WRITING TIPS
The essentials of good writing apply to all media. All effective communications require knowledge of the audience, clarity of purpose, and ability to craft a goal-directed message. Whether you're writing for books, magazines, TV newscasts, packaging labels, or the web, the following basic pointers will help assure quality in your written work:
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Get In-touch with Your Message and Your Style
- Give ample time and energy to clarifying your ideas and exploring alternative ways to express them. Use brainstorming, stream-of-consciousness writing, outlining, summarizing, and
diagramming to get your first rough ideas on paper.
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- Shape your rough draft by revising, simplifying, and tightening your writing.
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- Focus equal attention on broad conceptual content and the minutia of spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
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- Know how to stop when you have got it right. You will do so, of course, long before reaching a perfection which can never be achieved. Remember, an undelivered message will not accomplish
your purpose.
Be Concise
- Avoid redundant words and phrases, such as "new innovation" and "advance plan." What innovation is not new? Who plans something after it has happened?
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- Be sure to add meaning when using introductory or modifying terms, such as "generally," "actually," "needless to say," "everyone knows," "for all intents and purposes," and "it is
a fact that." Test their usefulness by removing them to see if your meaning changes.
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- When considering alternative ways to convey an idea, use the one that requires the least punctuation and uses the fewest words.
- Use the active voice. Keep actions flowing from their agents to their objects. "She solved the puzzle," not "The puzzle was solved by Alice." "I read the book first," not "The book was
first read by me."
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- Keep sentence structure simple — subject > verb > object. In moderation, complex order and interpolated clauses can give emphasis and variety. However, if it is
overdone, your readers may turn to something less valuable but more readable.
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- When you find yourself wondering how to punctuate a sentence, consider the possibility that there is a simpler and better way to express your idea.
Hold Your Reader's Interest
- Cast your ideas in a positive form to set a pleasant tone, simplify sentence structure, and facilitate suggesting action. Write "Continue to be among our most favored customers by making payment before June 1," rather than, "If you fail to make payment before June 1, you will be dropped from our roster of priority accounts."
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- Enliven noun strings by inserting action words. For example, instead of "corporate profit growth plan," try "plan to grow corporate profits."
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- Help your readers flow easily through your ideas with parallel structures, such as, "To complete the project, she applied siding, painted trim, and caulked windows" not "She completed the project by applying siding, trim painting, and caulked the windows." Use "Their forces were superior on land, at sea, and in the air" not "Their forces had superiority on land, and the naval advantage was theirs as was the edge in the air."
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- Use terms that are definite. In most cases, "40 feet" is better than "tall" and "three inches" is preferable to "small." Instead of saying "contact me," choose the more definite, "call, write, or visit." For expository pieces, choose language that suggests definition and verifiability.
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- Relate your information to readers' concerns. Instead of, "Our sophisticated database software makes parsimonious use of code and offers a user friendly graphic interface," say, "Create or retrieve your important records quickly and reliably in one simple step."
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- Organize ideas to fit the reader's situation and mind set. If the business at hand is understood, get to the point. Try "Please accept this letter and the accompanying résumé in application for your currently announced Sales Manager position" rather than "I am in the midst of a career change and am hoping to do something involving people and problem solving."
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- The reverse of the above may be true if you are introducing and seeking acceptance of a new idea. Open with, "Are you concerned about the tight labor market, worker retention, diversifying your staff?" Follow-up by suggesting action: "Benefit from our four decades of human resource management experience by calling us today."
These tips are intended both to help you with your writing and to give some idea of our own approach to style. This list is by no means exhaustive, and we invite you to contact us with your own tips and illustrative examples if you'd like them shared on this site.