16.b How to write well in an essay

(for regular readers, I am importing material from a previous short post just for tidiness' sake).

An essay is an attempt to find some clarity of thought on a subject. The following list of words are obstacles in the way of clarity of thought. When you find yourself using them, catch yourself and ask 'what am I really trying to say here?' - and then say that instead, without the bad word.

1. important (in what way? to whom?)

2. helpful (who is being 'helped'? helpful to do what exactly? 'helpful' is a word that preachers should stop using, too)

3. significant (to whom? so what?)

4. useful (how? who cares? useful for what purpose?)

5. interesting (how so? I am not interested at the moment just because you say this is interesting...)

Remember, these are tips rather than rules: but I notice how often these words become a shorthand for 'I don't quite know what to say here'. In particular, an essay calls you to make judgements - which many of us are afraid to do. What does 'useful' commit you to? Nothing at all! Scrub it and find something better to say.

Don't be afraid of metaphors either, or of using visual language to describe what you are doing in your argument. It is amazing to reflect on how prominent metaphors have been in advancing discoveries in the world of science. This is because metaphors have the power to yolk ideas together in new ways and thus show us something we haven't seen before. Don't be over the top with it, of course; and don't used tired metaphors that have become stock-in-trade. But a fresh image will open up all kinds of possibilities of thought.

Now I am afraid that I have to have a word with you about punctuation. I'm really not a punctuation fascist. Well, I used not to be, until I had to mark lots of theology essays. And I discovered: it just is simply the case that bad punctuation is a threat to civilisation itself. We punctuate our sentences for the same reason that we use cutlery and wear pants. Take the comma, for example: mostly, people just fill up a pepperpot with commas and then grind them over the page, so that they fall at random. Writing ought to have commas, they think. So, commas it shall have!

Now there are different schools of comma usage. I am a comma minimalist. Mostly, I think you can do without most of the ones we commonly use. I am not going to go through the uses of the comma here because you can easily find help on the web. (My favourite is http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/.) Do yourself the favour of checking those out before you go comma sprinkling.

Likewise, do check out the rules for using apostrophes (notice, not 'apostrophe's). This one is dead easy and should take you a minute to learn. It becomes confusing to read work in which plurals and possessives are all mixed up. And it look kinda highschoolish!

The best advice with punctuation is to use your ears - but not always. And when in doubt, see if a full stop will help things.