Improve your Writing (Paraphrasing, Summarising, and Quoting)

Ok so some of you might be confused as to my latest article. I should have put this one up before that one. Hope this one helps you understand a little better.

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When writing we use other sources to give our writing more credibility, but not just that, we also use it to make out statements stronger. We also look really smart when we can use statistics and other information, and lets face it, we all want to look smart.

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So to give you a better picture of what I mean. Imagine a really stupid person (intellectually) and put a fancy suite on him. Tada! now he looks smart. This is what you do with your writing when you use summaries, paraphrases, and quotations.

It is important to understand what these 3 things are before you go and stick them in your writing. To give you another image: if you take this "smart suit" and wear the pants as the shirt and the shirt as the pants and the jacket as a hat, well it makes your writing look even more stupid.

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Summary

This is a condense form, shortened version, of the main points and ideas of the other persons writing. When you summarise you leave out all examples, illustrations and anything that is extra and not needed to make your point better. If your summary is longer than the original text... well you doing it wrong. Remember to state the source of where you get the information from.

Paraphrasing

You generally paraphrase when you do not want to quote or you can word the quote better using your own words. You might also want to paraphrase to not have so many quotes littered across your paper. You might think this is similar to summarising, but there is a difference. Summarising is a sort version of just all the main points where paraphrasing is everything from the original text, just written into your own words.

Direct quotations

You know when you go to a really fancy restaurant and the food is so good, then you go to McDonalds because you are still hungry. Direct quotations is like that, it is like going to McDonalds ordering that horrible food then combining it with your fancy restaurant food.

Your direct quotations give your bland and somewhat boring writing a bit more taste and excitement. Now this goes back to using to much quotations, you eat to much of that good food and you will break the bank.

ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE!!!

For more info check out:
www.byui.edu/academic-support-center/writing

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By the way I hate McDonalds...

Just on a little side note for self improvement. I will be doing pushups and situps for the amount of $$$ I earn on this post and will give a short feedback every day at the end of each post. This will be split in half pushups, half situps. As promised I will be doing 111 pushups and 111 situps. Any not done will carry onto the next day. Oh boy am I going to die today...