Writing professionally, you run into things you may not have seen in awhile. The world is getting so informal and unprofessional that some of the old things go flying out the window. It takes a minute to catch up on concepts you learned years ago and get ready to apply them today.

The difference between MLA and APA is just one of those things. In fact, you just might at this moment be thinking what in the world they even are. Some of you might have a faint memory that they are documentation guidelines. But, you might not be able to remember much more than that.

If you have any kind of document to present in whatever venue you need, whether your boss needs a research journal or your professor needs an essay, you have guidelines to follow. They may have given you some guidelines on their own. But, you also have a style that your paper needs to conform to upon presentation. That style could either be MLA or APA.

MLA Style

The Modern Language Association (MLA) was formed in the late eighteen hundreds as a forum for the study of literature. Lasting throughout the years, it has become the authority on the format for documents written in scholarly pursuit. College students writing English papers or professional writers making their contribution to literature would use the MLA style.

The MLA publishes the MLA Style Manual, which answers every question for how to format your paper. If you want to know how to set the margins, it has the answer. It will tell you how to space your document and create a cover page. It will tell you how to paginate your pages and where to put the appendices. But, I think the most important role the MLA Style Manual serves is how to cite the works of others when you use them in your paper.

Plagiarism isn’t just a blatant disrespect for the work of others. It continues into cases where a work wasn’t cited properly. If you mention an author’s name in the paragraph where you are discussing that author’s work, you only need to add that work of literature to the “Works Cited” page at the end of your document. But, the guidelines are technical regulations so that there are no confusions. Plagiarism can definitely come into play when you quote or paraphrase another writer’s words, but the source of those words is unclear to the reader.

It might be considered a small infraction to you when you miss a period or a comma in your listing of a work you cited. And authors could really care less about a small period in your “Reference” list even though it’s a significant part of the MLA Style of citation. They will make a note that you don’t know how to pay attention and don’t know what you’re doing, which takes away from your overall credibility. But, they really don’t care when you make a small mistake like that. What they get upset about is when you blur the lines and you don’t make it clear that you used their work to support your own. Of course, there is more to it. But, when you are writing a paper in the pursuit of Academia, it is my personal opinion that this is the main concern in the field of scholars.

APA Style

The American Psychological Association (APA) is an equally authoritative organization based out of Washington, D.C. USA. Among the many things APA does, it publishes what is profoundly looked upon as The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. It offers guidance for writers too, but it governs an entirely different body of writers.

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is an editorial style manual for writers in the fields of the social and behavioral sciences. Just as in MLA Style, APA Style will tell you how to punctuate your paper and how to add tables. It offers guidance for present statistics and select headings. But, its main thrust again is to help writers properly cite works they use to support their own papers.

A well-written paper is not one that stands alone. This is debatable, but I don’t think one novel thought exists anymore. If you have a thought that is insightful or groundbreaking, I’m sure others have thought along those lines before. It’s called cumulative thinking. But, that’s not a bad thing.

When you write a paper that contributes your thoughts to the scientific community, there has to be thousands of other works that support your groundbreaking work. In other words, you’ve reviewed their works and come to your own conclusions. That’s your contribution. So, learn how to give other writers credit and get it right.

There are other editorial styles for formatting your paper. They include Associated Press, Chicago and Oxford among others. It is in my distinguished experience that if you work in journalism, the Associated Press Stylebook is the one that governs you. If you belong to an organization or work in a field like anthropology that prefers The Chicago Manual of Style, then that’s your style guide. Likewise, the Oxford Style to Guide is the UK’s equivalent to US’s Chicago Manual.

But as far as the US is concerned, MLA or APA is the editorial style you’ll most likely use. You should know what is required of you. If you haven’t been told, then follow the guidelines I just gave you. MLA is in the field of Academia. APA governs social and behavioral sciences. I guess this blog entry implicitly welcomes a view from the UK, one I cannot provide since I am a US based writer.

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I remember the first thing I wrote. It was when I was about six years old. I wrote a poem about people slipping on banana peels and oil slicks. It was called “Slick Move” and it launched my writing career.

I’ve written all my life. With everything I was doing throughout my life, I was always a writer first. Throughout middle high and high school, I wrote short stories and poems. I tried writing a book, but it was a short story at best. My attention span couldn’t last long enough to write a complete three hundred page novel.

When I joined the Marine Corps right after high school, I wrote the entire time. I made general observations of different sights I saw. I kept snap shots of my life in the Marine Corps and they’re still lying around somewhere waiting to be put together in some kind of fashion.

By the time I was discharged, I thought I was a stellar writer and I put myself through college for a degree in English. The things I had to read broadened my experiences. But, writing really opened my eyes. I wrote my papers so fast and always was awarded good grades. I kept every paper. I look back on them now and I can easily see how amateur they are.

That’s the journey of a writer. College for me ended years ago. But, even things I’ve written since then seem amateur to me. I can look back on something I wrote only two years ago and just rip right through it, shred it from end to end to make it better.

Yes, I can see the value in each work. I can see a potential that some day, all of the little things I’ve written can be put together for a greater piece of work. But, I can also see a growing. It’s almost like taking quantum leaps. But, it’s not just in the quality of the work.

Years ago when I first started freelancing, I could write an article rather fast. It was just like writing an essay in college. If I had a topic, I had a paper. But, requirements are rather demanding. You can’t make a living off of just one article. You have to keep writing.

Some clients who had hired me wanted two or three articles a week. It was hard for me to manage, especially after several weeks. I was running out of topics. I felt like I was saying the same things over and over. I was hitting a brick wall and I was getting my work in at the last minute instead of ahead of time like I prefer to do.

I remember my first book. It made me sweat a little. I had the topic and the outline. All I had to do was follow the outline and fill in the gaps with viable information. But, it was a grueling project. It took a year for me to compile the research and write the book. That’s how much time I was given and that’s how much time I took.

But now, I can write a book in a week no problem. I can’t guarantee the quality of the book after just one week. But, I would have about two hundred to three hundred pages no problem. Put the book up for a few days and then go back to edit the work. It would turn out just fine.

I can write an article in an hour. When I really want to put some backbone and elbow grease into it, writing an article can take about three to four hours. But when I have all the information I need and I sit down to write, I don’t even need an hour to put it all together. I’ve been known to write an article in about twenty minutes before.

I know this comes off as one big brag session or resume, but it has a purpose. The more I wrote, the better I became. Writing is just like anything else. The more you do something, the easier it gets or at least the better you get at doing it.

The first house you’ll ever have to frame overwhelms you and makes you feel as if it’s impossible. You frame your first house and you think of all the work that is involved. It was tough. It was tricky at times. You’re not ready for your next one yet because you’re thinking of all the work that was involved.

But, two or three years passes and you’ve framed ten to fifteen houses. It’s easy now. You can do it without a problem. You’ve grown.

In writing, the only way to get better is to put your pen to the paper. Write and write. Never stop writing. You’ll see the changes. The amount of work a client gives you might seem overwhelming at first, but years later you can do it with your eyes closed. You might think you’ll never meet a deadline and years later you’re wondering why your clients are giving you so much time.

Your papers are getting red marks all over them. Years later, you are perfect. You can correct yourself. You can pick up on your own strengths and weaknesses. You have taken the writer’s journey. You’ll be just fine.

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I’ve written about common mistakes before, in several posts. But the more I read different writings posted all over the internet, the more I feel the need to point out the errors. It’s like the internet has devoured our ability to write.

Now, communication is not a problem. Anyone who has been talking in forums, chat rooms, or sending instant messages for any significant amount of time will be able to decipher the following conversation:

Girl #1: Btw, r u n T gtg gf

Girl #2: DEGT

Girl #1: ?

Girl #2: ihnc

Girl #1: brb

Girl #2: hb

Girl #1: muah

OK, that might be a little exaggerated. But, that is how bad it gets. Anyone coming in on that conversation who is not familiar with the language is lost unless they have the pocket-size internet slang handbook.

But see, that’s the thing. Communication is not in jeopardy. As humans, we will always know how to communicate. But, writing is different. Writing has rules and internet slang is starting to impose itself onto the written word.

So, I thought I would revisit the topic and make a few things clear. These are common mistakes so don’t feel alone. But, they are so common that they need highlighted…more than once…all over the place.

It’s and Its

This is actually a confusing rule that I don’t blame anyone for getting wrong. It’s the reverse of what you would think. So to make it easier for you to remember, just make a note to yourself that this is the rule opposite to all others.

When “It” owns something, the word to use is “Its.” There is no apostrophe even though there is ownership. In anything else, an apostrophe “s” would belong in an expression of ownership. While Bob’s ownership is proper with an apostrophe “s,” its ownership is not.

The contraction of “it” and “is” is written with an apostrophe “s.” That’s why this rule is so weird. But, ownership and contractions both have an apostrophe “s” when it comes to anything else like “that’s interesting” and “what’s the problem.” It would be very confusing if “it” and “is” were written the same as if “it” owned something. So, it’s easier this way.

Know and No

This is so common that it makes a person’s head spin. Sometimes people use “no” in place of “know” just to simplify things. That’s ok online in informal communication situations. But, this is one of those errors that bleed over into homework and work papers.

“Know” is having the knowledge of something. I know you know that.

“No” is the negative. There is no way the two should ever be confused again.

To, Two and Too

These three homonyms are often switched. It mainly comes from the substitution of “2” for any of these three words. I’d like it 2 stop.

“To” is actually a preposition that begins a prepositional phrase. So if you’ve heard the rule, you can’t end a sentence with a preposition. That’s because if it’s supposed to begin a phrase, how can it do that at the end of a sentence? Therefore, “to” is basically a connector from one part of a sentence to another that adds more meaning.

Remember the cloud analogy? A preposition is anything you can do to a cloud. You can go “under” a cloud, “over” a cloud, “around” a cloud and “through” a cloud. Technically, you can also go “to” a cloud. So, these words give you a general understanding of the purpose of a preposition. There are other prepositions like the word “of,” but you can’t “of” a cloud. So, our cloud analogy only gives you a general rule that helps you learn the basics. It’s a starting point and you build from it.

It’s probably easier to understand the word “to” if you learn the other two. “Two” is the spelling of the number. We’re going over three homonyms, but we’ve only covered “two” so far.

“Too” is an adjective. It comes before a noun or an adverb. I’ve written way too much about these three homonyms.

Once you start to see how your informal communication practices are bleeding into your actual work, you’ll look at your papers a little closer. Supa proofreaders already know these common errors and many others. We’re geared to pick them up instantly.

But, it’s not hard to catch them yourself if you put your work up for a few days and then come back to it just before the due date. You’ll see your errors much clearer and I’ve said that over and over. I think I’ll keep saying it just to keep reminding you guys.

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There is a process to everything we do. When carpenters are ready to frame a house, they’ve already gone through important preparations. When a cook is in the kitchen, she’s already done her homework. Writing is the same as everything else.

Even though great writers might seem to skip a few steps or rearrange the order of steps when they are writing their masterpieces, it doesn’t mean that they haven’t done the preparations. Great writers are just so used to the steps that they’ve probably done a few of them in their heads.

When a writer begins to write a book without an outline, the organization of his book is in his head. I often do that when I know what I’m writing and I just want to get to it. Especially in this day and age where I have a computer and a word processor, the writing process is made so much easier.

Prewriting

Prewriting is the first step in any writing where the writer is trying to come up with ideas for what to write about. A good writer who is already familiar with the writing process might sit down in front of the computer and just start writing. I think of ideas all the time and when I’m ready to write, I’m ready to just roll with it.

But if you need to come up with ideas, there are plenty of ways. Do a little freewriting I wrote about in an earlier piece. Stimulate your brain with news or music. Look through your journals and pull something out that you’re interested in doing.

There is a great strategy that you can use: R.A.F.T. It stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. If you think through these things, you’ll likely have your thoughts together by the time you’re finished. What is the role of your writing or what are you trying to accomplish with it? Audience is who are going to be reading it? Format is whether your writing is going to be an article, an essay, a book or whatever. Finally, you get to the Topic of your writing and you are ready to roll.

Writing

Of course, this is where the writing actually happens. But, a good writer might simply get started and work all the way through. Other writers might need to write an outline to organize their writing first. That’s actually not a bad idea.

Getting your thoughts organized helps actually save time. If you know exactly where you are going to go next with your thoughts, you can get there already. Sometimes after I’ve already started and I’ve had all my thoughts organized in my head, I can forget where I’m supposed to go with it. It takes a few minutes or even longer to get back on track. If I had an outline, I would know instantly.

When you are writing, it’s fine to make corrections. I do it all the time. But, there is an actual step in the process where you correct your grammar and spelling errors. I like to correct myself as I’m going so that there are fewer errors later to correct. But, you can simply write and then correct it all later.

Revising

There are two steps in the writing process where you make changes. Revision is when you look at your writing and try to make it better. It has nothing to do with spelling and grammar. Although, you might catch a few errors in this step.

Revising takes place after you’ve put your writing up for a few days or even weeks. It’s directly proportionate to the size of the document. If you’ve written an article, you can put it up for a few days and then come back to it. If you’ve written a novel, you should probably put it up for a few weeks at the very least.

When you look through it, read it out loud and rearrange any parts that were awkward to read. Then, look for parts of your writing that need to be more informative. Look for places where you can add descriptors and bring your writing more to life. Then, move on to the next step.

Editing

Editing is the step where you correct your grammar mistakes. A computer word processor attempts to make this step easier. When you see red lines under words, you know they are spelled wrong. But, it’s limited. There are words that exist that aren’t in your word processor’s dictionary. Simply go to the Merriam and Webster online dictionary to get ideas of how to spell.

Also, homonyms are technically spelling errors. Homonyms are words that are pronounced the same, but have different meanings. Like the three words they’re, there and their, these are three different words that people get confused from time to time. They won’t come up as spelling errors. So, you have to pay attention to little details like this.

Grammar errors are a little more difficult to find. The green lines in a word processor attempt to help you see your own grammar errors. But, this is limited as well. In fact, sometimes it’s just wrong. It might tell you that you have a fragment when you have a noun and a verb in the sentence. A word processor is also not good at picking out such things as misplaced modifiers, misplaced words that change the entire meaning of a sentence.

“I served hamburgers to the men on paper plates.”

Where the men on paper plates?

I served the men hamburgers on paper plates.”

Now, it makes sense.

There are resources online that you can refer to get help on correcting your grammar errors. Most colleges have a resource of common grammar errors like the Capital Community College.

Publishing

The final step is actually getting your work out there. If your project was an assignment, this part is easy. Just give it to your teacher or your boss. If your project was something you came up with yourself, publishing can get a little more difficult. Find the magazine that wants your article or the publisher that wants your book. Finding an agent to help is actually advisable. Sometimes finding an agent is just as difficult as finding a publisher. But once you have one, your days of finding a publisher that fits your work and presenting your material are over. That’s what the agent is supposed to be doing.

The writing process isn’t very difficult and a good writer can move through the steps smoothly without a second thought. Out of habit, we just get better and better. The steps come naturally just like cooking is to a cook. But, a novice should get familiar with the steps and follow through with each one until writing becomes second nature.

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I wrote about getting started in writing, that sometimes the beginning is the hardest part. But, writer’s block is a completely different monster. See, getting started is often difficult but at least the writer has something to say. Writer’s block is where you hit a mental wall and you have absolutely nothing at all.

Some people would look at you crazy and wonder why you would want to write if you have nothing to write about. But, a writer has a need to write. And sometimes, things just need said even when a writer can’t seem to form the words.

How do you get through it is the question? There are several ways to combat writer’s block. Force yourself through or gradually get back into it, there’s always a way.

Freewrite

You may have been taught this before, but it works rather well. Freewriting is a method in which you start writing all of your thoughts down on a piece of paper. You don’t think about grammar or spelling errors. You don’t worry about punctuation. You just write, and write, and write. Before long, you’ll actually have something to write about.

Anything and everything that comes across your mind, that’s what you write. Don’t censor yourself. And if you have absolutely nothing going on in your mind, write about that.

Example: I have absolutely nthing to write about I kinow nothing at all Tharees nothing kn my brain and I can’t make anything come out on this piece of paper I’m just sititing here with absoulutelyu nothing al all going on in my brain but I might have left the coffee pot on I hope I didn’t then coffee will burn up in the pot and I’ll hav eti clean it out which will tak e me all day long but hat reminds me of a thought I had the other day how this town needs cleaned up from the inside out…

See what I mean? Oh by the way, I intentionally left the errors in place to show you that when you are freewriting, you don’t correct yourself as you go. You’re missing the point if you do. It’s not about writing. It’s about getting thoughts to flow through your mind so that you have something to write about.

Break

When I hit a wall, I walk away. I mean, I completely walk away. I find something else to do and I take my mind off of what I was trying to write. It’s like resetting the brain.

When you have writer’s block, plenty of times it’s because you are too close to your project. Getting away from it and completely taking your mind off of it, your brain will actually start to work in different ways and the juices will begin to flow again. It’s like trying to drive up a muddy hill and you keep getting stuck because you’ve worn a wet and slippery path for yourself. If you change the path, you get a fresh chance to make it up the hill.

Stimulation

A very effective way to get past writer’s block is to give your mind something to think about. Watch the news where information is constantly flowing. Grab a book where you’ll read another writer’s thoughts. Listen to the radio. Do whatever you have to do, but fill your mind with thoughts and information to jump start the juices again.

Writer’s block isn’t merely having something to say and wondering how you are going to say it. It’s staring blankly at a computer screen or a piece of paper and having nothing at all. It’s a scary moment for a writer. Learning how to get past writer’s block is just like anything else. Learn how to get over the obstacles in your path so that you can keep moving forward.

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