ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank Almighty Allah who has always helped me in completing every work and
assignment successfully.
I express my deep gratitude to my elder sister, my teacher and friend for their valuable advice,
guidance, suggestion and direction in preparing the assignment.

INTRODUCTION
Effective Writing is a writing which has a logical flow of ideas and is cohesive. This means it
holds together well because there are links between sentences and paragraphs.Writing which is
clear, accurate, and concise is known as effective writing. One should write in a straightforward
way. It uses a language effectively to maintain a focus and to keep the reader 'on track'. There is
no need to write about science in unusual, complicated, or overly formal ways in an effort to
"sound scientific" or to impress the audience.

MECHANICS OF EFFECTIVE WRITING

Mechanics is the term used to describe the technical aspects of writing, such as spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, grammar, etc. Mechanics are very important. Many educated readers
will not even bother to read anything which is not mechanically well-written, either because it is
too hard for them to figure out what the writer is trying to say or the readers may place a negative
judgment on the writer and his ideas. The term Conventions is used nowadays to describe
punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Mechanics are the conventions of print that do not exist in
oral language. But, the most important characteristics of effective writing are shown in the
diagram given below:

The students should build their ability to generate ideas and develop them into paragraphs and
essays by carefully following the conventions of writing. They should focus on the punctuation
and sentence structure according to the rules of Standard English grammar. Effective writing
clearly communicates ideas to the readers. This usually includes a well-structured and engaging
sequence of ideas, including use of evidence to support these ideas. It also includes addressing
the appropriate audience, attributing credit to others through thorough citation, as well as a sense
of the authors own voice, and correct writing mechanics such as grammar and spelling. The
following characteristics are especially important for effective business writing:

Clear Purpose
Writer must be sure that whatever he writes is worth taking time to read. He must be clear about
the purpose of writing.

Clarity and Conciseness

The priority in business writing is the effective communication of specific information. Avoid
wasting words and be precise with the ones you choose. Keep together what goes together. Then,
work on conciseness: replace long phrases with shorter ones or eliminate words without loss of
clarity or accuracy.

Awareness of Audience
The author must know the audience he is writing to. It makes a difference whether he is
communicating with a customer service representative, a long-time co-worker, or a potential new
client. Beware of phrases and expressions that could be misunderstood or offensive. Know what
the reader needs and wants to hear, and allow that knowledge to shape the writing.

Appropriate Tone
One tricky aspect of writing is that tone (i.e., the attitude of the writer toward his subject or
audience) can easily be misinterpreted. Be aware that a letter can sound colder and more severe

than one may intend. Pay attention not only to what is said, but how the words may be
interpreted. Do not be overly informal or familiar.

Attention to Form (Format & Style)

Business letters, proposals, memos, and many other types of business writing require particular
formats. Adhering to standard form eliminates confusion and helps the reader quickly identify
the purpose of the document. Attention to details of form is more important in business writing
than most other kinds of writing.
In communication, every detail counts. Although your focus should be on conveying your
message through an appropriate structure at all levels, you should also save some time to attend
to the more mechanical aspects of writing in English, such as using abbreviations, writing
numbers, capitalizing words, using hyphens when needed, and punctuating your text correctly.

Using abbreviations
Beware of overusing abbreviations. Abbreviations help keep a text concise, but they can also
make it ambiguous. Many acronyms also have several possible extensions (e.g. GNP also stands
for gross national product). Write acronyms (and only acronyms) in all uppercase (GNP, not
gnp). Introduce acronyms systematically the first time they are used in a document. First write
the full expression, and then provide the acronym in parentheses.

Writing numbers
In general, write single-digit numbers (zero to nine) in words, as in three hours, and multidigit
numbers (10 and above) in numerals, as in 24 hours. This rule has many exceptions, but most of
them are reasonably intuitive. Use numerals for numbers from zero to nine

when using them with abbreviated units (3 mV);

in dates and times (3 October, 3 pm);

to identify figures and other items (Figure 3);

for consistency when these numbers are mixed with larger numbers (series of3, 7, and 24
experiments).

Capitalizing words
Capitals are often overused. In English, use initial capitals

at beginnings: the start of a sentence, of a heading, etc.;

for proper nouns, including nouns describing groups (compare physics and the Physics
Department);

for items identified by their number (compare in the next figure and in Figure 2), unless the
journal to which you submit your paper uses a different convention;

for specific words: names of days (Monday) and months (April), adjectives of nationality
(Algerian), etc.

In contrast, do not use initial capitals for common nouns.

Using Punctuation
Punctuation are marks such as periods (.),
question marks (?), exclamation points (!),
commas (,), apostrophes (), quotation marks (),
semi-colons (;), and colons (:). When used
correctly, they make writing look more organized
and easier to read and understand. They tell you
how to read a line and where to pause or breathe.
Even if youre not reading out loud, punctuation is
important to the meaning of text.
Commas are one of the most important punctuation marks, yet they are often ignored or
misused. They have many different uses. Usually, they are used to separate words or phrases,

such as clauses in a sentence, items in a list, transition words, and names, parts of a date or
address, and more.
If we are writing a compound sentence, we can use a comma and a conjunction to separate the
two or more ideas in that sentence. In series of three or more items, separate items with commas
(red, white, and blue; yesterday, today, or tomorrow). Do not use a comma for a series of two
items (black and white).
In displayed lists, use the same punctuation as in normal text.(drop the and). For example:
The system is fast, flexible, and reliable.
The system is

fast,

flexible,

reliable.

Use hyphens in English to clarify relationships in chains of words. Thus, low temperature
impact (without a hyphen) suggests a low impact of the temperature, whereas low-temperature
impact (with a hyphen) suggests the impact of or at low temperature. In general, do not use a
hyphen with a prefix, namely an element that is not a word in itself and that is added at the
beginning of a word to modify its meaning.
Quotations: In fiction, quotations are used mainly for writing dialogue, or characters speech. A
lot of people struggle with the correct way to write dialogue, especially at first, but once a person
get the hang of it, it is easy. Here are the basics:
First, every time one of the characters is saying something, all of their dialogue should be
contained inside quotation marks. For example, if the author had Brian saying, Im going to
church, he would write his line exactly as written above within quotation marks. [Im going
to church.]

If the line of dialogue stands by itself, like at the end of the above paragraph, he should end it
with a period, question mark, or exclamation point. The punctuation always goes INSIDE the
quotation marks, NOT outside. [Im going to church. ]the right way

[Im going to

church.] the wrong way. If the line of dialogue is followed by a clause like he said, he
should use a comma instead of a period. For example: [Im going to church, he said.]
However, if the dialogue would normally have a question mark or exclamation point instead of a
period, you can keep the question mark or exclamation point. For example: [Are you going to
church? he asked.] The punctuation still stays inside the quotation marks.
If we are writing a characters thoughts, something they are just thinking and not actually saying,
we dont need to use quotation marks. For example, if Brian is just thinking, I need to go to
church, we could write it like this: [I need to go to church, Brian thought.] That is all a matter of
the authors preference though.
Paragraphing: A paragraph is a group of sentences that all revolve around the same topic or
idea. In fiction, paragraphs can be as short as one or two sentences or much longer, depending
on how much the writer has to write about one certain thing and his own preference. In general,
a good-sized paragraph is about 5-7 sentences. If the paragraphs are consistently longer than
that, he might need to break up his story into more paragraphs. The general rule is, one should
start a new paragraph every time he start talking about something new.
CONCLUSION
Learning grammar rules and the mechanics of writing are critical components of learning to
write. Having strong skills in writing and grammar allows writers to get their message or story
to their readers in a clear and understandable way. It is important to know the rules of grammar
and how to use them properly. It is also increasingly the case that potential employers will look
at personal bio-data with the intention of identifying the writing skills as well. If the spelling,
grammar and punctuation do not come up to scratch for a job where those things matter or where
attention to detail is an important requirement, one may not be called for interview.

References

The Mechanics of Writing, Julie http://www.dreamers-sanctuary.com/mechanics.html

https://mgt.ncsu.edu/pdfs/career_resources/Grammar%20and%20Style.pdf

Five principles of effective business writing by Brian Wasko:

http://blog.writeathome.com/index.php/2012/10/5-principles-for-effective-business-writing/

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/effective-writing-13815989:
Communication for Scientists, Unit 2.2

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