Writing Advice

Writing Advice:
Stuff People Usually Get Wrong

I taught college for 25 years. I am also a very strong editor. I’ve got a good eye. People ask me all the time, “What’s the stuff people usually get wrong?”

That’s a love-hate scenario for me. On the one hand, I love it, because I really enjoy teaching and hoping that doing so will make it so one less person embarrass himself. On the other hand, I hate it, because how often have I answered the same question only to have to answer it ten thousand more times?

So, here we go!

Copyright 30% Rule

Most of the things addressed here are more or less harmless. This one is not harmless. The idea is that, if someone takes and idea and changes it 30%, then the copyright is not violated, due to that change. I have even had a lawyer mention this to me.

Guess what? It is totally and completely untrue.

There never has been, nor will there ever be a 30 Percent Rule in copyright law. First, how in the world do you calculate that something is 30% different? You can’t. It’s not possible. So, if someone steals someone’s intellectual property, changes it what he thinks is 30% and uses it, then he will receive cease-and-desist letters from the copyright holder. Theft of intellectual property is theft, whether it’s 70% or 30%.

So how do you avoid getting into trouble? If you use someone else’s images or words, just give the author credit.

Citing Sources. Quality writing — especially nonfiction — is built upon the work of others, to which unique analysis and contributions are added. Citations serve three major roles:

Allowing you to show how your argument is built upon the ideas of others.
Allowing you to give credit where it’s due.
Allowing people to follow your argument and confirm its logic by investigating the ideas on which the argument is built, or to further explore those ideas on their own.

In each case, it’s important that you acknowledge the ways in which others’ ideas contributed to your own. Failing to distinguish original ideas from those of our forebears is plagiarism, “the act of appropriating the literary composition of another author, or excerpts, ideas, or passages therefrom, and passing the material off as one's own creation.” (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law).

What Needs to be Cited? If you incorporate or refer to others’ theories, words, ideas or concepts in a paper or project, you must document each one using a citation. The use of facts and statistics that another has compiled must also be likewise acknowledged. You need to document:

Direct quotes, both entire sentences and phrases
Paraphrases (rephrased or summarized material)
Words or terminology specific to or unique to the author’s research, theories, or ideas
Use of an author’s argument or line of thinking
Facts whether historical, statistical or scientific
Graphs, drawings, or other such aggregations of information or data
Articles or studies you refer to within your text

You do not need to document proverbs, axioms and sayings (“A stitch in time saves nine.”) and common knowledge (Thomas Edison invented the phonograph; “Starry Night” was painted by Vincent Van Gogh; Oxygen has the atomic number 8)

Unsure? Then document it to play it safe.

Enough about intellectual property. Let’s get onto the other stuff ... the less-dangerous stuff ... but potentially more embarrassing stuff.

Parenthetical Statements

There are three ways to set off parenthetical statements. How it’s done is dependent on your goal with that statement: are you trying to emphasize the statement, downplay it, or is it just as important as the rest of the sentence? Those are the three options. How it’s punctuated is based on your intent as the writer.

Emphasis

I went to school today — like I do every day — and something happened.

Downplay

I went to school today (like I do every day) and something happened.

Equal Importance

I went to school today, like I do every day, and something happened.

If this doesn’t make sense, imagine yourself saying each sentence above. When emphasizing, the parenthetical statement, you get louder and enunciate more strongly. When downplaying, you enunciate less and might even mumble. When it’s of equal importance, you say it just as clearly as the rest, at the same volume.

RE: and SUBJECT:

It does NOT mean “reply.” It means “regarding.” If writing a letter, if using an RE line, it must have a verb. If using a Subject line (SUBJECT, rather than RE), then no verb is required.

Colon (:) and Semicolon (;)

A colon is like a period, it requires a full sentence in front of it.

A semicolon does not require a full sentence. It’s more like a comma that way. Just look at the bottom if you’re unsure: one has a period (.) and one has a comma (,). That gives a hint which way it goes.

So a colon is used to set off the big, head honcho part of a complex sentence. The semicolon is used to set apart the descriptors or list items in that complex sentence. For example

(See that? No colon, because that’s not a complete sentence, it doesn’t have a verb.)

Please pack the following books: Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets; the biographies on Jackie Kennedy, Charles Stuart, and Queen Elizabeth; and the historical romance novels by Nora Roberts, Jude Devereux, and Diana Gabaldon.

Here’s another example, but without a colon:

(See that? There’s a colon, because that’s a complete sentence.)

I have traveled to these cities, Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and San Francisco, California.

Here’s another

Their supersuits were red, blue, and yellow; blue and black; red and yellow; and green, gold, and black.

Anyway/Anyways

“Anyway” is an adverb used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement (e.g., “Anyway, it’s gone.”).

“Anyways” is a remnant from Middle English. It is often used to indicate informality or that the character saying it lacks polish or is uneducated.

Farther/Further

“Farther” is an adjective meaning more distant.

“Further” is a verb meaning to contribute to the progress or an adverb meaning to a greater extent or degree.

Toward/Towards

“Toward” is an adjective meaning in the direction of something, preferred in the United States and Canada.

“Towards” is an adjective meaning in the direction of something, preferred in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Résumé

Where does the accent go on résumé? The first E or the second E? That’s a trick question.

The answer is both.

Is There Such Thing as a Stupid Question?

I taught college for 25 years. I can say with unequivocal, absolute certainty that there are stupid questions. I have been asked a gazillion of them. Here are some examples (and, yes, these were college students):

Do I have to capitalize the first word in a sentence? Often, that was followed by “Why?”
Do I have to spell words right? More often than the previous question, that was followed by “Why?”
Why do I have to use correct punctuation? Does anybody really care?

I will address these questions in the context of this being “writing advice” so, in theory, the audience is interested in writing. As writers, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation are our tools — our only tools. So not wanting to learn how to use them correctly, well, doesn’t 1make much sense. To make poor use of Monty Python, a writer not making proper use of capitalization, spelling, and punctuation is like a carpenter driving a nail with a herring.

W.D. Kilpack III: Official Web Site