Nse Grammar And Writing Tips Revised

NSE Writing Tips THE WRITING PROCESS Writers follow this process to think of ideas, plan their writing, and make sure they communicate clearly with their audience. When writers spend time in each part of the process, they give themselves opportunities to succeed. Additionally, successful writers seek advice and improve their work numerous times before they create a final product. You can meet with the tutors in The Plaza tutoring center (room 231) at any time during the writing process. 1. Planning and Shaping •

Take time to make sure you understand the prompt.

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Brainstorm to create a visual representation of your ideas.

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Create an outline to organize your ideas in a logical order; this is a “guide map” for your writing.

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Draft a thesis statement. The thesis establishes the controlling idea of your essay in one or two sentences. It typically goes at the end of the introduction. Every paragraph you write must connect to the thesis, so it helps you stay focused and on topic.

2. Drafting •

Use your outline to start writing. This is your first attempt at writing your ideas.

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First drafts are often messy, so make sure to spend time revising and editing.

3. Revising •

Revision is about the ideas and the content in your paper: the focus, organization, and support.

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Try seeing your writing from a different perspective by joining peer-reviews and talking with tutors.

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Make sure your paper aligns with the prompt.

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Add, remove, and reorganize content to make your ideas and reasoning clearer.

4. Editing •

Editing is on a sentence level, addressing problems with spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word choice.

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Read your work aloud slowly to notice errors, and ask someone else to read your writing aloud.

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Look for only one kind of error at a time.

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Check your work to make sure you have written complete sentences.

5. Publishing •

Produce your final copy.

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Review your writing at least one more time before turning it in.

HELPFUL REMINDERS •

You need a space after a comma, and after any end punctuation. These sentences are examples.

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At the end of a sentence, periods go inside the “quotation marks.” If you used an in-text citation, the period goes after the quotation marks.

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Do not capitalize job titles except when they come immediately before the person's name or are used as part of their name (usually replacing their first name). For example, Professor Valladares, Dr. Laurent.

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Do not capitalize fields of study unless they are languages, such as English.

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Do not capitalize bachelor’s/master’s degree but do capitalize Bachelor of Arts in engineering.

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Write out abbreviations the first time with the abbreviation: University of Central Florida (UCF)

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Use “a” before a word that starts with a consonant and “an” before a word that starts with a vowel.

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Use commas when listing items: I have an apple, a banana, and an orange.

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Use good with nouns and well with verbs: My grades are good. I want to do well in school.

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Make sure to know the difference between commonly misspelled words. For example: there, they’re, and their have three different meanings! Over there, they are, and their books.

 Writing Progress Checklist  I looked at a dictionary to make sure that any new words I use are used correctly.  I am using the correct version of any commonly mistaken word(s). Quotations

Thesis Statement  I have a thesis statement.  My thesis includes my topic.  My thesis includes a claim.  My thesis includes supporting ideas for the claim.  The rest of my paper connects to my thesis statement. Paragraphs  My paper is divided into multiple paragraphs.  I have an introductory paragraph.  I have several body paragraphs.  I have a conclusion.  Each paragraph relates to only one idea.  Each paragraph has:  A topic sentence  Evidence and support  A wrap-up sentence  The paragraph relates to the topic sentence. Transitions  I used transition phrases between paragraphs.  I used transition phrases within paragraphs. Grammar and Punctuation  Are verb tenses (past, present, or future) consistent throughout the paper?  I have no fragments.  I have no comma splices or fused sentences.  I have used commas correctly.  I have no errors in capitalization.  My sentences end with correct punctuation.

 I have quotation marks around my quote(s)  I have introduced my quotes.  I have explained my quotes.  I have punctuated my quotes correctly.  I have cited my quote(s) correctly.  I have a Works Cited, Bibliography, or References page. Formatting  I have written my paper in the proper format (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).  My margins are correct.  My paper has a title.  My header includes all necessary information.  I have page numbers.  My spacing is correct.  Any in-text citations are correct. Special Instructions  I wrote enough words to satisfy the required word count.  My paper is long enough to satisfy the required page count.

 The paper I wrote matches the type of paper I was asked to write.

Uncommon and Regularly Confused Words  I used spell check (F7 in MS Word) to make sure that my words are spelled correctly.

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I certify that I have read through my paper and checked all of the areas listed above.

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