1. Lasar’s U2 a great writer With 8 EZ rules!

2. Words and your brain  Lady Gaga; World Trade Center; God; a chili cheeseburger; parking lot turkey; cat video; Romeo and Juliet; money; lots of money; Paris; Halo 5....

3. Writing is the most powerful multimedia tool ever invented “Mrs. Daughtry walked into the living room. There on the sofa sat young Alvin the accountant, with a confident expression on his face.” Words + your

4. Writing is the most powerful multimedia tool ever invented “Mrs. Daughtry walked into the living room. There on the sofa sat young Lars the pool boy, with a confident expression on his face.” Words + your

5. 1. Use active verbs  Avoid overuse of “is,” “was,” “are,” and “were.

6.  Martin Gaye: “I heard it through the grape vine.”  Your typical UCSC student: “It was heard by me through the grape vine.”

7. 1. Active verbs make your writing simpler:  This is articulated by Du Bois when he writes that the “color line” represents the main problem of the 20 th century.  Du Bois writes that the “color line” represents the main challenge of the 20 th century.

8. Passive verbs make your sentences more interesting  She was better than anyone else at chess.  She dominated her dorm floor at chess.  Her roommates feared her prowess at chess.  She totally clobbered us at chess.

9. Passive verbs often deflect responsibility  “Mistakes were made.”  “Torture was used.”  “Slavery was introduced.”  “Stealing was discovered.”

10. 2. Use simpler words  Why use “utilize” when you can use the word “use”?  Endeavor (try)  Erroneous (wrong)  Facilitate (help)  Cognizant (aware)

11. 3. Use shorter sentences  If your sentence runs on for more than three lines the chances are that it is too long, at least that’s what I think about this aspect of writing and I’ve been doing it for a while, trust me on this, no, really.

12. 4. Do not use cliches  “The café was a mecca for local artists and intellectuals.”  “It was the mother of all party battles.”  “Having spent his political capital, Grover Cleveland would now have to pay the electoral piper.”  “Descartes began to think outside the box.”

13. 5. Do not use jargon  Problematize  Paradigm  Paradigmatic of  Text  Binary opposition  Deconstruct  Discursive  subjectivities

14. 6. Start your essay with an interesting first sentence  No: “The economy affects our lives on a daily basis.”  Yes: “Until recently economists assumed the Crash of 1929 caused the Great Depression, but now they question that theory.”  Tell your reader something that they do not know in the first sentence

15. 7. Do not plagiarize  If you directly copy some text, you must put it in quotes and reference it.  Otherwise you have plagiarized.

16. You need to learn to write  Once upon a time I was a private eye...

17. Why people fear writing  Afraid they’ll write badly.  Afraid they’ll be wrong.  Afraid they have nothing to say.