essay about mechanics of writing

English Mechanics 101: What Are Writing Mechanics? (Definition and Examples)

If you want to learn more about English mechanics, this is the article for you. You'll learn what the main aspects of mechanics are, how to use them in your writing, and why you should.

• English Mechanics are the rules that govern written language. They tell you how to write in a way that is coherent and standardized.

This article is part of our free online Grammar Book .

The Main Parts of English Mechanics

English mechanics provide a way to standardize writing so that you may get your message across effectively. They're the rules you look to when you're unsure which punctuation to use or whether to capitalize a word, to mention just a couple of examples.

In other words, they cover the technical aspects of writing in English. It's like when you have a car. You may know how to drive it, but there are mechanics involved, too, if you want to keep your vehicle on the road. Do your tires meet the legal requirements? Do you have the right level of oil? How should you position your seat? These mechanical aspects ensure you can drive your car safely and according to legal standards.

• Knowing about English mechanics accomplishes the same thing: it ensures your writing meets the standard rules.

So why should you care about English mechanics? Well, I think it's safe to say that when you write, you want to be understood by your readers, right? You don't want to be misunderstood, do you? That's what understanding mechanics will help you to do. It ensures you express yourself with accuracy.

The four main aspects of English mechanics include:

Capitalization

Punctuation.

Let's take a look at these one by one.

Word order, also known as sentence patterns, tells us which order we should place the words in our sentence. You can't just place words wherever you like, as this affects the sentence's meaning. In order to communicate effectively, you must know that certain parts of speech must be placed in specific parts of the sentence.

The most basic sentence pattern is:

[Subject] + [Verb]

That could look like this:

I am sleeping. 

You might want to add other parts of speech to make your sentence more complex. There are sentence patterns for these cases, too. For instance, if you want to add an adjective, you should remember to always place it before the subject. And objects come after the subject and verb.

Here are some more example sentence patterns:

[Subject] + [Verb] + [Adjective] + [Noun] I used brown sugar.  [Adjective] + [Subject] + [Verb] + [Adverb] The excited puppy barked loudly. [Subject] + [Verb] + [Direct Object]  I study English mechanics.  [Subject] + [Verb] + [Indirect Object] + [Direct Object]  We sent everyone an invitation.

These are just a few of the possible combinations. If you'd like to learn more, check out our blog on sentence patterns .

Knowing whether or not to capitalize or word can be tricky business. Also, different style guides might advocate for slightly different practices.

• Capitalizing a word means you start it off with an uppercase letter.

There are seven instances when you should use a capital letter at the beginning of a word, and those are:

• The first word of the sentence You look fantastic tonight!
• Proper nouns Is it ok if we bring our dog, Rex ?
• The pronoun 'I.' It's high time that I get my own place.
• The first word after a colon (if it's a complete sentence) You must keep track of your main goal: You need to graduate with a scholarship.
• The first word of a quote (if it's a complete sentence) As Gandhi said: " Be the change that you wish to see in the world."
• Most words in titles Have you ever watched The Shawshank Redemption?
• Titles and honorifics (if followed by the person's name) I'd like to introduce Sir Paul McCartney.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you spelling is a major aspect of English mechanics and is essential in getting your message across accurately. One big reason for this is that English words don't tend to be spelled the way they sound, so you'll need to be familiar with spelling conventions in order to avoid errors.

As well as this, there are homophones to content with: words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. Getting the spelling right for these words is key so your reader knows what you mean.

Look at the following words, for example:

• 'Ware' vs 'wear'
• 'Isle' vs 'aisle'
• 'Sow' vs 'sew'

The spelling makes all the difference here because when you hear them out loud, they sound like the same word, but when you write them down, you see they are different.

Of course, a spellchecker can always help with this, and we're lucky to live in an age where these are available, so we can ensure our writing is error-free before publishing/handing it in. But it's good practice to familiarize yourself with the different spelling rules over time so that you're not entirely relying on your spellchecker.

To learn more about the spelling rules, check out our article on the topic.

Without punctuation, our writing would just be a jumbled-up mess of words; it would be impossible to make any sense of it.

There are three different types of punctuation:

• punctuation to end a sentence
• punctuation to mark a pause
• punctuation for quotations
• punctuation to edit words

Punctuation to End a Sentence

Exclamation points , question marks , and periods are the three kinds of punctuation you can use to end a sentence. They help the reader know if you're expressing emotion, asking a question, or simply making a statement.

Here's an example sentence for each of these:

Oh wow, that's great news! What's your name? Sorry to hear that you lost your job.

Punctuation to Mark a Pause

Most kinds of punctuation are intended to mark a pause or separate a piece of information from the rest of the sentence. Some of the most commonly used ones are commas , colons , semicolons , and parentheses .

Let's take a look at what these look like in a sentence:

I'd like a blueberry muffin, a flat white and a glass of water, please. Today we're going to be discussing a topic dear to my heart: English mechanics.  She's skipping movie night ; she isn't a big fan of the action genre. Everything I set out to do today (clean the house, fix my car and eat a nourishing meal) was a complete and utter success.

Punctuation for Quotations

This category's pretty straightforward: it's the kind of punctuation that allows you to demark quotations in your writing. These are called quotation marks . You can use either single or double quotation marks. The former tends to be more common in countries that use British English, and American English-speaking countries prefer the latter.

You can use quotations to directly quote what someone said, report dialogue , mention titles of works, or set words apart from the rest of the text.

Here are some examples:

" In three words I can sum up everything I've learned in life: It goes on ." — Robert Frost She asked, "Do you know anyone here?" John Donne's poem "No Man Is an Island" really resonated with me. He was nicknamed "The King of Pop".

Punctuation to Edit Words

The English language is very versatile. Though it contains a wide variety of words, we'll often use the same word in different ways to mean something different. That's where apostrophes and hyphens come in.

Apostrophes allow you to contract a word or form possessive nouns:

I've never been so happy to see you in my life. The young girl's speech was very moving.

Hyphens can be used to create compound words, connect a word with its prefix, and for numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine:

We live in a fast-paced world and it can be difficult to slow down. They host a bi-annual gala. In my class of thirty-six students there are only three boys.

Other Types of Punctuation

There are other kinds of punctuation that don't fit into the aforementioned categories but that still perform an essential role in English mechanics. Slashes and brackets are two examples.

Slashes are used to show a contrast or a connection between two things:

Dear Sir/Madam. Do you take sugar/milk?

Brackets allow you to add edits, comments, or further explanations for something you have said:

My mom always says "Carpe diem [ seize the day]"

To learn about the other punctuation marks not discussed here, visit our Grammar Book. We have an entire section on punctuation.

Other Aspects of English Mechanics

We've covered the main aspects of English mechanics, but there are others too. Many grammarians disagree on what constitutes mechanics vs grammar , so what you're reading here is just our take on what constitutes the building blocks of English mechanics.

But don't worry; there's no need to get stuck on semantics. The important thing is that you're familiar with all the rules, whether mechanics or grammar, and this is something you'll accomplish over time just by practicing and reading all our Grammar Book articles.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations are shortened versions of words. They're not typically used in formal writing, but you will see them around, so it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with them. Plus, you can also use them in your writing to shorten your text/save time.

Here are some different examples of abbreviations:

Did you see that ad on TV for the new iPhone? He's from the FBI. They're raising money for UNICEF. I honestly had to LOL when he said that.

To learn more about abbreviations, check out our article on the topic .

Prefixes and Suffixes

• Prefixes are added to the beginning of words to change their meaning
• Suffixes are added to the end of words to change their form.

Most prefixes and suffixes are standardized, so learning about them can mean you'll be able to decode a word's meaning, even if you've never seen the word before. How cool is that?

For example, here are some prefixes that give the word its opposite meaning:

• de declutter deficient
• in inexpensive inadequate
• dis disadvantage disagree

Here are some examples of common suffixes that change a word into a noun:

• -acy private → privacy
• -ism optimist → optimism
• -ance maintain → maintenance
• -er train → trainer

If you want to learn more about prefixes and suffixes , we've got an article that covers everything you need to know. Check it out here.

Singular vs Plural

Nouns can be either singular or plural. Their basic form is singular; to pluralize them, you must follow a certain set of rules.

Sometimes it's as simple as adding -es  to the end of the word, like for words ending in  -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, or -x.

• bus → buses
• pass → passes
• church → churches

Sometimes you'll have the option to add either -es or -s , like with words ending in  -o.

• piano → pianos
• volcano → volcanoes
• hero → heroes

And other times yet, you'll need to change some of the letters in the word first. That might look like adding a -z and then the plural ending:

• quiz → quizzes

Or changing the - v  to an  -f:

• wife → wives

So yes, the rules are a bit more complex than simply adding an  -s  or an  -es , like many would like to believe. I would like to believe that myself, as it would make life much easier!

To learn about pluralization rules in more depth, check out this article .

Concluding Thoughts on English Mechanics

That concludes this article on English mechanics. I hope you found it helpful.

Let's summarize what we've learned:

• English mechanics exist to help us express ourselves accurately in writing.
• The four main aspects of English mechanics are word order, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.
• Important aspects also include abbreviations, prefixes and suffixes, and pluralizing nouns.

If you found this article helpful and would like to learn more, check out our Grammar Book , a free online database of grammar articles just like this one.

Learn More:

• Singular and Plural: Understanding Singular and Plural Forms in English (Examples)
• Confusing Words: 51 Commonly Confused Words in English (Examples)
• Periods: When to Use Periods in Writing (Examples)
• Exclamation Points: When to Use Exclamation Points in Writing (Examples)
• Commas: When to Use Commas in Writing (Examples)
• Semicolons: When to Use Semicolons in Writing (Examples)
• Colons: When to Use Colons in Writing (Examples)
• Parentheses: When to Use Parentheses in Writing (Examples)
• Brackets: When to Use Brackets in Writing (Examples)
• Ellipses: When to Use Ellipses in Writing (Examples)
• Slash: When to Use Slash in Writing (Examples)
• Language Register in English Writing: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• Hyperbole: What is Hyperbole in English? Definition and Examples
• Onomatopoeia: What is Onomatopoeia? Discovering Sound Words in English (Examples)
• Curse Words: What Are Bad Words in English to Call Someone? (Examples)

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

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The Mechanics of Writing Composition

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

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• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

In composition , writing mechanics are the conventions governing the technical aspects of writing , including spelling , punctuation , capitalization , and abbreviations . Getting your main points together can be a challenge, and one solution is to put together a draft of main ideas before writing. Some writing textbooks also include issues related to usage and organization under the broad heading of mechanics. Here are the basics of writing mechanics for students and writers.

Writing Mechanics

"Teachers using a traditional, product-oriented approach tend to focus on the formal mechanical and technical aspects of writing while paying little attention to the individual writer's communicative purposes. Thus with this approach there is a danger that, for many children, writing will become an exercise in formal mechanics divorced from personal content and intentions." Joan Brooks McLane and Gillian Dowley McNamee,  Early Literacy . Harvard University Press, 1990

In written language,  spelling  is the correct arrangement of  letters  that form  words . To improve spelling skills, you can use a memory device known as mnemonics . This memorable phrase, acronym or pattern can come in handy for remembering something like the spelling of a word. You can also increase your reading skills, make a list of common words you often misspell or mark words in a dictionary that seem to give you trouble repeatedly.

Punctuation

Punctuation is the set of marks used to regulate  texts  and clarify their meanings, mainly by separating or linking words,  phrases , and  clauses .

" [R]evision  involves  critical thinking  about content, with secondary consideration to mechanics and neatness. This does not mean that technical aspects of writing can be ignored but that introductions to a revision that seems to privilege rote application of rules and neatness over critical interaction with text (however brief it may be for beginners) conveys entirely the wrong message to young authors. As children learn the cognitive processes involved in revision, they acquire the inclination to monitor and revise their work in all areas." Terry Salinger, "Critical Thinking and Young Literacy Learners." Teaching Thinking: An Agenda for the Twenty-First Century , ed. by Cathy Collins and John N. Mangieri. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1992)

Capitalization

Capitalization is the practice of using  capital letters  in writing or printing. Proper nouns , key words in  titles , and beginnings of  sentences  are generally capitalized . You will also want to capitalize the letter "I" under all circumstances.

"Capitalization and punctuation are the mechanics of writing. They are not simply rules that we must memorize and follow; they are specific signals to the reader. These mechanics are used to determine the meaning and to clarify intent. It is possible to change the connotation  of a sentence by altering punctuation and/or capitalization." ​ Maureen Lindner,  English Language and Composition . Career Press, 2005

Abbreviations

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase, such as "D.C." for "District of Columbia."

"Mechanics, in theory, includes matters such as usage and spelling, as well as  hyphenation  and the use of  italics . Essentially, mechanics refers to a set of conventions—how to abbreviate and when to capitalize, for example." Robert DiYanni and Pat C. Hoy II,  The Scribner Handbook for Writers , 3rd ed. Allyn and Bacon, 2001

• Definition and Examples of Theme-Writing
• Traditional Grammar: Definition and Examples
• Definition and Examples of Composition-Rhetoric
• Advanced Composition
• What Is Composition? Definition, Types, and Examples
• What Is Tone In Writing?
• Discovery Strategy for Freewriting
• Modes of Discourse (Composition)
• Definition and Examples of a Transition in Composition
• What Is Contrastive Rhetoric?
• Basic Writing
• Models of Composition
• Writer Purpose in Rhetoric and Composition
• Expressive Discourse in Composition
• Description in Rhetoric and Composition
• detail (composition)

Effective Writing Mechanics: Essential Guide & Tips

1. get to know the basics, grammar rules, punctuation guide, proper capitalization, 2. build your vocabulary, explore thesaurus, learn new words, use vocabulary apps, 3. write regularly, set writing goals, join writing groups, use writing prompts, 4. edit your work, proofread for errors, use editing tools, hire a proofreader, 5. learn from others, read quality writing, take writing courses, follow expert bloggers, 6. experiment with styles and tones, try different writing styles, adapt various writing tones, write in different genres, 7. engage your readers, use interactive content, respond to comments, create engaging titles, 8. stay motivated, set personal goals, celebrate small wins, keep a writing journal, 9. practice mindfulness, meditate for focus, practise mindful writing, stay present while writing, 10. reflect and improve, get feedback, analyse your progress, plan for improvement.

Have you ever pondered about the question: "what is mechanics in writing"? If so, you're in the right place. Writing mechanics are the nuts and bolts of language that make a piece of writing clear, fluid, and enjoyable to read. It's the underlying structure that holds your words together and gives them meaning. This blog aims to help you navigate the realm of writing mechanics with practical advice and actionable tips, making the complex simple and the daunting achievable. Let's start with the basics.

Learning the fundamentals of writing mechanics is like building a strong foundation for a house—it ensures everything else you build will stand strong. With a firm grasp of grammar rules, proper punctuation, and correct capitalization, you'll be able to express your thoughts accurately and impressively. Let's dig a bit deeper.

Grammar is the rulebook of writing—it's what helps us make sense of language. Here are a few key things to remember:

• Understand the eight parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
• Ensure your subjects and verbs agree. If your subject is singular, your verb should also be singular.
• Use correct verb tenses to express time accurately.

Remember: even the most interesting ideas can lose their appeal if they're tangled in grammatical errors. So, give grammar the attention it deserves.

Punctuation is like the traffic signals of writing—it guides the reader through your words, indicating when to pause, stop, or expect more. Here's a quick guide:

• A period (.) signals the end of a sentence.
• A comma (,) indicates a pause or separates items in a list.
• Colons (:) and semicolons (;) can be used to connect related sentences or divide complex lists.

Tip: Punctuation misuse can lead to confusion or misunderstandings, so it's worth taking the time to learn the rules.

Capitalization helps distinguish specific words, like proper nouns, from the rest of the text. Here are some capitalization rules:

• Capitalize the first word of a sentence.
• Capitalize proper nouns, which include names of people, places, organizations, and sometimes things.
• Do not capitalize common nouns unless they're at the beginning of a sentence.

Note: Incorrect capitalization can be a distraction to readers, so keep these rules in mind as you write.

Getting the basics right is the first step to understanding what mechanics in writing is all about. Once you've nailed these, you're ready to tackle more advanced aspects of writing mechanics.

Expanding your vocabulary is like adding more colors to your palette—it allows you to paint more vivid, precise pictures with your words. Let's look at some effective ways to build your vocabulary.

A thesaurus is a treasure trove of words. It's an invaluable tool to help you find synonyms (words that mean the same thing) and antonyms (words that mean the opposite). Here's how to make the most of a thesaurus:

• When you come across a word you're overusing, look it up in the thesaurus. You'll find a list of alternatives to add variety to your writing.
• Use a thesaurus to learn new words, but make sure to also learn their definitions to use them correctly.

Tip: While a thesaurus can enhance your writing, remember that simplicity often trumps complexity. Don't use complicated words when a simpler one will do.

Just like a chef needs to know a variety of ingredients to create different dishes, a writer needs a vast vocabulary to express diverse ideas. Here's how:

• Read widely and diversely: Books, newspapers, magazines, and even websites can be rich sources of new words.
• Use a word of the day calendar or app to learn a new word every day.
• When you encounter a word you don't know, look it up. Try to use it in a sentence to help remember it.

Remember: Language is continuously evolving, and so should your vocabulary. Challenge yourself to learn new words regularly.

In today's digital age, learning new words is as easy as tapping on your smartphone. Vocabulary apps like Magoosh, Vocabulary.com, and Anki can make learning new words fun and convenient. Here are some benefits:

• Most vocabulary apps feature a word of the day, flashcards, quizzes, and progress tracking.
• They allow you to learn at your own pace, whether you have a few minutes or an hour to spare.
• They make learning interactive, which can help improve retention.

Note: While apps can be helpful, they should supplement—not replace—reading as a means of building your vocabulary.

Building a robust vocabulary not only helps you express your ideas more precisely but also understand others better. It's an integral part of what mechanics in writing is all about.

Writing, like any skill, improves with practice. The more you write, the more you'll hone your mechanics in writing. Let's dive into some practical ways to write regularly.

Setting goals can give your writing practice direction and purpose. Here's how to set effective writing goals:

• Start with small, achievable goals like writing 200 words a day. Once you're comfortable with that, gradually increase your word count.
• Be specific about what you want to achieve. Instead of "I want to write more," say "I want to write a 500-word blog post every week."
• Hold yourself accountable. Track your progress, and celebrate your achievements—no matter how small.

Remember: The goal is not just to write more, but also to write better. Always strive to improve your writing mechanics.

Writing may be a solitary activity, but that doesn't mean you have to do it alone. Joining a writing group can provide support, feedback, and motivation. Here are some benefits:

• Writing groups can provide constructive feedback to help you improve your writing.
• They can offer encouragement, especially when you're feeling stuck or uninspired.
• You can learn from other writers' experiences and techniques.

Note: You can find writing groups in your local community or online. Choose one that aligns with your writing goals and interests.

Writing prompts can kickstart your creativity when you're feeling stuck or uninspired. They can be a word, a phrase, a situation, or even a picture. Here's how to use them:

• Choose a prompt that interests you. Don't feel limited by the prompt—let your imagination run wild.
• Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and write without stopping or editing. This can help you get into the flow of writing.
• Use prompts to explore different genres, styles, and tones. It can help improve your versatility as a writer.

Tip: You can find writing prompts in books, websites, or even writing apps. Use them as a tool to practice and experiment with your writing.

Writing regularly is like exercise for your brain—it strengthens your writing muscles and improves your writing mechanics. So, grab your pen or keyboard and start writing!

Editing is a crucial part of writing mechanics. It's the stage where you refine your work, clarify your ideas, and eliminate errors. Let's delve into some ways you can effectively edit your work.

Proofreading is the process of checking for and correcting mistakes in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting. Here are some tips:

• Take a break before proofreading. Coming back to your work with fresh eyes can make it easier to spot errors.
• Read your work aloud. This can help you catch awkward sentences and misplaced punctuation.
• Use a spell-checker, but don't rely on it completely. It can miss homophones and context-specific errors.

Remember: Proofreading is not just about finding errors—it's also about making sure your writing is clear, coherent, and engaging.

Editing tools can help you catch errors and improve your writing. They can check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors, as well as readability and style issues. Here's how to use them:

• Choose a tool that suits your needs. Some popular options include Grammarly, Hemingway Editor, and ProWritingAid.
• Use them as a guide, not a rulebook. They can offer suggestions, but you're the one who knows your voice and message best.
• Don't forget to proofread even after using an editing tool. No tool can catch every error.

Note: While editing tools can be useful, they're not a substitute for understanding writing mechanics and editing skills. Use them as a complement, not a crutch.

If you're working on a big project or you want a professional touch, consider hiring a proofreader. A proofreader can provide a fresh perspective and catch errors you might have missed. Here's what to consider:

• Look for a proofreader who specializes in your type of writing. A proofreader experienced in academic writing might not be the best fit for a novel, for example.
• Be clear about your expectations. What do you want the proofreader to focus on—grammar, formatting, style, or all of the above?
• Remember to budget for this. While it can be a worthwhile investment, professional proofreading services do come with a cost.

Tip: You can find professional proofreaders on platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or even LinkedIn.

Editing is like polishing a rough diamond—it can transform your writing from good to great. So, embrace the editing process and see your writing shine!

Learning from others is a crucial aspect of understanding what mechanics in writing is all about. It's about observing, understanding, and implementing the styles, techniques, and strategies of successful writers. Let's explore how you can learn from others to improve your writing mechanics.

Reading quality writing is a powerful way to learn. It exposes you to different styles, tones, and effective uses of language. Here are some strategies you can adopt:

• Read a variety of genres. From novels by Stephen King to research papers by Albert Einstein, different genres offer different lessons.
• Analyze what you read. Look at how the writer structures sentences, builds paragraphs, and uses punctuation. This is an excellent way to learn practical writing mechanics.
• Take notes. If a piece of writing impresses you, jot down why. Did they use a clever metaphor? Was their argument well-structured?

Remember: Reading is not just about consuming content—it's also about understanding how effective writing is crafted.

Writing courses are a structured way to learn writing mechanics. They can offer guided lessons, practical exercises, and expert feedback. Here's how to go about it:

• Choose a course that suits your needs. There are courses on everything from basic grammar to advanced narrative techniques.
• Engage fully with the course. Complete the exercises, ask questions, and take advantage of any feedback offered.
• Don't forget to apply what you learn. Practice is key to improving your writing mechanics.

Note: You can find a wealth of writing courses online, on platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and even YouTube.

Following expert bloggers can offer insights into successful writing. You can learn from their style, their engagement strategies, and their content. Here are some tips:

• Choose bloggers who write about topics you're interested in. This will make your learning process more enjoyable.
• Take note of how they engage their readers. Do they use humor? Do they ask questions? Do they use storytelling?
• Try implementing some of their strategies in your own writing. Remember—it's not about copying, but about learning and adapting.

Tip: Some popular bloggers who are known for their excellent writing include Seth Godin (marketing), Maria Popova (culture), and Tim Urban (science and philosophy).

Learning from others is like standing on the shoulders of giants—it gives you a higher vantage point from which to improve your writing mechanics. Embrace the journey, and see your writing skills soar!

One of the best ways to understand what mechanics in writing truly means, is to experiment with different styles and tones. By varying your style and tone, you can discover your unique writing voice and learn how to adapt it to different contexts. Here's how to go about it.

Writing styles are like the clothes that language wears - they can completely change the perception of your words. Exploring different styles can teach you a lot about writing mechanics. Here are some steps to take:

• Explore styles across genres. Write a short story one day, a business report the next, and maybe a poem after that.
• Imitate the styles of writers you admire. This can help you understand the mechanics behind their writing.
• Experiment until you find a style that feels authentically yours. Your unique style is your trademark as a writer.

Remember: Trying different styles isn't about being inconsistent, but about understanding the vast possibilities of language.

Tone is the mood or attitude conveyed by your writing. Adapting your tone to suit different contexts is a key part of mastering writing mechanics. Here's how to get started:

• Write the same content in different tones. Try writing a cheerful blog post, a serious academic essay, and a satirical commentary.
• Take note of the words, sentence structures, and punctuation that set the tone in different pieces of writing.
• Practice adjusting your tone based on your audience and purpose. A speech for a wedding will have a different tone than a speech for a business conference.

Note: The right tone can make your writing engaging, persuasive, and memorable. So, don't be afraid to play around with it!

Writing in different genres can help you explore new perspectives and challenge your writing mechanics. Here's how to do it:

• Choose a genre you're unfamiliar with. This could be anything from science fiction to journalistic writing.
• Research the conventions and expectations of the genre. What makes a crime novel different from a romance novel?
• Write a short piece in your chosen genre. Remember, it's not about producing a masterpiece, but about learning and growing as a writer.

Tip: Writing in different genres can also help you discover new interests and expand your writing horizons.

Exploring different styles, tones, and genres is like a fun adventure in the world of writing. So, get ready to experiment and learn, and watch your understanding of writing mechanics deepen and evolve!

Writing is a two-way street. As you explore what mechanics in writing is, remember that a significant part of good writing involves engaging your readers. Here are a few strategies to help you connect with your audience better.

Interactive content is a great way to engage your readers and make your writing more memorable. Here's how you can incorporate it into your work:

• Use quizzes, polls, or surveys to encourage reader participation.
• Include infographics or interactive diagrams to explain complex concepts.
• Add a comments section where readers can share their thoughts.

Remember: Interactive content not only makes your writing more engaging but also helps you understand your readers better.

Responding to your readers' comments is an excellent way to build a community around your writing. Here's how to do it effectively:

• Thank your readers for their comments, even if they're critical. This shows that you value their input.
• Answer questions and provide additional information where necessary.
• Use readers' feedback to improve your writing. Their perspectives can help you understand the mechanics of writing from different angles.

Note: Responding to comments can take time, but it's worth it for the connection you'll build with your readers.

Engaging titles can draw readers in and make them eager to read your content. Here's how to craft compelling titles:

• Keep your titles short and clear. Avoid jargon and complex phrases.
• Make your titles intriguing but not misleading. The content should deliver what the title promises.
• Use powerful words that evoke emotion or curiosity.

Tip: A great title can make the difference between your content being read or ignored, so spend time perfecting it!

Engaging your readers is an art in itself, and mastering it can take your writing to new heights. So, as you explore the mechanics of writing, don't forget to keep your readers at the heart of your work!

Writing can sometimes feel like an uphill battle, but staying motivated is key. Even as you grapple with the question, "what is mechanics in writing?", maintaining your enthusiasm for the craft is crucial. Here are some ways to keep your writing spirit high.

Personal writing goals can help you stay focused and motivated. Here are some tips on setting effective goals:

• Set both short-term and long-term goals. A short-term goal could be writing a certain number of words per day, while a long-term goal could be completing a novel in a year.
• Make your goals achievable but challenging. This can help you push your writing skills to the next level.
• Track your progress. Seeing how far you've come can be incredibly motivating.

Remember: Setting personal goals is like creating a roadmap for your writing journey. It keeps you on track and makes the destination seem achievable.

Celebrating small wins can boost your motivation and make the writing process more enjoyable. Here's how:

• Celebrate each completed chapter, blog post, or poem. These small victories are stepping stones to your larger goals.
• Share your accomplishments with others. Whether it's a supportive friend, a writing group, or your social media followers, sharing your progress can be motivating and rewarding.
• Give yourself a small reward for each achievement. This could be as simple as a cup of your favorite coffee or a walk in the park.

Tip: Celebrating small wins can make the writing process more enjoyable and keep your motivation levels high. It's all about enjoying the journey, not just the destination.

Keeping a writing journal can be a great source of motivation and a way to track your progress. Here's how you can use a writing journal:

• Record your daily writing achievements, no matter how small they may seem.
• Write down your thoughts, ideas, and inspirations. They could be useful for your future writing projects.
• Reflect on your writing journey. This can help you see how much you've grown as a writer.

Note: A writing journal is more than just a record of your writing—it's a tool that can help you stay motivated and inspired.

Staying motivated as you navigate the world of writing mechanics is key. With these strategies, you can keep your writing spirit high, no matter the challenges you face.

As you continue to explore "what is mechanics in writing", it's important to stay grounded and focused. Practicing mindfulness can bring clarity to your writing process and instill calmness in your practice. Here's how.

Meditation can help you clear your mind and focus on your writing. Consider these steps:

• Before you begin a writing session, take a few minutes to meditate. This can help clear your mind and prepare you for focused writing.
• Focus on your breath or a calming word or phrase during your meditation.
• Try to make meditation a part of your daily writing routine for maximum benefits.

Keep in mind: Meditation isn't about achieving a certain state—it's about being present and focused. This can greatly enhance your writing practice.

Mindful writing involves being present and focused while you write. Here's how to practice it:

• Before you start writing, take a moment to become aware of your surroundings. Notice the feel of the pen or keyboard under your fingers, the sound of your breath, the words forming in your mind.
• As you write, stay focused on the present moment and the words flowing from your mind to the page.
• When your mind wanders, gently bring it back to your writing.

Remember: Mindful writing can help you write more clearly and creatively. It's about enjoying the process, not just the end result.

Staying present while writing can help you write more effectively and enjoy the process more. Consider these tips:

• Try to stay focused on your writing, without worrying about the past or the future.
• If you find your mind wandering, gently bring it back to the task at hand.
• Take regular breaks to rest and refocus.

Note: Staying present while writing isn't always easy, but it's worth the effort. It can bring a new level of depth and enjoyment to your writing practice.

Practicing mindfulness can bring calmness and clarity to your writing practice. As you continue to explore the mechanics of writing, remember to stay present and enjoy the process.

Understanding "what is mechanics in writing" is a journey that involves continuous learning and improvement. Here's how you can reflect on your progress and plan for improvement.

Receiving feedback is a powerful way to improve your writing. You can:

• Ask friends, family, or fellow writers to read your work and give their opinions.
• Consider their feedback and decide which suggestions can help improve your writing.
• Apply these suggestions in your next piece of writing.

Don't forget: Feedback is not about criticism, it's about growth. Every piece of advice is a step towards becoming a better writer.

Tracking your writing progress can help you see how far you've come and where you can improve. Here are some ways you can do this:

• Keep a record of the pieces you've written, noting the date, word count, and any feedback you received.
• Every few weeks or months, review your progress and note any patterns or improvements.
• Use this information to guide your future writing efforts.

Tip: Analysing your progress can help you appreciate your growth and inspire you to keep improving. It's a way of saying "look how far you've come!"

Once you've analysed your progress, it's time to plan for further improvement. Here's how:

• Identify areas where you'd like to improve. This might be grammar, vocabulary, or a specific aspect of writing mechanics.
• Create a plan to work on these areas. This might involve setting aside time for study, joining a writing group, or taking a course.
• Stick to your plan and review it regularly to ensure it's helping you reach your goals.

Remember: Improvement is a journey, not a destination. As you continue to learn about the mechanics of writing, celebrate your progress and always strive to do better.

Understanding "what is mechanics in writing" is a lifelong journey. By reflecting on your progress and planning for improvement, you can continue to grow and develop as a writer. And remember, every step you take is a step towards becoming a better writer.

If you're eager to improve your writing skills and learn more about the art of storytelling, be sure to check out Jessy Moussallem's workshop titled ' Scriptwriting '. This workshop provides valuable insights, tips, and techniques to help you craft compelling scripts and elevate your writing abilities to the next level.

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Unit 4: Writing Mechanics

Chapter 10: Punctuation

WRIT Course Learning Outcomes (LO) Addressed

• Compose complete sentences and paragraphs using effective vocabulary  (LO 6).
• Express a clear written argument (LO 7).
• Provide evidence in support of arguments (LO 8).
• Apply basic principles of quotation and/or paraphrase integration (LO 9).

Rubric Spotlight

• Composition that is error-free or has a forgivable typographical error
• Assured and sophisticated command of grammar, punctuation, and mechanics
• Exemplary language use that enhances the argument

Putting the Pieces Together Copyright © 2020 by Andrew M. Stracuzzi and André Cormier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Encyclopedia

Writing with artificial intelligence.

• © 2023 by Joseph M. Moxley - Professor of English - USF

Learn about mechanics -- the rules and conventions that inform written as opposed to spoken discourse.

What are Mechanics ?

Mechanics are the conventions or rules that govern written language , including

Capitalization

• Parts of Speech
• Parts of a Sentence

Punctuation

• Run-on Sentences
• Sentence Fragments
• Sentence Errors
• Sentence Patterns
• Sentence Structures

Mechanics are a socio-cultural-rhetorical construct. Mechanics evolve over time as communication technologies and discourse communities/communities of practice evolve.

Related Concepts: Grammar ; Register

Why Do Mechanics Matter?

Mechanics enable writers, speakers, and knowledge makers . . . to communicate with audiences .

Mechanics and grammar are the rules and conventions that inform communicative practices among members of a discourse community. Mechanics rules are for governing written language.

When writers violate conventions related to mechanics, readers are likely to be confused.

Mechanics vs Grammar

Mechanics and grammar are interrelated concepts. For some users, they are equivalent terms. Traditionalists make this distinction, however:

• Grammars govern the language patterns of oral discourse
• Mechanics govern the language patterns of written discourse.

While this distinction between mechanics and grammar is nice and tidy, it breaks down in practice. Some elements of language practice pertain to both written and oral discourse. This may explain why Grammar Handbooks and online websites (e.g., The Owl at Purdue University or Grammarly.Com or Wikipedia) disagree about whether or not some elements of discourse such as Modifiers , Parallelism (Parallel Structure) , Punctuation or Sentence Fragments should be indexed under Grammar or Mechanics.

Regardless, the takeaway here is that you need a firm grounding in grammar and mechanics in order to edit your work on the work of others.

Mechanics as a Socio-cultural-historical-Rhetorical Process

Mechanics evolve  over time as technologies empower new methods of composing . 

Related Articles:

Recommended

Academic Writing – How to Write for the Academic Community

Structured Revision – How to Revise Your Work

Professional Writing – How to Write for the Professional World

Credibility & Authority – How to Be Credible & Authoritative in Research, Speech & Writing

Citation Guide – Learn How to Cite Sources in Academic and Professional Writing

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Writing Mechanics: The Secret to Effective Writing

In this article

Conveying your thoughts effectively in written form isn’t the easiest of things to do. It’s frustrating, not being able to get your point across because the reader can’t follow the flow of your sentences. This is where knowledge of the proper writing mechanics comes in.

Following the appropriate rules of writing is a tried and tested way of improving reader comprehension.

At our  content marketing agency , we review and compare the best writing apps and MasterClass classes so that you don’t have to. In this article, we’ll outline these rules, and the ways each one can be used effectively in your work. Before we begin though, let’s give you a bit of an idea of what writing mechanics actually are.

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What Are Writing Mechanics?

Writing mechanics are the established rules that should be followed when writing sentences. They go hand in hand with grammar as the standards to follow when writing and are an important way to effectively communicate ideas.

By consensus, the rules on grammar and writing mechanics have become the official standard. They aren’t set in stone though but using them as a guide is still a good idea.

#1: Parts of speech

The classifications of parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives among others is one of the most important things to know if you’re a writer. Knowing the difference between a verb and an adverb, or a preposition from a conjunction, plays a big part in being able to communicate effectively. It’s not really necessary to be familiar with the definitions of each, but knowing how to use them properly is.

#2: Parts of sentences

There are no hard and fast rules about making sentences.

This is actually a good thing, as it allows you a lot of leeway to exercise your creativity. Knowing the parts of sentences such as subjects, objects, phrases, and clauses helps to give your sentences cohesion.

Being able to observe harmony while being creative with sentence structure is the sign of a good writer.

#3: Sentence errors

Sometimes, even sentences that seem to be correct may still not follow proper writing mechanics.

Run-on sentences, dangling participles, and faulty parallelism among others, are easy to miss if you aren’t familiar with them. The only way to actually spot these errors is to know what to look for. Ultimately, you should be aware of these types of sentence errors to avoid committing them yourself. At our  content marketing age ncy , our writers use Grammarly to follow the appropriate writing mechanics.

#4: Subject-Verb agreement

Subject-verb agreement is easy to miss, especially for novice writers. Knowing the proper or singular forms of verbs and then matching them to the subject as is required makes your sentences easier to understand.

Subject-verb agreement also makes your work more enjoyable to read. Incorrect subject-verb agreement can be grating to a reader, especially if committed often in a single work.

#5: Capitalization

Improper capitalization may not exactly affect the meaning behind the words that you use, but it does help keep your sentences organized. Capitalization signals to a reader the important details in a sentence.

People, places, and ideas that are capitalized give them a hint as to the significance of that word. Capitalization also helps your sentences and paragraphs flow better as it signals the beginning of each sentence that you use.

#6: Punctuation

There’s a joke that can easily convey the importance of proper punctuation. The difference between ‘Let’s eat, Fred,’ and ‘Let’s eat Fred’ is a simple comma, but it changes the meaning significantly. One is a dinner invitation, the other is cannibalism!

Using the correct punctuation gives you the ability to convey your ideas to the reader exactly as you intended. Punctuation may be a small part of the sentence as a whole, but it definitely has a big impact.

#7: Spelling

No one really wants to see bad spelling, certainly not a discerning reader. Improper spelling takes away from your work and gives a reader fewer reasons to finish it.

Fortunately, most modern text programs have spell checkers that can identify errors. You really shouldn’t be too complacent though. Even spell checkers can miss words that are spelled correctly but used improperly.

#8: Abbreviations

Never use abbreviations that aren’t familiar to your readers unless you’re trying to hide the meaning intentionally. The best practice would be to use the full title first, followed immediately by the abbreviation.

Once this is done, you could use the abbreviation instead. Familiarize your reader with the abbreviations that you use, don’t let them have to wonder what they actually mean.

#9: Homonyms, homographs and homophones

This is a part of English speech that can easily confuse a novice writer. A lot of words in the English language sound alike or are spelled alike but have different meanings. The words ‘ there,’ ‘their,’ and ‘they’re,’ or ‘you’re’ and ‘your’ come easily to mind. They sound the same but are significantly different.

Words like leaves can have different meanings depending on the context. It may be the singular present tense of leave, or the plural of leaf. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the difference.

#10: Eliminating redundancy

Using synonyms, and antonyms of words reduces redundancy in sentences. It’s not a thing that would really affect the ideas that you want to convey, but it can be off-putting to a reader. Try to limit using similar words, at least in the same sentence or paragraph.

If you must repeat words, try to space them out so that they don’t seem too jarring. If you run out of synonyms, you could always use the negative of an antonym to convey the same idea. Additionally, with an AI writer , the possibilities for creating engaging and persuasive content are endless.

The Proper Mechanics of Writing: A Summary

Let’s go over some of the most important mechanics of writing that you need to be familiar with before you get started on your masterpiece.

• Mastering the proper usage of quotation marks.
• Ensuring that both grammar and spelling are correct. Knowing grammar rules is extremely vital.
• Mastering punctuation.
• Knowing how, where, and when to use apostrophes.
• Creating a concise topic sentence or thesis.
• Being able to form coherent sentence structures and avoiding sentence fragments.
• Ensuring that capitalization is used properly.
• Having a mastery of the English vocabulary.
• Knowing how to formulate concise paragraphs that are not too wordy.

Hopefully, this article has enlightened you on the proper use of grammar and writing mechanics to improve your overall writing skills .

Effectively conveying your thoughts on paper is admittedly much easier when both the writer and the reader understand each other. If you still have questions about the topic, feel free to contact us for more information or read our review on the best grammar checker.

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• Knowledge Base
• Academic writing
• A step-by-step guide to the writing process

The Writing Process | 5 Steps with Examples & Tips

Published on April 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on December 8, 2023.

Good academic writing requires effective planning, drafting, and revision.

The writing process looks different for everyone, but there are five basic steps that will help you structure your time when writing any kind of text.

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Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
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Table of contents

Step 1: prewriting, step 2: planning and outlining, step 3: writing a first draft, step 4: redrafting and revising, step 5: editing and proofreading, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about the writing process.

Before you start writing, you need to decide exactly what you’ll write about and do the necessary research.

Coming up with a topic

If you have to come up with your own topic for an assignment, think of what you’ve covered in class— is there a particular area that intrigued, interested, or even confused you? Topics that left you with additional questions are perfect, as these are questions you can explore in your writing.

The scope depends on what type of text you’re writing—for example, an essay or a research paper will be less in-depth than a dissertation topic . Don’t pick anything too ambitious to cover within the word count, or too limited for you to find much to say.

Narrow down your idea to a specific argument or question. For example, an appropriate topic for an essay might be narrowed down like this:

Doing the research

Once you know your topic, it’s time to search for relevant sources and gather the information you need. This process varies according to your field of study and the scope of the assignment. It might involve:

• Searching for primary and secondary sources .
• Reading the relevant texts closely (e.g. for literary analysis ).
• Collecting data using relevant research methods (e.g. experiments , interviews or surveys )

From a writing perspective, the important thing is to take plenty of notes while you do the research. Keep track of the titles, authors, publication dates, and relevant quotations from your sources; the data you gathered; and your initial analysis or interpretation of the questions you’re addressing.

Especially in academic writing , it’s important to use a logical structure to convey information effectively. It’s far better to plan this out in advance than to try to work out your structure once you’ve already begun writing.

Creating an essay outline is a useful way to plan out your structure before you start writing. This should help you work out the main ideas you want to focus on and how you’ll organize them. The outline doesn’t have to be final—it’s okay if your structure changes throughout the writing process.

Use bullet points or numbering to make your structure clear at a glance. Even for a short text that won’t use headings, it’s useful to summarize what you’ll discuss in each paragraph.

An outline for a literary analysis essay might look something like this:

• Describe the theatricality of Austen’s works
• Outline the role theater plays in Mansfield Park
• Introduce the research question: How does Austen use theater to express the characters’ morality in Mansfield Park ?
• Discuss Austen’s depiction of the performance at the end of the first volume
• Discuss how Sir Bertram reacts to the acting scheme
• Introduce Austen’s use of stage direction–like details during dialogue
• Explore how these are deployed to show the characters’ self-absorption
• Discuss Austen’s description of Maria and Julia’s relationship as polite but affectionless
• Compare Mrs. Norris’s self-conceit as charitable despite her idleness
• Summarize the three themes: The acting scheme, stage directions, and the performance of morals
• Answer the research question
• Indicate areas for further study

Once you have a clear idea of your structure, it’s time to produce a full first draft.

This process can be quite non-linear. For example, it’s reasonable to begin writing with the main body of the text, saving the introduction for later once you have a clearer idea of the text you’re introducing.

To give structure to your writing, use your outline as a framework. Make sure that each paragraph has a clear central focus that relates to your overall argument.

Hover over the parts of the example, from a literary analysis essay on Mansfield Park , to see how a paragraph is constructed.

The character of Mrs. Norris provides another example of the performance of morals in Mansfield Park . Early in the novel, she is described in scathing terms as one who knows “how to dictate liberality to others: but her love of money was equal to her love of directing” (p. 7). This hypocrisy does not interfere with her self-conceit as “the most liberal-minded sister and aunt in the world” (p. 7). Mrs. Norris is strongly concerned with appearing charitable, but unwilling to make any personal sacrifices to accomplish this. Instead, she stage-manages the charitable actions of others, never acknowledging that her schemes do not put her own time or money on the line. In this way, Austen again shows us a character whose morally upright behavior is fundamentally a performance—for whom the goal of doing good is less important than the goal of seeming good.

When you move onto a different topic, start a new paragraph. Use appropriate transition words and phrases to show the connections between your ideas.

The goal at this stage is to get a draft completed, not to make everything perfect as you go along. Once you have a full draft in front of you, you’ll have a clearer idea of where improvement is needed.

Give yourself a first draft deadline that leaves you a reasonable length of time to revise, edit, and proofread before the final deadline. For a longer text like a dissertation, you and your supervisor might agree on deadlines for individual chapters.

Now it’s time to look critically at your first draft and find potential areas for improvement. Redrafting means substantially adding or removing content, while revising involves making changes to structure and reformulating arguments.

Evaluating the first draft

It can be difficult to look objectively at your own writing. Your perspective might be positively or negatively biased—especially if you try to assess your work shortly after finishing it.

It’s best to leave your work alone for at least a day or two after completing the first draft. Come back after a break to evaluate it with fresh eyes; you’ll spot things you wouldn’t have otherwise.

When evaluating your writing at this stage, you’re mainly looking for larger issues such as changes to your arguments or structure. Starting with bigger concerns saves you time—there’s no point perfecting the grammar of something you end up cutting out anyway.

Right now, you’re looking for:

• Arguments that are unclear or illogical.
• Areas where information would be better presented in a different order.
• Passages where additional information or explanation is needed.
• Passages that are irrelevant to your overall argument.

For example, in our paper on Mansfield Park , we might realize the argument would be stronger with more direct consideration of the protagonist Fanny Price, and decide to try to find space for this in paragraph IV.

For some assignments, you’ll receive feedback on your first draft from a supervisor or peer. Be sure to pay close attention to what they tell you, as their advice will usually give you a clearer sense of which aspects of your text need improvement.

Redrafting and revising

Once you’ve decided where changes are needed, make the big changes first, as these are likely to have knock-on effects on the rest. Depending on what your text needs, this step might involve:

• Making changes to your overall argument.
• Reordering the text.
• Cutting parts of the text.
• Adding new text.

You can go back and forth between writing, redrafting and revising several times until you have a final draft that you’re happy with.

Think about what changes you can realistically accomplish in the time you have. If you are running low on time, you don’t want to leave your text in a messy state halfway through redrafting, so make sure to prioritize the most important changes.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

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Editing focuses on local concerns like clarity and sentence structure. Proofreading involves reading the text closely to remove typos and ensure stylistic consistency. You can check all your drafts and texts in minutes with an AI proofreader .

Editing for grammar and clarity

When editing, you want to ensure your text is clear, concise, and grammatically correct. You’re looking out for:

• Grammatical errors.
• Ambiguous phrasings.
• Redundancy and repetition .

In your initial draft, it’s common to end up with a lot of sentences that are poorly formulated. Look critically at where your meaning could be conveyed in a more effective way or in fewer words, and watch out for common sentence structure mistakes like run-on sentences and sentence fragments:

• Austen’s style is frequently humorous, her characters are often described as “witty.” Although this is less true of Mansfield Park .
• Austen’s style is frequently humorous. Her characters are often described as “witty,” although this is less true of Mansfield Park .

To make your sentences run smoothly, you can always use a paraphrasing tool to rewrite them in a clearer way.

Proofreading for small mistakes and typos

When proofreading, first look out for typos in your text:

• Spelling errors.
• Missing words.
• Confused word choices .
• Punctuation errors .
• Missing or excess spaces.

Use a grammar checker , but be sure to do another manual check after. Read through your text line by line, watching out for problem areas highlighted by the software but also for any other issues it might have missed.

For example, in the following phrase we notice several errors:

• Mary Crawfords character is a complicate one and her relationships with Fanny and Edmund undergoes several transformations through out the novel.
• Mary Crawford’s character is a complicated one, and her relationships with both Fanny and Edmund undergo several transformations throughout the novel.

Proofreading for stylistic consistency

There are several issues in academic writing where you can choose between multiple different standards. For example:

• Whether you use the serial comma .
• Whether you use American or British spellings and punctuation (you can use a punctuation checker for this).
• Where you use numerals vs. words for numbers.
• How you capitalize your titles and headings.

Unless you’re given specific guidance on these issues, it’s your choice which standards you follow. The important thing is to consistently follow one standard for each issue. For example, don’t use a mixture of American and British spellings in your paper.

Additionally, you will probably be provided with specific guidelines for issues related to format (how your text is presented on the page) and citations (how you acknowledge your sources). Always follow these instructions carefully.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy
• Deep learning
• Generative AI
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

Revising, proofreading, and editing are different stages of the writing process .

• Revising is making structural and logical changes to your text—reformulating arguments and reordering information.
• Editing refers to making more local changes to things like sentence structure and phrasing to make sure your meaning is conveyed clearly and concisely.
• Proofreading involves looking at the text closely, line by line, to spot any typos and issues with consistency and correct them.

Whether you’re publishing a blog, submitting a research paper , or even just writing an important email, there are a few techniques you can use to make sure it’s error-free:

• Take a break : Set your work aside for at least a few hours so that you can look at it with fresh eyes.
• Proofread a printout : Staring at a screen for too long can cause fatigue – sit down with a pen and paper to check the final version.
• Use digital shortcuts : Take note of any recurring mistakes (for example, misspelling a particular word, switching between US and UK English , or inconsistently capitalizing a term), and use Find and Replace to fix it throughout the document.

If you want to be confident that an important text is error-free, it might be worth choosing a professional proofreading service instead.

If you’ve gone over the word limit set for your assignment, shorten your sentences and cut repetition and redundancy during the editing process. If you use a lot of long quotes , consider shortening them to just the essentials.

If you need to remove a lot of words, you may have to cut certain passages. Remember that everything in the text should be there to support your argument; look for any information that’s not essential to your point and remove it.

To make this process easier and faster, you can use a paraphrasing tool . With this tool, you can rewrite your text to make it simpler and shorter. If that’s not enough, you can copy-paste your paraphrased text into the summarizer . This tool will distill your text to its core message.

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9 Getting the Mechanics Right

“correctness” in writing.

Many students assume—or fear—that college writing is judged primarily on its grammatical correctness. Ideas, evidence, and arguments matter more than the mechanics of grammar and punctuation; however, many of the rules of formal writing exist to promote clarity and precision which writers much achieve in order to effectively convey ideas, evidence, and arguments. In addition, texts that observe the rules of formal written English tend to be more persuasive by making the author appear well informed and careful. Writing replete with errors does not make a great impression , and most educators want to help students present themselves well. Correctness, then, isn’t the most important thing, but it does matter.

Another common assumption among students is that one is either good at grammar or not good at grammar, and that such is one’s immutable fate. Not true. Once you master a particular rule or practice, it becomes second nature, and then you can focus your attention on mastering another. I finally nailed down commas and semicolons in college and some finer points of grammar in graduate school. I do a lot of formal writing in the course of my career, and I still look things up in a writing handbook from time to time. You can master the practices of formal written English, and college is a great time to use the feedback from your professors to identify your common errors and learn to correct them.

In thinking about correctness, it’s important to recognize that some rules are more important than others. Joseph Williams helpfully distinguishes three kinds of rules. [1] First, there are rules that are basic to English, such as “the car” not “car the.” For example,

INCORRECT: I thought whether true claims not.

CORRECT: I hadn’t thought about whether the claims were true.

If you’ve gotten most of your formal education in English, you probably observe these rules routinely. If your writing has mismatches of number (singular/plural) or tense, it might be due to haste or carelessness rather than unawareness. Similarly, capitalizing the first word of a sentence and ending with appropriate punctuation are basic rules that most people comply with automatically when writing for a professor or in other formal situations.

Williams’ second category is comprised of rules that distinguish standard written English from the informal variants that people use in their day-to-day lives. Most students with middle-class and non-immigrant backgrounds use informal vernaculars that closely parallel standard written English. Students with working-class or more modest backgrounds or who are members of transnational and multi-lingual communities may use informal variants of English in their everyday lives that are quite different from standard written English. It’s an unfortunate reality of social inequality that such students have to expend more effort than their middle-class English-speaking counterparts to master the standard conventions. It’s not really fair, but at least the mechanics and rules of formal writing are documented and unambiguous. Learning to communicate effectively in different social contexts is part of becoming an educated person.

Some examples:

INFORMAL:We ain’t got no more of them cookies.

FORMAL: We don’t have any more of those cookies.

INFORMAL: My coat, my phone, and my keys was all lock in the car.

FORMAL: My coat, my phone, and my keys were all locked in the car.

INFORMAL: u shd go 2 café b4 wrk bc coffee

FORMAL: You should go the café before work to get some coffee.

The informal versions are clearly English, and they’re widely understandable to others. The first and second examples contain choices of tense, number, and punctuation that are inappropriate in standard written English even though they don’t actually impede communication . Most students already understand that these first two categories of rules (rules fundamental to English and the rules of standard written English) are obligatory for formal writing.

There is a third category of rules that Williams notes and enthusiastically criticizes; he calls them “invented rules” because they usually arise from busybody grammarians rather than enduring patterns of customary language use. Some invented rules Williams calls “options”: those that your reader will notice when you observe them and not care if you don’t. Here’s an example of the fabled don’t-end-a-sentence-with-a-preposition rule :

OBSERVING THE RULE: With which concept can we analyze this problem?

IGNORING THE RULE: Which concept can we analyze this problem with?

Some grammarians would claim that only the first version is correct. However, you probably have the (accurate) impression that professional writers are much more likely to choose the second version. This rule does not reflect real-life customary practice, even in standard written English. That’s why Williams calls it an “invented rule.” Most of your professors are fine with the second version above, the one that ends a sentence with a preposition.

Similarly, there’s this murky idea out there that one should not split infinitives ; that is, one should not have any words between “to” and the verb that follows. Here’s an example:

OBSERVED: to go boldly where no one has gone before

IGNORED: to boldly go where no one has gone before

Again, while some grammarians have argued that conscientious writers should avoid splitting infinitives, most professional writers have ignored that claim. The second version, which puts the adverb (“boldly”) within the infinitive (that is, between “to” and “go”) makes for a perfectly clear and pleasing phrase. The invented rule about splitting infinitives is an attempt to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. If you want to give your writing more of a scholarly air, you could observe some or all of these optional rules. But, unless your professor has a particular penchant for one of these invented rules, you can safely ignore them.

Williams calls the second sub-category of invented rules “folklore.” They’re invented rules (like “options”) in that grammarians think writers should observe them, but, in reality, no one does. Williams gleefully lists instances in which the very grammarians who propose these rules go on to unselfconsciously violate them. [2] You may have heard of these rules, but they’re widely considered absurd.

For example, some grammarians are dismayed that people use “that” and “which” interchangeably, and they argue that writers should use “that” to indicate restrictive elements and “which” to indicate non-restrictive elements. A restrictive element is one that makes a necessary specification about something; a non-restrictive element is one that simple adds extra information. Consider these two examples:

The party that Alex went to was shut down by the police.

The party which Alex went to was shut down by the police.

For almost all readers, versions 1 and 2 are saying the exact same thing. For the persnickety grammarian, version 1 is specifying the party that Alex went to, and not the party that, say, Jordan went to, while version 2 is simply inserting extra information about Alex’s attendance at the party. According to these grammarians, “that Alex went to” adds critically needed information (restrictive) while “which Alex went to” adds bonus information (non-restrictive).

As Williams and some others explain: it’s bullshit . Professional writers use commas and carefully chosen words to do the job of distinguishing restrictive and non-restrictive elements, and they choose whichever relative pronoun (“that” or “which”) sounds better in context. You could observe the distinction between that and which if you like, but no one would notice. More importantly, observing this invented rule wouldn’t necessarily make your writing any clearer, more concise, or more graceful.

There is one rule that Williams calls “folklore” that you probably have to observe in college papers nonetheless: that is, the rule that you can’t start sentences with But, And, So, For, or Yet (or other coordinating conjunctions) . I’m sure you could browse through assigned readings and articles published in major newspapers and magazines that violate this so-called rule. Here are two examples that took me about 10 minutes to find:

From the front page of the New York Times January 7, 2014 : [3] “But since the financial crisis, JPMorgan has become so large and profitable that it has been able to weather the government’s legal blitz, which has touched many parts of the bank’s sprawling operations.” And a little further down we see, “Yet JPMorgan’s shares are up 28 percent over the last 12 months.”

From a news article in Science , December 21, 2007 : [4] “Altered winds blew in more warm air from the subtropics only in models in which mid-latitude oceans warmed as observed; apparently, the warmer oceans altered the circulation. And that ocean warming is widely viewed as being driven by the strengthening greenhouse.”

If you’re writing a paper for my class, feel free to begin sentences with conjunctions. As the above examples show, it’s a concise way to support clarity and effective flow. However, I suspect most instructors still hold to the old rule. Thus, you shouldn’t start sentences with “And,” “But” or other coordinating conjunctions unless you’ve been specifically invited to.

There are countless other rules that I don’t discuss here. The point of these examples is to show that you don’t have to observe every little rule you’ve ever heard of. There are some elements of mechanics that you have to master; I summarize some common ones below. These practices will gradually become second nature. It’s sometimes hard to know at the outset which rules are standard, which are options, and which are folklore. With the help of a good handbook and your instructors, you’ll learn them over time. The larger point I want to make here is that that observing rules isn’t about traversing a minefield of potential errors; it’s just about learning and adopting the practices appropriate to your audience, which is one of the first rules of writing well.

Elements of punctuation and language you must master

If you’ve gotten most or all of your formal education in English, you’ve mastered the vast majority of the real rules of grammar. Most of the students I work with just have to nail down a few additional practices to produce appropriate academic writing. There isn’t any great secret to learning them; they’re learned through repeated practice and feedback.

1. Comma usage

I didn’t really master correct comma usage until my college years. There was a year or so in which I constantly checked my work against a style guide, but since then I haven’t often had to think about commas. Here’s a brief run-down of the rules of comma usage that I see many students violating.

A. Use a comma to join two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction:

CORRECT: Her misdeed was significant, but the punishment was excessive.

ALSO CORRECT: Her misdeed was significant but justified by the circumstances.

In the first example, the comma is telling the reader that one clause (her misdeed was significant) is ending and another (the punishment was excessive) beginning. The second example does not use a comma, because the words that follow “but” (justified by the circumstances) do not add up to an independent clause; they make a dependent clause that could not stand alone as a sentence.

Note: “Because” is NOT a coordinating conjunction. It’s a subordinating conjunction. Therefore, it does not use a comma:

INCORRECT: Conspiracy theories can be compelling, because many people distrust the government.

CORRECT: Conspiracy theories can be compelling because many people distrust the government.

“Because,” like other subordinating conjunctions (such as “although,” “unless,” or “until”), is meant to knit together one indivisible thought; hence, no comma. Including a comma weakens the connection in the mind of your reader.

B. Use a comma to mark the end of an introductory element

CORRECT: While we were eating, the baby crawled out of the room.

CORRECT: Alongside the road, we found the perpetrator’s gun.

CORRECT: Because many distrust the government, conspiracy theories can be compelling.

The first example would be comically confusing without the comma. The second example shows how the comma helps your reader separate the introductory element from the part that followed. The third example might be confusing. The sentence from part A, above, beginning with “Conspiracy theories” does not use a comma, but in this example, a dependent clause is serving as as an introductory element.

Learn these rules, and if you hate them, learn to love them. In college, writing stops being about “how well did you understand fill-in-the-blank” and becomes “how professionally and strongly do you argue your point.” Professionalism, I have found, is the key to the real world, and college is, in part, preparing you for it. If you do not learn how to write in a way that projects professionalism (i.e. these rules), then expect to get, at best, Cs on your papers.

Kaethe Leonard

C. Use a comma to set off non-essential information (so-called non-restrictive elements)

Both of these sentences are correct, but they convey different ideas:

EXAMPLE 1: Gathering places vital to their communities are worth the investment.

EXAMPLE 2: Gathering places, vital to their communities, are worth the investment.

The first says that only those gathering places that are vital to their communities are worth the investment (implying that some are not vital and therefore not worth investing in). In that first example, “vital to their communities” is a restrictive element. In the second example “vital to their communities” is extra information. The sentence implies that gathering places in general are worth the investment (ostensibly because they’re vital to their communities). The commas mark the phrase as non-essential information, which is a non-restrictive element. In writing the second sentence, you might enclose the non-essential information in parentheses instead.

2. Use punctuation and coordinating conjunctions to avoid sentence fragments

At some point, you were probably instructed that all sentences must have a subject (which includes a noun) and a predicate (which includes a verb) and that they must be written to stand alone. Consider this example of a sentence fragment :

INCORRECT: When you go to the supermarket. You don’t often think about the work behind the scenes.

It has a subject (you) and predicate (go to the supermarket), but the “when” indicates that the sentence is incomplete. When people write sentence fragments, they usually have the missing elements in the preceding or following sentences, so it’s really a punctuation error.

CORRECT: When you go to the supermarket, you don’t often think about the work behind the scenes.

ALSO CORRECT: You don’t often think about the work behind the scenes when you go to the supermarket.

In the first version the dependent clause (the part that couldn’t stand alone) comes first, necessitating a comma. In the second, the main clause (the part that could stand alone) comes first, so no comma is used.

3. Use punctuation and coordinating conjunctions to avoid run-on sentences and comma splices

A run-on sentence (one that smooshes two sentences together) may be incorrectly connected with a comma, which is then called a comma splice. This error is easily corrected with punctuation and some coordinating words.

INCORRECT (run-on): The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest literary works it had a major influence on Mesopotamian culture.

INCORRECT (comma splice): The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest literary works, it had a major influence on Mesopotamian culture.

Clearly, the writer wants the reader to see these two sentences as connected. He or she has three options to show their reader how the sentences relate.

CORRECT OPTION 1 (semi-colon): The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest literary works; it had a major influence on Mesopotamian culture.

The semi-colon is an elegant and underutilized option. By joining two sentences with a semi-colon, the writer can subtly tell the reader that the epic’s earliness and influence, together, make it important.

CORRECT OPTION 2 (comma and coordinating conjunction): The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest literary works, and it had a major influence on Mesopotamian culture.

The use of “and” in this option also tells the reader to put the two claims together. A more specific conjunction—such as “but,” “so”, or “yet”—is usually a better choice than “and” or a semi-colon because it would provide more information about how the two claims relate.

CORRECT OPTION 3 (separate sentences): The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest literary works. It had a major influence on Mesopotamian culture.

If you don’t want your reader to consider the two sentences closely related, you can convey that by choosing separate sentences. With the Gilgamesh example, you might choose this option if the paragraph is mostly about the influence of the epic on Mesopotamian culture but you have a good reason to include a sentence about how early it is. These two sentences would function well as the first two sentences of an introductory paragraph.

4. Use colons correctly for lists, quotations, and explanatory information

INCORRECT: We packed: clothes, camping equipment, and a first-aid kit.

CORRECT: We packed the essentials: clothes, camping equipment, and a first-aid kit.

For lists, use a colon when the part before the colon can stand alone as a sentence. Otherwise, leave the colon out (“We packed clothes, camping equipment, and a first-aid kit”).

INCORRECT: Mitchell explains that: “Part of the fascination of Gilgamesh is that, like any great work of literature, it has much to tell us about ourselves.” [5]

CORRECT: Mitchell explains the power of the epic: “Part of the fascination of Gilgamesh is that, like any great work of literature, it has much to tell us about ourselves.” [6]

You can use a colon to introduce a quote if the parts before and after the colon can stand as complete sentences. A comma is an option here as well. Introducing a quote with your own complete sentence and a colon is another underutilized trick in student writing. Recall from Chapter 5 that you have to use source material within your own analytical thread. Introducing a quote with your own complete sentence can make it immediately clear why the quote you choose is important to your argument.

5. Use modifiers clearly and precisely

Modifiers are words and phrases that add information to a sentence. They specify the meaning of (that is, they modify) a noun or verb. Sometimes the modifier is misplaced, ambiguous, or not clearly pertaining to a noun or verb (a so-called dangling modifier). These problems can lead the reader to wonder what exactly you’re claiming.

MISPLACED: The ski-jumper looked sleek in his new suit weighing only 140 pounds.

CORRECT: The ski-jumper looked sleek wearing a new suit and weighing only 140 pounds.

The suit didn’t weigh 140 pounds (one hopes); the ski-jumper did.

AMBIGUOUS: When formal rules and day-to-day practices differ, they should be changed.

CLEAR: Formal rules should be changed to match day-to-day practices.

CLEAR: Day-to-day practices should be changed to match the formal rules.

In the first version, it’s not clear what should be changed. The two clear versions make it obvious what the author is arguing.

DANGLING: Walking down the street, the houses glowed pink in the sunset.

CORRECT: Walking down the street, she saw houses glowing pink in the sunset.

The first version suggests that the houses were walking down the street. The pronoun to which that first phrase refers (“she”) is missing. The second version corrects that by bringing in the needed pronoun.

6. Choose correct words

Many wrong-word errors that I see seem to be artifacts of the spell-checkers built into word-processing programs. For example, I often see “costumers” where students meant “customers,” “defiantly” instead of “definitely” and, somewhat comically, “martial” instead of “marital.”

Other wrong-word errors come from homonyms, two or more words that sound the same, such as the there/their/they’re or your/you’re errors. In college writing, another common one is the misuse of effect/affect. Use “effect” if you’re talking about the result of a cause as a noun, and “affect” if you mean influence or talking about emotion in psychology (in which case it’s pronounced AF-fect).

CORRECT: The effects of the conflict have been long-lasting.

CORRECT: The conflict has affected everyday life throughout the country.

CORRECT: Research shows that the presence of living plants impact both cognition and affect.

“Effect” can also be a verb, in which case it means to bring about:

CORRECT: The conflict effected major international policy changes.

That sentence is saying that the conflict brought about policy changes. If you wanted to say that the conflict influenced (but did not itself cause) policy changes, you would write that the conflict affected policy changes.

The dilemma of gendered language in English

What to do about gender with an unspecified subject? In the past, the consensus was to always use “he” and readers were supposed to understand that the subject might be female. As you know, that’s no longer accepted . The culture of formal academic writing hasn’t settled on a widely supported solution yet, which creates a pervasive problem for the student writer.

Informally, using “they/their” as the neutral singular is becoming a common practice. For example, if a Facebook friend hasn’t specified a gender, Facebook used to exhort you to “write on their timeline” for “their birthday.” I hear this more and more in spoken language as well. For example, most people who hear this sentence spoken wouldn’t note a glaring problem: “A doctor who makes a mistake is often too scared to admit their slip-up.” However, in an academic paper, that sentence would be considered a pronoun-antecedent error because “doctor” is singular and “their” is still considered plural. Most of your professors still don’t accept they/their as a gender-neutral singular possessive. Hopefully in coming years, academic writing will come to accept this perfectly reasonable solution to the gendered language problem, but we’re not there yet.

My first semester in college, it was my standard practice to rotate back and forth between the male and female pronouns. I did not want to appear sexist and was unsure how to avoid doing so. Referring to the same hypothetical person in one of my papers I wrote, “When one is confronted by new information that does not fit tidily onto her personal map…” Later in the paragraph I referred to the same individual by saying, “This new information demands that he forsake the world of the Cave in which he had been raised.” Obviously, in retrospect, that was confusing and certainly not the best option. But it illustrates the point that this can be a challenging dilemma. Thankfully for you, three more appropriate solutions are provided in this chapter.

Peter Farrell

So what to do? Here are three possible solutions.

• Choose plurals when possible . For example, “Doctors who make mistakes are often too scared to admit their slip-ups.”
• Write “he or she” or “his or her” if it’s not too repetitive . You don’t want to have more than two or three such “ors” in a paragraph, but a couple wouldn’t be tedious for the reader. For example, one might write, “A doctor who makes a mistake is often too scared to admit his or her slip-up. He or she might be forbidden from doing so by hospital attorneys.”
• Consider whether a real-life example is better than a hypothetical subject . Long passages about hypothetical people and situations often lack argumentative force. If you’re writing a paper about medical errors, you might do better to replace hypothetical claims like the above example with real-life examples of physicians who have made mistakes but were reluctant or forbidden to acknowledge them. Better yet, discuss the results of studies of medical errors and their outcomes. In addition to solving the gendered language problem, real examples are more persuasive.

Remember, it’s about precision and respect. Whatever you do, don’t just write “he” for doctors, attorneys, and construction workers and “she” for nurses, social workers, and flight attendants. You also shouldn’t just write “he” or “his” for everything, expecting your readers to mentally fill in the “or she” and “or her” themselves. Doing so seems lazy, if not actively sexist . Showing respect through precise language about gender makes you seem much more credible.

This chapter does not (and could not) provide a complete run-down of formal English language usage. You would do well to bookmark a couple good reference sources to consult when questions arise. If your writing usually has a lot of errors in it, don’t despair. Identify one or two practices to master and then learn them, using the feedback from your instructors as a guide. You can’t become a flawless writer overnight (and no one writes flawlessly all the time). But over the course of a few semesters, you can certainly produce more precise text that presents your ideas in their best light.

Exercises and other resources

• Purdue OWL offers excellent exercises in grammar and mechanics. If you keep getting dinged in your papers for misplaced apostrophes, for example, you can review a lesson and find exercises on that topic.
• Most college libraries subscribe to online reference sources for their students. Go to your library’s website and look for proprietary guides like the Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style . These are often of much higher quality than the first few hits you get on Google.
• In Andrea Lunsford’s The Everyday Writer 5th ed. (New York: Bedford-St.Martin’s, 2012) she includes a list of the 20 most common errors in student writing . This site, like Diana Hacker’s, also offers free online exercises in mechanics.
• The three types of rules are explained in Williams and Bizup’s Style . Williams first described invented rules in J.M. Williams, “A Phenomenology of Error,” College Composition and Communication, 32, no. 2 (1981): 152-168. ↵
• J.M. Williams, Phenomenology of Error ↵
• Peter Eavis, “Steep Penalties Taken in Stride by JPMorgan Chase,” New York Times , January 7, 2014, page A1. ↵
• Richard A. Kerr, “Global Warming Coming Home to Roost in the American Midwest,” Science 318, no. 5858 (2007): 1859. ↵
• Stephen Mitchell, Gilgamesh: A New English Version (New York: Free Press, 2004). ↵
• Ibid. ↵

Writing in College Copyright © 2016 by Amy Guptill is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Why Are Writing Mechanics Important? (8 Key Reasons Explained)

Written language has added complications not seen in spoken communication. Careful attention must be paid to all the elements to ensure the message is conveyed accurately. Most people understand that grammar plays a crucial role in written language, but the importance of writing mechanics is not widely considered.

Writing mechanics are the rules and conventions for written language. They include spelling and punctuation, critical factors in written language, which can clarify the meaning or confuse the reader. Logical presentation and correct word choice, also a part of writing mechanics, affect meaning.

Some people may not understand the term writing mechanics, but they are familiar with the skills as they are taught in school.

The Reasons Writing Mechanics Are Important

There are many features of spoken language that assist in adding to the meaning. The tone of voice, inflections, and stress patterns give additional information not present in written language.

The physical environment, hand gestures, and facial expressions may help clarify a spoken message. These are also unavailable in written communications .

Written communication must be more precise and accurate to convey the intended meaning. Writing mechanics standardize how written language is presented to clarify the intent and content.

What Are Writing Mechanics?

Writing mechanics are the elements and conventions governing written language. Writing mechanics include punctuation, spelling, logical presentation, and correct word choice.

Writing mechanics are taught in school, usually under the subject of grammar. Teachers focus on assisting students with written language, as most have well-established spoken language skills by the time they reach primary school.

Why Is Punctuation Important?

Punctuation is important as it replaces the emotions conveyed by facial expressions, tone of voice, and gestures. It also organizes information into discrete units that are more understandable. In spoken language, pauses help with information organization.

Why Does Capitalization Affect Meaning?

Capitalization allows our eye to automatically screen for important information such as subject and location. Capitalization makes a difference in meaning by indicating proper nouns.

Some words, known as capitonyms, are two words that are the same, but their meaning differs because one has a capital letter. Here are some examples:

• China (country) and china (porcelain)
• March (month) and march (walking)
• August (month or a name) and august (adjective)

Capitalization shows the beginning of a new sentence, which enables the words to make sense. A capital letter with a full stop tells the reader to take a breath.

You might also like: Does Grammar Matter Anymore?

Exclamation Marks, Question Marks, And Full Stops Meaning

Exclamation marks are one of the few tools in writing mechanics that help the writer express emotion . They are written at the termination of a sentence to express strong emotions such as surprise, anger, or excitement.

Questions are usually indicated by intonation in spoken communication. Sometimes question words such as what, who, or where are omitted, and the intonation alone show s that the speaker is asking a question.

Written language cannot show intonation, so all questions are marked with a question mark instead of a full stop.

Full stops, exclamation and question marks indicate the end of the sentence and are critical in allowing the reader to understand the text.

Commas Make A Difference In Meaning

Commas are critical in allowing the reader to understand the sentence correctly. Confusions easily occur when there are no commas.

“Let’s eat Jane” is a very different meaning to “Let’s eat, Jane.”

All Punctuation Clarifies Meaning

All punctuation clarifies the meaning, giving more information about the words. Colons, hyphens, semi-colons, and speech marks supply the reader with details not included in the words.

Paragraphs are sometimes referred to as conventions, and other teachers include them in punctuation. Paragraphs indicate a shift in the topic or the direction of the message. They signal to the reader that a change is coming, even if it is a slight one.

A chapter shows a completely new topic of discussion. It is used in novels to show a change in perspective or location. Many writers skillfully use chapters to build tension and lead readers to continue reading.

Spelling Is Important For Written Communication   

Spelling is the basic tool for combining letters to make words that have meaning. Having the ability to spell allows a person to communicate through writing.

Poor spelling skills severely hamper a writer’s ability to communicate effectively in a written format. One only has to consider the trials suffered by people with dyslexia to understand why spelling is such a critical element in writing.

The writer must use the vowels and consonants correctly to convey meaning. Consider these words, which all have a different meaning based on a change in only one letter:

Skilled readers use word closure to make sense of misspelled words, but it places a lot more pressure on the reader, and the meaning may be misunderstood. In some cases, readers may be unable to understand the message or understand it incorrectly. 

Choosing The Correct Word Affects Meaning

Choosing the correct word is sometimes interlinked with spelling. For example, it is vital to know which of the following word to choose:

• To, too, two
• You’re, you
• Where, were, we’re
• Their, there, they’re
• Effect, affect

During spoken communication, the conversational participants can immediately ask for and give clarification. Writers have one chance to communicate their message. They must choose the most appropriate word.

The following sentences show the change in meaning by changing one word:

• The man walked across the street.
• The man strolled across the street.
• The man rushed across the street.
• The man dawdled across the street.
• The man stumbled across the street.

Changing the verb gives us more information that changes the meaning subtly but importantly. If this were an eyewitness account of a road accident, the verb chosen would provide critical information that may affect the outcome of the investigation.

Also try: Does Grammar Include Spelling And Meaning?

Logical Presentation Affects The Meaning

One of the mechanics of writing is presenting information in a logical order. This element affects the reader’s grasp of the message the writer wishes to convey. It can be as important as spelling.

Readers expect the writer to convey information sequentially and logically ; confusion reigns when this does not happen.

An example of an illogical instruction for medicine:

Inhale two puffs, shake vigorously. The patient may use the medication and then wonder what should shake vigorously.

Do not use if cloudy. This instruction may have people looking to the skies to determine if it is safe to use the medicine.

Writing mechanics are as important as grammar in written language. They make sense of the words and give additional information. It is important to choose the correct punctuation, spelling, logic, and words, as there is only one chance to convey the meaning in written communication.

You might like: Do Native Speakers Make Grammar Mistakes?

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Module 6 Improving Your Report

Click on the links below to go to that section of the module.

• Introduction
• Learning Objectives
• Sentence Branching
• The Absence of Action
• Unnecessary Words
• Jargon, Acronyms, and Foreign Expressions
• Elegant Variation
• Review of Institutional Style

Mechanical Aspects of Writing

• Pretest Part 1: Knowledge of Mechanics
• Pretest Part 2: Application of Mechanics
• Sentence Patterns and Punctuation
• Punctuating Series and Lists
• Punctuating for Extra Information
• Using Which, That, and Who
• Capitalization
• Posttest on Mechanics
• Revising for Mechanics and Style
• Assignment 6: Full Report or Revised Report Section
• Resources and Documents

Although sometimes the terms mechanics and style can mean the same thing, for the purposes of this course they have distinct meanings. Up to this point of the module, you have been working with style —learning how to compose direct and concise sentences. In contrast, mechanics refers to the detailed elements that combine to construct words, sentences, and paragraphs, such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Mechanics is more closely related to the rules of the English language. This part of the module will remind you of some of the important rules and provide tips on how to revise your work with these rules in mind.

Following the rules of writing is a lot easier when you know what they are. The best way is to adopt a standard reference text as your guidebook for correct writing. The value of a reference text is that it simplifies your choices for how to construct a word or sentence. It also provides a useful authority on mechanics that you can rely on in case of editorial uncertainty. World Bank style is based on U.S. rules, taken largely from The Chicago Manual of Style. The World Bank recommends the following references for writers and editors:

• Background Readings : Section 5. Guidelines on the Mechanics of Writing and World Bank Style
• The Gregg Reference Manual . McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 10th edition, 2004.
• Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary . Merriam-Webster, 11th edition, 2004.

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Mechanics of Writing

• First Online: 01 January 2014

Cite this chapter

• David Evans† 4 ,
• Paul Gruba 5 &
• Justin Zobel 6  

Given a structure, the next challenge is to actually begin writing. Strategies for writing are the subject of the next chapter. In this chapter, I take a brief detour and consider some of the tools of writing and communication.

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Beyond Substance: Grammar, Syntax and Style

An Experiment in Writing that Flows

An experiment in writing that flows: citationality and collaborative writing.

It’s been argued that spell-checkers make authors lazy, and that writers at any level with access to a spell-checker make more mistakes than those without. I suspect that this is a case where average behaviour is meaningless—for some people it is an essential tool, while for others it is little more than a distraction. However, spell-checkers are at best a partial solution, and do not allow an author to avoid the task of a thorough proofread.

Yes, data is an ‘it’—not a ‘them’—in this context, because I am not referring to a numerable quantity, or a set made up in a meaningful way of individual datums [sic], but to a form of information. Pedantry may be with ‘them’, but usage isn’t.

Here I use ‘cute’ in the sense that is closer to nauseating than to sweet. Please take the hint.

However, it is not a good idea to open up the files while they are on the USB drive—instead, first copy them to your hard disk. Currently (2014), the USB drives can burn out if they are being accessed continuously. If used as backup only, though, even the cheap ones will last for years.

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University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

David Evans†

School of Languages and Linguistics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

Justin Zobel

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Correspondence to Justin Zobel .

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© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Evans†, D., Gruba, P., Zobel, J. (2014). Mechanics of Writing. In: How to Write a Better Thesis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04286-2_3

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04286-2_3

Published : 27 March 2014

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Print ISBN : 978-3-319-04285-5

Online ISBN : 978-3-319-04286-2

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