Break up long sentences
Always check your writing for over-long sentences and insert a full stop.
Orwellian versus stained-glass window prose
To communicate well, make sure critical information is first and foremost.
Don’t be boring
Try to avoid starting sentences with 'There is' and search for more interesting alternatives.
Reading as a writer
To improve our writing, we need to learn to read as writers, identifying the work we admire.
Make your text more readable
According to Dr Alison Yeung Yam Wah at the University of Surrey, who researches the writing strategies of academics, ‘readability’ is one of the key ingredients of successful academic papers. Yet academic writers frequently make their text hard to read…
Sharing students’ concerns
Written assignments can be particularly challenging for students whose first language is not English but there are ways to alleviate anxieties around writing.
Go for the metaphor
Using carefully chosen similes and metaphors can make your reader sit up and take note.