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Writing Checklist¹

Grammar -- hard and fast rules

___ 1. Aviod mispelling.
Spell-check programs help, but are no substitute for your own critical eye. When in doubt, look it up.

___ 2. Also using sentence fragments and incomplete sentences.
A complete sentence has a subject, a verb, and an object. Advertising copy can sometimes survive without one of these elements, but formal prose cannot.

___ 3. Be sure the verb and the subject agrees in number.
In particular, be sure to use "they" and "their" only in reference to plural nouns.

___ 4. Remember to keep the tense of your verbs consistent, or your writing might have become unclear.

___ 5. To avoid run-on sentences punctuate sentences properly.
Commas define the cadence of a sentence. Reading aloud, slowly, can help you identify naturally where they belong.

___ 6. Use the write word, not just the one that looks or sounds rite, to.
This is one of the reasons spell-checkers will never replace your brain.

___ 7. capitalize Words Correctly, Even On tuesdays.
Capitalization is one more area where spell-check programs are only marginally useful.

___ 8. Its important to use apostrophe’s correctly.
Apostrophes are confusing because they indicate both possessives and contractions. Since you are not using contractions (see #15 below), you only have to worry about possessives. In most cases, add an apostrophe and an "s" for the possessive. Exceptions: some famous dead people by convention get only an apostrophe (e.g.: Socrates'); the word "its" is a possessive because "it's" forms the contraction for "it is"; likewise the possessive of "who" is "whose".

___ 9. Semicolons separate independent clauses of a sentence; each of which is itself a complete sentence.
A semicolon links two closely related sentences, often where one explains or depends on the other; you can also use semicolons to separate items in a list within a sentence.

___ 10. Everyone that refers to persons as objects is a brick.
"That" is for things; when referring to persons use "who".

___ 11. Well placed hyphens make a distinctly-better impression.
Hyphens link words to indicate to the reader which term is the adjective and which the noun. You have to read the above sentence twice to know for sure that "well-placed" modifies "hyphens." As with commas, it is sometimes easier to hear than to see where hyphens belong. The "ly" of an adverb already plays the role of a hyphen, so you do not need to add one.

Rules of Thumb -- somewhat flexible, but be sure you know when you break them

___ 12. A preposition is not usually a good word to end a sentence with.
Sometimes it is very awkward to avoid doing so, however, as in the famous phrase: "...up with which I will not put!"

___ 13. Try to never split an infinitive.
English forms the infinitive of a verb with the preposition "to" (to run, to educate, and so forth), and it is best not to let anything creep in between the verb and the preposition. Although popular culture has taught us "to boldly go," it should be either "to go boldly," or "boldly to go."

___ 14. And most sentences should not begin with a conjunction.
Conjunctions and disjunctions are linking words, and when they begin a sentence there is nothing for them to link. But there are times when context makes clear what you are linking, and the need for dramatic impact allows for exceptions.

___ 15. Don’t use contractions in formal writing.
Exceptions include passages of colloquial dialogue or direct quotations.

Stylistic Rules -- there is some flexibility here, too; use your judgment, but know what you are doing

___ 16. Too many, so to speak, subordinate, I think, clauses, makes sentences a little, well, choppy.

___ 17. Not to beat a dead horse, but we all should avoid clichés like the plague and fight them tooth and nail lest our prose be flat as a pancake. That’s the bottom line, to say the least.
It is nearly impossible to avoid common metaphors and phrases altogether, and good writing often makes creative use of them, but try to steer clear of the more obvious, trite, and common ones.

___ 18. Keep¹ footnotes² to³ a minimum⁴.
Notes should inform and direct readers to sources, not distract them from what you are saying.

___ 19. Like don’t use slang and stuff in formal writing.
Well, duh.

___ 20. Doesn’t everybody know rhetorical questions are dismissive and obnoxious?
A rhetorical question is a statement in the form of a question that needs no answer because the speaker presumes the answer is obvious. It is more respectful of your readers simply to state your position. The rhetorical question "Who's to say?" is especially annoying.

___ 21. Save “quotation marks” for when you are directly quoting a “person” or “text”.
Some writers use "scare quotes" to express their suspicion of certain terms. It would be more straightforward simply to discuss what is suspicious about a term or phrase.

___ 22. Try not to say what you have to say repeatedly over and over, again and again.
Do we need to keep reminding you of this?

___ 23. The passive voice is to be avoided; it is better if the subject is to be identified clearly.
Passive voice, or indirect discourse, conceals the subject altogether (as in Ronald Reagan's famous admission about Iran-Contra: "Mistakes were made"), or at best tags it on awkwardly at the end of the phrase ("The bathroom was gone to by me."). Some high school teachers advocate the passive voice because they want their students to avoid speaking in the first person, but there is nothing wrong with occasionally using the first person (you are, after all, the author), so long as your presence in the text does not eclipse the paper's subject. Weed out the passive voice.

___ 24. Since the beginning of time, professors have been urging their students to avoid lengthy, vague introductions that make grand, pompous references to irrelevant matters.
Writing teachers often tell you to "grab the reader," but the best way to do this is by saying something definite and concrete, preferably by stating the thesis of your paper, right at the beginning. Vague, global introductions add nothing to your prose.

Philosophical Rules -- common intellectual errors to avoid in your writing

___ 25. Mankind can no longer tolerate, in his language, the presumption of maleness as the norm.
Using gender-specific language where it does not belong can be confusing and off-putting. Sometimes it is easy to fix (use humanity instead of mankind, for example), and sometimes it is a struggle to do so gracefully (as when you must recast a sentence in the plural rather than using s/he, he/she, and other awkward compound phrases inappropriate in formal prose). It is worth learning to do, however, as most academic and professional societies now require it for publication, and you want to say exactly what you mean.

___ 26. I feel it is misleading to express your thoughts and claims as though they were sensations or emotions.
Feelings are important, but they are not the same as thoughts. In general, a thought is more public, and subject to intellectual challenge and question, whereas a feeling is just something you have, like an emotion, sensation, or intuition, and you do not expect others to challenge it. Since formal writing should almost always invite correction or challenge, never use "feel" where "think" will do.

___ 27. As some great philosopher once said: "Always acknowledge the sources of your ideas."
Direct quotations, summaries, and paraphrases all require precise citation of author, text, and page number or URL (using the simplest and least obtrusive form, or that prescribed by your professor). Failure to do this can have dire academic and even legal consequences.

___ 28. Be careful not to confuse valid ideas with false arguments or unsound statements.
In logic (and thus in all clear writing), truth and falsity are properties of statements, while validity and invalidity are properties of arguments (an argument is valid if its conclusion follows formally from its premises). An argument is sound if it is valid and has true premises.
__________________________
1 rhymes with peep
2 i.e., notes at the foot of the page.
3 as contrasted with too, or two.
4 I owe this thought to my writing teacher

Exercise: The following textual passage commits each of the above 28 errors at least once. Circle and identify each error by number, then rewrite the passage, eliminating all grammatical, stylistic, and conceptual mistakes.

As has always been true since the days of the caveman, Philosophy student's generally tend to do well at whatever career he or she undertakes after graduation. Certainly, as Aristitle, probably, said, somewhere, quite correctly, philosophical qualities are the mark of any capable and well balanced person. These qualities include the disposition and ability to critically think, read rigorously, constructed effective and nuanced arguments, right clearly, question intelligently and converse respectfully.
These qualities are valuable for both old and new reasons, I feel. Traditionally, the study of philosophy is at the heart of the center of liberal learning because it addresses directly the task of freeing the mind (and thus the person) from illegitimate constraints: from arbitrary external authority and coercion; and from internal confusion and error. And this liberation would be valuable in and for itself, even if it weren't of much significance for earning a living with. Isn't this obvious?
However, the skills and habits of philosophy are even more valid under the volatile conditions of man's contemporary economic life. Tecknology and "work" now change as quick as a wink, so that college kids can expect to change careers. Not just to different jobs but to completely different fields -- two or three times during their working lives. The best preperation for this Brave New World is for systematic learning and creative imagination themselves as a basic orientation toward life to be cultivated by students. Not only is such a life rewarding and enjoyable for its own sake, but it positions them well to perceive opportunities and make sound decisions in pursuing material survival and comfort.

¹This teaching and writing tool is part of an ongoing collaboration between Matt Silliman, David Johnson, and Kay Mathiesen. We offer it to our students and colleagues for their use, adaptation, and amusement.