Sources: these are my personal notes from across these resources. the text below may be directly quoted, paraphrased, or summarized from any of these sources.
Writing Science by Joshua Schimel
Write Ivy - multiple articles
The Writing Collective - multiple articles
My Notes:
You can click on a bullet point to collapse or expand it
Highlighted sections are more likely to help with word count, while unhighlighted sections may help more only with character count
Sentence structure: OCAR (opening=topic, challenge, action, resolution)
Long sentences need an LD (lead, development; all up front) structure
Short and clear topic
Main verb immediately follows topic
Key message at end (stress pt)
Energize writing by eliminating/reducing:
passive voice → active voice
May show up in the form of "to be" and "to have" Look for...
am, is, are, isn't
was, were, will, won't, shall
be, being, been
can, could, would, should
might, must, may
has, have, had
did, do, doing, did, does
Examples:
Passive: The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440. → Active: Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440.
Passive: What good writers do, however, is to keep these duller, low-energy verbs to a minimum. → Active: Good writers, however, keep these duller, low-energy verbs to a minimum.
Passive: The exam scores were tabulated by the teacher. → Active: The teacher tabulated the exam scores
Passive: The baseball card was purchased by the collector.→ Active: The collector purchased the baseball card.
Passive: The witness’s remarks were recorded by the police officer. → Active: The police officer recorded the witness’s remarks.
When is passive voice necessary?
You don't know, or do not want to reveal, the action performer
When the person or thing receiving action is more important than the one performing the action
Sentence contains two verbs with the same subject
May need a shift of voice (from active to passive or vice versa) to preserve sentence flow
fuzzy verbs → active verbs
Fuzzy verbs
occur
affect
facilitate
perform
conduct
implement
Action verbs
modify
accomplish
create
increase
decrease
invade
react
inhibit
disrupt
accelerate
migrate
nominalizations → adjective/verb
Look for suffixes: "-ation," "-ance," "-mant," "-ment," "-ence," "-al," and “-sion”
Examples: adjective → nominalizations of adjective (yes these are given in reverse order of what you'd want to do)
difference → difference
difficult → difficulty
able → ability
capable → capability
similar → similarity
Examples: verb → nominalizations of verb
move → movement
differ → difference
suggest → suggestion
interact → interaction
analyze → analysis
develop → development
influence: A influenced B → A had an influence on B
approach: A approached → A took an approach
yield: The reaction yielded → The yield of the reaction was
withdrew → a withdrawl of
expect → expectation
indicated → there are indications
discuss → discussion
Nominalizations are needed when:
It's a subject referring to a previous sentence
Referring to well-known concepts
french/latin → anglo-saxon
Examples: long → short words
duration → length, time
consume → eat
morality → death
permit → let
necessary → need
demonstrate → show
donate → give
initiate → start
attempt → try
utilize → use
methodology → method
"hidden" verbs
Look for...
accomplish
achieve
carry (out)
cause
come (to the)
conduct
give
make
perform
provide
undertake
Examples:
We will conduct a demonstration of the process. → We will demonstrate the process.
Her constant tardiness caused disruptions in the class. → Her constant tardiness disrupted the class.
We came to the realization that the market was already saturated. → We realized that the market was already saturated.
directional words: "up," "down," "out," "in"
Examples:
out in the background → in the backyard
taking something out of a box → taking something from the box
up in the tree → in the tree
"the", "that", "there is/are/was/were", "it is"
Examples:
There are many factors that could harm our economy → Many factors could harm our economy
It is important to remember to vaccinate your dog for rabies. → County law requires you to vaccinate your dog for rabies.
It is important to note that Russia faces many challenges because of its long border with China. → Russia must commit vast military resources to secure its 2,615-mile border with China.
prepositional phrases
Use noun in phrase as adjective
Examples:
Residents of the United States → United States residents → U.S. residents
Clerk of the court → Court clerk
Use possessive nouns to eliminate prepositions
Examples:
The biggest province in Canada → Canada's biggest ...
The house of Bill and Jane → Bill and Jane's house
Jane Smith, president of the Company → Jane Smith, the Company's president
Attorney for the defendant → The defendant's attorney
Use compound modifiers – often useful in cases where the prepositions are "as", "from", "of", and "for"
Examples:
This water is as cold as ice → This is ice-cold water
The shipment is bound for China → The shipment is China-bound
He is an advocate for the death penalty → He is a death-penalty advocate
We want to hire cashiers who are speakers of Spanish → We want to hire Spanish-speaking cashiers
Convert into an adjective
Examples:
Counties in the north → Northern counties
Market by the side of the road → Roadside market
Bunker under the ground → Underground bunker
Hotel by the sea → seaside hotel
Convert into participles (verb form of a word)
Examples:
In the attempt to write a concise essay, he left out important facts. → Attempting to write a concise essay, he left out important facts.
In the fear of failure, he sought help with his English homework. → Fearing failure, he sought help with his English homework.
In response to the alarm, the fire truck hurtled down the street. → Responding to the alarm, the fire truck hurtled down the street.
Convert into adverbs
Examples:
The writer’s novels were of critical acclaim. → The writer’s novels were critically acclaimed.
The patient’s symptoms were under close watch. → The patient’s symptoms were closely watched.
Other examples:
Original: Let’s meet up and plan out which cafes we want to try out first. → Edited: Let’s meet and plan which cafes to try first.
Original: He dropped out of college on account of the fact that it was necessary for him to support his family. → Edited: He dropped out of college to support his family.
Original: For many people, the reality of an entry into a new area of employment is cause for a host of anxieties. → Edited: Changing careers makes many people anxious.
List of common prepositions
about
above
across
after
against
along
among
around
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyond
by
despite
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
near
of
off
on
outside
over
past
through
to
under
until
up
with
without
break up sentences with lots of commas (or long sentence, e.g. more than 2 lines)
Example:
“The massive immigration of ethnically and linguistically unfamiliar groups that accompanied the industrialization of the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries exposed Americans to cultural diversity, and so also might seem to lie behind the current phenomenon of lifestyle enclaves.” (1 sentence, 44 words)
“The Massive immigration of ethnically and linguistically unfamiliar groups that accompanied the industrialization of the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This exposed Americans to cultural diversity and so also might seem to lie behind the current phenomenon of lifestyle enclaves.” (2 sentences, 40 words)
modifiers, aka empty amplifiers, e.g. adjectives and adverbs (often end in -ly)
certain(ly)
dramatic(ally)
entire(ly)
high(ly)
quite
rather
real(ly)
simple(ly)
substantial(ly)
very
meta discourse: text that isn't necessary to convey message
verbosity
Example 1:
“It made me wonder why such an abundant energy source would be challenging to harness even with the minuscule energy the earth requires compared to what the sun generates.” →
“It made me wonder why such an abundant energy source would be challenging to harness even with the minuscule energy the earth requires compared to what the sun generates.” →
“It made me wonder why such an abundant energy source would be challenging to harness even with the minuscule energy the earth requires compared to what the sun generates.”
Example 2:
“While my undergraduate career has provided me with some of the tools of the trade and sharpened my analytical mind, I am lacking the specialized knowledge required for engineering positions that apply machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision in novel ways. I am eager to begin a Master’s in Computer Science in order to explore advanced topics in computer science and artificial intelligence. I am determined to leverage this experience into an advanced position as a software engineer in industry, applying my skills to the constantly evolving landscape of intelligent systems.” (93 words) →
“While my undergraduate career sharpened my analytical mind, I lack certain Machine Learning, NLP, and Computer Vision skills required for industrial software engineering positions. In a Master’s in Computer Science, I hope to explore these topics in artificial intelligence and build the skills needed to work in the evolving landscape of intelligent systems.” (53 words)
heavy phrasing
Examples: heavy → light phrases
accordingly → so
along the lines of → like
as to → about
as a matter of fact → in fact
at all times → always
at the end of the day → finally
at the present time → now, currently
at this point in time → now, currently
because of the fact that → because
by virtue of the fact → because
by means of → by
consequently → so
due to the fact → because
due to these reasons → because
for the reason that → because
for this reason → so
for the purpose of → for
from the point of view of → for
furthermore → then
have the ability to → be able to
in the case of → if
in order to → to
in accordance with → by, under
in light of the fact → because
in spite of the fact → though, although
in the final analysis → finally
in as much as → since, because
more specifically → in fact
nevertheless → now, next
on the grounds that → since, because
on the basis of → by
prior to → before
that is to say → in other words
to be sure → of course
until such time as → until
with a view to → to
with regard to → about
with the result that → so that
in the nature of → like
in the event that → if
in terms of → in, for
filler words (source)
that
just
then
totally
completely
literally
absolutely
definitely
certainly
actually
basically
virtually
start
begin
began
begun
rather
quite
somewhat
somehow