LEC052042. Sethulakshmi C S."Mechanics of Writing"

 

        Mechanics of Writing


      
       Writing mechanics are the community governing the technical aspects of writing, including spelling, punctuation, capitalization and abbreviation. Getting main points together can be a challenge and one solution is to put together  draft of main ideas before            writing. Academic writing assignment becomes complete when we comply with the mechanics and conventions of writing specified for our discipline.Formal assignments require adherence to punctuation rules and stylistics restrictions. 

Punctuation:  

           In order to make reader to understand the message in the way intended it, it is essential to write meticulously following the punctuation rules. The meaning of a sentence depends on where the punctuation is place. Punctuation marks that are quite essential in achieving perfection in academic writing include comma, colon, semicolon, period, brackets, dash, hyphen, and quotation marks. 

Comma(,) 

         In writing the use of a comma tells the reader to pause or the word preceding the comma is part of a list. A comma can used in a variety of ways in writing. 

Semicolon(;) 
          
          A semicolon indicates a pause or a break in a sentence which is longer than a comma but shorter than a period. Usually semicolons seperate two closely related independent clauses in a sentence. They are also used to replace commas in a series. 

Colon(:) 
           
           Colons are often used formal and informal context. 

Double quotation mark("") 

            In academic writing double inverted commas or quotation marks are generally used to present a material directly taken from a source. They are also used to set off titles of essays, Poems and stories. 

Single quotation mark(") 

             The single quotation mark becomes handy when you introduce a word or phrase as a technical term; and when you use a word as a word. Besides, If you want to show a quote within a quote you can show the first quote in double inverted commas and the quote within single inverted commas. 

Appostrophe (') 

          The main use of appostrophe is to indicate a contraction or possession. Appostrophe is also used to form the plural of a number, letter, symbol, abbreviation or a word presented as a word and to indicate some omitted letters in informal writing. 

Parentheses and Brackets() []

         As a general punctuation mark, parentheses are used to set off an information which is non essential to the meaning of the sentence;it is also used to expand or clarify the preceding information to expand abbreviations and to insert dates. 

Dash(_) 

       Dash is also called 'em dash'. It should not be confused with its slightly shorter version, en dash(_) and the hyphen(-) . An em dash is three times longer than a hyphen. Em dash can be used to replace a colon, comma or parentheses and commas are considered less formal. 

Hyphen(-) 
 
         Recent times have witnessed widespread use of hyphenated words and so you may find variations in the way hyphens are use by different writers. 

Period (.) 
 
          The period is considered as the simplest punctuation mark. Period falls at the end of a sentence. 

Capitalization:  

    Capitalization refers to writing the first letter of a word in uppercase and the rest in lowercase. Use capitalization only if it is essential. Writing words in all caps is not considered as a standard practice in formal writing. 


Spelling:

       
            In written language spelling is the correct arrangement of letters and words to improve spelling skills. Use a memory device known as mnemonics. This memorable phrase, acronymor pattern can come in handy for remembering somethings like the spelling of a word. 

Abbreviation:

  Abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or a phrase. 
 
These are the technical  aspects used in academic writing for making a clear and accurate writing. 

References-

Mechanics of writing composition- Thought co. 
Mechanics and conventions of writing. 

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