Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33655
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

# Bold and/or italicize the important points

Don't worry about organizing your answer in a logical format where the first sentence/paragraph has the main point, the supporting details are in the middle, and the concluding idea is at the end. Instead, write in a meandering fashion, and **bold your most important points so that they are noticed** , which is necessary because otherwise they would be in the middle of a paragraph where no one would see them. **_Formatting draws peoples' attention_** , and if you use a lot of formatting, your writing will get a lot of attention! This type of writing does mean that people will jump from main idea to main idea without focusing on the points in between, but that doesn't matter does it?

It's even better if you bold or emphasize the parts of your answer that aren't actually the important parts of the answer, as [one answer to this very question demonstrates](https://writing.stackexchange.com/a/33621):

> **I don't expect this answer to garner many votes, but it may serve as food for thought, at least for one or two people, an outcome that is valuable to me as an educator.**

(emphasis not added)

# Break your flow with blockquotes

Let's face it, your writing probably isn't great. However, you can find some good writing on the topic, and through the liberal use of blockquotes get the reader to focus on the good writing instead. **It's best if you find a source that is considered reputable** , such as Wikipedia or another Stack Exchange answer. [There's some more good advice in this article on the topic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style):

> Quotations must be verifiably attributed, and the wording of the quoted text should be faithfully reproduced. This is referred to as the principle of minimal change. Where there is good reason to change the wording, enclose changes within square brackets (for example, [her father] replacing him, where the context identifying "him" is not included in the quotation: "Ocyrhoe told [her father] his fate").

The quotes can be long or short, but it isn't necessary to talk about the quotes after you quote them: just quote someone else making a point, and then move on.

> Use ellipses to indicate omissions from quoted text. Legitimate omissions include extraneous, irrelevant, or parenthetical words, and unintelligible speech (umm, and hmm). Do not omit text where doing so would remove important context or alter the meaning of the text.

By no means should you summarize the conclusions of another source in your own words, which would take up less space and less time. Instead, **use blockquotes liberally throughout your answer** to provide a distraction from your own writing.

# Refer to common knowledge, and don't worry about whether the common knowledge is actually common or correct.

Common knowledge is things that everyone knows, so there isn't any reason to verify it. [As one user insightfully notes](https://writing.stackexchange.com/a/33640):

> That is how Trump's campaign worked, and that's how SE works, too, at least on "soft" sites like Writing.SE, where you cannot easily see if a code runs or not.

The only thing you need to know to write answers is common knowledge and logic. With these two tools you can provide insight into any topic.

# Things about Stack Exchange are more interesting than things about the actual topic of the site

Why talk about actual problems writers face when you can write answers about Stack Exchange? People love talking about theirselves, so on a Stack Exchange site, talking about Stack Exchange users is the golden ticket. If you can find a way to connect whatever topic you're writing about to Stack Exchange, you're set!

Original score: 8