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10 Simple Things You Can Do To Improve Your Writing

blogs.techrepublic.com.com — Maybe you’ve never penned a single blog entry, never been asked to write a progress report, never had to read over a colleague’s work for errors, and never had to send a critically important e-mail message to your boss. If that’s the case, you’re free to go now. But for most of us, a certain amount of writing is part of our job — and unfortunately

Who dugg this? Made popular Oct 1, 2008

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  • inactive, on 10/01/2008, -2/+66"The dog, as well as the goat and chicken, are easy to parallel park."

    I think the subject/verb relationship is the least of what's wrong with that sentence.
  • VinnieDaMac, on 10/01/2008, -0/+48The best way for teachers to encourage kids to not use "#7: Wordy constructions; deadwood phrases" would be to remove length requirements on papers.
  • sockpuppets, on 10/01/2008, -0/+29Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
  • Oddish, on 10/01/2008, -1/+17Not to nitpick but these are actually 10 things you should _avoid_ to improve your writing.
  • thailand1972, on 10/01/2008, -3/+1812. Get a go-cart
  • inactive, on 10/01/2008, -1/+111. Don't Use Capital Letters At The Start Of Every Word
  • MechaFalcon, on 10/01/2008, -0/+10The problem with your first example is that family isn't an adverb.
  • hootpie, on 09/30/2008, -8/+18How is babby formed?
  • Bught, on 10/01/2008, -1/+10That depends upon the requirements, when one is required to write 40 - 60 pages on analyzing Huckleberry Fin or the Grapes of Wrath, wordy sentence structure is your savior. And yes those were real assignments I was subjected to in high school. Basically it depends upon how reasonable the teachers expectations are, sometimes they require much longer essays to make up for their failings as a teacher, showing how much your kids could write and maybe the one kid whose bs was semi-believable to the principle makes them look better.
  • crestfall, on 10/01/2008, -1/+9I just read last night about the plurality of the collective.

    If they act as one, use the singular: "Motely Crue was horrible last night."

    If they act separately, or disagree, refer to the collective in plural: "The band have different opinions about why they suck balls."
  • hoist0that0rag, on 10/01/2008, -0/+6Please, please remember: "it's" is a conjunction of "it is" and "its" implies ownership. Many an otherwise well-thought out bit of scribble is ruined for me when I come across this simple and avoidable mistake.
  • dcbebop, on 10/01/2008, -0/+5FTA: "Best practice: If the second clause can’t walk away and be its own sentence, don’t set it off with a comma."

    Also try to avoid double negatives.
  • poet, on 10/01/2008, -1/+6"The band HAS different opinions about why they suck balls."
    Fixed.
  • YouandWhoseArmy, on 10/01/2008, -1/+6This blog post is *****. Am I the only one that thinks it would have been better if after writing a poorly worded sentence they should of showed what a correctly worded one would look like?
  • inactive, on 10/01/2008, -1/+5http://www.amazon.com/Style-Lessons-Clarity-Grace- ...

    Here is the gospel kiddies. This book lifted my grades by 5-10 percent. Highly recommended.
  • serif69, on 10/01/2008, -0/+4I just got backup sensors installed on my dog. I fail to see your point.
  • loquax, on 10/01/2008, -0/+4Even though I taught English in a former life, I hate grammar Nazi snipes. I do like, however, articles like this one. I'd much rather encourage people to write better than to crap on them for not knowing the conventions of written English. Most of the time, people are either just confusing the spoken word with the written word, or they are fat-fingering and forgot that "they're" and "their" are not the same word.
  • Napiertt, on 10/01/2008, -0/+3Sorry, seeing "your" in place of "you're" drives me crazy. I really think they don't know the difference, and it's scary!
  • m85476585, on 10/01/2008, -0/+3Obvious like capitalizing the first letter of a sentence and the pronoun "I"?
  • thunderer, on 10/01/2008, -0/+3Shoo! You'll have to pry the dramatic pause from my cold, dead hands.
  • johndowner, on 10/01/2008, -2/+5A couple of these rules are specific to US English. In UK and International English it is proper to treat organizations as if they were plural. (i.e.: Microsoft ARE...). Also, they don't care so much for the which/that rule.
  • svivian, on 10/01/2008, -0/+3Most of those "deadwood" phrases *do* have their uses. For example, "in the event that" is not exactly the same as "if" - the former implies that the event is not very likely to happen.
  • WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -0/+3If you've never taken a high school English class, maybe.
  • m85476585, on 10/01/2008, -0/+2Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.


    For anyone who doesn't get the parent's post:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffa ...
  • AmusedToDeath, on 10/01/2008, -0/+2Amen to that. I've often wished I could reach through the interwebs and give a good temple thumping to some of the twits on digg who have entire comment histories full of pointless "their is not the same as they're" posts. Is it so impossible to believe that these could just be typos?
  • Mookeh, on 10/01/2008, -2/+411) Write actively - passive constructions are boring.
    12) Don't abuse your adverbs. Don't dress up your sentences with too much fluff, it'll take the energy out of your text.

    Anyone got anything else?
  • XtheXlanternX, on 10/01/2008, -2/+4Um. If you need someone to tell you these things, maybe you should retake middle school on up.
  • Lewie, on 10/01/2008, -1/+3I think his problem is that he is on drugs.
    ...and not sharing.
  • CrushThemTorg, on 10/01/2008, -0/+2I was looking like hell for a case to prove that "family" is the only case where an exception to this rule matters, but I got distracted by this massive list of words that end in -ly: http://wordnavigator.com/ends-with/ly/
  • theutopian, on 10/01/2008, -0/+211. Write often.
  • Khanvalescent, on 10/01/2008, -0/+2This list primarily covered grammar. Best way to improve writing is to read a lot and write a lot more.
  • chrism2202, on 10/01/2008, -0/+2Some of these are good suggestions, but the remainder of the suggestions (tips) are simply proper grammar.
    Just follow proper English and you'll be all set.
  • carlosglz, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1Here's a tip: learn the difference between "loose" and "lose".

  • trpnblies7, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1#10 is not using a comma to join two dependent clauses; it's using a comma to join an independent and dependent clause. The first part of each sentence can stand on its own.
  • m85476585, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1There is nothing wrong with the Oxford comma. It is optional, so a list is correct either way.
  • Easyoffbam, on 10/01/2008, -1/+2Don't worry, I will help you!

    Should of is wrong, it's should have.
  • WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Spam is really unhealthy. 'S true:
    http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/sausages-and-lu ...
  • WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1In this case, it would be much less awkward to avoid the collective noun altogether: "the band members" or "the members of the band."
    /nerd
  • c0r3file, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1
    For me it's all about the semicolons; they're just as useful as a period but help you feel superior.
  • Easyoffbam, on 10/01/2008, -1/+2Don't write:

    -Your instead of you're
    -To instead of too
    -Loose instead of lose
    -Should of instead of should have
    -Defiantly instead of definitely

    Also, use their,there and they're correctly.
  • Spoomeister, on 10/01/2008, -0/+10. Have something meaningful and original to say, instead of rephrasing other people's opinions or talking about trivia.
  • randomangles, on 10/01/2008, -0/+113) Write for your audience. You probably don't want to use exactly the same style of writing to send a business-critical email to your CEO as you would use in your blog.
  • Rudegar, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1just copy paste other peoples words into sentences!

  • abarysh2, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1Read a book.
  • inactive, on 10/01/2008, -1/+2Overdone.
  • Brododium, on 10/02/2008, -0/+1I've *always* heard the serial comma being refered to as the 'Harvard' comma. I eschew it when I write, the conjuctions which join the clauses suffice.
  • GruntboyX, on 10/02/2008, -0/+1This has to be one of the most useful articles that has made the front page of digg. It was refreshing to read an article that was practical to my every day life.

    Much better than the random political tantrums and apple news proliferating the front pages
  • WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1I'm still snickering over that one.
  • Abjure, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1All aboard the fail train. You guys can't even get the order right?
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