Checklist for Consistency

Print a copy of your draft to use with this checklist.

AUDIENCE: Who are they, what do they know and need to know? Don't use undefined terms in one part of your writing and defined terms in another. Don't start writing for a stranger and shift to writing for someone who already knows what you've got in mind, such as Aunt Sue.

PERSON: Pick a person and stick to him, her, it, them, whatever. Don't shift around unless the logic of what you are writing requires it.

CITATIONS: If you got an idea from another person, or from a print source, give credit where it is due, no later than the end of the relevant paragraph. Do this each and every time. Anything less is plagiarism.

CONTENT: Plan the whole paper so that each part is fully developed. Don't start with a bang and end with a whimper; don't develop one part in detail and jump briefly over the next, and then conclude as if you've covered both adequately.

EXTRA WORDS: Avoid them. Say what you need to say completely, but in as few words as possible. If a word isn't necessary to the meaning of a sentence, get rid of it.

LOGIC: This is a hard one. Be sure your conclusions are consistent with and relevant to your data. If not, revise your conclusions, not your data.

ORGANIZATION: Your paper should have a plan of organization that leads the reader in a reasonable, consistent fashion from beginning to end.

TENSE: Pick a tense and stick to it; only shift if and when the logic of what you are writing requires it. Tense consistency can be tricky; check an English handbook if you are unsure of a particular tense sequence.

TONE: Do you start out formally and then lapse into buddy buddy slang? Don't.

WORD CHOICE: Don't mix two bit words with ten bit words. If you are writing for a general audience, use ordinary language. The goal is to use exact words, not big ones. Avoid the temptation to use a Thesaurus to find new and unusual words that nobody else knows and that you are not quite sure how to use correctly. Keep your language level reasonably consistent and appropriate for your intended audience.