WRITING REMINDERS

1.Do not rely too heavily on pronouns.Incorrect—They thought it was bothering her,

but she didn’t mind it.

2.Do not use the word “you.”Incorrect—You would be shocked by the

amount of violence on television.

3.Use “such as” instead of “like.”Correct—I eat foods such as rice, pasta, and

chicken.

4. Do not use words such as “stuff,” “a lot,” and “things.”

5.Do not begin sentences with the words “but” or “and.”

6.Do not use contractions. Write out the two words instead.

Example: did not instead of didn’t

7.Do not use fragments in your writing.Incorrect—Questions parents do not want to

answer.

8. Use the same tense throughout your entire essay or story.Incorrect—Mrs. White gives Mr. White the paw and then said, “Yes, it is magical.”

9. Avoid using awkward sentences in your writing.Incorrect—The reason is because Sarah did not do her homework.

10. Do not use run-on sentences in your writing.Incorrect—These three shows can give children nightmares and cause other problems this can lead to bigger problems in their lives.

11.Use possessives correctly.Singular nouns = apostrophe before the “s”

Example—The mother’s concern for her child was overwhelming.

Plural nouns = an apostrophe after the “s”Example—The cheerleaders’ routines were very impressive.

Exceptions to the rule—Words such as women, men, children, and people are already plural, even though they do not end in “s.” Therefore, the apostrophe is placed before the “s” in these words in order to make them possessive.

Example—The children’s department is packed.

12. Use words instead of numbers.Incorrect—I will go to college for 4 years.Correct—I will go to college for four years.

13. Capitalize only proper nouns (the specific names of people, places, and things).Incorrect—My favorite season is Fall.

When dealing with school subjects, only capitalize those that are languages and those that are followed by a number.Example—Capitalize Spanish and History 101, but not history, economics, accounting, geometry, etc.

14.Always check for spelling errors.

15.Write clear topic sentences when beginning a paragraph, and always end a body paragraph with a concluding sentence.

Incorrect Topic Sentence—My first reason is because of the news.

Correct Topic Sentence—Parents should limit television due to the inappropriate nature of the news.

16. Do not end a sentence with a preposition.

Incorrect—What did you do that for?Correct—Why did you behave that way?

Incorrect—I saw him drive by.Correct—I saw him drive by the house.

Incorrect—Who did you give the paper to?Correct—To whom did you give the paper?

17.Utilize parallel structure—Use the same patterns of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance

Not parallel—Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride her bike.

Parallel—Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling.

Not parallel—The coach told the players that they should get plenty of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the game.

Parallel—The coach told the players that they should get plenty of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.