KEYS FOR GREAT WRITING

Introduction

Surface style has to do with technique. Deep style has to do with who you are, both as a writer
and a person. It results from genuine self-exploration, self-discovery, and self-revelation.

Style has as much to do with the reader’s perception of the reader’s of the writer as a person
as it does with the writer’s use of language.

Style and person become one. Similarly, style and content are inseparable.

Chapter one: Economy

Make Every Word Count

Single well-chosen word. The more economically you use language, the more powerfully you
will deliver your message. Economy of language is, of course, only one characteristic of an
accomplished style. Other factors such as colorful word choice and specific detail, also play a
part.

Trust a word to do its work

Writers who command language with energy and precision understand the power of a single
well-chosen word. Make every word count. Using words economically is a matter of rusting
language. Style takes its final shape more from attitudes of mind than from principles of
composition.

Edit for patterns of wordiness

Distinguish between words that convey meanings and words that do not. There are three
common types of redundancy: redundant modifiers (the modifier implies the meaning of the
word modified) redundant categories (the category is implied by the word) and redundant
word pairs (the second word reiterates the meaning of the first).

-Delete redundant modifiers: when editing, look closely at your modifiers. Make certain they
don’t repeat the meanings of the words they modify. If they do, delete them. Avoid wasting
the reader’s time with needless and otherwise unnecessary words.

-Delete redundant categories: when a word implies its category, don’t write both the word
and the category. Redundant categories can leave your reader in a confused state of mind.

-Replace redundant word pairs with single words

-Replace wordy expressions with single words: many expressions in everyday use should be
avoided in writing. If a word or phrase doesn’t add meaning, either delete or condense it.

-Delete hollow hedges and meaningless intensifiers: hedges and intensifiers are often totally
unnecessary. To determine when to se a modifier and when to omit one, try the sentence
without the modifier and see if anything important is lost. Even when a statement needs to be
qualified or intensified, be careful not to overdo it.

-Delete needless repetition: when used as an intentional device to create emphasis, repetition
can be a powerful tool. It can create emphasis and intensity. Careless repetition not only
wastes the reader’s time but also diminishes the writer’s effectiveness. Sometimes you must
repeat an idea or thought to convey your meaning and to increase coherence between
sentences but watch for needless repetition. Repeating the same words within a sentence or
within successive sentences will steal the energy from your style and make your writing sound
flat. Unless you are repeating a word or phrase for stylistic effect (unless your repetition is
deliberate and selective), avoid repeating a word or phrase within a sentence or within
successive sentences.

-Delete that for brevity, retain that for clarity: that can serve as an adverb, a demonstrative
pronoun, a conjunction introducing a noun clause that acts as the object of a verb, and a
relative pronoun. As a conjunction and as a relative pronoun, that often may be omitted to
good effect. Delete that for brevity, retain that for clarity. If deleting that would compress the
sentence in a way that improves its flow and rhythm, take it out. You may find it useful to
retain that when offering an aside at the beginning of a second clause

-Avoid protracted introductions: phrases or clauses can be eliminated or shortened.

-Use it, there and what constructions carefully: expletives refer to vulgar or obscene words,
but in reference to grammar they have a more particular meaning. An expletive is a place-
holding word such as it, there, and what that fills a vacancy in a sentence without adding to its
meaning. A common type of wordiness results from beginning sentences with it is, when it is is
used as an expletive. It is constructions generally should be avoided. It is constructions also can
be useful in creating a formal tone or in depersonalizing an action or a position. Many
sentences beginning with it is can be recast by using a noun or pronoun as the subject and
changing the following adjective or noun to an active verb. Other it is constructions can be
shortened or simply eliminated. Like it is constructions, there constructions generally should
be avoided because they are indirect and wordy. There are at least three instances when there
constructions can serve a useful purpose. The first of these is when a topic is being introduced
for further development, as in the first sentence of a paragraph. The second instance when
there constructions work well is in short, emphatic declarations. Accomplished writers often
use there constructions to good effect in descriptive passages. There constructions work ell in
description because they provide the writer with a simple, unobtrusive means of serving up
objects for the reader’s contemplation. Or perhaps the word there retains a hint of the
adverbial or locating function. There constructions should be used carefully because they
waste the reader’s time.

-Trim sentence endings for closing emphasis: beginnings and endings count more than
middles. You can move the VIP phrase to the end of the sentence, where it receives the
prominence it deserves. Sentences ending in words like experiencing, existing, happening and
occurring can usually be trimmed. The principle of natural stress applies broadly. It applies to
the first and last positions in a sentence and to the first and last sentences in a paragraph and
to the first and last paragraphs in a document.

-Prefer action verbs to nominalizations: if you want your style to be energetic and lively, take
the most direct route and use the most energetic and lively part of speech in the English
language: verbs.

-Avoid indirect negatives: avoid indirect statements using the word not. Use it to express
denial or to create antithesis, not to avoid making definite statements.
-Avoid needless attribution: get to your point directly and efficiently. Avoid using meaningless
phrases such as it is thought, was found, has been observed, etc to attribute your statements
and ideas to anonymous sources. If you are taking and idea or quotation from an actual
source, by all means identify the source. Otherwise, simply make your statement.

-Limit personal commentary: place yourself behind the camera rather than in front of it. If you
want to write with emphasis and style, it is generally agreed that you should avoid needless
attribution and limit personal commentary.

Chapter two: precision

Use the right word: if you want to write with style, word choice is a good place to start.

Listen carefully: people who write with authority are people who pay attention to language.
They are alert to the sound and meaning of words. They have at their command the
vocabulary they need to express their thoughts with precision and nuance. To write with style,
tune your ear to language. Attend to connotation (mood and feelings) as well as denotation
(literal meaning). No two words are exact synonyms.

-Collect good words: be on the lookout for words that are useful in your everyday writing, for
words that suit your style and personality. When you encounter a word you like, make it yours.
Consider its meaning and the context in which t is used. Look for words whose meanings are
only vaguely familiar to you and study them.

-Use a thesaurus to reminf you of words you already know: a thesaurus is an indispensable
tool. Use a thesaurus to remind you of words you have some experience with. A thesaurus will
help you not only rewrite the familiar, but find the best, most precise word to convey your
meaning. A thesaurus also can help you make your point with less monotony and precision by
suggesting alternatives.

-Make a Definite Impression: not all words serve a writer’s purpose equally well. As you
continue to broaden your vocabulary and develop your style, you will find that certain types of
words are more useful than others.

-Prefer the concrete and the particular for the abstracts and the general: effective writing
draws its energy from specificity, not from abstraction and generality. You are more likely to
make a definite impression on your reader if you use specific, rather than abstract words. Use
words that convey precisely and vividly what you are thinking or feeling.

-Appeal to five senses: don´t tell the reader; show the reader. The best way to avoid
vagueness and to write vividly is to appeal to your reader’s senses. You can go beyond merely
telling to showing by using “concrete words” or “sense words”, words that refer to things that
can be seen, smelled, heard or touched. When writers think of detail, they tend to think only in
visual detail, but detail that appeals to the other senses, especially the sense of smell, can
evoke strong feelings within your reader. To obfuscate or obscure your meaning, use abstract
words that do not evoke an image in the mind of the reader. Whenever someone uses
language hat fails to evoke a mental image, you should be concerned about that person’s
intent.
-Prefer strong action verbs over weak abstract nouns: verbs are the most important part of
speech. For a lively, energetic style rather than a noun-heavy, choose strong action verbs
rather than weak verbs linked to abstract nouns.

-Avoid common errors in word choice: meaningless modifiers are a common source of
wordiness. Other common word choice errors include sexist or non-inclusive language, fancy
language, and distance-creating language.

-Don’t’ trust your modifiers: adjectives and adverbs are the trickiest words to use well. Even
when they are meant to intensify, they can diminish. Whenever you use a modifier, try the
sentence without it. If nothing is lost, leave the word out.

-Avoid sexist language: converting nouns and pronouns from the singular to the plural is
perhaps the most graceful way to write inclusively. Here are some other practical methods of
avoiding sexist language:

- Replace the masculine pronoun with an article (a, an, the)

- Use the second person

- Eliminate the masculine pronoun

-As a last resort, use the inclusive but awkward he or she or his or her

Although slashed constructions such as he/she/his/hers are inclusive, they are awkward, so it
is best to avoid them.

-Avoid fancy words: there is a difference between vivid language and unnecessarily fancy
language. As you search for the particular, the colourful, and the unusual, be careful not to
choose cords merely for their sound or appearance rather than for their substance. When it
comes to word choice, longer is not always better. As a rule, prefer simple, plain language over
fancy language.

-Avoid language that creates distance between you and your reader: most readers prefer
natural, everyday language. Certain words are likely to make you seem like a warm, caring
human being, whereas others are likely to make you seem like a cold, heartless bureaucrat.
Certain expressions are distance-reducing; others are distance-creating.