Dear Students in Earth Science 301,

A colleague once asked me what I did in Earth Science Writing. I sent a letter about course goals. These goals are relevant to you. The letter follows.

Enclosed is a copy of my writing handbook (now in electronic form). The book is certainly not perfect and is constantly changing. The exercises reflect both my goals and obsessions. Many of these arose from a multidisciplinary Writing Across The Curriculum workshop held at MSU in the 1980's.

1. Students should learn to use the scientific journals in the library through instruction not trial and error.

2. There are several important guidelines.

a. Write with a position or point of view in mind. For students past the sophomore level, papers should go beyond description. Description may be used to persuade, but should not be the objective of the paper. A good paper should take a position, make a point, persuade or convince the reader that a particular approach or point of view is correct.

b. A good paper probably does not need a conclusion because if the paper is well written, the conclusion should be clear to the reader.

c. Short papers develop incisive writing. Long papers often ramble. Require a short paper.

d. The introduction is a key source of procrastination and should be written last.

e. Write from the inside out: first write the position statement, then the body, then the conclusion, then the introduction. Ideas evolve with writing. Writing is a thinking tool. Introductions and conclusions also evolve and should be written last to save time and frustration.

f. Figures and tables should be used in a paragraph rather than tossed into a paper like so much salt and pepper. A reader presented with data and no explanation or development will nearly always reach a conclusion different than the writers. Lead the reader through the data to the point. Every paragraph should have a clear transition that looks back to the previous paragraph and forward to the coming idea. This sentence, if crafted carefully, should also look to the position so that the thread of the argument and the idea are clear. Transitions provide the thread that makes the parts of the paper a whole, and the line that leads the reader to the writer's conclusion.

h. Every paper should be rewritten. Pedagogically it is better to criticize a paper during the semester rather than at the end. Criticism of a final paper at the end of a semester has far less impact on student learning. Criticism during the semester provides an the opportunity to improve.

i. Writing is a slow and incremental process. Miracles do not happen over night.

Sincerely,

Steve Custer