How to Get Rid of Clichés in Your Writing

How to Get Rid of Clichà ©s in Your Writing It was a dark and stormy night. The unsuspecting college student racked her brain while the seconds ticked by. She felt like the world was falling down all around her. In less than six hours, her narrative essay was due for her Composition 123 class. She had ideas, but she wanted to write something fresh as daisies – a story that would get under her readers’ skins. She looked at what she’d written so far and realized that it was more clichà ©d than American apple pie. If this scene reminds you of your own struggles with writing, you are in severe need of an anti-clichà © remedy. Fortunately, clichà ©d writing doesn’t necessarily have to be the death of your essay. You can learn how to identify clichà ©s in your writing and eliminate them by following a few simple steps. Time to Identify: What is a Clichà ©? The word clichà © dates back to 1825, where it was used to describe a sound made when a printer’s press went over a typeset block called a â€Å"stereotype.† The stereotype made it possible to reuse the same words over and over again to save time in the printing process. Like in the original usage of the word, clichà ©s save people time and effort by using images, wording, and ideas that have been used many times over. Unfortunately, they also come across as boring, vapid, and as an attempt to word-count pad your essay. Some of the most rampant clichà ©s in essay writing are: The dictionary defines ________ as†¦. This essay will discuss†¦ From the beginning of time†¦ All in all†¦ My experiences broadened my horizons†¦ It hit me like a ton of bricks†¦ In this day and age†¦ You probably have heard or read these many times throughout your life. Perhaps you’ve actually written them once or twice. Don’t worry. Identifying clichà ©s in your own writing is the first step towards turning your boring essays into engaging writing. Review, Replace, Rewrite By replacing worn out phrases with ones that are uniquely yours, your writing will be more fun to read and your teachers will see you as a more mature writer. Just keep in mind the Three Rs of eliminating clichà ©s: Review, Replace, and Rewrite. If you follow these steps for every essay you write, your writing will always have that personal flair that can never be copied. For example, review the opening paragraph one more time. It was a dark and stormy night. The unsuspecting college student racked her brain while the seconds ticked by. She felt like the world was falling down all around her. In less than six hours, her narrative essay was due for her Composition 123 class. She had ideas, but she wanted to write something fresh as daisies – a story that would get under her readers’ skins. She looked at what she’d written so far and realized that it was more clichà ©d than American apple pie. Are there any phrases that stick out to as being clichà ©d? Replace the rehashed language and ideas with creative metaphors and clear nouns and verbs. Then, rewrite this paragraph so that it sounds more original – more uniquely â€Å"you.† It was another stressful Sunday night cram session. Cheri felt sweat underneath her watch as ts incessant tick-tick-tick buried her deeper in despair. In less than six hours, her narrative essay was due for her Composition 123 class. She had ideas, but she wanted to write something exotic and explosive – a story that would grip her readers’ minds and whisper her words long after they put it down. A Word of Warning: Write Clear and Hard The rewritten paragraph is more interesting to read, and sounds more mature. Because all the overused ideas were replaced, the paragraph is vibrant and evocative. Still, make sure that your writing doesn’t go too far in its attempt to be original. Using a thesaurus to come up with â€Å"fancy† words often reads like just that. In addition, abstract metaphors and similes can confuse readers and bog your writing down. The best advice? Hemingway said, â€Å"Write clear and hard about what hurts.† When writing your essays, be clear in your language and use images that are unique to your experience. That way, your essays don’t have to be quite so painfully boring to read. With a little creative flair and an arsenal of new ideas, you’ll be able to conquer even the driest college essay prompt in your own unique style.

Citing Conference Proceedings - Harvard Style

Citing Conference Proceedings - Harvard Style Citing Conference Proceedings – Harvard Style Every now and then, intellectuals climb down from their ivory towers and gather to swap ideas and discuss research. These are known as academic conferences and often serve as the ground from which new ideas grow. As such, you may need to cite conference proceedings – the collected presentations given at a conference in published form – when writing a paper. Most referencing systems have a format for how to cite this kind of source, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with the rules. Herein we provide details of how to cite conference proceedings using Harvard style referencing. There are other referencing systems available, though, so remember to check which system your college or school prefers. Published Proceedings The papers presented at a conference are often published as a collection known as the conference proceedings. If you need to cite the entire proceedings of a conference, the format to use is: Surname, Initial(s). (Year) Full Title of Conference Proceedings. Conference Location, Date. City of Publication, Publisher. So, for example, if you were citing the proceedings of the Third Annual Proofed Conference as a whole, it would appear in your reference list as: Proofed (2015). Proceedings of the Third Annual Proofed Conference. Cambridge, May 24-27, 2015. Cambridge, PMP Publications. More commonly, you’ll want to cite one paper from published conference proceedings. In this case, your reference should include the specific paper you’re citing followed by where it can be found: Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year) Title of Paper, Full Title of Conference. Location, Date. City of Publication, Publisher, page range. If, then, you wanted to cite Alan Presenter’s paper from the Third Annual Proofed Conference, it would appear in your reference list as: Presenter, A. (2015) The Glory of Conferences, Proceedings of the Third Annual Proofed Conference. Cambridge, May 24-27, 2015. Cambridge, PMP Publications, pp. 105-127. You may also need to include access details for papers found online (e.g., a URL and a date of access). Unpublished Presentations More occasionally, you may want to cite a presentation you saw at a conference, but which isn’t available in published form. In these cases, you’ll need to provide the following details in your reference list: Contributor’s Surname, Initial(s). (Year) Title of Presentation, paper presented at Title of Conference. Location, Date. If you were to cite Alan Presenter’s paper before it was published, the reference list entry would therefore look like this: Presenter, A. (2015) The Glory of Conferences, paper presented at Proceedings of the Third Annual Proofed Conference. Cambridge, MA, May 24-27, 2015.