32 3 Mechanics of Writing
- Long quotes from the work of others, say longer than thirty words, should not be
designated by quotation marks and contained within the normal text, but instead
should be presented as a separate block. The whole block should be in slightly
smaller type, indented, with space above and below. Quotation marks are not
needed, and should not be used. And the quote should not be in italics. - Quotation marks are used to indicate that the enclosed words are the title of a
chapter in a book, a paper in a journal, a poem, and so on. - Quotation marks were used to indicate colloquial words in formal writing, or
technical words in non-technical writing. However, it is now common to use
italics for this purpose. (On this point, note that use of underlining is obsolete.)
After the first use of the word the quotation marks may be omitted. Many writers
extend this use by putting pet words or humorous expressions in quotes. It is best
to avoid this as much as possible: it can become a bad habit.
Link words We use link words to indicate the logic flow in a passage of text. They
are of two kinds: conjunctions, which are used inside sentences to link clauses, and
transitional words, which are used to link a sentence to the one that preceded it.
Many writers seem to use them interchangeably. This is a great source of confusion.
Commonly used conjunctions are but, although, unless, if, as, since, while, when,
before, after, where, because, for, whereas, and, or, and nor.
Transitional words are used to link one sentence to the next. Commonly used
transitional words are however, thus, therefore, instead, also, so, moreover, indeed,
furthermore, now, nevertheless, likewise, similarly, accordingly, consequently, and
finally. We also make use of transitional phrases: in fact, in spite of, as a result of,
for example, and for instance.
The confusion arises because some of the transitional words are commonly mis-
used as conjunctions, as for example ‘in such reports the underlying theory used as
a framework for the investigation might be reviewed however it is unlikely that new
or improved theory would be developed’. The opposite fault is also common—con-
junctions used as transitional words.
Repeated words In creative writing, or writing for popular publication such as
newspaper articles, the usual advice is to avoid repeating words. In academic writ-
ing, such avoidance of repetition can be downright annoying—if you have a precise
thing you need to say, use the precise word to say it. I recently read a paper that
referred to ‘the Levukans’, ‘the locals’, ‘the inhabitants’, ‘the natives’, ‘the resi-
dents’, ‘the subjects’ (of the research, not of a monarch), ‘the villagers’, and others.
In the context of this paper, all of these meant the same thing. The problem is argu-
ably more acute in technical writing, where for example the verbal gymnastics used
to avoid reusing ‘synchrotron’ (machine, system, installation, equipment, and so on)
made a paper completely unreadable.
A related issue is jargon. Some authors have a bizarre compulsion to completely
avoid use of technical words, perhaps in the fear that they will be condemned for us-
ing jargon; or they use technical words in all sorts of inappropriate places, perhaps
to demonstrate that they know them. Both are examples of thesiese. There’s nothing
wrong with using a technical word; yes, some people won’t understand it, but are
these people the experts who will be reading your work? Write for the right audience.