Effective Writing

Rule 1
Use 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.