All my advice from teaching and writing for 30 years.

1. Mr. Gibbs’s DO’s and DON’Ts for Writing
1. DO Understand the book or topic before beginning a final draft. It is OK to be bewildered while writing
rough drafts
2. DO write outlines, notes, bubble-maps, or whatever works best for you when planning your essay
3. DO write fluently and without regard for final appearances with working on rough drafts. What is
important is to get your thoughts recorded in whatever order they come to you
4. DO write down everything you think of when working on rough drafts, regardless of its ultimate sense
or use. Sometimes good ideas are hidden behind the silly ones in front
5. DO consider writing more in your rough draft than you will need in your final draft. The act of
condensing your writing often aids in sharpening it
6. DO read and reread your rough drafts to yourself. Read them aloud if possible. The sound of a sentence
can tell you a lot about its power and balance. Good writing sounds conversational and fluent. If the
essay read aloud sounds stiff and mechanical, it probably is
7. DO either step away from your rough drafts for a while and then return; and/or have a friend or relative
proofread your rough drafts for you
8. DO decide what ideas in your rough draft you intend to keep and organize them in order of importance.
Put the most important things first
Building a finished draft
9. Good expository essays generally have a beginning, middle, and end. They may not be of the traditional
five-paragraph-theme variety, but they still have linear progressive development, and each segment of
the essay generally addresses certain aspects of a finished piece
o The beginning generally sets tone, introduces the issues, and states a thesis
o The middle is generally the detailed argument, analysis, or discussion of the opening issues;
evidence from the book or topic in question is brought to light and analyzed so that it defends the
author’s thesis and beliefs
o The end generally brings the discussion to a satisfactory close with final statements or solutions
10.DO identify a central thesis for your paper, and remain focused on it
11.DO state your thesis clearly, strongly, forcefully, confidently
12.DO support this thesis with every word of your essay. All subsequent paragraphs must
address aspects of your thesis
13.DO support all claims with hard evidence. Don’t say anything you can’t back up with
evidence from the story or the topic of discussion
14.DO begin paragraphs with a topic sentence that gives focus to the paragraph
15.DO write paragraphs that fully develop a central topic. This requires at least several
sentences. Short and one-sentence paragraphs may work well and have significant impact in
a creative narrative or descriptive writing. Short paragraphs often do not work well in an
expository essay where argumentation and analysis generally require more development
16.DO NOT write run-on paragraphs. When a new main idea is introduced, start a new
paragraph
17.DO avoid parasitic qualifiers like very, really, rather, quite
18.It is most correct and preferred that one write about novels in the present tense Stories
captured in words live in the eternal present and discussion of them in the same tense sounds
best. It is not wrong to write in the past tense
19.DON'T shift tense
20.Avoid using the informal second-person pronoun "You" in a formal essay. "You" is a casual
and direct address to one reader alone. Instead, use first person, “I,” or third person,
“readers.” EX: It is more precise to say, “I pitied Caesar,” or “Readers pity Caesar,” that to

2. say “You pity Caesar.” (for all you know, the one person reading your essay does not pity
Caesar)
21.DON'T clutter essays with opinion qualifiers, such as "I think," "I believe," "I feel," "In my
opinion," and so on. An expository essay by definition is the author’s opinion. To state it
directly in the essay is redundant
22.DON’T talk about your essay in your essay. Talk about your subject
23.DON'T write with fragments and run-ons
24.DO use words and not symbols. Use the word "and," not the ampersand symbol "&" or the
plus sign "+"; use "with" not "w/" and so on
25.DON'T begin body paragraphs with “My first reason is…” and “My second reason is…” and
so on. This isn’t a math assignment
26.DON’T begin your final paragraph with "In conclusion..." for the same reason
27.Know your homonyms -- know no from know, too from to, their from there
28.Know your apostrophes – cats, cat’s, and cats’ are all correct when used correctly, and vice
versa
29.DON'T avoid using a big word, if it's the right word, simply because you can't spell it.
Speaking for myself only, I do not mind a misspelled word if it’s a long one that fits
beautifully
30.DON’T misspell short simple words. That shows a lack of proofreading
31.Proofread. Simple mistakes bother me more than complex ones
32.Omit needless words, omit needless words, omit needless words, omit needless words, omit
needless words, omit needless words, omit needless words, omit needless words!
External Design
33.DO write original, creative essay titles that hint at your thesis. DON'T write generic essay
titles like Caesar essay or Medea essay
34.DO NOT capitalize all letters in all words in an essay title
35.In an essay title capitalize the first letters of all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
and all prepositions of four or more letters
36.DO NOT underline an essay title
37.DO NOT put quotation marks around an essay title unless it is a quote by someone other
than yourself
38.It is OK to write your title in a larger boldface font. Do not make it too large
39.DO have clear margins on all sides of a paper
40.DO not write or print on the back side of an essay
41.If a cover page is requested, put the following on a cover page: essay title, name, date,
period, class
42.Generally, a cover page is expected if the essay is three or more pages long
43.DO put the same information found on the cover page onto the first page of an essay
44.DO put your name on each page of your essay next to the page number
45.DO start ¼ down the first page. This leaves me room to write comments and makes it clear
where the essay begins
46.DON'T turn in anything less than your best work