TO: Graduate Students, California Land Use Policy, PPA 250

FROM: Peter Detwiler

SUBJECT: For Successful Paper Writing

Because I value clear and lively writing, I want you to know my expectations for your written work. To write well requires hard work and frequent practice. Somerset Maugham once said that "To write simply is as difficult as to be good." I will reward your well-written papers because I know that you have worked hard to organize your thinking and express your thoughts.

The practical stuff. Thomas Jefferson once wrote to a friend, "Had I but more time, I would have written less." Your goal is to write the best, not the most. A tightly organized, thoughtful paper of four pages is more successful than a seven-page paper that rambles. The other memos explain the maximum lengths. The key is the quality of your thought, not the quantity of your words.

I once had a boss who edited my work with a sprawling red pen. He was a good writer and I learned a lot from him, but every assignment that came back looked bloody. I resolved never to "bleed" all over someone else's writing. I will comment on your writing and offer editorial suggestions in green ink. As we succeed, you'll see less green ink on each successive paper.

Manuscript format. The MPPA faculty has adopted the APA manuscript format. You will find the recommendations in Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual (pp. 161-164) with examples (pp. 165-167). Please use one-inch margins, 12-point type, a readable typeface, double-space text, page numbers, and a cover page that follows Hacker’s sample (p. 165).

Questions of style. Every successful writer develops a voice that communicates who you are to your reader. Different styles emerge for different situations: a chatty letter to your family isn't the same as a master's thesis designed to please your review committee. Your group's plan evaluation paper will differ from your own provocative book review. Recognize your audience for each assignment and work in the appropriate style. Here are some other suggestions:

Get professional help. Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual is on our reading list for a good reason. It's full of useful advice about writing clearly. Use her "Checklist for Global Revision" (p. 234) each time you write an assignment. Take her advice and you will succeed.

If you’re still struggling, please take advantage of the Writing Center, Room 128, Calaveras Hall (278-6356). The tutors provide individual attention for planning and organizing your papers, as well as tools for revising and editing them. One current MPPA student says that, "the Writing Center has fortified my writing skills and, may even more importantly, my confidence. I am a better writer today than I was when I started the MPPA program." For more information, go to the Writing Center’s website: www.csus.edu/ewc

Use the active voice. Writing is inherently political. Your writing communicates values and manipulates symbols. One of the most serious political problems in a democracy is administrative responsibility. In his essay, "Politics and the English Language," George Orwell compared most government writing to a squid. When threatened by outside forces, the squid hides its position by ejecting a cloud of ink and then flees in reverse at high speed. A writer who habitually avoids the active voice in favor of the passive voice dodges accountability by obscuring who is responsible for the action.

For example, consider the difference between "Your use permit was denied," and "I denied your use permit." Although accurate, the first sentence covers up the identity of the person who denied your permit. The second sentence clearly assigns responsibility. The difference is obvious and the political implication is not trivial.

Hacker tells us to "Prefer active verbs," (§2 on pp. 3-5). Her advice about "Voice" (§11d, p. 32) and "active vs. passive" (p. 206) helps. Your use of the passive voice will attract more green ink on your papers than any other lapse.

Be direct. Afraid to offend, we temporize. We write, "The city's goals seem somewhat vague," when we really mean, "The city's goals are vague." I look for and appreciate strong opinion even when I disagree with it, if you argue your position clearly. Say what you mean. Be direct. Don't fudge. Some of the best advice comes from the classic writing manual, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White:

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subject only in outline, but that every word tell.

In our own writing manual, Hacker tells us to "Tighten wordy sentences," (§1, pp. 2-3).

Annoying problems. Avoid the simple writing errors that distract readers from the important things that you want them to read. You should skim Hacker’s advice about "Grammar," "Punctuation," and "Mechanics."

Organization. You write what you think. To write clearly you must think clearly. Sloppy writing suggests confused thinking. Take the time to organize your thoughts so that your writing expresses your views clearly.

Every paper that you write in a PPA course begins with a cover page. Follow the APA format that appears in Hacker (p. 165). Give your paper a distinctive title, just like a newspaper headline writer. You’ll find that I appreciate cleverness, even outrageous puns. A strong opening paragraph and an equally strong concluding paragraph signal your reader that you know where you want to go and where you have been. In a short paper, the conclusion often relates back to the opening. For the body of your paper, remember to follow Strunk and White’s advice to "make the paragraph the unit of composition." Interior headings and bullets help your reader by signaling where you are going, especially when you shift from one point to another. Newspaper editors often insert "sub-heads" for that reason, just as I did in this memo.

Documentation. Hacker shows how to use the APA documentation style (§36, pp. 153-160).

Self-editing. No one ever gets it right the first time. Drafting, waiting, and then rewriting your work improves your writing. I know that you have lots of other demands on your time: job, family, other courses, community work. Organize your schedule so that you can outline your paper, produce a first draft, and then let it sit for 24 hours before you return to rewrite it. Your concentration to produce a first draft against a tight deadline can keep you from seeing flaws that you will discover with a second look. Self-editing improves everyone's writing.

Your own work. Study groups can help you cope with the extensive reading assignments. You might collaborate with the other graduate students in your group project’s working group. You can use others' work to strengthen your own, but be sure to give them proper credit for their ideas and direct quotations. There is nothing wrong with "intellectual recycling" if the final product is your own work and you acknowledge others' contributions. Nevertheless, the University has a strong policy against academic dishonesty:

Regardless of the means of appropriation, incorporating another’s work into one’s own requires adequate identification and acknowledgment. Plagiarism is doubly unethical because it deprives the author of rightful credit and gives credit to someone who has not earned it.
                                                                                                  University Manual, January 31, 1990 (UMP14150)

Post it! Put the next page where you can see it from your word processor!