Writing+Tips

In any formal writing (research papers and the like), every paragraph should begin with a topic sentence, one statement that indicates what the entire paragraph will be about. A reader should be able to go through your entire paper, read the first sentence of every paragraph, and get a clear and thorough outline of your entire paper.

Never refer to your sources or any other outside references as "the first article" or "the third website"--this has little meaning to a reader who cannot know what "first" and "third" refer to (first article you mentioned? First one you read? First one in the pile? First one published?) It's vague and frustrating.

Just because you save your paper digitally and your name is on the file name does NOT mean you don't need your name on your actual paper. Put your name on your paper.

If an article you are citing has no author, the title of the article goes in your in-text citation instead. But you don't need the whole title; just enough to lead your reader to the Works Cited page. EX: "The Article I Wrote is Awesome" would be cited this way in-text: quote quote" ("The Article" 14).

If you are quoting an article that has an error in it, you need to quote the article exactly, error and all, but follow the error with [sic]. I don't know what it stands for (some Latin thing) but it indicates that you are aware of the error but you didn't make it; the article made the error.

When writing about sources and referring to them, always refer to them by the last name of the author and NOT by the titles or by the publications. Using author last names makes it much easier to keep track of the articles for the reader. If there is no author, use the shortest of the two, the publications or the titles. The idea is to be CONSISTENT throughout your writing and make it clear for readers which articles you're referring to.

Titles of publications are always in italics, both when you refer to them in your writing and in your Works Cited page. They are treated just like a book. Movies, too!

Always refer to author by last name, not first name, after you have introduced the author by both first and last.

Never have an "orphan" quote: a quote not connected to the rest of your writing. They feel to the reader as though you forgot you were required to quote and went back and just stuck it in.

All titles should be capitalized except for prepositions and articles, even if the title is not capitalized in the actual article.

Titles of short pieces (articles, poems, essays, etc) go in "quotation marks" and larger works (books, magazine titles, journal titles, etc) go in //italics.// No title is ever both in quotations marks and italics.

Avoid using "you." It sounds preachy and will make your reader feel defensive.

If you misspell the word "definitely", spellcheck will automatically change it to "defiantly" and then your sentence will sound silly.

When citing in-text with MLA, the period always goes at the end of the sentence, after the parentheses.

Languages like English and Spanish are always capitalized. If you are writing about school subjects, only these language subjects are capitalized. Subjects like math, science, and history are not capitalized.

Reading your paper out loud before you turn it in will help you find most of your errors, like reading this out loud (a common opening sentence): "In “Language as a bridge and identity” by Hector Tobar mentioned how people spoke many languages."

The first idea that pops into your head when reading an article is probably the same thing that has popped into everyone else's head, too. Good critical thinking goes beyond that and finds complexity, asking the tough questions, especially "why?".