Legal Eagles: The power of deductive reasoning

Lawyers place a high regard on the application of deductive reasoning in their initial "laying out" the facts of a case. They present the "facts" or "what took place" and design logically the flow of the events as it applies to those facts. They make a detail argument based on the "universal truths" they see in men - their flaws as it applies to the particular case, whether a tort, or a crime.

From that, they draw reasonable conclusions as to what both parties did (depending on whether this is a civil or criminal matter, the level of culpability will arise), and do so using a deductive platform using syllogisms. The idea of forming true or untrue or valid or invalid conclusions based on two premises - a major and minor one.

Valid, but untrue
All men are created equal.
Some dogs are men.
Therefore, some dogs are created equal.

Untrue: If you believe dogs are men. Obviously, they are not. (But a few women would disagree...men being dogs...that is in reverse.)

Valid, but untrue
All crimes are committed while using drugs.
Joe is using drugs right now.
Therefore, Joe will commit a crime.

Untrue: Not all crimes are committed on drugs.

Example: Invalid, but true.

Major Premise: There's no evidence that you reported to duty in Alabama during the summer and fall of 1972.
Minor Premise: President Bush replied, 'Yeah, they're just wrong.' There may be no evidence, but I did report.
Conclusion: Otherwise, I wouldn't have been honorably discharged.'

Syllogisms

Valid:

Food is necessary for human life as we know it.

Ice cream is considered to be a form of food.

Ice cream can be considered to be necessary for human life as we know it.*

Invalid:

Water is necessary for human life as we know it.

Vitamin Water claims to be a form of water.

Vitamin Water is necessary for human life as we know it.*

Argument:

As an only child of the age of 4, Carl was the focus of his parents' affections. However, as of late, his parents were enraptured by the arrival of their newborn baby boy and his inherent cuteness. Therefore, Carl determined that he must mimic his brother to regain his parents' attention for him.

Babies are cute.

Carl is (trying to be) cute.*

Carl is (trying to be) a baby.*

*This idea can be argued to a certain degree for and against it's intended reasoning. (Then again, this applies to most, if not all ideas.)

Syllogism Examples

Valid Syllogism:

Major Premise: All athletes are smart.

Minor Premise: All soccer players are athletes.

Conclusion: All soccer players are smart.

Invalid Syllogism:

Major Premise: Some classes are boring.

Minor Premise: Some classes are long.

Conclusion: All boring classes are long.

Syllogism Embedded in an Argument:

I went to the library and there were books about sports, celebrities and science fiction. All of these books were in bad shape with torn pages.  So the book I want about soccer must have torn pages.

Major Premise: The library has books on different subjects.

Minor Premise: All the books were in bad shape.

Conclusion: Books about soccer are in bad shape.

Syllogism

1. Valid Syllogism
    Major Premise: All soccer players have lost at least one game.
    Minor Premise: Pam is a soccer player.
    Conclusion: Pam has lost at least one soccer game in her career as a soccer player.
Explanation: Since all soccer players have lost at least one game, and Pam is a soccer player, Pam has to have lost at least one game.

2. Invalid Syllogism
    Major Premise: Some animals love being outside when the weather is warm.
    Minor Premise: Charlie, my dog, is an animal
    Conclusion: Charlie loves being outside when the weather is warm.
Explanation: Not all animals love being outside when the weather is nice, so there is no support that Charlie loves being outside in warm weather.

3. "Some animals get up very early and make noise outside as though they are trying to wake me up every morning. My neighbor just got a new dog named Maggie, so I will be waking up extra early tomorrow morning."
     Major: Animals get up very early and make noise.
     Minor: Maggie is an animal.
     Conclusion: Maggie will wake me up early every morning.

Syllogisms

1. Valid Syllogism
All beaches have sand
New York has beaches
Therefore New York has sand

2. Invalid Syllogism
Pigs are dirty
Bacon comes from pigs
Bacon is dirty

3. Implied Syllogism
Last week Jane and Jill went apple picking.  Jill was dropping apples that were bad.  Jane's car was parked by the tree and happened to get a cracked windshield that day.  Jill cracked Jane's windshield because she was dropping apples.

Invalid:
All of my friends that go to Purdue are from Indiana.
therefore, All students that go to Purdue are from Indiana.

Valid:
All people from Kansas are farmers.
I was born and raised in Kansas,
Therefore I am a farmer.

Embeded:
This last summer I went to a country concert in Manhattan, Kansas with my friends and family. All of my favorie country singers were there and i had a great time.

I am from Kansas,
I listen to country music,
therefore i enjoy going to country concerts in Kansas.

1.  (Valid)
Major premise:  All students from Purdue are from Indiana
Minor premise:  No Indiana students love football.
Conclusion:     No Purdue students love football.

2.Invalid
Major premise:  Some English major students go to Hicks for study
Minor premise:  Annie is an English major student.
Conclusion: Annie goes to Hicks for study.

Faulty Syllogism
Major Premise: Some people from Boston are Patriot fans.
Minor Premise: Mike is from boston.
Conclusion: Mike is a Patriots fan.
Explanation: This is a faulty Syllogism because even though Mike is from Boston, it is possible that Mike isn't a Patriots fan.

Vaild Syllogism 
Major Premise: There are 5,280 feet in a mile.
Minor Premise: Eric walked for a mile.
Conclusion: Eric walked for 5,280 feet.
Explanation: This is a valid syllogism because there are 5,280 feet in a mile, and since Eric walked for a mile, He walked for 5,280 feet.

A Syllogism Embedded in an argument.
Fraternity Boys are loud, drink lots of beer and, cause many problems for a University. Joe, a Fraternity Boy, just moved in next door into an apartment.Therefore, Joe is going to be a bad neighbor and be loud, drink lots of beer, and cause many problems.

Explanation: This is a invalid syllogism in an argument becuase it is possible that Joe could be a good neighbor and not cause any issues with the residents at the apartment.

Danielle Romain: Syllogisms

Danielle Romain: Syllogisms

1. Most college students party. (Invalid)
    Kendra is a college student.
    Kendra likes to party.

2. All athletes are hard working. (Valid)
   Amy is an athlete.
   Amy is hardworking.

3.(Invalid)  Last semester the overall GPA of the swim team was lower then previous years. Lauren is on the swim, and was in school last semester, so she did not do well.

Major: Some of the swimmers had low GPA's
Minor: Lauren is a swimmer.
Conclussion: Lauren had bad grades last semester.

Syllogisms

1. A Valid Syllogism:
-Major Premise: All Purdue students are college students.
-Minor Premise: Natalie is a Purdue student.
-Conclusion: Natalie is a college student.

2. An Invalid Syllogism:
-Major Premise: Some hockey players are from Canada.
-Minor Premise: John is a hockey player.
-Conclusion: John is from Canada.

2. A Syllogism Embedded in an Argument:
There are some fruits that are poisonous.  An orange is a fruit, so you will get sick if you eat an orange.

Implied:
-Major Premise: Some fruits are poisonous.
-Minor Premise: An orange is a fruit.
-Conclusion: Oranges are poisonous.

This is an invalid syllogism because only some fruits are poisonous. We cannot conclude that oranges are poisonous, we can only conclude that they are fruits.

All USC students love football.

Jim is a Kentucky student.

So Jim doesn't love football.

-invalid syllogism

All cats meow.

Simba is a cat.

Simba meows.

-valid syllogism

Lastnight some jocks stayed up all night yelling and making bets at a swimming party when they knew the had finals the next day.

Jocks are irresponsible.

Max is a jock.

Max is irresponsible.

-implied syllogism

Syllogisms

Colts fans love football.
Kurt is a colts fan.
Kurt loves football.

-- Valid syllogism
________________________________________

All dogs have fur.
Jerry has fur.
Jerry is a dog.

-- invalid syllogism because Jerry could have fur but be another animal other than a dog.
_______________________________________________________________

"After a long day of class and practice, Kyle was very tired. Kyle is a student-athlete at Purdue. When he woke up the next morning, he fell asleep in all his classes because he was still so tired from the day before."

College athletes have long and strenuous days.
Kyle is a college athlete.
Kyle is often tired.

Syllogisms!

Compose the following and give brief explanations:

1. A Valid Syllogism

2. An Invalid Syllogism

3. A Syllogism Embedded in an Argument

1. All pizza flavors are delicious, Hawaiian is a pizza flavor, therefore Hawaiian pizza is delicious. 
-Hawaiian pizza is a flavor of pizza, since all pizza flavors are delicious, Hawaiian pizza is also amazing.

2. All IU medical school applicants are smart, most Purdue students are smart, therefore most Purdue students are applying to IU medical school.

-Not all smart Purdue students also apply to IU medical school.

3. Some people think that Purdue is overpriced for any undergraduate degree that is not in engineering. Purdue has some of the best placement rates into the nations best graduate schools (including Purdue) coming from  colleges of science, technology and liberal arts. Therefore, a great many degree's from Purdue are worth the money, not just engineering degree's
-Because of Purdue's job placement and grad school placement are high from colleges other than the college of engineering Purdue must be a good value for other programs as well.

 

Rules For Writing Properly

After reading the article written by George Orwell I have to say I'm a believer, although here is a more specific list of what I personally feel belongs in writing, and what doesn't.


1) Use the correct format - For instance, in many papers and essays writers tend to argue some but include a lot of summary in the middle of the paper. Another way for me to say this would be to write with a purpose. Clearly know what you're trying to say, pick a format, and state your argument in a way anyone can pick up the paper and read it. 


2) Keep it concise - Try to avoid the unnecessary words or phrases that bog down the point you're trying to make. Readers are intrigued easily, but lose interest even easier, and to really be heard writers must get to the point. Leave the fancy wordplay and awesome diction alone unless it's necessary. 


3) Use transitions wisely - While papers with no transitions are seen as "jumpy" papers that use bad transitions are even more so. Say you're writing on a topic, really tearing it up, and then you realize you want to shift gears. A proper transition takes the reader logically from the first point to the next, where as a bad transition can actually seem like 3 points, all jumbled together in a heap of failure with no transitions.


4) Use topic sentences (that fit with your transitions) - But mostly use topic sentences. Without topic sentences a paragraph is just a separated part of the last paragraph. Paragraphs are supposed to introduce new topics, which means they must deviate from the previous ones, and this requires a formal statement of a new topic, or a topic sentence.


5) Use commas and punctuation correctly (see above for poor example) - What is worse than a choppy paragraph?  A choppy sentence! So try to write without commas first and then add in necessary commas in sentences that can not be separated. It's true that "advanced" writers utilize many word sentences complete with punctuation, but if used poorly commas can be a detriment to your image as a writer.

Rules for Writing Assignment

From my point of view, writing is merely a form of communication, and as such should be clear, concise, and written appropriately when considering the target audience. My two rules that describe my view are as follows:

Rule 1)

Keep things as concise as possible, as appropriate based on context.

A scientific article is different from journalistic writing, which is different from prose, etc. There are times when one when a writer should be indirect. For example, when writing fiction, it’s perfectly acceptable (and often encouraged) to use imagery, instead of merely stating the location, to use similes and metaphors instead of just outright describing a person or place. Then again, the use of such devices should be excluded, or severely limited, in scientific writings, where the idea is to make direct and concise correlations in data. Regardless, the length of a piece of writing should be judged by common sense; it should be long enough to keep the reader interested, but short enough to prevent frustration, and just redundant enough so the reader doesn’t lose track of the “big picture”.

Rule 2)

Take care to ensure that your writing is geared towards your target audience.

A comparison of “en.wikipedia.org” (English Wikipedia) and “simple.wikipedia.org” (Simple Wikipedia) should offer a strong “real-life” example regarding this rule. Wikipedia is targeting those with basic knowledge in a given subject-area, as well as the applicable vocabulary to understand the concepts shown. For example, if one wanted to learn more about the latest in modern theoretical physics, a visit to the Large Hadron Collider would be very informative. But one would need to know “Physics-speak” to fully grasp the full knowledge on the page (and the implications thereof). Simple Wikipedia gives the average Joe a basic overview of the topic, nothing too in-depth.

This long and drawn out example is meant to demonstrate that if you are writing for an highly educated audience, then your writing should reflect this fact. Your writing should incorporate excellent grammar, it should transition from topic to topic eloquently, incorporate higher vocabulary, etc. Vice versa.

Rules for Writing

Rules for Writing


Assignment: Write your own list of rules for good writing on the model of George Orwell's in "Politics and the English Language."  Back up your rules with examples and/or explanations (as Orwell does).

If you want to interact with Orwell's text (for example, argue against any of his rules and propose your own alternatives), you may.  If you think writing can't have rules, write an eloquent critique of writing by rules as your blog post, using examples/explanations to support your point.


-- Post by Thursday, February 9.
-- Write 150 to 350 words.
English writing is not easy, especially to whose native language is not English. With years of reading and writing, in my opinion, the rules of Enlish are showed below:

1).more simple,more better.

Long sentences may make people feel you have a great knowledge of English grammar, but it is not easy for people to understand you. If your audiences can not understand your meaning, why you wrote the article.
In my opinion, a good writing is using the simple sentences and those words that can present your meanings.I don't mean those compound sentences or complex sentences with many clauses should not be used. Because sometimes, using those sentence to do explaination may make the whole article looks more structured. But, basically, if you want your writing to be impressive and easy to understand, more simple, more better.

2). Have an outline or abstract before you write.
Have an outline or abstract befor start to write can improve your writing.  Because if you have already outlined your writing, when you are writing, you can do more brainstorming on how to elaborate your ideas rather than still working hard on ideas.

3). Avoid redundancy.
When present your ideas, simplify it rather than use a lot of sentences to present one thing. Like the in-class work about redundancy, sometimes a paragraph can be present just by one simple sentence, which the paragraph cannot make the writers' meaning for clear but more confused.

Rules For Writing

There are many different genre's and styles of writing that are used today.  Writer's are free to put down whatever they want to write about.  However, I do think that there should be a few rules when writing, and I would like to explain to you my top three.

Rule #1: Keep It Simple! 

Too often there are writers that use extensive analogies and metaphors in their writing that don't make sense and just end up confusing readers about what you're trying to say.  When you keep it simple you get your point across much better.

Rule #2: Write What You Know! 

When picking a subject to write about, choose one that you are familiar with.  Writing should be done about topics that the author understands.  If you're writing about a topic you don't know much about, it will show in your writing.

Rule #3: Use Appropriate Diction!

Many writers feel that in order to sound intelligent or credible that they must use the most complicated language possible.  This is just simply not true.  In order to get your true voice across in your writing you must use words and phrases that you understand and that are not too cliche.  You want your writing to be original and using typical phrases will take away from that originality.

Rules for Writing

Rules of Writing

                For the rules of writing, I think writing should remain simple and to the point. Too many words and complex sentences can make things confusing and overwhelming to a reader. When keeping it simple but intelligent at the same time, it makes it easy to get our points across in a clear manner. Below I have listed some of these rules I believe should be followed in writing.

1.       Don’t use words you don’t even know what they mean.

2.       Keep sentence structures simple for all to be able to understand.

3.       Using too many metaphors and cliché sentences gets redundant and should be avoided at all costs.

4.       I’d say around one or two per decent sized paragraph (300 words or more)

5.       Concise points are always nice. Getting the point across quickly not to lose anyone’s attention

6.       However, if detail is needed or preferred for certain writing, it is appropriate to use it.

7.       Use author quotations when necessary. Quotes are really nice but when overused it can get annoying to a reader.

8.       Grab a reader’s attention with great one liners and different uses of ethos

Following up, I believe if these rules are followed, it will make reading much more enjoyable to

everyone when the writings are concise and clear.

Rules for Writing

1. Know What You Are Writing About: You see this mistake in many students essays that they write for school, they simply do not know or understand what they are writing about. If you are confused about the subject you are writing about, change it to something you know about if possible. If not, do research on the subject, ask your professors, or experts on the subject.

2. Let Your Own Voice Be Heard: In college students are writing their essays excluding there own thoughts, and writing what the professor wants to hear. They put their opinions and ideas aside to please the reader. It's OK to disagree with the reader, as long as you back it up with valid information. People like to hear the other side sometimes.

3. Stick To Your Topic: In order to make writings seem longer, many writers start to ramble about irrelevant topics not related to there main point. Know enough about your main point so that you can stick with it throughout your whole writing and keep the audience interested.

4. Stick to What You Understand and Know: Many people put things (words, phrases etc.) in their writings in order to seem smarter then they are without knowing what they really mean. This in fact would just make you seem more stupid instead of smarter witch was your original goal. Stick to things you know. Be you.

5. Proofread: This is such a simple task that so many writers skip.  Look over your work two or three times, then let some of your friends look over it again. They see stuff that you might have skipped. The more eyes the better.

1. Take Pride in Your Writing. Writing simply because it was assigned can make a writer hold back on their own talents and creativity. Everyone has a different style of writing, that's the fun part. Everyone has the chance to impress their readers any way they want. Have confidence and pride when you write. Don't be afraid to mess up, you can edit your writing before anyone sees it.

2. Keep It Simple. An important thing to think about before starting to write is, who exactly will be the audience. It is very important that the audience be able to understand what you are talking about without much confusion. After the audience has been decided, there is still no need to use impossible words that no one understands. Make the writing simple and to the point so the audience can enjoy.

3. Have a Valid Topic and Details. No one wants to read something that isn't true or creditable, unless it's fiction. Make sure you know what you are talking about and have details to support this idea. Use you own knowledge only when necessary and true. Opinions should be limited simply because everyone has opinions.

4. Use Quotes Only When Needed. Many writers use quotes too often or in the wrong way. Make sure you know how and when to use quotes. Your paper should not be more quotes than your own writing, so pick and choose where to use a quote when it best fits the writing. Know and use the correct way of quoting someone or something. Use in-text citations and give the quoter the credit they deserve.

5. Use Spelling and Grammar Correctly. The first thing that makes a writer lose their creditability is visual mistakes. Spelling and grammar can be a very simple concept that makes or breaks a writer. Take extra time to make sure your writing doesn't have these silly mistakes. Having an outside source check you grammar and spelling wouldn't be a bad idea. Make the reader be impressed with you ability to write correctly.

6. Write Often. No one said writing had to be just an assignment in English class. Write when you have something to say. Write when there's no one to listen. Write whenever you can. You could be surprised on how well you can write, when its not part of a grade. Let you imagination and feelings take your writing. Let your words flow together just for fun.

Assignment 2: Rules to good writing

After having read George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language", and having given some thoughts about my own belief in what good writing should consist of, I have come to the conclusion that there are 5 key rules to quality writing.

1. Use the 'Right' Diction. Don't use words or figures of speech that your expected audience will not be able to understand. If your audience doesn't understand your writing, you might as well be writing in a different language. Especially when writing to the general public it is best that you use 'Simple English' rather than highly sophisticated words, because much of your audience may not know how to pronounce the words, or know the meaning.

2. Make Your Reasons Clear. Let people know what you are writing about, and why. The best examples of how to present your argument can be found in the text "They Say/I Say", which explains why it is important to let your audience know why you are shining light on a certain topic. If your audience is unsure why you are writing about something, it may be difficult for them to fallow where you are going with your writing.

3. Let Your Paragraphs Flow. It is important that your writing flows and is easy to fallow. You shouldn't jump from one subject to another and back and forth confusing the reader where you are going with your writing. Think of your writing as a guide, guiding the reader through your thoughts. If you zig zag around, you will lose your follower.

4. Don't Use Scientific Words. For example, don't use words like Ethos, Pathos, or Logos in your writing, because most people don't really know what those mean. Break down these types of words into their basic definitions.

5. Keep It Short and Sweet. Don't drag on with your writing. Sometimes it is best to keep your writing condensed into an efficient pack of information. If you tend to drag on and over expand your writing the reader may become bored and stop reading. This isn't good if you are trying to share information with a large audience.

Bennett Oliver

Some writing rules I would put in place for papers would be simple. First I would advise to use the simplest form of diction you could use. When writing papers it looks good on paper to add big flavorful words but in reality it hurts the overall flow of the paper and can leave the reader guessing the meaning of your explanations if they don’t know what that particular word means. Another writing rule I would use is to use quotes sparingly. Using a lot of quotes in a paper can hurt the credibility of the author. A lot of students who write papers use quotes in the wrong way. Using quotes in abundance makes the flow and the persuasion of the paper hard to read. The rule I would put is to use quotes sparingly but use them in a way to help your paper. If a student uses quotes the right way it can really help the paper by further explaining the quote and breaking it down for the reader to easily understand what the credible author is portraying. Another rule I would put is to use your own voice. Nothing is more frustrating to read than someone’s paper that you can’t find their own voice in it. The paper should have personality and life rather than having a dull and businesslike approach.

Rules for Writing

1.) Know your Audience: You need to know who you are talking to in order to make any kind of good attempt at writing something for readers to understand. You also need to know the audience so you know how to go about getting your point across.

2.) Know you Topic: You can't make any kind of educated argument or statement without knowing what you are writing about. Readers will pick up very quickly if an author doesn't know what he or she is talking about.

3.) Passion: If you are not passionate about the topic you won't put the effort in to make your writing good. Your writing will be dull and boring.

4.) Flow: The flow in writing is very important. No one wants to read something that is choppy and all over the place it makes it hard to follow and makes readers not want to read anymore.

5.) Relevant Topic: If you don't have a relevant topic than no one will care about your topic. This rule relates to my first two rules. You need to know those things so you can pick a topic that will actually inform people and keep them interested.

Assignment Two: Rules for Writing

My roommate and I were talking today about what makes good writing, specifically in a school setting. We discussed how teachers should grade writing and what exactly the grading standard should be. I considered what makes a paper worthy of receiving an “A,” but also worthy of being deemed good writing. I decided that the following rules should be followed in order to write well:

1. Write to your own ability. If you try writing to impress others with big words or supposed synonyms that you don’t know the exact meaning of, chances are that you will make a fool of yourself. Write about what you know, or at least try to make connections back to what you know if you are writing about an assigned topic. Not only will this allow you to write more in-depth, but you will also enjoy what you are writing about.
   
2. Revise grammar and sentence structure. Grammar and sentence structure determine the flow of your writing as well as how well your reader will be able to comprehend what you are trying to say. I guess you could say that grammar and sentence structure are the backbone of all writing. Without correct grammar and sentence structure, your writing will just be a bunch of jumbled up thoughts.
   
3. While keeping in mind rules one and two, also try to challenge yourself. Consider weight lifting for a moment. Lifting weights will damage the muscle just enough to allow it to rebuild itself stronger than before. Writing is no different; you should be pushed out of your comfort zone once in a while in order to improve. While you should write to your own ability and keep grammar and sentence structure in mind, your writing will never improve if you don’t take a few chances. Don’t make your whole paper a challenge, but try to incorporate an idea or a word that is just above your comfort level. Have others revise your work in order to catch mistakes, and then watch as your writing improves and expands. 

Rules for Writing

Rules for making a piece of writing

1. Know Your Audience. Make sure you know who your writing to; whether it's a teacher, a student, a parent, or a friend. Knowing who your writing to allows you to know if you can write in a formal or informal style.

2. Use Parallelism. Your writing has to flow smoothly so if one were to read it out loud, you wouldn't stumble over words or phrases.

3. Use Obvious Topic Sentences. Using obvious topic sentences will allow the reader to know when you're switching ideas and lets the reader know what they're about to read next.

4. Have a Solid Structure in Writing. Make sure you don't switch ideas randomly throughout a piece of writing, basically have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

5. Be Clear and Simple. Don't try to make your writing too complicated by using fancy words or phrases to the point where your reader has to look up every other word or phrase, ultimately make your writing easy and understandable for anyone who reads it.

Following these five simple rules will allow anyone to write well. 

Rules for Effective Writing

1)    Passion:  Enjoy what you are writing about.  Without passion or interest you are unlikely to succeed.  Readers can tell if you are truly interested or if you’re just writing because you are told to.

2)    Connection:  Go back and reread your writing to make sure there is a clear connection to what you have already said and what you are planning to say.  Your writing is like a road, you must have a path to follow and an idea of where you’re going.

3)    Dedication:  You must have an ample amount of time to spend on your writing in order to research your topic of discussion.  When a paper is rushed, readers can tell.  It often results in uncompleted thoughts and misguidance.

4)    Be Mindful of Your Audience:  Age, gender, and culture can often determine the language you decide to use.  When times change, often so does the common language used.  You want to make sure your audience is intrigued so you don’t lose their interest during your writing.

5)  Reread:  Make sure to reread you writing not once, but many times.  If your writing doesn’t make sense to you, there’s a very good chance your audience wont understand it either.  Rereading can also help you to free your writing of grammatical and spelling errors.

How to Write: Good Rules to Use in Book Writing

Nobody can be successful in writing without these rules or points to live by:

1) Love. You must have a passion for what you write. Else, it is flat, uninteresting, and usually, stilted and boring. Most excelllent writers spend years on their craft - a devoted mind to the meager returns it often provides.
2) Truth. Gotta tell the truth. What is your truth? How did you come to it? Why does it matter? How does it fit into the piece you write?
3) Information. Where is it? How did you get it? How does it relate? Can it make a difference (depending on the format)?
4) Flow. How do you structure your ideas? Many authors do their own thing here - but it has to make human sense. Lead you somewhere, exciting, intriguing, a story. Flowing to a end result - or at least, book #2.
5) Structure/Style. A bit different from flow. Flow is grand scope. Structure and Style can be a chapter thing, a paragraph thing. Changing points of view - by chapter - means you can switch the style, and structure of the character's thoughts. Flow - you gotta know where you are going. Style can be turned on and off - to meet the ends of the piece.
6) Time. Time invested in the craft. How much time did you spend researching, developing, or making a outline for the piece? To have a firm grasp on the position or the story, you have to make the investment into the topic. Get the details right. Put the reader in a car or passenger seat of your mind.
7) Edit for Love. It is hard to cut or amend your piece. No one wants to kill their baby. But editors tell their authors to be flexible - trimming a beautifully written piece, or cutting out the part that does not fit.

That's a start!