5O Suggestion for
Gooder Writng
(what-ever job your in
by, er,
Hugh Gibbons
5O Gooder
Writng
Suggestion
1.
Spellcheck for errors what devalue credibility.
2.
Don’t, though it’s easily done, allow interjections (or
asides) which - though you don’t mean them to - often,
by impeding the flow, produce stumbling (or clumsy),
spaghetti-like, sentences.
3.
On 01/04, avoid ambiguous date formats.
4.
Be aware that verbs has to agree with their subjects
5.
Never ever generalise - or be unduly dogmatic.
6.
Avoid redundancy, saying the same thing twice, and
tautology.
7.
Ask any good writer about sensitivities over gender, and
he’ll tell you.
8.
Beware of running sentences together they are hard to
figure out, make them separate.
9.
At all points in time be sure to employ verbal
terminologies which are the least extensive in
lengthiness and non-familiarity.
10. In typing,put a space after commas.And two after fullstops .
11. Dear Sir/Madam: observe up-to-date etiquette and
courtesies.
5O Gooder
Writng
Suggestion
12. Try to keep your sentences short so that they sound natural,
because when we speak we tend to do so in bursts of just
12-18 words at a time so that other people have the
opportunity to take in what we are trying to communicate
and not have too much for the mind to process at one time even though the sentence flows.
13. Always avoid artificial-sounding alliteration and assonance.
14. Never use a long word when a diminutive alternative will
suffice purposefully.
15. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
16. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are often
unnecessary.
17. Don’t use contractions - you’ll do best to avoid ‘em even
when you want to sound informal and friendly.
18. Be more or less specific.
19. One-word sentences? Eliminate. Yes!
20. Who needs rhetorical questions?
21. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than
understatement.
22. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and
editing.
5O Gooder
Writng
Suggestion
23. A writer must not shift your point of view.
24. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!!!!
25. Take out a comma, that isn’t needed or misleads.
26. Three things to check are a)completeness ii] do be
consistent.
27. Make every pronoun agree with their antecedent.
28. Remember that hyphens-unlike dashes-have a joining up job to-do.
29. Being a dangling participle, you may create a problem.
30. Avoid clichés like the plague – seek viable alternatives.
31. Read your writing aloud to see if you’ve any words out.
32. And, easy to miss, see if any words any words any
shouldn’t be there (that’s easy to miss)
33. Foreign words and bon mots are better verboten.
34. Butt cheque you’re words ah write four there plaice.
5O Gooder
Writng
Suggestion
35. Use apostrophe’s correctly - its a big test of ill’iteracy.
36. When using comma pairs, for asides like this in
sentences make sure you include the second.
37. If you want to minimise the possibility that readers may
give up on you out of weariness or lack of interest, put
the important things at the start of sentences.
38. Put link and signpost words at the start of sentences,
moreover.
39. Possibly avoid work-shy and vague expressions which
may, in the course of time, lead to your writing having
no reasonable meaning in the generally accepted sense
of the term.
40. It is recommended by us that the passive voice should
usually be avoided.
41. Steer clear of typefaces and fonts that send WRONG
sorts of messages ABOUT YOU.
42. Extirpate and eschew pompous language.
43. E-mailing people send out may turn into garden path
sentences.
5O Gooder
Writng
Suggestion
44. Writers, who use incorrect punctuation, may mislead.
45. Be aware that all causes of misunderstanding are not
obvious - not all that glisters is gold.
46. Stay clear of SUAJ (Sudden Unfamiliar Acronyms and
Jargon).
47. And never start sentences or bullet points or paragraphs
with And or But or Or.
48. Or use prepositions to end them with.
49. But check that your content matches any headline or
claim you are making
50. Eschew pompous language – and check for repetition
52. Check that your numbering is consistent
53. capitalise the word at the start of sentences and for
proper names - i think that’s a dead giveaway
5O Gooder
Writng
Suggestion
54. Be careful when you put a word inside quote marks, as
they call into question the “validity” of even “good”
writers and their “academic credentials”.
55. Never write one-sentence paragraphs.
56. Ever.
57. Always be sure that your writing is big enough to be easy to read.
58. DON’T overdo formatting designed to draw attention to
parts of the text, because when too much is
emphasised nothing stands out - and the reader doesn’t
know what’s really Important (or NOT!!!!!!!!!)
59. Even though word-processing allows, never use
formatting to show the point of emphasis in a sentence
60. Remember that how and what you write tells the reader
a lot about you - so 4 gdnss sake aim 2 use appropriate
style 4 yr rdrs or ordience.
And always be prepared to ignore the
suggestions. Here’s a gem of appropriate
writing such as this from a good-humoured
medical information manager keen to show
he’d taken things in – probably to while away
a Friday afternoon…
5O Suggestion for
Gooder Writng
(what-ever job your in
Hugh Gibbons
www.just1.org.uk