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Tenets of Good Writing

Don’t stand out negatively

Copyright © 99colleges.com

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Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Structure 5

Sentences 8

Punctuation 11

Editing 15

Cover Letter Template 17

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Reference:

1. Several successful and unsuccessful essays, the most important

2. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White

3. The Penguin Writer’s Manual by Martin Manser and Stephen Curtis

4. The Penguin Guide to Punctuation by R. L. Trask

5. Eats, Shoots & Roots: The Zero Tolerance Approach to

Punctuation by Lynne Truss

Consider these examples:

Four years ago I took my first step towards that dream and started training

in kickboxing. (Comma missing)

Four years ago, I took my first step towards that dream and started training in kickboxing.

As we fought for equality, we realized that the Jewish community had become much more

committed not only to defending its rights as a minority, but also the rights of others different from

them. (Not only and but also are not in parallel formation)

As we fought for equality, we realized that the Jewish community had become much more

committed to defend not only its rights as a minority, but also the rights of others different from

them.

I was able to maintain our business’s ability to quote projects after short notice of a supplier cut-

off several months earlier than expected. (Difficult to understand because of its convoluted

structure)

After our supplier withdrew from the committed supply much earlier than expected, I stepped in to

ensure our ability to quote for new projects. (Reworded to bring clarity)

These are few of the sentences taken from the essays of applicants admitted to HBS in the class

of 2017 (Harbus Essay Guide). Such mistakes aren’t uncommon, more so in case of non-native

speakers. In one such essay, there were at least eight clear mistakes, and this is not counting an

average structure and flow, which isn’t a mistake in true sense.

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When it comes to language - presentation (structure and flow), grammar, and punctuation -

admission committees aren’t looking for the class of next Pulitzer-award winner; they merely

want professional writing. In fact, they are somewhat tolerant (at least for non-native speakers) to

few mistakes, but we don’t know if those applicants had exceptional profiles which compensated

for few mistakes in their language. Strong or average profile, why would you give smallest of

chance which may affect your candidacy. It’s an extremely competitive process after all.

Some schools mention it explicitly, some don’t, but professional language is important.

UCLA Anderson, for example, mentions this:

Content and clarity are key elements, as we seek superior communication skills.

Style is a consideration too, although we understand that those who speak other

languages may have different manners of expression in English….

Rotman School of Management is more forthcoming:

MBA essays are designed to allow prospective students to express themselves in formal

prose. In doing so, applicants convey to the Admissions committee why they should be

considered for the program not only through the content of the essays, but the style and

tone in which they are written. It goes without saying that the grammar, spelling, and

punctuation must be impeccable…

And Darden:

Use the essay to display your writing skills and tell us more about yourself.

The most common slip-ups, as far as language is concerned, in essays are transition, structure,

and comma. This document will cover not only these, but also few others where applicants

regularly make mistakes. It, of course, will not be the most comprehensive document on

grammar, punctuation, or presentation, but it will definitely cover the most relevant parts in

terms of frequency of usage and/ or mistakes made. Let’s start, then.

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One idea, one paragraph

This is the rule of thumb:

one idea, one paragraph.

For example, if you are

writing an essay on the

biggest mistake you’ve

made, one of the structures

could be:

First paragraph: what was the mistake?

Second paragraph: what were the circumstances under which you made that mistake?

Third paragraph: what did you learn from the experience, and how you adopted those lessons?

Here, each paragraph covers one idea, and proceeds sequentially from one to the other. In

another example, if you are writing an essay on your career goals, one of the structures could be:

First paragraph: a brief background of things that you’ve done till now that will support your

future goals.

Second paragraph: what are your short-term goals and what makes you excited about them?

Third paragraph: what are your long-term goals and how your past experiences and short-term

goals will lead to your long-term goals?

Fourth paragraph: how will the school help you in achieving your goals, particularly short-term?

Structure

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For example, in an essay on ‘what gives you the greatest joy?’, the applicant started with the

following anecdote of helping a classmate, and went on to build the story that helping others

gives him the greatest joy:

One of my happiest childhood moments was helping my classmate to get an “A” grade in

Mathematics in high school. My classmate, Mike, was weak in Mathematics and was too afraid to

ask the teacher as the teacher often scolded him.

Transit smoothly between paragraphs (and also sentences)

To quote from The Elements of

Style by Strunk and White:

As a rule, begin each paragraph

either with a sentence that suggests

the topic or with a sentence that

helps the transition. If a paragraph

forms part of a larger composition,

its relation to what precedes, or its

function as a part of the whole,

may need to be expressed. This can

sometimes be done by a mere word

or phrase (again, therefore, for the

same reason) in the first sentence.

Sometimes, however, it is

expedient to get into the topic slowly, by way of a sentence or two of introduction or

transition.

”

Depending on the essay prompt, try opening the first paragraph with a brief,

relevant experience. Such opening draws the reviewer into your essay by

breaking the monotony of dozens of similar-format essays and stands you apart.

This isn’t necessary, but it’s a good practice.

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For example:

In the short term, I would like to leverage my nearly five years of experience in oil fields and

work as an Energy Consultant with a specialized consulting firm like Schlumberger. The role will

not only add managerial skills to my existing technical skills, but also build the network in the

industry, so crucial for my long-term goal.

After working for 3-4 years as Energy Consultant, I would like to start a service company – my

long term goal - providing completion services to oil companies in India…

Comments: Here, the underlined part works as glue between the two paragraphs.

Another:

These extracurricular activities during college laid the foundation in leadership and teamwork

skills, which helped me secure the coveted placement with Schlumberger.

Another aspect of my life that I want to share is …

Comments: In this example, ‘another’ – a single word – makes the transition smooth.

Smooth transition, whether between sentences or paragraphs, makes your writing clear and easy

to follow.

Here are few resources from Purdue University on this topic:

What is good transition?

Transitional words arranged according to their use

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Avoid quotes by famous personalities unless you can pull it off

Howsoever apt it may be in the

context of the essay, avoid

quotations unless you can pull

them off really well. The

admission committee is

interested in knowing you and

your views through the essays,

and not someone else’s. Moreover, every word comes at a premium because of severe space

constraint (word limit), and, therefore, you should use it wisely.

Here is an example (from Harbus HBS Essay Guide) of a quote pulled off well:

First paragraph: A single line quote by XYZ, a famous personality, followed by this paragraph

describing the thoughts this quote engendered:

While in university, I was presented with a major opportunity to live out XYZ’s words as a

member of a group of Jewish students with the common purpose of identifying a meaningful

social issue and acting on it.

Comments: The next paragraph, then, takes on from this and builds on the quote.

But quote people in the plot, sometimes

To add variety and to show exact conversation, especially when it’s emotional and dramatic, you

can quote people who are part of the situation you are describing in your essay.

Contrast the following two descriptions of the same situation:

Sentences

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“I want the machine urgently. The gas is overflowing, and we are helplessly watching our

reputation crumbling,” my supervisor almost begged during his frantic call to Dubai, as the

machine wasn’t available in India.

Since the gas was overflowing and we couldn’t do much about it, my supervisor made an urgent

call to Dubai, the nearest hub, to get the machine as it was not available in India.

There isn’t much difference between the two sentences in terms of message and word count (34),

but the first evokes more interest than the second. As said in the beginning, this works really well

when the situation has heightened level of emotions.

But, don’t overdo it. One or two instances are good enough in an essay.

Be specific, not vague

Examples:

The project achieved success beyond our

expectations.

The project broke even in just 10 months –

2 months ahead of forecast, and it was

listed in the top-10 projects in 2014.

Despite so many constraints, we completed

the project well within time.

Despite so many constraints, we completed

the project four days ahead of schedule.

Weather has improved.

It has stopped raining and the sun is out again.

Vary your sentences

Late Gary Provost, one of the most popular writing instructors in U.S. and author of 24 books in

multiple genres, famously wrote:

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This sentence has five words. Here are

five more words. Five-word sentences

are fine. But several together become

monotonous. Listen to what is

happening. The writing is getting

boring. The sound of it drones. It's like

a stuck record. The ear demands some

variety.

Now listen. I vary the sentence length,

and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use

short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the

reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns

with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the

cymbals--sounds that say listen to this, it is important.

Does you writing look like the first paragraph? If yes, then it needs the variation of second. Vary

the length of sentences, start with subordinate clauses, and sometimes end with them.

Consider following three examples describing the same situation:

I considered the evidence carefully. I think disciplinary action is called for. I am writing to the

managing director and expect his reply by Tuesday.

The evidence has been carefully considered and there seems to be ground for disciplinary action.

The managing director has been informed by letter and his reply is expected by Tuesday.

Having considered the evidence carefully, I think disciplinary action is called for. I am writing to

the managing director and expect his reply by Tuesday.

Comments: The first, with both the sentences starting with ‘I’, is monotonous. The second uses

passive voice in both the sentences, and, therefore, is impersonal and less direct. Third, with

variation in the sentences and use of active voice is clearly the best.

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With many – comma, full stop,

exclamation, semicolon, colon, dash,

hyphen, brackets, and capitalization to

name few - under its span,

punctuation is a vast topic, and it’ll be

futile to try cover everything here.

Therefore, we’ll cover mainly those

(comma, hyphen, and italics) where

applicants typically make more

mistakes. Of these, comma also

happens to be one of the most

commonly used punctuation marks.

Comma

Within comma, there are multiple rules – joining commas, listing commas, bracketing commas,

gapping commas, commas with speech, and so on, but here we’ll cover only those rules which

are more prone to mistakes and are more widely used.

Joining comma

Norway has applied to join the EC, and Sweden is expected to do the same.

You must hand in your essay by Friday, or you will receive zero.

Britain has long been isolated in Europe, but now she is beginning to find allies.

Joining comma is used to join two complete sentences into a single sentence,

and it (comma) must be followed by a suitable connecting word. The

connecting words that can be used this way are and, or, but, yet, and while.

Punctuation

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Billions of dollars have been hurled into the Star Wars projects, yet we appear to have nothing to

show for this colossal expenditure.

A dropped goal counts three points in rugby union, while in rugby league it only counts one point.

Comments: The two sentences in each example above are complete sentences and they can be

connected using a comma only by using and, or, but, yet, and while.

However, without these connecting words, you cannot join two complete sentences with a

comma. In the following examples, commas have been used wrongly:

Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest countries, its annual income is only $80 per person.

The British are notoriously bad at learning foreign languages, the Dutch are famously good at it.

Borg won his fifth straight Wimbledon title in 1980, the following year he lost in the final to

McEnroe.

Also, other connecting words such as however, therefore, hence, consequently, nevertheless, and

thus cannot be preceded by a joining comma.

Saturn was long thought to be the only ringed planet, however, this has now proved to be wrong.

Two members of the expedition were too ill to continue, nevertheless others decided to press on.

Liverpool are five points behind the leaders, therefore they must win both their remaining games.

In all the three examples above, the correct form will have a semicolon, and not comma.

Separating subordinate clause from the main clause

(Click here to learn more about subordinate and main clause.)

When a subordinate clause or phrase begins a sentence, a comma is often used to separate it from

the rest of the sentence. Rule of thumb in this regard: when you read the sentence aloud, there

appears to be a gap in the flow between the two words containing the comma (Paris … come, in

the first example below):

When you next go to Paris, come and see me.

Since you’re so clever, why don’t you sort the whole thing out yourself?

As the Federation’s president, I gave press interviews and led diversity seminars in university

campuses. (This is from Harbus HBS Essay Guide. The comma was missing in this sentence.)

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A comma is often used before a subordinate clause or phrase positioned after a main clause

(reverse of the previous situation):

I’m very fond of him, although I’m well aware that he has his faults.

Barbara couldn’t come, because she had a prior engagement.

An exception to the above rule: commas are not used before clauses beginning with that

It is possible that the delivery of the goods might be late.

She told me that the rumors were untrue.

Italics

For drawing attention (say, emphasizing) to particular part of a text. Use italics rather than

boldface (which is mainly used for chapter titles and section headings) for this purpose:

The Battle of New Orleans was fought in January 1815, two weeks after the peace treaty had been

signed. [Emphasizing ‘two weeks’]

It’s meant for you, and not Mary. [Emphasizing ‘you’]

For citing English words that are being talked about (single quote can also be used here):

The origin of the word boy (or ‘boy’) is unknown.

Note the spelling difference between premier and premiere.

For citing foreign words and phrases:

At Basque festivals, a favorite entertainment is the sokamuturra, in which …

Hyphen

There are dozen-odd rules for hyphen, but the most commonly used are:

Compound modifiers

A hyphen is used to make compound modifiers. Here are few sets of examples where the first in

the pair doesn’t need a hyphen, but the second needs one to avoid distortion in meaning:

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She kissed him good night. | She gave him good-night kiss.

Comments: Without hyphen, the meaning could be some kind of night kiss

Her dress is light green. | She’s wearing a light-green dress.

Her son is ten years old. | She has a ten-year-old son.

Here are few examples from HBS Essay Guide which required a hyphen, but were without them:

We enabled small and middle-sized suppliers who only had access to one country in the region to

expand their markets to all the countries where our client was present.

I saw this challenge as my opportunity to apply everything I learned at Annapolis to a real-world

situation.

I threw a jab to stop him and low-kicked him again.

Numerals

Compound numerals from twenty-one to ninety-nine are written with hyphens:

Mozart was only thirty-five years old when he died.

But, no additional hyphens are required in writing larger numbers:

A leap year has three hundred and sixty-six days.

The maximum possible score with three darts is one hundred and eighty.

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“The first draft of anything is garbage.”

- Ernest Hemingway, one of the most influential authors of the 20th century

Don’t worry if your first draft looks pathetic. It’s often the case with most.

Don’t write and edit at the same time

You can either edit as you write, sentence by sentence, or

write the entire essay first, and then edit. In the first case,

you switch tasks (between writing and editing) frequently

and reduce productivity significantly. When you are

switching from one task (writing) to the other (editing), your

writing momentum gets killed, and it takes significantly

longer to complete the essay.

So, organize the essay, write it out, and then edit, finally.

See again after few days

To quote Penguin Writer’s Manual:

Where circumstances allow, it helps to leave an interval of time between the writing of a

draft and its revision. After time spent doing something else, you may well be able to

come back to your writing with fresh eyes and greater willingness to be self-critical. Not

only that, but the unconscious mind tends to work on in secret, while your conscious

attention is directed elsewhere.

…For an even fresher view of the situation, show what you have written to someone else

– preferably someone you trust and whose judgment you respect – and ask for his or her

Editing

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comments. It is not always

advisable to do this with a first

draft, which is in many cases

made in order to be discarded;

but a second or third draft,

which you have already gone

over carefully yourself, will

probably benefit from a friendly

but critical assessment by

someone else [emphasis added].

Besides having gap between writing the first draft and its revision, there are two other key

takeaways here:

Get it reviewed by someone who can assess it critically. Harbus HBS Essay Guide too

emphasizes this point in their summary of best practices:

… Secondly, seek out feedback on drafts of your essay from people who know

you well. Others can tell you whether your essay makes sense, but only people

who know you well can tell you whether your essay really brings out you.

And ideally don’t give your first draft for someone’s review. It’s usually bad.

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Some MBA programs require applicants to write a cover letter as part of their application

process. Though there are few standard formats to choose from, this is one of the most widely

used. Note, unlike the ones used in North America, this format doesn’t have commas:

168 Greys Ferry Avenue

Newark 110094

abc@gmail.com

12 April 2015

Tim Smith

34 Cedar Grove

Newark 110086

Dear Mr. Smith

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Yours sincerely

Your name

Your address is usually

placed in top-right corner.

Recipient’s address is

usually placed on left

margin, below your address.

If you don’t know recipient’s name,

then you can write the salutation as

‘Dear Sir/ Madam’. In North America,

a colon (:) is often used after the

salutation in business letters.

‘Yours sincerely’ is commonly used

when you are writing to a person

whose name you know, otherwise

you use ‘Yours faithfully’.

Cover Letter Template