“Plain English refers to the writing and setting out of essential information in a way that gives a co-operative, motivated person a good chance of understanding it at first reading, and in the same sense that the writer meant it to be understood.” Cutts, M. (2013). Oxford Guide to Plain English. Oxford, England: Oxford University(…)
Obviously, the education we get in school and college is important, but some things simply get in the way. One obstacle to good writing is that once we leave school, we need to begin to write for completely different purposes, and old habits tend to die hard. In our professional lives, we write to inform, to(…)
It’s often said that the first step to writing well is to imagine yourself as the reader. Whether you’re writing an article for a magazine, a memo for your colleagues, or a short advertisement on Craigslist, before you start, stop and think about your typical reader. Picture your reader actually reading the piece you are planning(…)
Please allow me to rant a little. It’s the end of the day. A long and tedious one as well. At the end of the day, I sometimes like a mug of hot chocolate. Sometimes it’s nice to have a little red wine at the end of the day. I sometimes like to curl up(…)
You can tighten up your writing by getting rid of unneeded words. Here are a few examples: Advance planning. Just say planning. Isn’t all planning done in advance? Past experience. Past adds nothing to your sentence. Absolutely essential. It’s either essential or it isn’t. What’s the difference between essential and absolutely essential? Predict in advance.(…)
Sir Ernest Gowers (1880 – 1966) was a British civil servant. He was educated at Rugby (where the game was invented) and Cambridge, where he studied Classics. He had a long, distinguished, and varied career with the civil service, including a time when he was private secretary for David Lloyd George when Lloyd George was introducing the(…)