So, as the film reviews continue to trickle through, here are some more general tips for successful writing...
Tip number 3 - The reader is not your friend.
By this I mean, keep your writing impersonal and
academic. No gushing! No exclamation
marks!! The reader doesn’t need to know that you loved the film…’it was
brilliant!’ What does this actually tell
the reader? Be specific, for example ‘the use of light and shadow added greatly
to the overall menacing atmosphere’ is better than ‘ I loved the way he used
light and shadow to give a spooky feeling!’
It is also recommended that you write in the 3rd
person, which can seem a bit odd to start with, but it is well worth getting
into the habit of doing this early on, as it will make your actual essay and dissertation
writing so much easier. There is a document available in the Space and
Environment Unit, Teaching Materials, Essays and Articles, which gives you a
whole list of alternatives to using ‘ I think’ etc. Make a copy and stick it somewhere where you
can easily refer to it when writing. Look here ...
Tip number 4 - ‘To quote, or not to quote; that is the
question’
…and the answer is YES, but only if the quote is going to
add to your writing! You can’t just go
randomly dropping in a quote here and there, and expect to get away with
it. You need to introduce the quote
first, and then you need to ‘unpick’ it – explain why it is relevant to your
discussion or argument. Quotes are the
backbone of your writing, so make them strong ones. The guide mentioned above gives you examples
of how to do this.
Quotes need to be placed between ‘ ‘ or “ “ and should be italicised…and MUST be referenced using the Harvard Method. There is no excuse for not doing this, as
there is a reference guide in the library part of myUCA, which takes you
step-by-step through how to reference just about any source you care to think
of – you can find it here
I recommend you bookmark it and refer back to it often!
More tomorrow :)
Great advice as always Jackie :)
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