Concision: Cutting Through the Crud

• ensure that every word you use needs to appear, that every sentence and phrase introduces something new and informative
• excise repetitive phrasing and ideas
• eliminate wordiness
  • avoid vagueness: wordiness often results from uncertainty about what you're trying to say
  • rework long series of consecutive prepositional phrases; consider transforming phrases into descriptive adjectives and adverbs
  • avoid unnecessary articles
• brainstorm and research so exhaustively that paper-writing becomes an act of condensation instead of airy expansion

Organization Optimization

• argument structure
  • launch your argument with an effective, enticing introduction
  • a concise, debatable thesis should appear somewhere in your first (or maybe second) paragraph
  • organize all major points logically
  • conclude arguments by saying something new but relevant--do not merely restate your main points and thesis
• paragraph structure
  • shape clear topic sentences towards the beginning of each paragraph
  • vary your sentence length, pacing, and rhythm by alternating long and short sentences
  • use a variety of rhetorical strategies; move effectively among pathos, ethos, & logos (unless my instructions or the situation call for a more narrow rhetorical approach)

Putting Passive Voice out to Pasture

• shape prose which sounds polished and filled with forethought, instead of writing in the halting way we tend to think and speak (with lots of awkward "to be" constructions)
• use active verbs whenever possible. This will force you to articulate your ideas precisely, instead of just implying some vague connection between subject and predicate
• ensure that the sentence's subject is doing something (active voice), instead of being something (passive voice)
• where appropriate, use colorful and energetic language that paints a vivid picture in your reader's imagination