1. Hints on Writing (D) Rule 1: Edit Rule 2: Edit Rule 3: Edit
PhD Seminar
Hints on Writing (D)
Rule 1: Edit
Rule 2: Edit
Rule 3: Edit
Jeff Offutt

2. “There are no good writers: Only good editors”
Editing is Hard!
“There are no good writers: Only good editors”
– Chris Offutt

3. General Comments
If you make a mistake, it should be on something you don’t know
In the 21st century, spelling mistakes are a sign of disrespect – like saying your time is more important than your readers’
Don’t forget to leave a few hours for the last minute edits
Read the entire paper through once without making major changes
The “green line” in MS Word is only correct about 75% of the time
It helps knowledgeable users
It can be deadly for people still learning English
It makes more mistakes on complex sentences
© Jeff Offutt

4. First Drafts When writing your first draft :
Focus on structure and content
Don’t worry about spelling
Don’t worry about formatting
Don’t worry about grammar
Get the organization right early
Like software, late changes to the “design” are very messy
Word processors interfere with creative and organizational thinking
We cannot ignore spelling, formatting grammar …
Cognitive psychologists have found that first drafts are better when written with pencil or a simple text editor
I am a better writer with vim / latex than with Word
© Jeff Offutt

5. Outlining Writing outlines really does work Compromise strategy :
But it’s not fun
Compromise strategy :
Outline the major sections
Write ugly first drafts of sections
Reverse engineer the outlines …
Redo the outlines
© Jeff Offutt

6. Reverse Engineering Outlines
For each section :
Write one-phrase summary of each subsection or paragraph
Many problems will be obvious
Reorder, delete, insert as necessary
Repeat for each subsection
Repeat for each paragraph
This technique has greatly improved my writing – and I’ve gotten faster!
© Jeff Offutt

7. Personal Process Improvement
Start a list of personal “oops”
Get your list from various sources
Mistakes you find
Comments from your readers
Mistakes you see in others that look “familiar”
After writing, look for each “oops” in turn
Over time some items will fall off the list, others will creep on
© Jeff Offutt

8. Get Help It was rejected …
Never let your professor or reviewers be the first to read your paper
Classmates
Fellow faculty
Children
The first time I sent a paper in without a second reader was in 1999 … 11 years after I graduated
It was rejected …
© Jeff Offutt

9. Summary Never stop learning Good writing is hard work
But it does not require the intellectual abilities that you needed to get this far in your studies
Good writing requires skills
Anyone can learn most writing skills
Good writing requires practice
I am a native English speaker and I have been writing professionally for more than 25 years
I am still learning
Never stop learning
© Jeff Offutt