Academic  Writing  Tips  

Maintain a level of Formality

A.  Avoid  Contractions  

B.  Use  Academic  Vocabulary  

C.  Avoid  ‘stuff’  and  ‘things’  

D.  Avoid  abbreviations  (e.g./i.e.)  

E.  Avoid  Personal  References  

F.  Avoid  Emotionalism  

G.  Use  plurals  for  general  statements  

H.  Avoid  the  unsupportable  (generalizations)  or  stereotypes  

I.  Avoid  rhetorical  questions  

J.  Avoid  providing  examples  in  the  Introduction  and  Conclusion  

K.  Vary  your  sentence  length  

L.  Use  topic  sentences  

M.  Make  clear  transitions  

1  
 
  
Academic  Writing  Tips  
 

Maintain a level of Formality

Just  as  in  daily  life,  in  writing  you  naturally  adjust  the  level  of  formality  of  your  writing  style  to  the  
situation  and  audience.  You  may  use  one  level  of  formality  with  your  teacher,  and  another  level  
with  your  best  friend.  In  an  academic  essay,  be  sure  to  maintain  a  formal  voice.    

A.  Avoid  Contractions  

One  way  to  adjust  your  level  of  formality  is  by  avoiding  contractions  (i.e.,  using  "do  not"  instead  of  
"don't").  

Contractions:  Foreign  students  aren’t  allowed  by  law  to  stay  beyond  their  study  visas,  otherwise  
they’ll  be  deported.  

Revised:    Foreign  students  are  not  allowed  by  law  to  stay  beyond  their  study  visas,  otherwise  they  
will  be  deported.  

B.  Use  Academic  Vocabulary    

Use  academic  vocabulary  rather  than  everyday  spoken  vocabulary.  Try  to  avoid  using  basic  verbs,  
adjectives  or  even  nouns  such  as  ‘get’  ‘take’  ‘big’  ‘pretty’  ‘kids’  etc.  In  addition  avoid  vocabulary  
that  triggers  an  emotional  response  for  example    

Too  informal:  Mums  and  Dads  can  beat  the  hell  out  of  their  kids  and  that  should  get  them  to  
behave  better.  

Just  right:  By  applying  discipline,  parents  may  help  encourage  better  behavior  from  their  children.    

Exercise:  Match  the  informal  words  on  the  left  with  their  more  appropriate  counterparts  on  the  
right.  

get     adapt  
get  rid  of     many/numerous  
big     search  
happy     small/minute  
a  lot  of/lots  of     obtain/receive  
good     appropriate  
change     discard  
tiny     large/enormous  
hot/sexy     appealing/attractive  
okay     foolish/meaningless  
2  
 
  
hate     content/pleased  
look  for     alluring/seductive  
stupid     beneficial  
pretty     dislike  

Note  that  many  of  the  vocabulary  changes  you  make  can  be  done  in  the  “editing”  phase  of  the  
writing  process.  

C.  Avoid  ‘stuff’  and  ‘things’  

Avoid  using  ‘stuff’  and  ‘things’  in  your  writing.  Find  the  right  words  to  express  exactly  what  you  
mean.  

Inappropriate:  Students  will  need  to  be  made  of  the  right  stuff  in  order  to  survive  the  thesis  
defense.  

Revised:  Students  will  need  to  have  confidence  and  trust  in  their  work  in  order  to  survive  the  
thesis  defense.  

Inappropriate:  Students  may  experience  things  such  as  noisy  neighbours,  pampering  parents,  or  
harassing  housemates.  

Revised:  Students  may  experience  distractions  such  as  noisy  neighbours,  pampering  parents,  or  
harassing  housemates.  

D.  Avoid  abbreviations  (e.g./i.e.)  

Inappropriate  Students  may  experience  distractions  e.g.  noisy  neighbours,  pampering  parents,  or  
harassing  housemates.  

Revised:  Students  may  experience  distractions,  for  example,  noisy  neighbours,  pampering  parents,  
or  harassing  housemates.  

E.  Avoid  Personal  References    

Avoid  using  personal  references  such  as  "I,  me,  we,  our”  or  "In  my  opinion."  It  is  very  easy  to  say  "I  
feel"  or  "I  think,"  but  this  adds  little  to  your  essay  except  a  weak  argument.  If  your  sentence  reads,  
"I  think  the  Internet  is  a  great  source  of  information,"  what  do  the  words  "I  think"  add?  Rather  
than  supplying  a  reason  for  the  Internet  being  a  great  source  of  information,  the  reason  given  here  
is  "because  I  think  or  I  said  so  –  so  there!"    

In  addition  to  providing  a  weak  argument,  using  "I"  also  takes  the  focus  off  the  subject  and  places  
it  on  you,  the  writer,  which  is  sometimes  desired  in  creative  writing,  but  undesirable  in  an  
academic  essay  where  the  focus  is  supposed  to  be  on  a  specific  topic.  Also,  given  the  limited  
3  
 
  
number  of  words  you  have  to  convince  the  reader  of  your  arguments,  the  use  of  personal  
references  eats  into  the  word  count  and  besides,  the  reader  knows  it’s  your  opinion  because  it’s  
your  essay.  

Personal  References:  In  my  opinion,  gay  marriage  threatens  the  institution  of  marriage  and  the  
essential  structure  of  the  family,  which  is  the  fabric  of  society.  

Revised:  Gay  marriage  threatens  the  institution  of  marriage  and  the  essential  structure  of  the  
family,  which  is  the  fabric  of  society.  

Personal  References:  I  think  that  society  is  held  together  by  allowing  individuals  to  live  as  they  
wish,  not  by  constricting  laws.  

Revised:  Society  is  held  together  by  allowing  individuals  to  live  as  they  wish,  not  by  constricting  
laws.  

Personal  References:  I  believe  as  students  that  we  should  demand  more  of  our  lecturers.  

Revised:  Students  should  demand  more  of  their  lecturers.  

Quite  often  you  can  draw  upon  your  own  personal  experiences  as  sources  of  ideas  and  arguments.  
However  you  need  to  present  them  to  the  reader  objectively  and  without  personal  connection.  

Personal:  During  my  internship  my  supervisor  gave  me  boring  jobs  such  as  making  coffee  and  
collecting  her  laundry,  and  on  some  occasions  she  called  me  bad  names.  

Revised:  Some  interns  can  experience  inane  tasks  unrelated  to  their  degree  and,  in  some  cases,  
may  even  be  emotionally  abused  by  their  supervisors.  

F.  Avoid  Emotionalism  

Avoid  seeming  angry,  or  condescending,  or  rude.  Remain  scholarly,  and  try  to  portray  yourself  as  
one  who  is  objectively  assessing  the  situation.  You  need  to  be  “objective”  rather  than  “subjective”  
–  your  ideas  and  arguments  are  presented  in  an  unbiased  and  rational  way  rather  than  from  an  
emotional  perspective.  You  are  attempting  to  appeal  to  the  reader’s  intellect  and  not  his/her  
heart.  

Emotional:  We  must  do  everything  we  can  to  legalize  gay  marriage.  For  the  sake  of  equality,  the  
rights  of  liberty  and  freedom  that  our  forefathers  fought  for-­‐-­‐it  is  essential!!!  Don't  let  
conservatives  take  over  your  government  and  impose  their  puritanical  moral  values  on  everyone.  
This  is  only  going  to  lead  to  dozens  of  more  restrictions  that  those  white-­‐haired  conservatives  will  
impose  in  their  cozy  congress  seats!  

Objective:  Keeping  gay  marriage  illegal  poses  significant  questions  about  the  constitutionality  of  
such  laws.  The  forefathers  who  wrote  the  Constitution  believed  an  individual's  freedom  was  vitally  
important,  and  that  as  long  as  the  actions  do  not  cause  direct  harm  to  society,  then  no  laws  need  
be  imposed.  
4  
 
  
G.  Use  plurals  for  general  statements  

Businesses,  governments,  companies,  aid  agencies,  lecturers  etc.  But  remember  you  may  have  to  
quantify.  

For  example  –  Many  students  find  the  internship  experience  a  valuable  one.  

H.  Avoid  the  unsupportable  (generalizations)  or  stereotypes  

Be  careful  not  to  make  generalizations  or  sweeping  statements  that  you  will  find  difficult  to  
defend.  Think  about  your  ideas  fully  and  choose  your  words  carefully.  

‘Students  hate  homework.’  ‘Lecturers  are  unforgiving.’  ‘Germans  love  sausages.’    

All  students?  Quantify  –  ‘many?’  ‘some?’  ‘Indonesian?’  Hate  –  evokes  too  strong  an  emotional  
response  –  ‘dislike’  or  ‘are  reluctant  to  do’  are  more  neutral  in  tone,  and  perhaps  more  
appropriate  to  what  you  are  trying  to  say  here.    

I.  Avoid  rhetorical  questions  

For  example;  ‘So  what  are  the  possible  solutions  to  students’  reluctance  to  complete  their  
homework?’    

Rhetorical  questions  are  excellent  signposts  for  what  is  to  follow,  especially  in  presentations  or  
even  long  essays.  However  for  the  purposes  of  our  short  essays  the  use  of  rhetorical  questions  just  
eats  up  too  much  of  the  word  count.  

J.  Avoid  providing  examples  in  the  Introduction  and  Conclusion  

The  Introduction  and  Conclusion  of  your  essays  need  to  be  relatively  short  and  straight  to  the  
heart  of  the  topic.  Examples  are  not  appropriate  in  them.  However,  if  a  definition  or  scope  is  
required,  concerning  the  topic  or  key  words,  then  include  one.  

K.  Vary  your  sentence  length  

"Choppiness"  is  the  effect  of  multiple  short  sentences  in  a  row  giving  a  sense  of  breathlessness  
and  childlike  simplicity.  Contrastingly,  the  opposite  -­‐-­‐  multiple,  successive  elongated  sentences  
one  after  another  –  can  sound  a  little  pompous  (sombong).  A  short  sentence  can  be  a  good  option  
for  the  content  you're  writing,  just  as  a  long  one  can  as  well.  The  key  is  to  mix  them  up  so  that  you  
have  some  short  sentences  and  some  long,  alternating  with  each  other.  This  variety  will  give  
rhythm  to  your  writing.  

5  
 
  
Choppy  sentences:  John  turned  on  the  computer.  He  opened  Framemaker.  He  selected  a  new  
document.  The  document  was  blank.  He  opened  the  graphics  panel.  He  chose  the  shape  tool.  It  
was  a  polygon.  He  filled  the  polygon  with  red  shading.  He  put  a  black  border  on  it.  It  was  a  nice  
day.  His  mother  brought  him  sandwiches.  The  sandwiches  tasted  good.  (This  can  drive  you  crazy!)  

Over-­‐elongated  sentences:  Turning  on  the  computer,  John  opened  Framemaker  and,  after  
selecting  a  blank  document  and  opening  the  graphics  panel,  chose  a  polygonal  shape  tool  which  
he  filled  with  red  shading  and  a  black  border  while  his  mother  brought  him  sandwiches,  all  of  
which  contributed  to  him  having  a  nice  day.  Then,  deliberating  between  a  black  and  white  or  a  
color  layout,  John  decided  that  for  a  publication  that  would  be  on  the  web  as  well  as  in  print,  he  
would  need  to  create  both  types  of  documents,  because  the  print  would  be  too  costly  for  color  
photos,  while  the  web  would  be  too  dull  for  merely  black  and  white,  but  this  color  vs.  non-­‐color  
dilemma  was  only  the  tip  of  the  iceberg  for  John  in  Framemaker,  for  he  knew  neither  how  to  
create  anchored  frames  for  his  graphics,  nor  how  to  manipulate  the  sizes  and  resolutions  of  the  
photos  he  wanted  to  import,  which  was  giving  him  a  headache,  despite  his  mother's  nice  
sandwiches.  (Combining  sentences  is  fun  up  to  a  point,  and  then  it  gets  ridiculous.)  

Perfect  mix  of  short  and  long:  After  turning  on  the  computer,  John  opened  Framemaker  and  
selected  a  blank  document.  He  then  opened  the  graphics  panel,  chose  a  polygonal  shape  tool,  and  
filled  it  with  red  shading  and  a  black  border.  His  mother  brought  him  sandwiches,  which  made  his  
day  nice.  Then,  deliberating  between  a  black  and  white  or  a  color  layout,  John  decided  that  for  a  
publication  that  would  be  on  the  web  as  well  as  in  print,  he  would  need  to  create  both  types  of  
documents.  The  print  would  be  too  costly  for  color  photos,  while  the  web  would  be  too  dull  for  
merely  black  and  white.  But  this  color  .  .  .  (You  get  the  point  by  now-­‐-­‐variety  leads  to  a  pleasing  
rhythm.)  

L.  Use  topic  sentences  

Few  techniques  add  more  clarity  to  your  writing  than  well-­‐formed  topic  sentences.  Topic  
sentences  usually  appear  at  or  near  the  beginning  of  each  paragraph  and  tell  the  reader  what  the  
topic  of  the  paragraph  will  be.  Using  topic  sentences  to  "signpost"  your  meaning  will  orient  the  
reader  and  help  him  or  her  follow  comfortably  along  your  path  of  thought.    

You  will  discover  that  when  a  writer  uses  topic  sentences,  you  can  skim  the  entire  essay  and  still  
understand  the  main  points.  The  next  time  you  read  a  long  essay,  try  reading  only  the  first  one  or  
two  sentences  of  each  paragraph.  You  will  rarely  be  lost  or  confused  if  the  topic  sentences  make  
clear  what  the  purpose  of  each  paragraph  is.  

Make  sure  your  topic  sentences  are  general  statements  that  are  complete  and  related  to  the  essay  
topic.  In  addition,  avoid  providing  examples  in  your  topic  sentences.  

Below  is  an  example  from  a  semester  1  student  essay      

Because  a  person  is  required  to  work  intensely  with  others  while  participating  in  sports,  he  
would  passively  develop  good  teamwork  skills.  In  team  sports,  the  team  plays  together  and  trains  
6  
 
  
together.  The  accumulated  time  spent  develops  a  bond  between  team  members  and  allows  them  
to  develop  positive  synergy.  By  being  part  of  the  team,  a  person  would  be  able  to  learn  how  to  
make  use  of  and  develop  synergies  between  him  and  others.  
 
Being  part  of  a  sports  activity  can  alter  a  person  completely  because  it  can  change  how  a  person  
feels  about  himself;  his  self  esteem.  Working  and  exercising  for  a  certain  event  would  naturally  
cause  a  person  to  create  targets  and  goals.  Having  a  target  or  a  goal  changes  the  way  a  person  
sees  things.  Seeing  others  performing  better  can  become  an  inspiration  to  reach  that  level  and  
working  towards  it  can  increase  self  esteem.  

 
Practice  with  Topic  Sentences  

Exercise:  Figure  out  what  a  possible  topic  sentence  could  be  for  the  following  paragraphs,  and  
write  it  under  each  paragraph.  Then  check  your  answers  at  the  end.  

1.  There  are  three  large  banana  trees  and  two  coconut  trees  that  give  shade.  Besides  trees,  there  
are  numerous  well-­‐manicured  shrubs  that  outline  the  backyard  and  give  it  some  aesthetic  shape.  
In  addition  to  the  shrubs,  countless  flowers  are  positioned  along  each  dirt  well,  magnifying  the  
whole  scene  with  resplendent  color.  This  greenery  adds  a  priceless  peace  and  tranquility  to  an  
otherwise  crowded  and  noisy  city.  

________________________________________________________________________________  

2.  The  gathering  stage  consists  of  researching,  brainstorming,  and  analyzing  in  order  to  come  up  
with  a  thesis.  The  next  stage,  organization,  requires  you  to  think  about  a  logical  and  persuasive  
arrangement  for  your  various  ideas.  The  writing  stage  requires  you  to  sit  down  and,  following  the  
outline,  construct  your  essay.  The  fourth  and  final  stage  involves  revision;  going  over  what  you've  
written  to  make  it  better.  

________________________________________________________________________________  

M.  Make  clear  transitions  

Transitions  act  as  bridges  between  your  paragraphs.  Since  each  paragraph  offers  a  distinct  
thought,  you  need  to  connect  these  two  distinct  thoughts  in  some  logical  way  for  the  reader.  The  
transitions  supply  the  logic  of  how  two  paragraphs  connect,  how  one  idea  leads  to  the  next,  or  
how  the  two  are  related.  Don't  make  the  reader  guess  how  one  paragraph  relates  to  the  other.  
The  following  are  some  common  patterns  for  transitions:    

7  
 
  
Example:  Not  only  is  vegetarianism  unhealthy  for  the  human  body,  vegetariarism  also  creates  an  
excess  of  pesticides  in  the  environment.  (Here  I'm  transitioning  from  health  hazards  to  
environmental  hazards.)  

Example:  In  addition  to  problems  of  obesity,  America's  youth  also  suffer  from  increasing  amounts  
of  psychological  stress.  (Here  I'm  transitioning  from  obesity  to  psychological  stress.)  

Example:  Besides  violating  the  right  to  privacy,  the  microchip  also  puts  children  at  danger  in  the  
event  of  information-­‐hacking.  (Here  I'm  transitioning  from  privacy  to  information-­‐hacking.)  

Parts  adapted  from  “How  to  Write  an  Essay  –  10  Easy  Steps”  
http://www1.aucegypt.edu/academic/writers/home.htm  

Answers  
Vocabulary  Match  

get     obtain/receive    
rid  of     discard    
big     large/enormous    
happy     content/pleased    
a  lot  of/lots  of     many/numerous    
good     beneficial    
change     alter/adapt  
tiny     small/minute    
hot/sexy     alluring/seductive    
okay     appropriate  
hate     dislike    
look  for     search    
stupid     foolish/meaningless    
pretty     appealing/attractive  
 

Topic  Sentences  

1.  The  backyard  is  a  small  paradise.  

2.  The  writing  process  consists  of  four  main  stages:  gather,  organize,  write,  revise.  

8