Effective Writing
Rule 1Use concrete rather than vague language.
Vague: The weather was of an extreme nature on the west coast.
Concrete: California had very cold weather last week.
Rule 2
Use active voice whenever possible. Active voice means the subject is performing the verb.
Examples:
Active:
Barry hit the ball.
Passive: The ball was hit.
Notice that the responsible party may not even appear when using passive voice.
Rule 3
Avoid overusing there is, there are, it is, it was, and so on.
Example: There is a case of meningitis that was reported in the newspaper.
Correction: A case of meningitis was reported in the newspaper.
Even better: The newspaper reported a case of meningitis. (Active voice)
Example: It is important to signal before making a left turn.
Correction: Signaling before making a left turn is important. OR Signaling before a left turn is important. OR You should signal before making a left turn.(Active voice)
Example: There are some revisions which must be made.
Correction: Some revisions must be made.
Even better: Please make some revisions. (Active voice)
Rule 4
To avoid confusion, don't use two negatives to make a positive.
Incorrect: He is not unwilling to help.
Correct: He is willing to help.
Rule 5
Use similar grammatical form when offering several ideas. This is called parallel construction.
Correct: You should check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Incorrect: You should check your spelling, grammar, and punctuating.
Rule 6
If you start a sentence with an action, place the actor immediately after or you will have created the infamous dangling modifier.
Incorrect: While walking across the street, the bus hit her.
Correct: While walking across the street, she was hit by a bus. OR She was hit by a bus while walking across the street.
Rule 7
Place modifiers near the words they modify.
Incorrect: I have some pound cake Mollie baked in my lunch bag.
Correct: In my lunch bag, I have some pound cake that Mollie baked.
Rule 8
A sentence fragment occurs when you have only a phrase or weak clause but are missing a strong clause.
Example of Sentence Fragment: After the show ended.
Example of Sentence: After the show ended, we had coffee.