These tips for writing for a general audience are derived
from various books by writers and personal experience.
- Write in “plain” English: reduce jargon, clichés,
and regional elements to those essential to the text or story. - Write dialogue like a person might sound: few people speak “proper” English
and even fewer think it sounds correct. - Write only what is necessary: more is not always better. If something
can be stated with fewer words, do so. If a text runs short, cover
more material
— avoid “filler” words. - Edit, don’t mangle meaning: over-editing annoys readers as much as
wordiness. Assuming readers know background facts loses part of the
audience. - Use humor: especially in technical writing, humor helps hold an
audience.
Analyzing the Blocks
When you write a chapter or section of any work, you should ask yourself
why that section exists. What is the point of the section? Some example
purposes for a section include:
- Background information: the facts needed to make sense of the work, the “context” of the words.
- Foreshadow: let readers know what is ahead, or at least what might be ahead.
- Color: adding details, depth, and richness to the work.
- Rhetoric: content meant to convince readers to follow along, persuading readers to support the author or narrator.
There are other ways to consider sections of a work; the key is that you have a reason for every word, sentence, and section within a larger work.
Show, Tell, or Omit?
Writers consider each element of a narrative, even in
nonfiction. Do you show, tell, or omit details? Writing teachers often
repeat “Show, Don’t Tell,” but the reality is more complex. Some information is
best told so you can deal with more important and compelling content.
The toughest choices involve what to omit. Remember, you want to include
the essential elements, omit the extras, all while creating a compelling
work.
Hook the Reader
You have fifty words, roughly, to hook a reader. Not
only should the first page of a work hook readers — the start of every
section needs to hook readers. Audience expectations vary by form and
genre; you need to know your audience.
Mechanical Tips for Writers
1. Use the active voice and learn the forms of
“to be” — so you can remove them.
Passive writing is boring writing. A passive sentence places the object
acting after the verb. “The ball was bounced by the kids,” becomes “The
kids bounced the ball.” Active sentences tend to be shorter and
clearer. Locating conjugations of the verb “to be” reveals
passive sentences. Be aware that not all sentences with forms of
“to be” are passive; there are times when
“to be” separates a subject from its definition or a description.
I have heard of teachers assigning students essays with the requirement
that no forms of “to be” appear in the essays. Such assignments
are silly.The passive voice remains a virus in my writings. Maybe as I tire
it creeps into the texts, but it is more likely that I am a poor editor
of my own works. I locate passive sentences in the works of others
with relative ease; I miss basic errors in my own. The
“to be” table helps me; despite years of grammar study
I do forget the check for auxiliary abuse.Just for curiosity: (I am guilty of this sin) Most Americans say “I will” when “I shall” is the grammatical form for first person future conjugations. Likewise, it is proper to write “I should” and “he / she / we / they would.” Another misuse of “shall” is as a command auxiliary. Replace “shall” with “will” when a command or obligation is intended. It is not “You shall clean your room.” Consider the strength of “You will clean your room,” which is the correct form. (“I should” is proper, but sounds to most people like a self-debate.) I do not plan to use “I shall” — The
Consensus states that “I will” is becoming acceptable.
2. This is not a pronoun.
Grammatically, “this,”
“that,” “these,” and
“those” are technically pronouns, but I find it annoying in writing. This what? In writing, unlike speech, one must be precise. “This is why…” begins too many sentences in technical and rhetorical writing. In my quest to write better manuals, I try to fix these pronouns by including a specific noun. In fiction using these pronouns is acceptable, lending a relaxed tone to the work.
3. Avoid “not” and other negatives when possible.
Instead of writing, “He does not like tofu” write, “He
dislikes tofu.” The second sentence is concise. I still have
difficulty removing the
“nots” from my writings. I think we get accustomed to using “not” early
in school. Contractions makes
“not” easy to use and short to write.
“Without” is another common negative, but it is a bit longer
than “not.”
4. Precision bests adverbs and adjectives.
If you know an exact measure, a precise observation, then avoid using
adverbs. Instead of a “very tall woman” entering a room,
write that she was 6’2″ and the reader has a very clear image.
Reading a popular automotive magazine, I learned that a certain car
was “very under-powered.” Not knowing what the writer meant,
I scanned for the exact horsepower of the car… never to find
it. If you can, be precise. If you still want the modifiers, include
them after the facts. “At 110 horsepower, this model is very
under-powered.”
5. Fix split infinitives, participles, and verb phrases.
An infinitive is a verb preceded by the word
“to.” No other words belong between
“to” and the verb. Susan reminds me that
“to boldly go…” must be the most famous split infinitive
in history. Properly, Captain Kirk’s mission is “to go
boldly,” which seems to lack something. If you look at the first
item in this list, you see a table of
“to be” conjugations. Those conjugations are the basis
of verb phrases. No adverbs or adjectives should be inserted into these
phrases. Of course, I frequently insert adverbs in improper positions,
mirroring my speech patterns. I will someday learn better.
6. Seek and destroy useless or weak words.
I overuse a number of words. These words include: very, just, merely,
every, such, that, however, then, and so. I have been told that writers
develop habits, most of them bad. While I think this was a reference
to drinking and smoking, using the same few words too often is also
a bad habit. So, I just need to be very careful that I don’t
get carried away.Very is “poison” a high school English teacher told me. “What
does
‘very’ mean?” he asked. To this day I cannot answer
that question, yet “very” still enters my sentences when
I am distracted.