Summary: Whatever is worth saying is worth saying well, especially matters of the faith.
If you followed the prewriting and research processes you have gathered a lot of material that is loosely categorized under the points of your preliminary outline. You may also have a good idea how to state your thesis. Now comes the hard work of assembling a draft that presents a cogent argument. This section of the CTH writing guide gives you some practical tips on putting together a nearly final draft of your paper.
One of the primary mistakes that student writers make is assuming that if they are to be taken seriously their writing needs to be dense and difficult to read. But consider which books, articles, or other works have captured your attention so fully that you wanted to read more of the author's work. Although the topic itself, along with the evidence the author presented, may have been the main thing you found engaging, most likely the author's writing style may have also drawn you in, kept you interested, and most important, illuminated the topic instead of confusing you.
In academic writing, style can refer to the formatting conventions used for a paper, such as font, page margins, citations, paragraph spacing, etc. But it can also refer to how the text itself is constructed. Whereas with formatting conventions there is almost always a right and wrong answer, with writing style there are multiple choices that an individual writer can make within a spectrum of right answers. Over time, writers develop their own distinctive style, but effective communicators know how to adapt their personal style to suit the audience, purpose, and context for which they are writing, without compromising the message itself. A paper in which the author has paid attention to matters of style and organization, as well as audience and purpose, will be a pleasure to read because it is more likely to be clear, coherent, concise, and above all, meaningful.
The information provided in the sections below below is organized to zoom in from big picture to the minute details such as word choice. This pattern may seem backwards, but when you consider that the final step in prewriting is to develop a preliminary outline for recording your research findings, it makes perfect sense. For the purposes of this discussion, an example of a well constructed argument is available in Captains and Courts: A Biblical Defense of Episcopal Government (C&C), written by our very own Presiding Bishop Ray Sutton. A consummate writer and teacher, Bishop Sutton has mastered the art of presenting information in such a way that it is easy to follow and understand. If you will open C&C in another tab or window, you can follow along with the sections below that discuss how it illustrates excellent organization, sentence linking, sentence structure, and word choice.
As you compose your initial draft, be aware of your goal. Are you trying to construct a logical case to persuade your audience? Is your goal to inform your audience? Even if you are writing to an audience of one (your professor) to demonstrate how much you have learned in the course, do not bury your message in a fog of rambling words. Here are the three basic rules of organization:
Chunk information into sections of related concepts.
Present the chunks in a logical order that your reader can process.
Provide headings, subheadings, and listing methods to serve as a roadmap for your argument.
The following quotation from page 1 of C&C illustrates points 1 and 2 perfectly:
I will present a Biblical basis for a captains and courts system, starting with an explanation of my methodology. I then develop the basis of New Testament from the Old Testament, isolating four basic principles of polity. Next, I examine the same principles in the New Testament. At last, I present a study of the three basic offices of Deacon, Presbyter, and Bishop. Finally, I do some comparing and contrasting with other systems, on the one hand demonstrating that hierarchy is inescapable in one form or another, and on the other hand, showing the advantage of a hierarchical-yet-representative form of Church government.
In these sentences, Sutton not only presents his thesis but also maps out how he will present the case for it. In the full text of the paper, his chapter titles and internal headings (point 3) reinforce the organizational pattern that he has described in the introduction.
Information mapping should be applied not only at the document level but also at each subsequent level. Within each chapter (if applicable), each section or subsection, each paragraph, and each sentence, your ideas should be presented in such a way that an educated reader can easily follow the argument. In a multipart argument, lists, bullets, or ordinal words (first, second, third, etc.) will draw attention to your line of reasoning. Consider this example from pages 13 and 14 of C&C:
* First, a symmetrical system prevents elitism. ...
* Second, a symmetrical hierarchy prevents exclusivism. ...
* Third, a symmetrical hierarchy creates true localism. ...
Information mapping is the main way to keep your reader oriented, but providing transition words and phrases is a close second.
Inexperienced writers sometimes string concepts and quotations together with no indication of how they relate to each other or the rest of the document. Learning to add transitional paragraphs, sentences, phrases, and words to delineate those relationships will make your message flow for the reader. For an example of this skill in action, look at the final paragraph on page 7 of C&C, which introduces the topic of the royal priesthood that is further discussed in the following chapter. The first word of that transition paragraph (thus) also illustrates the use of transition words, which include however, therefore, or for example. Such markers show how one idea is related to what preceded it. Transition words are useful between paragraphs and sentences, and are even used within sentences (this one, for example).
Not every sentence and paragraph needs added transitions; use them only where you need to clarify the connections among your ideas. One way to tell whether you need to add connectors is to make one pass through the document test each sentence or quotation by asking "so what?" If you cannot see its significance in light of the context, find a way to articulate the connection. If there is no significance, delete it. Every word in your document needs to do its part in supporting your overall message. (Read more about "so what?" here.)
For an example of the use of transition words, search C&C, where you will find 54 instances of however, 28 of therefore, 57 of thus, 14 of for example, and 8 each of furthermore and moreover. Read the context of some of those transitions and see how the transition word creates effective flow from thought to thought. For more information on showing your reader how your ideas are connected, read this discussion of transition words, which includes categorized lists of transition words with examples.
Theology, like any other academic discipline, has its own set of specialized terms that are not accessible to uninitiated readers. Where such terms are appropriate, use them if your audience is likely to know them (making sure, of course, that you know the correct meaning yourself), or define them if they are integral to your message and your reader is not likely to know them. But unless the purpose of your paper is to discuss concepts such as infralapsarianism, sublapsarianism, and supralapsarianism, do not go out of your way to include difficult terms just to sound intelligent. Similarly, knowing Greek and Hebrew is important for your understanding of Scripture, but unless your message cannot be stated without it, do not include original language in your paper. For examples of how words from the original language can illuminate your writing, turn again to C&C, page 53, where Sutton explains that the Hebrew word in God's command to Adam to cultivate or till the earth means "serve," linking Adam's function in the garden to that of a deacon.
Although your ideas may be complex, follow the example of Scripture and express them with simple examples and familiar comparisons. Consider these examples from C&C.
Further, the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the New Testament implies that the relationship of the Old Testament to the New Testament is like an acorn to a tree. (page 4)
Jesus provided through this system for the pastoral needs of His sheep to be met on the largest scale ever in His kingdom. He ordained the oversight of thousands of communion tables all over the world. (page 21)
One source of wordiness is writers inserting themselves into their argument rather than letting their evidence speak for itself. Consider how frustrating it is to snap what you think is a photo of a special event and later discover that instead you have a blurry shot of your own thumb. Using first person pronouns is not acceptable in academic writing, especially if you introduce your sentences with "I think" or "I believe" or "in my opinion." You are its author; readers will assume it contains your thoughts and beliefs.
Many professors generally avoid attaching an arbitrary word limit to their paper assignments because students tend to focus on that superficial requirement and will possibly end up padding their papers with wordy phrases, hedge words, and nebulous language.
Kudos if you caught the irony in the previous sentence. Generally, possibly, and tend are examples of hedge words that bog down your argument. For more information on writing concisely, review this information from the University of North Carolina.
Prepackaged ideas and trite expressions are a hollow substitute for critical thinking. Long before the internet gave virtually everyone a communication platform, writing instructors discouraged students from using clichés in academic writing. Now the widespread use of social media has added even more entries to the list of words and phrases to avoid. Consider two patronizing expressions that have made their way into everyday speech by way of social media:
Sit with that for a while.
Read that again.
The flippant rhetoric of social media is a hindrance to civil discourse, and it adds unnecessary noise to your message. There is certainly no place for it in a formal academic paper.
Once you have a workable draft, go back through it with these same principles in mind. If your professor does not object, find a colleague who will read and comment on your paper, noting any unclear passages or sections that need additional information mapping or transitions. Also note if each passage is placed for best effect. Sometimes writers find that by the time they get their initial draft written they have a much better idea of what they want to say and that their conclusion would be even better as an introduction. The cut-and-paste function is one of the best tools a writer could have. (Read more about writing conclusions here)
Students who turn in their first draft are missing the opportunity to craft a powerful message. The secret to excellence in writing lies in editing and rewriting, and eventually moving on to the final stage of proofreading for grammar and punctuation.
Additional Resources
Introduction to Graduate Writing Style
Sentences: Types, Variation, and Concision
Exercises on writing clear sentences at Purdue OWL