1. Writing Tips and Friendly Advice

2. Capitalization The South is capitalized, southerners are not. Same with the East, West, North when places and not directions. It is 1660s, not 1660’s Capitalize President of the United States as well as the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. Capitalize Senator and Representative when you refer to a specific individual, as in Senator Calhoun. The president of the Star Trek club is not capitalized.

3. “Throughout History” Do not use grandiose terms like “throughout history.” Once people stop snickering, they will wonder what you meant. If your topic is Colonial Virginia, then specify it. Be specific.

4. Passive Voice Avoid the passive voice: Passive voice: The prisoner was driven to the jail. Active voice: The sheriff drove the prisoner to the jail. Passive voice obscures the sentence’s primary actor. In this case, an active voice sentence tells us more.

5. Tense For the purpose of these essays, when writing about past events, keep your writing in the past tense. For instance: “The New South Creed fused Lost Cause mythology with…” When writing about the views of an author that you are analyzing alive or dead, use the present tense. For instance: “Cobb discusses the emergence of the New South Creed…”

6. Some examples of editing “Slavery was certainly one of the most complicated issues of the day back when people like George Washington were alive and making our history.”

7. Chop, Chop, Chop “Slavery was certainly one of the most complicated issues of the day back when people like George Washington were alive and making our history.” “certainly” is redundant “of the day back when people like” is silly As is “were alive and making our history.”

8. Revision 1 “Slavery was one of the most complicated issues in the era of George Washington.” How can we make this sentence work harder for us? Be more specific, and be more concise.

9. Revision 2 “Slavery was one of the most complicated issues in the era of George Washington.” What do we mean by “most complicated issues?” Operating a VCR can also be a “complicated issue.” Slavery is a “moral dilemma.” “Slavery was one of the greatest moral dilemmas facing America in the era of George Washington”

10. Another example “To begin, there are a set of common factors that faced all slaveholders who even thought of freeing their slaves.”

11. Drop excess baggage. “To begin, there are a set of common factors that faced all slaveholders who even thought of freeing their slaves.” Proper grammar would be “to begin with…” – but no matter. Avoid this unless constructing a list (firstly, secondly, etc.)

12. Word Choice and Syntax: “To begin, there are a set of common factors that faced all slaveholders who even thought of freeing their slaves.” “Factors” do not “face” the “slaveholders.” It is the slaveholders who must face the factors.

13. Be concise. “To begin, there are a set of common factors that faced all slaveholders who even thought of freeing their slaves.” Would “slaveholders who even thought of freeing their slaves” be the same thing as “emancipationist-minded slaveholders?”

14. Be precise. Even with editing things down a lot: “All emancipationist-minded slaveholders faced a common set of factors.” Factors? They face obstacles.

15. Before and After: “To begin, there are a set of common factors that faced all slaveholders who even thought of freeing their slaves.” Becomes: “All emancipationist-minded slaveholders faced a common set of obstacles.” (notice that I also changed the tense to past-tense.)

16. A Third Example “Bacon’s rebellion in Virginia led to less white indentured servants so that there would be a smaller population that would cause trouble.”

17. Obvious word-use errors “Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia led to fewer white indentured servants so that there would be a smaller population that would cause trouble.”

18. Fundamental problems in logic: “Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia led to fewer white indentured servants so that there would be a smaller population that would cause trouble.” Jumping around too much: Bacon’s Rebellion did ultimately result in fewer white indentured servants in Virginia, but there are important steps in between the rebellion and its ultimate effect.

19. Be clear and precise. Replace: “Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia led to fewer white indentured servants so that there would be a smaller population that would cause trouble.” With: “Bacon’s Rebellion led Virginia’s elite to seek ways to reduce the number of troublesome landless whites.”

20. Why edit? Producing a lengthy paper is not a sin. Producing an needlessly long paper is. You will make a greater impact with concise and carefully chosen words. Writing is work. Good writing is hard work.