Why do style guides seem so arbitrary? And, why are they so discipline dependent? Why is MLA format often taught in secondary schools, and not one of the other methods? In an age where intellectual property is king and anxiety over plagiarism is high, everyone understands the need to cite Read more…
The citation generators that came out of online note-taking software like Zotero and Evernote were a revelation. They removed much of the mystery regarding the placement of colons in reference notes, or the order in which authors should be listed. They cut down significantly on the time and effort spent Read more…
Conclusions are possibly the most universally hated part of writing. Even for writers who follow a fairly standard formula or outline, conclusions can pose problems: How do you summarize a large amount of information effectively? How do you make sure you don’t just repeat content? How do you leave readers Read more…
A frequent request I hear from clients is to ensure that their manuscript establishes a clear narrative arc. All research tells a story about why it is necessary, how it was executed, and how it contributes to both industry and inquiry. A worthwhile editor will help you to refine this Read more…
It’s a cliché, but when it comes to organization, you can always do worse than, “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them.” While everyone understands the value of a good outline before writing, you can import snippets of that Read more…
The precision demanded by technical research makes academic and professional research presentation notoriously dry. For writers looking to add flair to their prose, the thesaurus is a natural place to turn to look for some more lively vocabulary. The only problem with the thesaurus is that it can swiftly turn Read more…
Sometimes in the middle of editing a paper, I come across a table, a phrase, or a graphic that, while not wrong per se, forces me to stop and take a good look at it. Something is just off. Usually, what I’m trying to put my finger on is that Read more…
One of the things nobody told me when I started editing (although, in hindsight, maybe it should have been obvious) is that there would be certain aspects of writing that I would find myself harping on over and over again. Some of this discovery has likely been due to some Read more…