Following yesterday’s post I was asked to give some tips for writing. I have chosen not to mention specific grammatical rules or to list the “Most Frequent Mistakes in IBEX Papers” that I have in my Research Paper Guide. Instead I have four general principles to becoming a better writer.

1. Pay attention to how others write. Subscribe to Sports Illustrated, for the writing. Believe it or not, their writers are excellent. Whatever you read, observe their vocabulary, sentence structure, etc. I didn’t learn the rules of grammar from a class as much as I did from observation.

2. Practice. You won’t become a better writer by thinking about it. You have to do it. It’s best if you can have someone else evaluate it and give you feedback. Even if that’s not always possible, simply by doing it you will learn. And if you’re writing while observing the works of others, you will be able to implement what you are learning.

3. Pick appropriate classes. If you’re still in school, choose courses that will stretch you in this way. Usually students do just the opposite. But if you don’t want to learn, why go to school? You can make more of this by seeking out the teacher’s advice during the writing process, and not just when it comes time to submit the paper. Besides the obvious advantages, the teacher will know that you actually care about learning to be a better writer and that will probably be reflected in the grading process (that is, he/she will be less likely to skim your paper and give minimal feedback).

4. Proofread. Make this a habit of your life. Proofread even your emails. If instant messaging breeds bad writing habits, perhaps you should stop. How many times you proofread depends on the nature of the material. An ordinary email may need only one read-through. A more important email where words need to be chosen carefully may require two or three times. An important paper probably deserves at least 5. Of course, if you finish writing at the deadline, you won’t be able to do that. For anything I write that will be published (as well as the BiblePlaces Newsletter), I have at least two other people proofread it. I learn too who does a better job in proofreading and I seek them out more (thanks, A.D.! :-)). Those who do not catch mistakes are not very helpful.

I did write some things about Italy and Malta while on the trip and I had planned to massage those into a post or two (with photos, as Amy requests :-)), but all of my files are in my office and I usually blog at home. Especially these days as I clear the decks and focus on grading papers.

The grading is interesting. It’s been some years since I required a paper in the Land and Bible class, and everyone is doing a different site, so it doesn’t get boring. Some of the papers are interesting, occasionally there is a new insight or source that I was unaware of, and sometimes the writing quality is terrible. It is absolutely amazing how poor some college students write. It’s not as if this is just another paper. This is “the” paper, so they have lots of warning, lots of warnings, and lots of incentive. I give extensive instructions both in a written packet and orally, and I literally beg them to come and ask questions. A few days before the paper was due I even posted a sign declaring that for a certain hour I would refuse to do any work in my office and simply sit there bored unless they came and asked questions. A few came, taking up maybe 30 minutes total. Others have come and asked questions in the last few weeks, but invariably it seems that the worst papers come from students who never asked me a single thing. And from their papers I can tell that they never bothered to ask anyone else for help in proofreading or such. Usually my classes where papers are required are avoidable, and word gets around and those who fear choose other classes. This class is required for all and so no one can get around it.

I wonder: should there be a writing test that is required for students in order to graduate? If so, what steps should there be in place in order to help them along the way? Obviously it is to no one’s advantage to have the student get to the end and fail, especially if they are a great distance from passing quality.

I believe that a chief obstacle to students improving their writing skills is the amount of time that it takes a teacher to properly grade the paper. I have 33 students in this class and I will spend about 25 hours grading them (5-7 pages avg. length). If you have twice that many students or you are assigning a similar type paper in multiple classes, you can see how quickly that would get old. I remember a few years ago teaching in CA and after graduation day, there was hardly a teacher on campus in their office. I was there 8-5 for 8 days grading papers from the semester. I can’t say that I’d be doing that every semester if I was in that situation. Obviously there is less value to the student as well when they get their paper mailed to them during the summer. Better: get it back to them and require them to re-write it. Of course then you have just doubled your grading load. One solution: graduate assistants. That’s common in other schools but not ours.

Make sure you hear me right. I am not complaining about anything. I am simply thinking about an important issue, including the challenges and potential solutions.

If you’re an former IBEXer, I invite you to our house in 18 minutes for “Tuesdays at Todd’s.” Just a chance to chat and ask questions about life. We started that up after Land and Bible classes ended a month ago. Tonight is the last one as next week is finals.