20 May 2007

27 Steps: #13-15

My apologies for missing the last couple steps. I've been without Internet for the past few days and was unable to post. So, without further ado...

13: Avoid tense-switching. Write about events that took place in the past in the past tense. Do not write in the past tense a while, then switch to the present tense, then back to the past, and so on. In writing about books, plays, movies, and poetry, however, you can use the present tense, as in "Judy Kutulas maintains that...."

14: Generally avoid using abbreviations such as “WWII” or N.Y.,” although in some cases, where you’ve used the complete form earlier, such as “NASA” or “CPUSA,” it’s all right. Never use “etc.” in formal writing.

15: A “novel” is NOT a work of history but a work or imaginative fiction. NEVER NEVER NEVER refer to a work of non-fiction historical writing as a “novel.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

#15....monograph is the term.... historical monograph!

ang