英语作文范文IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH WRITING SKILLS.docx

英语作文范文IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH WRITING SKILLS.docx

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英语作文范文IMPROVEYOURENGLISHWRITINGSKILLS

英语作文范文

IMPROVEYOURENGLISHWRITINGSKILLS

PerhapsyouhavedreamsofbecomingthenextGreatNovelist.Ormaybeyoujustwanttobeabletobetterexpressyourthoughtsandideasmoreclearly.Whetheryouwanttoimproveyourwritingskillsasacreativewriterorsimplyperfectyourskillsforschoolwork,youcantakesomestepstolearnhowtobeabetterwriter.Becomingagreatwriter—orevenagoodwriter—takespracticeandknowledge,butwithenoughhardworkperhapssomedaysomebodywillaspiretobethenext you!

WritingHelp

SampleWritingExercises

SampleFreewriteAboutaName

CommonGrammarMistakesCheatSheet

Method1

ImprovingtheBasics

1

Useactiveinsteadofpassivevoice. Oneofthemostcommonmanifestationsofbadwritingisoveruseofthepassivevoice.InEnglish,themostbasicsentencestructureisS-V-O:

Subject-Verb-Object.“Thezombiebittheman”isanexampleofthissentencestructure.Thepassivevoicecancauseconfusionbyputtingtheobjectfirst:

“Themanwasbittenbythezombie.”Itusuallyrequiresmorewordsanduseofa“tobe”verbform,whichcansucktheenergyoutofyourwriting.Learntoavoidtheseconstructionsasmuchasyoucan.[1]

Usingthepassivevoiceisn’talwaysbad.Sometimesthereisnoclearwaytomakeastatementactive,orsometimesyouwantthelightertouchapassiveconstructionallows.Butlearntofollowthisrulebeforeyoustartmakingexceptions.

Themainexceptiontothisissciencewriting,whichconventionallyusesthepassivevoicetoputtheemphasisontheresults,ratherthantheresearchers（althoughthisischanging,sochecktheguidelinesbeforeyouwrite）.Forexample,“puppiesfedspicydogfoodwerefoundtohavemoreupsetstomachs”putstheemphasisonthefindingratherthanthepersondoingthefinding.[2]

2

Usestrongwords. Goodwriting,whetherit’sinanovelorascholarlyessay,isprecise,evocativeandspicedwiththeunexpected.Findingtherightverboradjectivecanturnanuninspiredsentenceintoonepeoplewillrememberandquoteforyearstocome.Lookforwordsthatareasspecificaspossible.Trynottorepeatthesamewordoverandoverunlessyouaretryingtobuildarhythmwithit.

Oneexceptiontothisisthewordsusedtodescribedialogue.Badwritingisfilledwith“hecommented”and“sheopined.”Awell-placed“sputtered”canworkwonders,butmostofthetimeasimple“said”willdo.Itmayfeelawkwardtousetheword“said”overandover,butchangingitupunnecessarilymakesitharderforyourreaderstogetintotheback-and-forthflowoftheconversation.“Hesaid/shesaid”becomesnearlyinvisibletoyourreadersafterawhile,allowingthemtostayfocusedonthecharacters’voices.[3]

Strongdoesn’tmeanobscure,ormorecomplicated.Don’tsay“utilize”whenyoucouldsay“use.”“Hesprinted”isnotnecessarilybetterthan“heran.”Ifyouhaveareallygoodopportunitytouse“ameliorate,”goforit—unless“ease”isjustasgoodthere.

Thesaurusescanbehandy,butusethemwithcaution.ConsiderthepredicamentJoeyfrom Friends getsintowhenheusesathesauruswithoutalsoconsultingadictionary:

“They’rewarm,nicepeoplewithbighearts”becomes“They’rehumid,prepossessinghomosapienswithfull-sizedaorticpumps.”[4] Ifyou’regoingtouseathesaurustospiceupyourvocabulary,lookupyournewwordsinthedictionarytodeterminetheirprecisemeaning.

3

Cutthechaff. Goodwritingissimple,clearanddirect.Youdon’tgetpointsforsayingin50wordswhatcouldbesaidin20,orforusingmulti-syllablewordswhenashortonedoesjustaswell.Goodwritingisaboutusingtherightwords,notfillingupthepage.Itmightfeelgoodatfirsttopackalotofideasanddetailsintoasinglesentence,butchancesarethatsentenceisjustgoingtobehardtoread.Ifaphrasedoesn’taddanythingvaluable,justcutit.[5]

Adverbsaretheclassiccrutchofmediocrewriting,andtheyoftenserveonlytoclutterupasentence.Awell-placedadverbcanbedelightful,butmuchofthetimetheadverbsweusearealreadyimpliedbytheverboradjective—orwouldbeifwehadchosenamoreevocativeword.Don’twrite“screamedfearfully”--“scream”alreadysuggestsfear.Ifyounoticethatyourwritingisfilledwith“-ly”words,itmightbetimetotakeadeepbreathandgiveyourwritingmorefocus.[6]

Sometimescuttingthechaffisbestdoneattheeditingstage.Youdon’thavetoobsessaboutfindingthemostconcisewaytophraseeverysentence;getyourideasdownonpaperhoweveryoucanandthengothroughtoeditoutunnecessarystuff.

Yourwritingdoesn’tjustexistinavacuum—it’sexperiencedinconjunctionwiththereader’simagination.Youdon’tneedtodescribeeverydetailifafewgoodonescanspurthereader’smindtofillintherest.Laydownwell-placeddotsandletthereaderconnectthem.

4

Show,don’ttell. Don’t tell yourreadersanythingthatcouldbeshowninstead.Insteadofjustsittingyourreadersdownforalongexpositionexplainingacharacter’sbackgroundoraplot-point’ssignificance,trytoletthereadersdiscoverthesameideasthroughthewords,feelingsandactionsofyourcharacters.Especiallyinfiction,puttingthisclassicpieceofwritingadviceintopracticeisoneofthemostpowerfullessonsawritercanlearn.[7]

Forexample,“Sydneywasangryafterreadingtheletter”tellsthereaderthatSydneyfeltangry,butdoesn’tgiveusanywaytoseeitforourselves.It’slazyandunconvincing.“Sydneycrumpledtheletterandthrewitintothefireplacebeforeshestormedfromtheroom” shows thatSydneywasangrywithouthavingtosayitoutright.Thisisfarmoreeffective.Readersbelievewhatwesee,notwhatwe’retold.

5

Avoidclichés. Clichésarephrases,ideasorsituationsthathavebeenusedsooftenthatthey’velostanyimpacttheyoncehad.[8] They’realsousuallytoogeneraltoleavealastingimpressiononyourreader.Whetheryou’rewritingfictionornonfiction,cuttingclichésoutofyourworkwillmakeitbetter.[9]

“Itwasadarkandstormynight”isaclassicexampleofaclichédphrase—evennowaclichédconcept.Comparethesesimilarweather-relatedopeninglines:

[10]

“ItwasabrightcolddayinApril,andtheclockswerestrikingthirteen.”—1984,byGeorgeOrwell.It’snotdark,norstormy,nornight.Butyoucantellrightfromthestartsomething’snotquiterightin1984.

“Theskyabovetheportwasthecoloroftelevision,tunedtoadeadchannel.”—Neuromancer,byWilliamGibson,inthesamebookthatgaveustheword“cyberspace.”Thisnotonlygivesyoutheweatherreport,itdoessoinsuchawaythatyouareimmediatelyplacedintohisdystopianworld.

““Itwasthebestoftimes,itwastheworstoftimes,itwastheageofwisdom,itwastheageoffoolishness,itwastheepochofbelief,itwastheepochofincredulity,itwastheseasonofLight,itwastheseasonofDarkness,itwasthespringofhope,itwasthewinterofdespair,wehadeverythingbeforeus,wehadnothingbeforeus,wewereallgoingdirecttoHeaven,wewereallgoingdirecttheotherway—inshort,theperiodwassofarlikethepresentperiod,thatsomeofitsnoisiestauthoritiesinsistedonitsbeingreceived,forgoodorforevil,inthesuperlativedegreeofcomparisononly.”—ATaleofTwoCities,byCharlesDickens.Weather,emotion,damnation,anddespair—Dickenscovereditallwithanopeninglinethatleavesthereaderreadyforanything.

Clichésarealsoimportanttoavoidwhenyou’rewritingaboutyourself.Sayingyou’rea“peopleperson”saysnothingdefiniteaboutyou.Sayingyou’reabletocommunicatewellwithavarietyofpeoplebecauseyougrewupinabilingualfamilyandlivedinsixcountriesgrowingupletsyourreaderknowyou’rea“peopleperson”withoutyourelyingonlazylanguage.

6

Avoidgeneralizations. Oneofthehallmarksofsloppywritingisbroadgeneralizations.Forexample,anacademicessaymightsaysomethinglike“Inmoderntimes,wearemoreprogressivethanpeopleahundredyearsago.”Thisstatementmakesahostofunfoundedassumptionsanddoesn’tdefineimportantideaslike“progressive.”Bepreciseandspecific.Whetheryou’rewritingashortstoryorascholarlyessay,steeringclearofgeneralizationsanduniversalstatementswillimproveyourwriting.

Thisappliestocreativewriting,too.Don’tallowyourselftoassumeanythingwithoutexaminingit.Forexample,ifyou’rewritingastoryaboutafemalecharacter,don’tassumethatshewouldautomaticallybemoreemotionalthanamanormoreinclinedtobegentleorkindly.Thiskindofnon-examinedthinkingkeepsyouinacreativerutandpreventsyoufromexploringthevarietyofpossibilitiesthatreallifepresents.

7

Backupwhatyousay. Don’tspeculatewithoutprovidingevidenceforyourassertions.Increativewritingterms,thisissimilartothe“show,don’ttell”principle.Don’tjust say thatwithoutastrongpoliceforcesocietyasweknowitwouldbreakdown.Whyisthattrue?

Whatevidencedoyouhave?

Explainingthethinkingbehindyourstatementswillallowreaderstoseethatyouknowwhatyou’retalkingabout.Itwillalsohelpthemdeterminewhethertheyagreewithyou.

8

Usemetaphorsandsimileswithcaution. Whileagoodmetaphororsimilecangiveyourwritingpunchandvigor,abadonecanmakeyourwritingasweakasababy.（That,bytheway,wasaweaksimile.）Overusingmetaphorsandsimilescanalsosuggestthatyouaren’tconfidentwithwhatyou’resayingandarerelyingonfiguresofspeechtoexplainyourideas.Theycanalsobecomeclichédreallyquickly.

A“mixed”metaphormixestwometaphorssothattheydon’tmakesense.Forexample,“We’llburnthatbridgewhenwecometoit”mixesthecommonmetaphor“We’l