Academic Writing

Students often ask me what good academic writing is. The problem is, we’ve seldom been taught it, or our teachers may have rewarded us for florid, over-inflated style.

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So let me start with a few sure guidelines or ‘rules.’

1. Good academic writing is clear.

2. Good academic writing is concise.

3. Good academic writing is precise.

4. Good academic writing is formal.

5. Good academic writing is unobtrusive.

As I explain these rules, I will refer to two reliable guides that likely pre-date your parents:

• William Strunk Jr and E. B. White’s The Elements of Style (1918, 1958, 1979, 2000).

• George Orwell’s essay ‘Politics and the English Language’ (1946).

(White authored the enduring children’s books Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little. Orwell wrote 1984 and Animal Farm, where he highlighted the abuses of language by tyrants. Each was a masterful writer worth learning from.)

Strunk wrote his ‘little book’ in 1918, and White updated it 40 years later. It has under 20 basic rules.

Orwell bettered that with just six rules:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous (p. 13).

1. Good academic writing is clear

Clear writing is hard work. But your audience is the most important person in your writing. Respect them by working hard to communicate so they understand. That’s your responsibility, whether writing or speaking.

And don’t make the excuse that your markers are professional theologians with PhD’s. Yes, they are. But that does not mean they can understand unclear writing. It means that they can read through unclear writing and see the unclear thinking behind it.

2. Good academic writing is concise

Concise, brief writing is the close cousin of clarity; they walk together.

Orwell’s Rules 2 and 3 are your trusted friends here:

2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

More than a century ago, Strunk taught similarly

Rule 17. Omit needless words.

When you read, note the conciseness of good writers. Note how few words they use and the brevity of their sentences. Note how seldom you re-read to get their meaning.

Go and do likewise. Get rid of every unnecessary word. Write crisp, clear sentences. Conciseness is a long battle; no one masters it. But you can grow in the skill.

3. Good academic writing is precise

Avoid the vague. Say exactly what you need to say, as accurately as possible, with precise words.

Strunk and White write

Rule 16. Use definite, specific, concrete language. Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, the concrete to the abstract.

A period of unfavorable weather set in.

vs    It rained every day for a week.

He showed satisfaction as he took possession of his well-earned reward.

vs    He grinned as he pocketed the coin.

Yes, your writing will be more interesting. But concrete language will also force you to think and communicate clearly, and not hide poor thinking behind vague vocabulary.

Orwell similarly cautions writers who feel a need to impress:

5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

There is an exception, of course: Use technical vocabulary where needed for precision. After all, Biblical studies, doctrine, ethics, and ministry each have their own technical language. Use it when you need it in an essay or for thinking. But wear it lightly. It is a tool. Remember that a true expert is obvious not from their big words, but from their ability to make the complex clear. Pretentious language is, well, pretentious, and it will not fool your readers.

4. Good academic writing is formal

Write your academic assignments with a seriousness suitable to your context (tertiary study) and your topic (the things of God). Formal is serious, not conversational, and never inscrutable.

• Avoid first-person language (I, me, we) unless you are writing a reflection exercise.

• Don’t write a contraction like don’t. Write do not.

• Avoid our English two-part verbs. They are usually informal. Don’t write seek things out, write them down, or look them up. Use specific verbs or shorter verbs:  seek, write, or learn or research.

• Avoid the horrible, awful, no-good emotion-laden language of opinion. Your goal is even-handed objectivity, not emotional reactions. Yes, give your opinions and conclusions, but show them as the fruit of even-handed judgements, not as emotional reactions.

5. Good academic writing is unobtrusive

Your writing should be like a good road on a holiday. It takes you where you are going, but you notice the scenery, not the road. And when you get to your destination, you forget about the road, unless it was pot-holed and exhausting.

Likewise with good writing. Smooth and clear writing focuses your readers on your message, your argument, or your reflections. They should never need to re-read a sentence to get its meaning. Let them spend their energy following your argument, not decoding turgid writing.

6. The exception

And to all these things, add Orwell’s exception:

6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Use your ear when you write. If something sounds wrong or ugly, then improve it, even if that requires you to break one of these rules.

Break these rules when you must, but break them with care.

Good writing is hard work. Good academic writing is just one sort of writing. You are a writer. You can grow and improve. It is worth it for your ministry, your learning, and your audiences.

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