1. What to write What not to write
Content Rules!
What to write
What not to write

2. Perspective
You should usually write from the third person perspective.
Do not use second person in formal writing.
No “you” “your”
You may rarely use first person.
“I” “we” “us” “our” “my” “mine”

3. The Forbidden First Person
You should never write lines like “I think” or “I believe.”
Never ever write the horrific phrase “I feel.” Ugh.
If we are reading your essay, we will assume it is your opinion.

4. Perspective Stick to third person for most of your formal writing.
Use “he” “she” “they.”
To avoid sexism, use the plural or vary between male and female.
Overusing “one” gets overly complicated.

5. Contractions
Contractions are considered slang and must be avoided in formal writing.
won’t = will not
It’s = It is
Can’t = cannot
Usually cannot is one word.

6. Slang Never use slang in formal writing. Things don’t “suck.”
Use words like “like” or “totally” appropriately.

7. Word Choice Use the most specific word.
Tests are not “hard.” They are “difficult.”
Watch out for confusing “a lot” with “many.”
Avoid words like “huge,” “big,” “stuff,” or the ghastly “thing.”

8. Word Choice Read literally.
“Impacting the world” means punching the earth.
Do you honestly mean to say what you are saying?
Are there different ways to interpret what you are saying?

9. Word Choice Try to vary the words you use.
Be clear, but don’t be repetitive.
Beware of trying to use big words.
If you don’t know exactly what it means, don’t use it.
What’s important is clarity not pizzazz.
Be concise.
Adjectives and adverbs are not your friends.

10. Word Choice Make sure that each pronoun has a clear antecedent.
Bob is a nice guy. He smiles a lot.
Bob = antecedent – He = pronoun
Should be: Bob is a kind man. He smiles often.

11. Spelling Matters Check your spelling yourself.
Defiantly and definitely are different.
Read your papers aloud to catch spelling errors.
Have someone else read it to you.

12. Confusing Words Some words are often confused with others.
Be careful to avoid these errors.
Spell check and grammar check may miss correcting these.

13. Confusing Words Its vs. It’s There vs. they’re vs. their
Its = possessive
It’s = It is – The apostrophe takes the place of a letter.
There vs. they’re vs. their
There = place
They’re = they are
Their = possessive

14. Confusing Words Affect vs. Effect Then vs. Than Affect = verb (action)
Effect = noun
Then vs. Than
Then = time
Than = comparison

15. Confusing Words Defiant vs. definite Loose vs. lose Defiant = stubborn
Definite = positive or fixed
Loose vs. lose
Loose = to untie or set free
Lose = to misplace or not win (loser)

16. Confusing Words Can not vs. cannot Farther vs. further
Can not = “is able to not”
Cannot= “is unable to”
Farther vs. further
Farther = physical distance
Further = not physical distance

17. Confusing Words Fewer vs. Less A lot vs. many or much
Fewer = anything you can count
People, items, flowers
Less = anything you can’t count (mass)
Love, water, flour
A lot vs. many or much
A lot = TWO WORDS too informal
Many = count