International Finance

WRITING TIPS

You should consult books on writing papers and writing style such as Successful Writing at Work, Philip Kolin, D.C. Heath and Company, 1990, and The Elements of Style, Strunk and White, Macmillian.

THE WRITING PROCESS

1. Prewriting

2. Drafting

3. Revising

4. Editing

PREWRITING

Prewriting is the information gathering phase where classroom discussion, reading and listening to news, and library work is most important. Brainstroming and clustering are the most common techniques in prewriting. Brainstroming dumps out all information on the topic without a pattern while clustering groups information regardless of quality. Using note cards can make arranging ideas simpler. The last part of prewriting is the outline.

DRAFTING

The first draft is to simply get ideas on paper so they can be revised and edited later. Spelling, style, and punctuation are important only at the editing stage.

REVISING

Revising concerns the content of the paper and whether the ideas flow logically. Remember you are trying to make a point. Do not simply list points; make them flow from topic to topic. Extraneous information should be deleted at this stage. See checklist at end.

EDITING

Editing starts when the paper's organization and content are great. Editing involves polishing and proof reading. See checklist at end.

WRITING STRUCTURE

PARAGRAPHS

Structure

1. Provide a topic sentence. The topic sentence introduces one central idea. The topic sentence appears first in the paragraph.

2. Supporting sentences provide evidence for your idea.

Types of Paragraphs

There are four types of paragraphs

1. Introductory: states why the issues is important and what to expect in the report.

2. Supporting: the topic sentence is important.

3. Transitional: moves from one idea to another.

4. Concluding: summarize main points, draw conclusions, and can make recommendations. Do not introduce new material into the conclusion.

Style

1. Avoid excessively long paragraphs.

2. You need two sentences for a paragraph.

SENTENCES

1. Look for sentence fragments

2. Avoid needlessly complex or lengthy sentences.

3. Combine a series of short, choppy sentences.

WORDS

1. Proper usage of U.S. and United States. When a noun, it is the United States; ie., I live in the United States. When an adjective, it is U.S.; ie., U.S. interest rates.

2. Cannot is one word.

3. It’s is a contraction for it is. The possessive form is its.

WRITING STYLE

1. Do not use contractions.

2. Do not use trite expressions. Avoid using a newspaper writing style and flowery expressions. Get to the point: say it, and say it quickly and simply.

3. Do not use "I think" or "we." It is already assumed that it is your opinion.

4. Do not start a sentence with "But" or "And."

5. Do not start a sentence with "However." Use "Nevertheless" instead.

6. Do not end or start a page with only one line of text. Use a orphan-widow option if available.

7. Use concise language and avoid wordy phrases. "In order to obtain ..." can be shorten to "To obtain ..." without losing meaning. "Upon" can be shortened to "On."

8. Avoid the passive voice, such as was.

9. Do not use etc.

10. Avoid vague expressions such as "Some people feel ..." What people? How do you know what they feel? You only know what they said.

11. Use the Writing Center!

WRITING THE PAPER

1. Do not simply list your points. Use transitional sentences. See the Writing Center's handouts.

2. An old friend once told me “tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them.” After that, quit.

DOCUMENTATION

There are many styles of documentation. Nevertheless, it is important to provide complete information about the source and to present it in a consistent manner. Proper citation is also important.

Solocha, Andrew and Mark Soskin. 1994. Canadian Direct Investment, Mode of Entry, and Border Location, Management International Review, 34, pp. 79-95.

"In this respect, acquisition investments do not necessarily involve a locational decision (Solocha, Soskin, 1994)."

Make sure that your electronic references are consistent with a style book.

TABLES AND FIGURES

Tables and Figures should be include a reference number and referenced in the text. For instance, "As shown in Table 1, the U.S. current account was in surplus in 1965." To help the reader fully understand the exhibit, each Table and Figure should include a title that adequately describes the exhibit.

Table 1: U.S. Current Account Balances, 1965-1993

Year	Current Account	Trade Balance	Services	Income	Unilateral Transfers
1965	5,41	4,95	-1,94	5,35	-2,95
1970	2,33	2,59	-5,16	8,35	-3,45
1975	18,06	8,9	-2,57	16,62	-4,89
1980	2,25	-25,51	0,19	35,93	-8,36
1985	-121,7	-122,18	-4,37	27,83	-22,98
1986	-147,46	-145,06	0,61	21,14	-24,15
1987	-163,4	-159,56	0,98	18,23	-23,04
1988	-126,67	-126,96	4,44	20,82	-24,97
1989	-101,19	-115,68	16,19	23,9	-25,6
1990	-90,46	-108,84	19,67	31,65	-32,94
1991	-8,32	-73,79	32,64	26,26	-34,65
1992	-66,38	-96,14	42,24	20,41	-32,89
1993	-109,25	-132,47	41,09	14,64	-32,51

Source: International Financial Statistics, International Monetary Fund, 1996.

Figure 1: U.S. Current Account Balance, 1965-1993

-200

-150

-100

-50

0

50

100

Date

Billions of dollars

1965

1975

1985

Current Account

Merchandise

Services

Source: International Financial Statistics, International Monetary Fund, 1996.

REVISING CHECKLIST

CONTENT

1. Is the introduction clearly focused on your purpose?

2. Is your point explained clearly and simply? The active voice is important in achieving this goal.

3. Have you eliminated repetition or padding?

4. Is your paper concise? Have you eliminated unnecessary details and condensed unimportant details to their essentials?

5. Is your evidence precise and accurate?

6. Is your conclusion a helpful wrap-up or a boring repetition of the paper?

FORMAT

1. Is your paper logically organized? Use of transitional sentences and paragraphs is important.

2. Do you use informative headings to label sections? Too many headings are not good either.

TONE

1. Avoid sexist language and avoid newspaper (flowery) language.

EDITING CHECKLIST

1. Check for sentence structure errors such as fragments and sentences that are too long or too short.

2. Are there paragraphs that are too long?

3. Check for shifts in verb tense.

4. Check for spelling errors.

5. Check the writing style guide.

6. Check punctuation problems.