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Does Word Order Matter? Think “Short to Long”

November 5, 2019 by Barbara McNichol Leave a Comment

by Barbara McNichol

When polishing your sentences, pay attention to the nuances of word order. Yes, it matters!

As someone who has edited more than 350 nonfiction books, to my eye (and ear), placing “short” before “long” works best. This applies to both sentences and lists.

Here’s a simple example from a recent book I edited:

“He was well respected and loved in the academic community.”

I changed it to:

“He was loved and well respected in the academic community.”

Because “loved” is 5 letters and “well respected” is 13, it makes for a smoother read if the longer phrase follows the shorter word. See if you agree.

Another example:

“Good leaders don’t waste time, effort, financial resources, or opportunities.”

This becomes:

“Good leaders don’t waste time, effort, opportunities, or financial resources.” This shift creates a tidy parade of words from short to long.

Word Order in Lists

In addition, a list is visually easier to follow when the line length goes from short to long. This example is from a leadership newsletter:

It would be counterproductive if you:

  • Take the time to plan your day, but you don’t follow the plan.
  • Hire people to do a job but don’t take time training them to do that job.
  • Have slow-moving products in your inventory that generate low margins.
  • Conduct an employee engagement survey and do nothing with the results.
  • Attend a trade show to network with customers but spend your time on the phone.

To get a feel for how adjectives line up best in a sentence, this blog post summarizes it beautifully: http://barbaramcnichol.com/2017/11/02/order-place-adjectives-sentence-explained/

For even more tips, go to http://barbaramcnichol.com/2016/03/06/5-writing-tips-to-improve-your-readability/

Key message: Better writing means paying attention to the best use of word order!

Filed Under: Writing Tips Tagged With: best word order, better writing, business writing, business writing skills, nonfiction book editing, nonfiction writing, word order, word order in lists, writing lists

Writing Blunders: What Have They Cost You?

November 12, 2015 by Barbara McNichol Leave a Comment

by Barbara McNichol

Writing Blunders

Writing Blunders

It only takes a moment to make a blunder in writing that sets in  motion near-disastrous results. Sure, writing “best retards” instead of “best regards” can be embarrassing but some writing blunders can truly hurt.

What catastrophic examples can you cite about communications gone awry? What consequences followed?

Please share your writing blunders here. The person who submits the Biggest Blunder example earns a printed copy of my Word Trippers book. See www.WordTrippers.com

 

 

Filed Under: Business Writing Tagged With: #business book editing, book editing services, business writing skills, improve your writing, professional book editing services

Boost Your Productivity by STRENGTHENING Your Writing

September 15, 2014 by Barbara McNichol Leave a Comment

Barbara model poseby Barbara McNichol

 

For years, I’ve been on a crusade to help people boost their productivity by strengthening their writing so they can avoid the problems that come with sending unclear messages.

As part of this crusade, I offer a WordShop to organizations and individuals, including:

  • Business professionals
  • Administration assistants
  • Marketing copywriters
  • Grant proposal writers
  • Journalists, bloggers, authors

My next public WordShop called STRENGTHEN Everything You Write comes up on Oct. 25th at Tucson College. This 3.5-hour hands-on session helps you improve everything you write—from business emails to proposals, reports, blog posts, articles, book chapters, and more. All attendees will received the 2nd edition of Word Trippers, my word choice guide.

At the end of this WordShop, you’ll be able to:

  • Get results you want with clearer, more concise writing.
  • Save readers’ time by reducing wordiness and repetition.
  • Plan your ideas before you write for maximum effect.
  • Select the right tone to fit your audience, purpose, and topic.
  • Eliminate errors that create confusion and mar your reputation.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

9:30 am – 1 pm

Tucson College – 5151 East Broadway Blvd. at Rosemont, Tucson AZ

Only $69*

Register here 10/25.

“Great new tools, great tune-up of existing knowledge!”

– Mark F., career consultant

Filed Under: Writing Workshops Tagged With: better writing for business professionals, better writing for marketing copywriters, boost productivity, business writing, business writing skills, improve productivity, seminar for writing, writing for Administration assistants, writing for bloggers

Good vs. Great Business Writers: Cite 6 Differences

October 19, 2013 by Barbara McNichol Leave a Comment

by Dianna Booher

Face-to-face and phone communication is fading fast from our everyday experience. We work, love, and live now by writing—Facebook posts, tweets, LinkedIn messages, Google+ posts, blogs, white papers, website copy, emails, sales proposals, activity reports, résumés, job offerings, performance reviews, reports, and recommendations.

improve business writing from good to great

Business writing tools

The good news: Great writing skills will give you the edge for career advancement. Having made authorship my life’s work for three decades and having presented hundreds of business writing and technical writing workshops during the same span, I’ve discovered these distinct differentiators between good and great business writers:

1. Structure

Good writers may organize, draft, think, reorganize—in whatever way works best for each project. They may end with a well-written document, but it may take them a while to do so.

Great writers have a repeatable system. They typically spend more time thinking about their writing than actually drafting.

2. Word Choice

Good writers select clear words. They avoid ambiguous phrasing that has different meanings for different people.

Great writers choose precise words. They tickle the ear with eloquent phrasing so that their sentences beg to be reread.

3. Conciseness

Good writers get to the point.

Great writers get to the point—but they never sacrifice clarity for the sake of brevity.

4. Grammar

Good writers consider grammar important; they want to get things right. They know when sentences sound right.

Great writers understand the link between grammar and clarity; they insist on getting the grammar right. They know the rules—and which “rules” are only style matters.

5. Tone

Good writers convey their message (even a sensitive email about a negative situation) in a clear, straightforward style.

Great writers communicate their message in a clear, straightforward style—but with an upbeat, conversational warmth.

6. Editing

Good writers edit their work to spot weaknesses.

Great writers rarely trust themselves to edit their own work. They welcome other opinions.

So let me paraphrase Ben Franklin as I sum up: Either do something worth writing about or write well about something you’re doing.

Can you add other differentiators in the “Comments” section below?

© 2013 Dianna Booher. Booher Consultants, a communications training firm, works with business leaders and organizations to increase effectiveness through better oral, written, interpersonal, and enterprise-wide communication. Founder Dianna Booher is the author of 46 books, published in 26 languages. Her latest titles include Creating Personal Presence: Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader and Communicate With Confidence! The Revised and Expanded Edition. www.Booher.com

 

Filed Under: Business Writing Tagged With: authorship, business writing skills, Dianna Booher, professional book editing services, professional editing, self-editing, social media messages, write better social media messages

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