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Make Your Writing Come Alive

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by Dawn Goldberg, Write Well U (reprinted with permission from Fuel)

Writing is more than just packaging your words. Those words are the meat of your project and your message. You have to think about content and your audience and writing it well and getting your readers’ attention and keeping your readers’ attention and…. The list goes on and doesn’t ever seem to stop.

If you write well, then your writing will accomplish all those goals: getting your readers’ attention, keeping their attention, and meeting their needs. Now, we’re not talking about correct grammar and sentence mechanics, although that is important to writing well.

We’re talking about how to make the writing come alive, to be yours and yours alone.

  • Be creative. Whether you’re writing titles or giving examples, come up with your own ideas. It seems clever to riff off the “Got Milk?” slogan, but after a while (and sometimes a very short while), that gets old. You don’t have to worry about your writing being cliché or old when you come up with your own creative ideas.
  • Be yourself. You’re not the answer for everyone, and not everyone is going to be attracted to your stuff. However, if you write authentically, then you have a better chance of people sticking around to see what you have to say. It’s basic Law of Attraction.
  • Be original. You don’t have to do it like everyone else. You don’t have to follow all the rules. Just because you get great advice from E-zines and books on writing, it doesn’t mean you have to follow all of it. Do it your own way and stand out from the crowd. If you’re like everyone else, what would make people gravitate toward you? Give them a reason to pick you.
  • Be strong. Choose a stand and believe in it. If your writing is filled with “I think” and “I guess” and “I believe” and “it seems,” you come across as wishy-washy. Take those words out and stand firm. Say what you believe and believe what you say.
  • Be human. We all make mistakes. Don’t try to pretend you’re perfect. If you make a mistake, own up to it. Your audience wants someone to whom they can relate. If you come across as perfect, how can they relate to you? Admit your weaknesses and be authentic.
  • Be fun-filled. Enjoy what you’re writing about. Write from the heart. Be passionate. If you like humor, be funny. If you like word play, add a few puns. If you’re thrilled with what you’re doing, let that joy come out in your writing.

The point is to throw yourself into your writing. It can be scary, yes, but you’re more likely to grab your readers and have them follow you rather than get a lukewarm or so-so response. Take risks. Be yourself. Let your words be powerful.

Which “Writing Well” tips do you find most helpful? Share your thoughts here.

George Orwell’s Writing Rules

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by Barbara McNichol

According to Writer’s Almanac, in 1946, George Orwell (famed author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four) wrote an essay called “Politics and the English Language.” In it, he included five rules for effective written communication.

I share these five rules here with my own commentary in red. For the life of me, though, I can’t figure out what the fifth one means. What’s your best guess? 

Please share your interpretation of what (v) means in the comment box below. Yes, it can be outrageous!

Orwell’s Five Rules for Effective Written Communication

(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print. I’d say – Use  original, creative figures of speech, not common (worn out) cliches that everyone knows.

(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do. Ditto!!

(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. I’d say – Find ways to Whack Wordiness in your writing. (See my blog posts on how to do that.) /wp-admin/post.php?post=250&action=edit

(iv) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Agreed (most of the time)! One of my criteria in creating Word Trippers is selecting everyday words, not obscure ones.

(v) Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. Help! Need a translator for this one!

What would you add to Orwell’s list?

Nonfiction Authors: Think Like an Editor

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Barbara McNichol

Writers take their observations of the world, draw a few conclusions, and translate them into messages on paper (or computer screens). When you write something to market your products or services, you don a writer’s hat to express your message in words. But don’t stop there. You then need to put on your editor’s glasses and focus on fine-tuning those words to make sure they communicate with your intended audience. That requires you to read your piece as if you have never seen it before and think like an editor.

A skilled editor examines every phrase and asks:

  • Is it NECESSARY?
  • Is it CLEAR?
  • Is it CONCISE?

When you review your own writing, you likely won’t answer “yes” to all these questions. So take off your writer’s hat and look through your editor’s glasses, then make changes based on these five common writing problems.

1. Use the active voice. (WHO does WHAT to WHOM.)

Passive: It was decided that everyone would take the class.
Active: The principal decided everyone would take the class.

2. Make subjects and verbs agree. (No mixing singular and plural.)
Incorrect:  A group of writers were in town. (“Group” is singular while “were” is plural.)
Correct: A group of writers was in town. (“Group” is the subject here, not “writers.”)

3. Use parallel construction. (Give your writing rhythm.)
Weak: We’ve learned to read, write, and we’re making sure information is shared.
Stronger: We’ve learned to read, write, and share information.

4. Make the subject obvious. (Don’t let your participles dangle!)
Yucky: Driving down the highway, the new stadium came into view. (Who was driving down the highway? The stadium?)

Better: We could see the progress on the new stadium as we drove by it on the highway.

5. Use specific, vivid verbs and nouns. (Don’t overuse adverbs and adjectives.)

Dull: I saw some really pretty yellow daffodils.

Interesting: I reveled in a riot of daffodils.

When you wear your editor’s glasses, make sure every word counts. What are your favorite writing/editing tips that will enhance someone’s writing? Please share them here.

 

Whack Wordiness: Keep Your Writing Motor Running

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by Barbara McNichol
 

“Writings are useless unless they are read, and they cannot be read unless they are readable.” – Theodore Roosevelt

After encouraging writers to quit rambling when crafting their paragraphs and chapters, I want to make sure you don’t stall out.

What techniques can keep your motor running smoothly? Take these four tips to heart.

1. One Thought, One Sentence

2. Steer on the Sunny Side

3. Build Bridges to Guide Your Reader

4. Place Strongest Words at End

1. One Thought, One Sentence

Unless you’re a novelist whose style calls for long, descriptive sentences, in the nonfiction world, it’s best to express one thought in one sentence and end it. Spend another sentence on the next thought, and so on. Keep your prose moving forward with short, succinct sentences.

2. Steer on the Sunny Side

It’s hard for readers to track what’s being written when it’s stated in a negative way. And most of the time, negative statements require a lot more words to make a point. Avoid using “no” and “not” except when you strongly want to emphasize or contrast something.

Negative: The answer does not lie with their carelessness or incompetence.

Better: The answer lies in having enough people to do the job.

Negative: We can’t incorporate all the design features without increasing the unit size.

Better: To provide all the design features, we have increased the unit size.

3. Build Bridges to Guide Your Reader

Since your goal is to whack wordiness, you may consider bridge words and phrases extraneous. Yet, the transitions from one sentence to another do keep your motor running and should be kept in high gear. Why? They create logical links that smooth the road like a well-maintained highway.

Examples of bridge words that . . .

connect two ideas of the same kind         and, plus, as well as

add another thought        besides, also, what’s more, besides, then, again,

compare or contrast ideas    but, still, however, yet, rather, likewise

 reinforce an idea             indeed, in fact, of course, by all means

show results                          as a result, consequently, thus, hence

 4. Place Strongest Words at End

Consider placing your most prominent words at the end of your sentence. Doing so provides emphasis and helps push your writing from one new idea to the next. E.g., “With your new ability to whack wordiness, you’ll drive smoothly toward your writing destination.” The main message hinges on “drive smoothly” rather than on the support statement “with your new ability . . .” It strengthens your intent.

 

Whack Wordiness: Eliminate Extraneous Phrases

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by Barbara McNichol

As you revise, proofread, and finalize what you’ve written, whack all the extra words you can to sharpen your message in compelling ways.

Eliminate extraneous phrases such as:

“there is” and “there will be”
e.g., There will be many candidates who are already planning to move. Better: Many candidates may be already planning to move.

“It is all about”; “the fact of the matter is”; “the fact that”
e.g., The fact of the matter is that it’s unwise to go out carousing. Better: It’s unwise to go out carousing.

“in regards to”
e.g., There may be additional sites you should seek out in regards to your industry. Better: Seek additional sites related to your industry.

“is going to”
e.g., He is going to be a key asset. Better: He will be a key asset.

“in order to”
e.g., Add key words in order to describe the new position. Better: Add key words to describe the new position.

“is intended to, meant to, designed to”
e.g., Prescreening is intended to focus on key aspects of the position. Better: Prescreening focuses on key aspects of the position.

“the reason why is that . . .” (a simple “because” will suffice)

Take out these wobbly words whenever you can:

some “We rely on some long-standing methods.”

much “Jobs posted on the internet reach a much larger audience.”

very “Get ready to do a very good job.”
quite a few “It’s been quite a few days since we spoke.” Be specific; use a number.

that “Find information that you can apply easily.”

Note: The word that doesn’t substitute for who when referring to a human being. E.g., “. . . a person that plays the piano” should be “a person who plays the piano.”

Knock out redundancies such as:

end result
add more
tally up
future plan
absolute guarantee
alongside of
ask yourself
at the present time
spell out in detail
sum total
visible to the eye

Think of these extra words as layers of onion skin before you get to the usable part. Peel them from your writing. – Diana Booher, Booher’s Rules of Business Grammar

Replace phrases with single words where appropriate:

“a great number of” with “many”
“ahead of schedule” with “early”
“during the time that” with “while”
“give consideration to” with “consider”
“in spite of the fact that” with “although”

Change nouns to verbs:
“the examination of” becomes “examine”
“reach a decision” becomes “decide”
“the transformation of” becomes “transform”
“the reorganization of” becomes “reorganize”

Revise long-winded sentences:
Chop a long sentence into two – and make sure they both sound correct!
Combine thoughts and ideas when you can.
Question every single word – especially every adverb and adjective.
Take out the ones that don’t add to the meaning.

Rout out words that are inadvertently used twice:
“Following a process for hiring, we followed his techniques.” Better: “Following a process for hiring, we adopted his techniques.”
“Hoping for warm weather, we hoped to book our vacation in the south.” Better: “Hoping for warm weather, we booked our vacation in the south.”

Let absolutes be absolute:
e.g., Ever heard someone say “his bucket is emptier (or more empty) than mine”? How can something be emptier than empty? The same holds true for all absolute words. Drop the “less” or “more” in front of these:

perfect
unique
equal
final
first
last

Get rid of tag-ons to verbs:
continue on
refer back to
grouped together
open up
cancel out
first began

Employ these tips today and you’ll see how quickly your writing improves!

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“Barbara McNichol’s teleclass Whack Wordiness was extremely valuable and brilliantly presented. Barbara has been the editor of my book, several articles and letters. I would not send out anything important without getting Barbara’s expertise and keen eye for perfection first.” – Maureen Minnehan Jones

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