Index

Editor's Desk

Top Ten Tips For...

Student Successes

Brain Teaser

Answers to Last Month's Quiz

End Note

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TOP TEN TIPS FOR...

Improving Your Style

1. Always write in complete sentences. This sounds obvious but each sentence must contain a complete verb and express a complete thought.
   
   The two words 'I think' are a full sentence because there is a complete verb and they express a complete idea. On the other hand, the much longer clause 'because of your understanding of grammar' is not a sentence. There is no complete verb and you are left wondering about the meaning. You need to add more information to make it clear:
   
   Because of your understanding of grammar you should be able to write well.
   or
   You should be able to write good articles because of your understanding of grammar.
   
   Most people write in complete sentences naturally but if you are ever in doubt, read the sentence to yourself. Check that it expresses your idea fully, without leaving any questions in the reader's mind. If it does, you will almost certainly have written it correctly.
   
   
2. Check that you have subject/verb agreement. By this we mean that the verb you use agrees in person (ie I, you, he, she, it, we) and number (singular or plural) with the subject of the sentence.
   
   The experiment was a great success.
   not
   The experiment were a great success.
   
   Again, most people get this right naturally, just as they do in speech. However, in some long sentences where additional information has been inserted between the subject and the verb to which it relates you may lose track of what has been said earlier.
   
   She realised that the information for which she had been searching so hard, and despaired of ever finding, was right under her nose. (Correct)
   
   
3. Be consistent in your use of tense. When you are describing events it is better to use the past tense. For most people it is also the most natural (and, therefore, the easiest) way of doing it.
   
   I arrived at the house just as night was falling. It looked deserted but then I noticed a thin trail of smoke coming from the chimney. Suddenly, a curtain twitched and my suspicion that I was being watched was confirmed.
   
   Obviously you will need to use other tenses (present and future) in your writing, just as you would in everyday speech. But, do take care that when you are describing something that happened in the past, no matter how vivid it may seem to you, you use tense consistently. Do not do it like this:
   
   I arrived at the house as night was falling. It looks deserted but then I notice a thin trail of smoke coming from the chimney ...
   
   
4. Ambiguity is a lack of clarity, a meaning that can be understood in more than one way. You must check your work for possible ambiguities. Try to avoid your writing having two interpretations. All sorts of problems can be caused if you do not take care in where you place qualifying clauses and phrases. (These are the ones which give you more information about the main subject of the sentence.) Consider the following:
   
   Being a dilapidated cottage, I was able to buy it for a song.
   
   It's the cottage which is dilapidated, not the author (we hope!) So it should read:
   
   I was able to buy the cottage for a song as it was in a dilapidated condition.
   
   He had to spend several weeks away from the office which he did not like.
   
   What does he not like, the office or being away from it? It would be better to say:
   
   He had to spend several weeks away from the office and he did not enjoy his absence.
   
   Another area where ambiguity can creep in is in the use of pronouns.
   
   We use pronouns all the time to replace nouns in a sentence so that we can avoid repetition. But here is a word of warning: beware of using too many pronouns as this can make your meaning unclear.
   
   For instance, the meaning of the following sentence is quite clear: Jones told Smith that Brown was a good writer. If we replace Smith and Brown with pronouns, we get a sentence which is much less clear: Jones told him that he was a good writer.
   
   This is perfectly correct English, but it is not good English, for him and he could be either the same person or a different person. The sentence does not make it clear.
   
   A common mistake with pronouns is to use them to refer to a noun which appeared much earlier in the sentence, or even in a previous sentence. This causes mis-understanding because your reader has difficulty in knowing which noun the pronouns refers to. So always check to ensure that what is clear to you is also clear to your reader.
   
   There are so many causes of ambiguity that we can only show you a very small sample here. Again, careful thought before you put pen to paper and then even more careful reading of what you have written should help you to avoid it.
   
   
5. Remember the 5 C's – correctness, conciseness, clarity, coherence and completeness.
   
   Correctness – your facts must be accurate and your use of the English language must also be correct.
   
   Conciseness – this does not necessarily mean brevity. You can write a long article and still be concise. What it does mean is avoiding irrelevant facts, unnecessary words and long-winded explanations.
   
   Clearness – avoid ambiguity. Make what you write clear to your readers by giving them all the necessary information and expressing it in a way they will be sure to understand.
   
   Coherence – this means presenting your ideas in an orderly, logical way so that your readers are able to follow your reasoning process.
   
   Completeness – ensure that your readers have all the facts that are available without being burdened with what is unnecessary or trivial.
   
   
6. You must try to vary the length of your sentences, otherwise your writing will be monotonous. If all your sentences are short your work will appear awkward and childish. If all your sentences are long there is a great danger that they will become too complex and difficult to understand. A careful mixture of the two is ideal.
   
   
7. As well as variety in sentence length and construction, also try to vary the length of your paragraphs. For every new idea you should start a new paragraph and each paragraph should contain a topic sentence which expresses its main theme. If you always bear this in mind it should help you to attain the coherence that we mentioned earlier.
   
   
8. Another way of ensuring that your writing is coherent is to provide sign posts for your reader. Certain words and phrases are useful in making your writing easier to follow. They show the reader in advance which way your
   argument will develop.
   
   

   To begin with . . .	Then . . .
   First . . .	For example . . .
   However . . .	Against this . . .
   But . . .	Nevertheless . . .
   Yet . . .	Despite this . . .
   On the other hand . . .	By comparison . . .

   
   So you should never lack words to make your writing flow in a smooth and interesting way. One thing you must be careful of, though, is the over-use of some of these words. It can become very boring for your reader if every other sentence starts with however or although.
   
   
9. To achieve correctness and clearness in your writing you must be able to choose exactly the right word to express your meaning. Many words in English have the same meanings as others:
   
   

   friendly	amicable
   holiday	vacation
   job	task

   
   You will often find that one word is used in everyday speech while the other sounds rather grander. The words fatherly and paternal demonstrate this point admirably.
   
   Avoid using obscure words in the hope of impressing the reader. If your readers have to keep consulting a dictionary in order to understand what you have written, they will not be impressed. They will be irritated. So do not use a long, difficult word if there is a more familiar one that conveys the same meaning.
   
   Look at the following:
   
   

   beverage	drink
   reside	live
   adhere	stick
   endeavour	try

   
   Obviously the words in the list on the right are simpler; so if you are trying to write something that everyone can understand choose these. However, don't go too far the other way and use only words of one syllable. Readers soon find this patronising; so try to strike a happy balance. English is a language with a rich vocabulary and you should take advantage of that fact.
   
   Just to complicate matters many words have similar but slightly different meanings or a slight difference in strength. Being aware of this and the different effects you can achieve by the careful choice of words is essential.
   
   Your use of the exact word to convey your meaning can make your writing much more precise. Also, different words have different connotations and create different emotional responses in your reader; so they can have a great effect on the tone of your writing. Never think it's a waste of effort to spend time and care on this aspect of your writing.
   
   
10. And most important: always check your work carefully before sending it out. Check for mistakes in spelling, punctuation and grammar. Then check it again to make sure that what is clear to you will also be clear to your reader.

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BRAIN TEASER

When journalists write an article they always ask themselves the following questions:

Who? What? Where? When? and Why?

They know that if they answer all these questions in the piece they are writing they will probably have included all the information that their readers want and need.

So this month we're going to ask you the same five questions but to find out how much you know about England's capital city, London.

1. Who is the elder son of Prince Charles?
   
2. What do we call the soldiers who guard the Tower of London?
   
3. Where does the Prime Minister of England live when he is in London?
   
4. When did Guy Fawkes try to blow up the Houses of Parliament?
   
5. Why will 2012 be a big year for London?

We asked you to find the following words in the grid:

That brings us to the end of this month's e-zine.

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