller than I am. Ex. If you pick me up on time, then we can make it to the theatre for the first show. Or That was then; this is now.
Weather is something we take seriously in Minnesota; whether it rains or snows matters to us.
There are two ways to look at this: their way and our way. But they're not going to change the way they look at it.
Learn what a comma splice is and don't do it! (Often you can avoid it by using a semi-colon where you might have thought to use a comma [splice].)

You are welcome to reprint & use these guidelines; please give credit to Mary M. Solberg, Gustavus Adolphus College, Department of Religion