Writing Lessons & Advice: My Recipe for Good Writing
For my first Lessons & Advice post, I'm reviving some notes from an old lesson I wrote during my time in education. I taught a middle school English class my recipe for good writing! If nowhere else, the basics are a good place to start...
Ingredients:
complete sentences that express relevant ideas
correct punctuation
logical organization of ideas
interesting word choices and details that support the main idea
editing and revision
Complete sentences
A complete sentence= a subject and predicate
A subject is the person or thing of your idea
A predicate is what your idea is or does
Example: My husband and I made tacos for dinner. My husband and I is the subject and made tacos for dinner is the predicate.
Tips: Aim for at least one idea per sentence (one idea=one subject and predicate)
End your sentence once you have expressed all parts of your idea.
If you have more than one idea that needs to be expressed in a sentence, include it with a conjunction. More on those two topics in a minute.
Complete sentences can have a variety of word classes or parts of speech.
Types of sentences
Declarative- makes a statement. Example: My husband and I made tacos for dinner.
Interrogative- asks a question. Example: What will my husband and I make for dinner?
Exclamatory- shows strong emotion. Example: My husband and I made tacos for dinner!
Imperative- gives a commanding statement. Example: Honey, let’s have tacos for dinner.
Simple, compound, complex sentence structures
Simple-usually short sentences with one subject and one predicate
My first example sentence is a simple sentence.
Compound- two ideas combined with a coordinating conjunction (they can be remembered with the pneumonic FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
Example: My husband and I had tacos for dinner and had Dairy Queen for dessert.
Complex- ideas combined with a subordinating conjunction, like after, as, before, when, because if, until, since...
Example: While my husband cooked the taco meat, I set the table.
Run-on or comma splice- ideas connected without a conjunction. Avoiding these is best. Example: My husband cooked the taco meat I set the table.
Punctuation
Punctuation is a group of symbols that help us read and understand.
Sentences end with a period (.), a question mark (?), or exclamation point (!)
A comma (,) is used to separate particular clauses and list items. Use a comma to:
separate ideas joined by conjunctions
separate three or more items in a list
separate two or more adjectives that describe the same noun
set off all geographical names, items in dates (except month and day), addresses (except street numbers and names) and titles in names
Side note: I go more in-depth with punctuation in its own lesson. Comma usage has its own lesson too.
Organization
Your sentences and paragraphs are written in logical order or ways that make sense.
Common styles of organization are:
chronological order, or order of sequence in which details happen, connect, or progress, like Point A to Point B to Point C.
order of precedence, as in the most important things are first and foremost.
cause and effect, problem and solution, or compare and contrast
General structure of a paragraph: topic sentence, several sentences with details, and conclusion
How long should a paragraph be? Early in school, one might have learned that a paragraph should be four to six sentences, but in reality there's no hard rule to it. Just about anything you read will use a variety of paragraph lengths. Unless you have to follow criteria that specifies otherwise, they can be as long as necessary as long as it completes the main thought or idea of its focus.
Side note: separate lesson on writing paragraphs in this lesson!
General structure of an essay: introductory paragraph where you present your topic, a few paragraphs of details surrounding topic, conclusion where you summarize your message and explain what is important
Tips: outline before you write
use transition words to smoothly introduce and connect your ideas.
Word choice and details
Strong word and language choices “spice up” your writing. They:
appeal to the senses--as in sight, sound, taste, touch, feel
provide clear details--like describing who, what, when,where, why, or how
help reader better understand or relate to an idea
Painting a mental picture is another way I like to explain this part of writing, like a visual artist creates a picture with paint, pencil, or some other medium. There’s a similar art to writing. Good word choices and details help the reader visualize or understand the idea you are trying to communicate.
To show these ingredients in action, I’ve written “basic sentences” to compare with well-known lines from literature or pop culture. Then I explain how the selections match up.
We met long ago. Vs. “We were both young when I first saw you/ I close my eyes and the flashbacks start/ I’m standing there on a balcony in summer air/see the lights, see the party, the ballgowns/I see you make your way through the crowd to say hello...(Swift, “Love Story”)
How they match up: There’s nothing wrong with basic sentences, but they often just need more to carry a story. The Taylor Swift lyrics are a very good example of painting the mental picture. The descriptions give the reader a better idea of how, when and where the lovers met: they were young, at a summer or fairytale party, and she saw him first, coming through the crowds to meet her--not knowing he was her dad’s least preferred match for her at first, if you know the rest of the story in this song.
You are really pretty. vs. “Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate...”(Shakespeare, Sonnet 18)
How they match up: While pretty means appealing or attractive, the figurative language and descriptive phrases paint a clearer picture of how or why the object of admiration is appealing or attractive: A summer’s day is often warm, beautiful and inviting--a scene which most readers can imagine--but the subject of the sonnet is even more so! Can you imagine that?
It is late and I'm really tired. vs. “Once upon a midnight dreary, as I pondered weak and weary...”(Poe, The Raven)
How they match up: Late and tired are ambiguous; they can be interpreted different ways depending on their context. Whereas “midnight dreary” provides an explicit detail concerning time and setting and “weak and weary” explicitly describe the “kind” of tiredness the speaker is feeling.
He dislikes Christmas. vs. “If I could work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!” (Dickens, A Christmas Carol)
How they match up: The basic sentence is one way to describe Ebenezer Scrooge at the start of the well-known holiday story, but it does not do enough justice in expressing his passion against the season. The quote paints a picture of a man irate to the point of (hyperbolic) violence over the charity and merry-making traditions of Christmas. You can "see" how he hates it!
Tips: use figurative language and literary devices when appropriate
incorporate synonyms for better word choices (a thesaurus can help you with this)
Side notes: The poetry lesson gives more detail on literary devices. The show vs. tell lesson discusses more on how/why to utilize good word choice, details, and writing other ingredients!
The writing process
Up to this point, I’ve discussed each of the main ingredients in good writing. Now, the writing process mixes them all together, adds the final touches, and cleans up any messes. Here’s a little more about the steps to take in producing good writing:
Step one: Pre-writing or brainstorming- Your first steps in cooking entail some kind of preparation. You might check your kitchen to see if you have everything you need to make your dish. You might need to stock up on seasoning, preheat the oven, or clean and chop vegetables. You might get everything you can in one place so you don’t waste time or momentum when you need them.
Pre-writing or brainstorming is like the preparatory first steps of cooking. You jot down your ideas and decide which are the best to write about. You might sketch a chart, a mind map, or a picture of some kind. You might do some kind of mental (or physical) warm-up. However it's done, the point of pre-writing is preparing your focus, deciding what you are writing about, and what other information you might include. You might even organize your brain dump into an outline, evaluate it to see what is relevant to your chosen topic, or see if there is anything you need to research.
Step two: Drafting or writing- When you’re satisfied with your pre-writing/brainstorming content, you can start putting pen to paper or fingers to a keyboard to start your first draft/rough draft. Focus on just getting your ideas into complete sentences and paragraphs. Written perfection doesn’t have to be a priority in the early stages--hence calling it a rough draft. After you’ve expressed all of your ideas in written format, you can move into proofreading.
Step three: Proofreading- To use some technical jargon, you’ll edit and revise in proofreading. In simpler terms, you’ll read and review your work for errors and improvements. Editing fixes grammar errors, like incorrect punctuation, spellings, or sentence structure issues while revising improves the content of your writing, like addressing word choices, unclear organization, irrelevant details, or details that need elaboration. A lot of word processors and online services make this part a little easier but reading your own work or asking someone to read it can never hurt either. Your final draft or product will be the result of the editing and revising.
Step four: Publishing- Some writing process guides even include a step called publishing, which can be anything from posting your final draft on a blog, submitting it to a publication or contest, or even just turning it in for a grade. Whatever the case, it's out of the oven, stuck with a fork, and called done!
If there's a topic you want me to cover in the future, you're welcome to reach out to me on the web chat feature or socials!
