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Academic Writing by Belgapixel

At the heart of any field of research is the academic paper.  University academics live by the motto “publish or perish”.  That is, to maintain the prestige of their work, and their tenure, they must regularly publish in respected journals.

If you have enrolled in a science related curriculum you will quickly learn that persuasive writing is a core competency.  But writing for research is far different to writing for English literature.  In a persuasive essay you can be emotive to illustrate your point.  In contrast, a research paper is cold and unemotional. Facts, not descriptive narrations form the basis of your argument.

The structure of an academic paper also differs from a persuasive essay. Typically, there are 7 sections that must be addressed -

Title page – This part of a research paper includes a highlight of the subject matter to be researched. Mostly, it is supposed to contain a brief title which in most cases is in form of a thesis.

Abstract – This is the second part of a research paper and it contains a concise summary of the work contained in a research paper. It should be brief containing just about two hundred words; just enough to give the reader a chance to have an idea of the research paper content within a few minutes. The Abstract gives a general approach used in writing a research paper, important conclusions and pertinent results of the study.

Introduction – This marks the beginning of a research paper and involves a brief description of the past details of a similar research or related research. The introduction forms the base of the study and involves outlining the following four things: describing the importance of the study, defending the model used within the study, providing the rationale e.g. writing down the objectives and stating the hypothesis for the research paper. Lastly for this section, is a brief description of the experimental design.

Material and Method/Methodology – This section contains a summary of the materials to be used in carrying out the study and stating the methods to be used in assimilating data. There is no page limit to this but the point is to keep it concise as the reader may want to fully grasp the information written on it.

Result – This section represents the results of a research paper. Mostly the data in this section may be in its raw form and later on summarized by the use of tables or graphs. However, a concise summary of results is better for it accords coherence. Thus, the best way for data presentation is the use of tables and graphs in this part.

Discussion – This is the analysis of the information and findings gathered throughout the study. This is done to ensure that a proper summary which is supported by data gathered throughout the research paper is derived.

Literature cited/Bibliography – This is the last part of a research paper and involves writing down all the research material used in the study. This is to help readers who may want further illustrations or information about the researched topic.

Contributing Author – Vishal Dwivedi Image shown under creative commons share alike – Source

Technorati Tags: academic paper template, academic writing basics

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Publish That Book by Bitmask

The dream of any creative writer is to get published.  Who can not be inspired by the rags to riches story of JK Rowling in creating one of the most entertaining series in history?

But what happens if your editors or publishers are saying no?  Or even worse, you are still in college and your teachers are uninspired by your work? Today’s guest author, Patricia Vaughn looks at the problems that keep books from being published.

In writing fiction, your opening should accomplish three things:

1.  Establish the scene;
2.  Introduce the main character; and
3.  Let readers know what the character wants or needs – what the character will be reaching and struggling for that determines the action and direction of your story. If you’re writing non-fiction much the same applies.

Your beginning should be as clear, concise and straightforward as possible and it will still have to accomplish the three things that fiction must do:

1. It needs to establish the scene, but in this case instead of creating a fictitious scene your job is to report the scene – to ground readers immediately so they’ll know the who/what/why/when/where of what you’re writing about.
2. Non-fiction often has a main character, a protagonist who will be featured in your work. As with fiction, you’ll want to introduce this person early on. That introductory hook you need could well be an image of your protagonist at some dramatic moment. It could be: a president being sworn in a prospector discovering a big vein of gold a scientist receiving the Nobel Prize a woman giving birth a man dying a lost child finding its home
3. Such an image is an excellent way to start a story that will be about the protagonist’s long hard struggle to the point of success. There are essentially eight different types of openings for either fiction or non-fiction.

The first of these is the suggestive setting:

If you’ll be working with a setting that lends itself to a vivid opener, start with a description of it. This will set the tone and mood of your work and give readers an immediate mental picture to get involved with: It is still dark outside her window. But she has been unable to sleep. Her fear is now a continual inner roar. “I don’t want to die,” she thinks. She cannot see the flag outside, drooping in the dark, but she knows it is inscribed, “Central Vermont Medical Center.” She knows every detail of the view from her window, every item in her room….

Does this sound like an interesting fictional opening? Guess again. These are the opening lines from “The Quality of Mercy,” an article about nurses who practice compassionate medicine. The article appeared in the April 1998 Smithsonian magazine.

Let’s look at what this opening accomplishes: We are put inside the heart and mind of the woman in the hospital room ~ seeing what she sees and remembering with her what she cannot see in the dark. We are grounded, knowing we are in the Central Vermont Medical Center, and we are intimately aware of her fears. Of course she doesn’t want to die. Now that we’re there with her, we don’t want her to die, and we want to know what this threat to her life is. So we read on, hooked by the somber setting.

This opening has accomplished the three main jobs of an opening:

1. It establishes/reports the scene;
2. It introduces the subject character at a dramatic moment, grabbing readers’ interest; and
3. It informs readers what that character wants — to live! — which is such a universal longing that we are immediately in empathy with her situation.

This is a wonderfully successful lead-in. Having gotten our minds and emotions into the character’s situation, the article then explains how such thoughts and feelings are dealt with through compassionate medicine.

Image shown under creative commons share alike – Source.

Technorati Tags: creative writing, getting your book published, suggestive setting

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Power Up Your Essay by Mugley

Today for my persuasive essay students I have an article from a guest author on using ‘power subjects’.  What are ‘power subjects’ you may ask?  No, it is not a dissertation on energy for engineers – it is the use us of a topic to build your essay.  David Bowman from Precise Edit explains -

Strength-training isn’t just for the beef-heads at the gym. It’s for you, sitting at your desk preparing a business letter, writing the next award-winning novel, or banging out a killer blog post that will ignite the world’s consciousness. Strength-training for you doesn’t mean training yourself to lift small cars (in case you don’t know how to use a jack); strength-training means building the power of your subjects to lift your ideas.

When you use power subjects, you transform listless, weak, vague, and uninspiring writing into writing that is active, engaging, inspiring, clear, and persuasive writing.

Step One to Using Power Subjects: The Main Action

To determine the power subject, you first have to find the main action. When you write a sentence, ask yourself, “Self, what’s the action being described by this sentence?” The answer to this question may or may not be the main verb. Let’s try this with an easy example.

“There is a good reason for the fire department to follow this policy.”

The main verb of this sentence is “is,” and the subject of “is” is “there.” But what action does this sentence describe? What is this sentence about? This sentence focuses on having a good reason, so that’s the main action. “Is” is a wimpy verb; nothing happens with “is.” On the other hand, the reader can visualize “having.” Someone can perform the action of “having.”

Choose a sample sentence in your own writing and find your main actions.

Step Two to Using Power Subjects: The Main Actor

Once you have found the main action in your sentences, ask yourself, “Self, who is doing the main action?” The answer to this question will be the power subject, i.e., the doer of the main action. In the sample sentence above, we identified the main action as following the policy. Now we ask the question.

Who has a good reason? The answer to this question is “the fire department,” which makes “the fire department” the power subject. We call this the main actor because it does the main action.

Great writing uses the power subject for the subject of a sentence and the main action for the main verb. Together, these form the basis of a powerful sentence: “The fire department has a good reason….” Now we just add the rest of the content, and we change a weak, original sentence into buffed-up, strong writing.

“The fire department has a good reason for following this policy.”

The Power of the Power Subject

Why do we call this the power subject? We can answer this question in two ways. First, we call this the power subject because it has power over the rest of the sentence. As we saw in the sentence above, we were forced to change the entire sentence when we used the power subject.

Second, we use the term power subject because it makes your writing more powerful. When someone reads your writing, he or she wants to know “Who is doing what?” The power subject answers that question. This means your writing will impact and influence your reader. It will have power over your reader; it will make your reader respond.

Two More Samples of the Power Subject

Many people find the concept of power subjects new. Maybe it’s new to you, so let’s look at two more samples. We will analyze sentences to find the main actions and actors, and then we will use them to revise the sentences.

Example one: “The tables in the office were designed by the Julius brothers.”

Current subject and main verb: “The tables in the office” – “were designed”
Main action: design, designing the tables
Main actor: the Julius brothers.
Revision: “The Julius brothers designed the tables in the office.”

Example two: “It’s not clear whether the CEO understands the situation.”

Current subject and verb: “It” – “is”
Main action: “knowing about the CEOs level of understanding”
Main actor: The actor is not named in this sentence, but we know from the context that we are writing about ourselves. As such, the main actor is “We.”
Revision: “We don’t know if the CEO understands the situation.”

Let’s take another look at the second example. In the revision, we decided that the sentence is about our knowledge of the CEOs understanding. However, we might decide, instead, that the sentence is not about us but about the CEO. This gives us the following.

Main action: understanding about the situation
Main actor: the CEO
Revision: “The CEO might, or might not, understand the situation.”
Final Thoughts on Power Subjects

You won’t be able to use power subjects in every sentence, nor should you. For example, sometimes you are not describing actions but what something is, so you will use “to be” verbs, such as “is” and “are.” At other times, you won’t be able to identify or determine the actor, or you won’t want to focus on the actor and main action. In these cases, you might use the passive voice.

In most sentences, however, you can identify and use the power subject. This may take some practice, both to understand the concept and to apply it. Then again, you don’t build muscle strength by reading about lifting weights. You get strong by stepping into the gym, day after day, and lifting weights.

Contribunting author – Source.   Image shown under creative commons share alike – Source

Technorati Tags: Essay Writing, power phrases, power subjects

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To write a persuasive essay though, you need to get back to basics. What are the fundamental issues that go to make up a good essay? Writing is a key component in effective communication. In order for your thoughts to have any value you must be able to clearly communicate them.  Here are 5 basic tips for writing well.

Create and outline – Gather your thoughts and ideas, a blue print, of what you want the final outcome to entail. It doesn’t matter what you are writing it will always be beneficial to have something go by.

Vocabulary – Expand your vocabulary; teach yourself if you have to. It is so important to use the write words. You don’t have to use big fancy words and it’s actually better if you don’t. It’s in your best interest if your reader can understand what they are reading rather than getting lost in big words.

Use short sentences – It’s important to get straight to the point and we tend to use too many words. If you use long drawn out sentences your message may get lost. Short sentences make it easier to understand, remember, and it’s more powerful.

Use an active voice – t’s important to use active voice rather than passive. You don’t want to put your readers to sleep or bore them with dull statements. Active voice tends to make the writing tighter, more personal, and introduces action.

Writing is rewriting – Always do a rough draft. Once you have finished writing proof read your work. It also helps if you read it out loud. Have a friend proof read your work and make changes. Its always better the second time.

Contributing author – Brandy Larrimore

Technorati Tags: tips for writing well, writing help, Writing template

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What if you uncovered the various kinds of ways to churn out numerous different articles each time you write, quickly and easily?

Can you handle the boatloads of cash that will start flowing into your bank account once you learn the powerful techniques of writing hundreds of different articles in a short span of time?

This article describes the three different, tried and tested template types that you can use to write your articles, and then use SEO techniques on them to climb the search engine rankings easily.

Here are 3 simple steps to get you started.

Step 1 – “Top tips” template.
Step 2 – “Contrasting and comparing” template.
Step 3 – “Review” template.

Here are step by step details that you can apply quickly and easily.

Step 1 – “Top tips” template -

Create a template that specifies the top ten, five or any number of tips/suggestions to carry out a particular task. Write 2-3 sentences about each tip and voila, your article is ready.

You can also write a different article about each tip and so can have ten or five articles ready to go in no time.

Step 2 – “Contrasting and comparing” template -

These days a number of products are available in the same category, or offering the same service. Writing an article that compares and contrasts these different products step by step on various set parameters offers valuable information to your customers and wins them over.

Articles that help the readers in some way and lessens their work are considered as a valuable read and help to establish you as an experienced writer.

Step 3 – “Review” template -

Writing articles that offer product reviews, movie reviews or some other such services review appear to be of vital information to readers of those segments and help them to carry out an informed decision. One can quickly write such articles by setting down the parameters of review in the template itself.

Technorati Tags: Writing template

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Sometimes however, I have to shake my head in disbelief at the quality of the work.  No, thats a lie.  The majority get assigned to the trash bin.  But instead of deleting today’s contribution,  I thought Iwould turn it into a test case on what to do if you like to fail.

Here is the article title I recieved -

Why BaByliss Nano Titanium Flat Irons is Good

First, lets chat about the obvious mistake.  Should you use a plural followed by “is”?  Which reads better – Why BaBliss Nano Titanium Flat Irons Is Good … or Why BaBliss Nano Titanium Flat Irons Are Good.

Now English is a language that will let you take many liberties in form and structure.  I know my article here will be packed with them.  But the title is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE in an article.  Get it wrong and your tutor will start warming up the FAIL pen.

What else can you pick up in the title?  I read it and thought – “was the author stoned when he wrote this?”.  Where are the catchy benefits to get me to read?  How about -

Hit 10 Yards Further With BaByliss Nano Titanium Flat Irons

Can BaByliss Nano Titanium Irons Improve Your Game?

After reading the title my mouse pointer was hovering over the delete button as I continued into the first paragraph.  Here it is -

“A flat iron, alternatively known as hair straightener and straightening iron, has come a long way since its start during the late 1800s. In fact, flat irons have now developed the concept of hair styling, and they are more than just a tool to make straight your hair and can be used to test a spectrum of hair styles such as curling, flipping, and creating waves. However, the good functioning of a flat iron depends upon the type of material used for the making of its plates. Best part of the top end flat irons are made from resources such as ceramic and tourmaline. Now there is an advance for ceramic and tourmaline flat irons in the form of Titanium Flat Irons.”

Why does this fail?  Think about it for a second.

Is the article about golfing products or hair straighteners?  I am not too sure as it lacks direction.  The words just aimlessly wander the page.  If the title is the slap in the face to get attention, then the first paragraph sets the scene.  As a reader I want to know what the article is about.  And importantly, what entices me to read the other 4 or 5 paragraphs.  The biggest mistake here is the hero of the article (titanium flat irons) is the last point to be mentioned in the article.  Make it the first.  Grab your readers and let them know what journey they are signing up for.  Sure, create intruige.  But don’t leave it until all your readers have left to do it.

Technorati Tags: essay structure, fail, grammar, Persuasive Essay

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You can write more articles in less time when you use article writing templates.

Another of my favorites is the “Shortcuts to…” article writing template. Let’s take a closer look at this template and how to use it to write more articles in your niche.

Shortcuts to…..

Every one likes shortcuts. Well, except perhaps for my oldest son, who when I mention we are taking a shortcut while driving will often say “Dad, is this another one of those long-cuts?”

Anyway, when you can take your expertise and show the reader shortcuts to accomplishing a task, you have a winner on your hands. You demonstrate that you are an expert in your niche because you can do something that they cannot do. Plus you look like the hero because not only are you able to do it you are going to show them how they too can do it.

Title Examples

5 Shortcuts to Your First Web Site

7 Shortcuts to Permanent Weight Loss

3 Shortcuts to Getting Out of Debt

4 Shortcuts to Playing the Piano

The Template

Present something that many people want to accomplish. Point how difficult and/or time consuming it can be. Give ‘em some shortcuts. Show them an easier path to accomplishing what they want to do.

Shortcut 1

Shortcut 2

Shortcut 3

Shortcut 4

Shortcut 5

You can have five shortcut steps or three or seven or however many you want to use.

Bonus Tip – It can also be useful to mention shortcut approaches from others and why they do not work. This further positions you as the expert.

Thanks to http://www.TheArticleGuyTeleSeminars.com for the article.  Article Source.

Technorati Tags: shortcut ideas, Writing template

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Back when I was studying German, my tutor made a regular exercise out of making me write letters based on pre-made templates. Looking back on the experience, it was one of the most fruitful techniques I used for improving my written German, proving a huge help in my email-based business dealings with different clients and partners.

For those learning English, I have no doubt that using the same technique will yield similarly positive results. In fact, I find it a better way of practicing than other recommended approaches, such as rewriting newspieces or answering crossword puzzles. If you want to give letter writing from templates a try (language software, like grammar checkers, always come with a good amount of templates), follow these guidelines to make the most out of it:

1. Choose just one template. As you gain more experience, you will probably try to experiment trying to combine two letter templates as one. That misses the point of using the activity as a learning platform entirely and is, for the most part, an unnecessary use of time.

2. Create a mental picture of the individual or group you are writing the letter to.

3. Base your letter off the template paragraph by paragraph. You can even copy entire sentences if you want, replacing important details when needed. The more skill you gain, the more variance you can create with each sentence, even rewording it if you are able to.

4. Vary the types of letter templates you use so you can get a wider feel for the language. This week, for instance, you can focus on business letters. Next week, you can try social invitations. The week after, you can choose a different set.

Using letter templates to improve your English skills is a great, low-cost way of supplementing any formal studies you are doing. As an activity you can do in your free time, it’s also relatively easy, without any preparation required.

Technorati Tags: english writing, letter templates, writing templates

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Have you wondered how people wrote essays so quickly and effortlessly? Did you wonder what their secret was? Most people have to deal with writer’s block, or even struggling with the article itself. How do some people write so quickly-and effectively? The answer that you might be looking for is an article writing template.

An article writing template helps you write fast-at the same time targeting all the necessary information that you want to give your readers. Just what kind of template is this, and what is inside this template? How can a mere template help a writer achieve is goals?

An article writing template does not only help you write articles by guiding you in what to write; it also helps you in organizing your thoughts, as well as keep you on track. The first and probably the most important thing included is the title. Your title should be catchy and bold enough to capture the attention of your readers. Think of your own experience as a reader. The title is the first thing you see, so if it captures you attention, it will make you want to read the rest of the article as well.

The following are some things you should consider when writing a title: try to insert something for the reader so that they will be enticed to read it; also, put in the keywords of the article so the reader will instantly know what you will be talking about, and also for search engine optimization. As you do this, do not be afraid to try out several titles. Only by trying the way they sound and look will you be able to capture the perfect title.

The first paragraph follows the title directly, so it has to have the same catchy appeal as the title. It has to give the main information, and it has to do so in an interesting way, so that it will once again entice the readers to finish reading the whole article. In a newspaper article it is often called a “lead,” whereas it is sometimes also referred to as a “teaser.” The names give you an idea of their function.

What you should include in it are the following: a main, strong sentence, illustrative sentences that support this, and reference. As an article is based on facts, a writer never fails to cite his references, when he or she has any. Sometimes, quotes are also used to help strengthen the article. This gives it more depth and feeling.

As you write other paragraphs in the same format, keep in mind that you always have to put the main and most important information first. This is so that your readers will immediately get the necessary information they need and want. When you are done writing the paragraphs which illustrate your main article or argument, you should wrap up your article with a solid conclusion. This is where you usually summarize the important points in your article, so that they will stick with your readers.

Technorati Tags: essay writing template, Writing template

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