BECOMING A BETTER WRITER

Transcription

1 BECOMING A BETTER WRITER A CHECKLIST by WaVe Communications (clbabington@gmail.com) BEFORE YOU WRITE: Make sure you know exactly what you want to say. Have the facts. Reduce the gist of your article to one sentence (the journalist s budget line ). GET STARTED: What s your lede? Quickly and cleanly make your main points. The budget line can be a helpful first sentence. You can revise later. BASIC RULES: Be clear, simple and forceful. Use plain, everyday words. Marshal your facts and arguments in a clean, straightforward fashion. Don t assume an authoritative or stuffy voice. WRITE IN A NATURAL TONE: It s raining, not We re experiencing precipitation. Now, not At this point in time. USE SHORT, SIMPLE WORDS: Try, not attempt. Buy, not purchase. House, not residence. About, not approximately. Bad weather, not inclement weather.

2 Use, not utilize! AS GEORGE ORWELL SAID: If it s possible to eliminate a word, eliminate it. USE ACTIVE VOICE: Good: The Twins won. Bad: The game was won by the Twins. Good: I made mistakes. Bad: Mistakes were made. AVOID CLICHES; SHOW, DON T TELL: Cliches numb the reader, make the writer appear lazy. She reached the gate in seconds. (Not: She was fast as lightning.) He gobbled his food. (Not: He was hungry as a horse.) DON T TURN VERBS INTO NOUNS WITH WEAK HELPING WORDS: I ll estimate.. (Not: I ll make an estimate...) Let me illustrate. (Not: Let me offer an illustration.) TRIM OR STRIKE FLABBY PHRASES: There is no doubt that Doubtless. It has come to my attention I see.. The majority of Most. The fact of the matter is, I like you I like you.

3 USE POSSESSIVES TO DELETE OF THE : The mission s goal. (Not: The goal of the mission.) MIX SHORT AND LONG SENTENCES: Read your copy aloud. Listen for cadence, flow, rhythm. GET OUT OF JAMS: Stuck on a sentence? Erase it, then express the idea in a different way. THINK ABOUT YOUR WORDS: "He was a very unique person, and his past history proved that close personal friends can save you from a lot of scrapes. He rose at 5 a.m. that morning to attend the auction in person. LOOK IT UP, DON T GUESS: Stationery or stationary? Internment or interment? Affect or effect? Brookings Institute or Brookings Institution? BE SURE ABOUT WORDS LIKE LITERALLY AND UNIQUE : Literally means it happened exactly that way. Unique means one of a kind. Nothing can be very unique, rather unique, so unique, etc.

4 AVOID MISPLACED MODIFIERS: Wrong: As president, I d like to ask you this question. (I m the president?!) Correct: I d like to ask you, as president, this question. USE THE RIGHT PRONOUNS IN LISTS: Thanks for seeing Ann and me. (Not helping Ann and I). The rule: Drop the other persons and read aloud. Thanks for helping I sounds wrong because it IS wrong. Adding Ann doesn t change that. MAKE SURE SUBJECTS AND VERBS AGREE: Wrong: The team tried hard, but they fell short. Right: The team tried hard, but it fell short. Right: The players tried hard, but they fell short. PUT COMMAS AROUND PARENTHETICAL PHRASES: Wrong: This batter, who s strong is dangerous. Right: This batter, who s strong, is dangerous. WHAT CAN BE MISUNDERSTOOD WILL BE MISUNDERSTOOD: Read and re-read your copy and have others read it to look for phrases that might be misinterpreted or vague. AVOID JARGON:

5 Unless you re sure, don t assume your readers know your profession s jargon, or acronyms (such as RFP, ROI, NCAA, CSR). PUT APOSTROPHES WHERE THEY BELONG: Correct: The Bradys live here. It s the Bradys house. The member s gym. (belongs to 1 member) The members gym. (for all members) THINK YOU RE DONE? Go over your writing repeatedly. Always have at least one other person read it. Look for any words, phrases or sentences that can be cut. Read it aloud for rhythm, flow. Look for repeated words or dropped words. Double-check punctuation, subject-verb agreement, capital (or is it capitol?) letters. Unsure? Google it. DID YOU WRITE UTILIZE? Take it out!