After years of coaching students on writing in a professional and scholarly manner, a trend in academic writing has come forward. Many students say they do not like to write this way not because they do not recognize its importance, but simply because they are not good at it.
The reasons for their perceptions of their shortcomings are varied:
- Some are non-native English speakers.
- Some feel they have never been taught.
- Some blame social media and technology on them not retaining what they have learned.
Terrified of professional writing and the shadow of scholarly weakness it may cast on them, they run from it, as far and as fast as they can.
I have and still maintain that the way to get better at writing, is to “Just Do It”. However, I understand that the first steps in change are often the hardest.
In addition to spell-check, the newest versions of Microsoft Word have very advanced grammar and style checking options. The following tips will help you easily set up Microsoft Word so that it will assist you in not only finding errors, but also learning why they are wrong.
When you open WORD, go to Options, and then select Proofing.
- Check the 5 boxes below “When correcting spelling and grammar in Word”
- There is a drop-down box next to “Writing Style”, select Grammar & Style
- Click on “settings” next to this drop down
- Make sure that it checks your document for 1 space between sentences
I recommend that at least at first you check ALL OF THE BOXES after Grammar and Style. Doing this will look for many common grammar mistakes, but more importantly, it will analyze your writing style. In my opinion, for students, some of the most important things this flags that are often unnoticed are:
- Cliches, Colloquialisms, and Jargon
- Passive sentences
- Use of first person
- Gender specific language