‹ Go back to educational blog

Useful Tips on Basic Writing Conventions

June 26, 2020
Useful Tips on Basic Writing Conventions

Writing essays, as well as completing any other academic assignments, maybe quite a challenging task for students. You should learn theoretical material and practice a lot to master writing skills. Besides, a student may need some help and professional advice so that he/she can consult with the teacher. Moreover, the students should carefully clarify all the requirements before writing a particular assignment. 

The definition of writing conventions can vary; however, generally, it relates to the necessity and importance of making the text comprehensible, easily understood, clear, and readable. To create the text that flows smoothly, all the periods, commas, hyphens, dashes, etc. should be placed properly and correctly. 

The meaning of all the ideas and thoughts ought to be understandable. So, you should follow all the necessary rules to write an appropriate paper. Advanced writing skills can not only help in getting high marks at college/ university, but also in the future career. Developed and improved writing skills are highly valued in professional environments. 

Basic Definition of Writing Conventions

Writing conventions are supposed to be the language rules which enable and facilitate the readers to understand the text. They work as signposts, provide familiar ground for the understanding of the message, activate meaning, show how to read the text. 

Of course, there are various requirements for every type of essay, particularly taking into account the educational level, so that you should have a deep understanding of all the necessary points, such as grammar, sentence structure, the language in general, and so on. The students usually need to complete a range of papers in different disciplines across the curriculum. 

The student should find the just-right words to formulate the message. All the writing conventions of grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. ought to be followed. 

Basic Writing Conventions

Some texts can be quite tough not only due to the complexity of a particular topic but also because they may not be written well. Each of the groups of conventions in writing has got its significant relevance that ought to be completely mastered for writing the essays of high quality. One of the biggest groups of such writing conventions contains spelling, grammar, punctuation. 

Speaking and writing are two different things so that the students should thoroughly study all the writing conventions, even if they generally understand how to use various grammar rules. As for the grammar aspect, the students should know how to change the forms of the words, combine them, and create coherent sentences.

 You should be aware of the proper use of gerunds, -ed ending, and a lot of other points. You ought to be consistent in time usage, understand the context, and distinctly know the difference between the tenses, for instance, Past Simple and Present Perfect. The audience should be sure about the selected time-frame as well as the sequence of actions that are described in the text. 

Spelling is one more vital part of appropriate writing conventions. It is essential; just imagine you are reading a story. So, any illiteracy may ruin the whole impression. Accordingly, the students should always pay attention to this aspect and attentively check the spelling. 

Punctuation in Writing Conventions

Punctuation matters in writing conventions. The students should correctly as well as appropriate use commas- do not underuse and don`t overuse them. Commas imply pausing, so their incorrect usage may confuse the readers. You ought to differentiate dashes and hyphens. 

Of course, we should mention the personal style of writing that can involve several individual peculiarities. However, such explanations can be implemented in some instances in fiction, but it may not be accepted by the teachers. 

Indeed, academic standards exist for a good reason, and there is a set of rules that should be followed. So that personal quirks in writing (for example, placing ellipses after every sentence and so on) can lead to improper completion of the academic assignment. The students should be effective and careful in the personal manner of writing and going around the academic standards for creative purposes; first, these standards ought to be mastered. 

The theory is also an integral part of learning how to write along with practice. The students need to get familiar with all do`s as well as don`ts. It is nice when a student has an opportunity to obtain clear guidance for improving his/ her writing.

Writing Conventions Basic Tips

The language rules differ depending on the genre and content. Formal essays require particular writing conventions. You should avoid shortened and informal words, incomprehensible symbols, etc. What you use on Facebook, the conventions in peer text messaging, or the language Hollywood characters speak won`t comply with the formal standards of academic writing. Moreover, the set of rules for writing the essays substantially varies from poetry composing. 

Here below, you may find some basic recommendations on Standard English conventions for college essay:

  • Correctly place citations;
  • Properly put punctuation marks;
  • Avoid abbreviations;
  • Write the person`s entire name when first mentioning;
  • Avoid using fragments and run-on sentences;
  • Write in complete sentences;
  • And many more.

Convention Checklist for Elementary Students

A final convention checklist is a crucial element. The prepared list can considerably help the students in catching the mistakes. For example, is there time consistency in the text? Do all the sentences begin with the capital letter, end with a period or a question mark? What about the spelling? Is everything correct? Do you write the words, such as “its” and “it`s” properly? etc. There are multiple points to check, so, please, keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list of writing conventions. These are only some basic approximate examples of checklist questions that should be extended and studied further in detail. 

Conventions checklist is an integral step of the editing process. Remember to carefully review and proofread your paper as many times as it is necessary. The students can also ask someone they trust to review the essay with fresh eyes. The paper should be submitted when it is polished and entirely completed. Check everything several times, do not miss any single mistake of any type. Your essay should be written in a necessary style, format, following all the requirements so that you should check all the requirements in advance by asking your professor. 

Conclusion

Now you know the importance of crafting the essays by following the writing conventions. Start practicing and progressively improve your writing skills. You should study the topic of writing conventions further and meticulously check the paper according to all the necessary aspects. 

Note that this article does not contain all the conventions in writing, so you should investigate this topic in greater detail. Clarify all the requirements for the academic assignment by asking your teacher. Stick to the writing conventions to create a perfect essay. 

If you need any assistance with your writing assignments, please, feel free to contact us. We are always ready to help. Good luck to you!