simple tips for writing well
from personal experience. The basic philosophy is this: the work of the writer
is to make it easy for the reader to follow. We want to encourage the reader to
take the trip we're going on. The best way to do this is to be clear and crisp,
and look over what we've written with a critical eye. (Note, if English is your
second language, you might want to check out our writing tips for non-native
speakers.)
Other valuable online writing resources are listed at the end of the page.
Five basic tips:
1. Cut the clutter. William Zinsser says, "Clutter is the disease of American
writing...strip every sentence to its cleanest components" (On Writing Well).
Eliminate every paragraph, every phrase, every word that is not doing some
new work. This is almost impossible to do on the first draft. You need to
re-read what you've written a minimum of one time, and pull the weeds.
2. Avoid jargon. If you had to look a term up in a dictionary of philosophy the
first time you saw it, then explain it if you're going to use it. Good writing should
not read like a vocabulary test, and should be easy to follow. Overuse of
jargon quickly makes writing impenetrable for all but the anointed few. In
short, avoid words like "teleological" or "deontology" unless you offer a couple
of quick words of explanation.
3. Use the active voice. The timeless The Elements of Style notes, "The
habitual use of the active voice makes for forcible writing" (Strunk and White).
The active voice is subject--verb--object: Tom hit Bob. The passive voice is
more complicated: Subject--passive verb form--acting agent: Bob was hit by
Tom. Because it's slightly more complicated, the passive form is also slightly
more difficult to follow, and generally less "exciting" to read. Overloading our
writing with the passive will put readers to sleep. It's unforgivable. There are
sometimes when the passive is unavoidable or recommended (when we're
not sure who is doing the action, for example). But most of the time we can get
by just fine without it.
4. Write clearly. As a college journalism textbook points out, "Comprehension
precedes clarity. ...Writers who write well are always asking themselves
whether the words they are using make their stories clear, succinct, direct."
(Melvin Mencher, News Reporting and Writing). While sometimes writing can
be used to work out your thoughts, you need to make sure you review what
you've written, and edit and organize it so that it's clear and interesting for
someone else. Use short sentences. Make sure each sentence is clear and
logically leads into the next one. Make sure each paragraph builds on the one
before it. Use proper transitions where necessary.
5. Writing is rewriting. That phrase rings throughout the writing world. Every
writer worth his or her salt reviews what he or she has written at least once,
usually a few times. Mensher's textbook notes flatly, "nothing good was ever
written as a first draft." There are two phases of writing: the creative, and the
critical. Let the creative be your muse, putting the ideas to paper. But give the
cold-blooded critic his due, and have him look at more than grammar and
spelling: prune and rearrange your writing until it's crisp, vigorous, and clear.
References:
Mencher, Melvin; News Reporting and Writing; 7th ed.; Brown & Benchmark, Dubuque,
IA; 1997.
Strunk, William; and White, E.B.; The Elements of Style; 3rd ed.; Macmillan, New York;
1979.
Zinsser, William; On Writing Well; 5th ed.; HarperCollins, New York; 1994.
Online writing resources
(Note: some of these sites are directed toward essay writing. That's not to imply that your
forum comments should be in essay form. Not in the least, though essay form may be
appropriate for longer postings (i.e., 500 words or more). Either way, these sites offer some
general principles for good writing.)
12 Common Errors: An Editing Checklist
Guide to Writing a Basic Essay
Hemingway's Kansas City Star stories
Article on Hem and the Star, including his four golden rules from the Star Style Sheet
How to Write an Essay
Improving Your Writing Style
The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Writing Argumentative Essays
Writing Tools, from Newswriting.com
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taken from Wikipedia
