north by Northwest United States?

Do you capitalize cardinal directions (e.g., north, northwest)?

Answer:

Only if they refer to a specific region of a country (eg: Northwest America). Do NOT capitalize if they are used as directions (eg: Looking north...).

Read more:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_north_south_east_and_west_capitalized#ixzz19LaFOHux

Who versus Whom

Haven't done a straight grammar mix-up in a while. So I found a really cool grammar girl entry on this one.

Use who when you are referring to the subject. Use whom when you are referring to the object.

Quick and dirty tip: Like whom, the pronoun him ends with m. When you're trying to decide whether to use who or whom, ask yourself if the answer to the question would be he or him. That's the trick: if you can answer the question being asked with him, then use whom, and it's easy to remember because they both end with m. For example, if you're trying to ask, "Who (or whom) do you love?" The answer would be "I love him." Him ends with an m, so you know to use whom. But if you are trying to ask, "Who (or whom) stepped on Squiggly?" the answer would be "He stepped on Squiggly." There's no m, so you know to use who. So that's the quick and dirty trick: if you can't remember that you use whom when you are referring to the object of the sentence, just remember that him equals whom.

Thanks grammar girl. I don't know who you are, but a bit your not as hot as the cartoon of you on the website.

A Journal Article Takes 12 Weeks to Write

All to often I forget that writing takes time. If I have learned anything about preparing my first manuscript for submission is that it is long and arduous. Also, that you have to not attach any sort of emotion to the words you write because they are all going to be hashed to death beyond recognition and reincarnating in a form that sounds more like your professor's and not yours. Just saying.

So start early and start often.

Some books I will adding to my repertoire:
Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success
How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing

Getting Rid of the Fuzz or Decluttering your Writing

"All writers edit their prose, but great writers edit viciously. The point of editing is to eliminate ‘fuzz’, or excess words which don’t add value. Zinsser compares removing ‘fuzz’ to fighting weeds – you will always be slightly behind. Two examples of fuzz are ‘also’ and ‘very’. Work at keeping them out of your text and your writing will improve."
-The Thesis Whisperer a good writing blog to follow......