How to Write Better Essays

Logical indicators

As to the second point – the importance of logical indicators – the

problem is not just that we fail to use them, believing that the reader

can follow our train of thought without difficulty, but that they get lost

in our sentences. When you read your work through, check that the

logic is clear. If it isn’t, try moving your logical indicator to a more

important position in the sentence, say to the beginning. In the revi-

sion stage, if you find it still doesn’t read logically and smoothly, read

it out aloud, record it and play it back to yourself, or get someone else

to read it to you. You’ll soon recognise the abrupt transitions, the lost

or missing words, and all the other problems that keep your writing

from being talk in print.

208 Writing

In a nutshell

• Aim to create writing that is talk in print.


• Don’t lose the reader in long sentences.


• Wherever possible use short sentences with clear structures.


• Experiment with your punctuation, words and sentence length to
  create the rhythm of talk in print.


• Make sure your logical indicators don’t go missing.


• Read it aloud to make sure it reads logically and smoothly.

Practice exercise 18

Sentences

Read the following passage. At times you will find it difficult to under-

stand its meaning exactly. Sentences tend to be long and confused, the

punctuation is not as helpful as it could be, and logical indicators tend

to go missing.

Without actually rewriting the passage, by just attending to the sen-

tence length, punctuation and logical indicators, make the passage more

readable, more like talk in print.

When you’ve completed this, compare your version with the answer

given below.

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