McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved

4-2 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Chapter 4 Making Your Writing Easy to Read   Good Style   Half Truths   Better Style   Ten Ways to Make Writing Easier to Read   Readability Formulas   Organizational Preferences

4-3 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Good Business & Administrative Writing Style  Closer to conversation  Varies by audience  Contains easy-to-read words, sentences, and paragraphs  Attention to visual impact  Less formal than academic writing (except reports)

4-4 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Half-Truths about Style 1.Write as you talk 2.Never use I 3.Never begin sentence with and or but 4.Never end sentence with preposition 5.Big words impress people 1/2

4-5 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Write as You Talk: Yes... But  Yes  Do it for first draft  Read draft aloud to test  But  Expect awkward, repetitive, badly organized prose  Plan to revise and edit

4-6 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Never Use I: Yes... But  Yes  I can make writing seem self-centered  I can make ideas seem tentative  But  Use I to tell what you did, said, saw—it’s smoother

4-7 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Never Begin Sentence with And or But  And may make idea seem like afterthought  And gives effect of natural speech  But serves as a signpost, signals a shift  But can make writing smoother

4-8 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Never End a Sentence with a Preposition: Yes... But  Yes  A preposition may not be worth emphasizing this way  Readers expect something to follow a preposition  Avoid in job application letters, reports, formal presentations  But  OK now and then

4-9 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Big Words Impress People: Yes... But  Yes  You may want to show formality or technical expertise  But  Big words distance you from readers  Big words may be misunderstood  Misused words make you look foolish

4-10 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Building Better Style  Write WIRMI: What I Really Mean Is  Read draft aloud to person three feet away  Ask someone to read draft aloud No stiff words Fix words where reader stumbles

4-11 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Building Better Style, continued…  Read widely; write a lot  Study revised sentences  Polish your style with 10 techniques

4-12 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Ten Ways to Make Your Writing Easy to Read As you draft— 1.Use accurate, appropriate, and familiar words 2.Avoid technical jargon; eliminate business jargon

4-13 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Ten Ways to Make Your Writing Easy to Read, continued… As you write and revise— 3.Use active verbs most of the time 4.Use verbs—not nouns—to carry weight of sentence 5.Eliminate wordiness 6.Vary sentence length and structure 7.Use parallel structure 8.Put readers in your sentences

4-14 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Ten Ways to Make Your Writing Easy to Read, continued… As you draft and revise paragraphs— 9.Begin most paragraphs with topic sentence 10.Use transitions to link ideas

4-15 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 1. Use Accurate, Appropriate Words  Denotation—literal meanings; dictionary definitions  Bypassing—two people using same word to mean different things; causes mix-ups  Connotation—emotional association; attitude - / +  nosy / curious  fearful / cautious  obstinate / firm  tax / user fee

4-16 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 2. Use Familiar Words  Words most people know  Words that best convey your meaning  Shorter, more common words  Specific, concrete words

4-17 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Use Short, Simple Alternatives  StuffySimple reside live commence begin enumerate list finalize finish, complete utilize use

4-18 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Avoid Jargon—Mostly  Jargon—special terms of technical field  Use in job application letters  Use when essential and known to reader  Replace with plain English, when possible

4-19 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Omit Business Jargon  Businessese—needless, old-fashioned wording ExampleAlternative Enclosed please find Here is As per your requestAs you asked I acknowledge receipt of(begin reply) The undersigned Me

4-20 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 3. Use Active Verbs  Active—subject of sentence does action the verb describes  Passive—subject is acted upon  Usually includes form of “to be”  Change to active if you can  Direct object becomes subject

4-21 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Passive vs. Active Verbs  P:The program will be implemented by the agencies.  A:The agencies will implement the program.  P:These benefits are received by you.  A:You receive these benefits.  P:A video was ordered.  A:The customer ordered a video.

4-22 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Passive vs. Active Verbs, continued…  Active verbs are better because—  Shorter  Clearer  More interesting  Passive verbs are better to—  Emphasize object receiving action  Give coherence by repeating word in previous sentence  Avoid placing blame

4-23 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 4. Use Verbs to Carry Weight Replace this phrase with a verb  make an adjustment  make a decision  perform an examination  take into consideration = = adjust = = decide = = examine = = consider

4-24 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 5. Eliminate Wordiness  Wordy—idea can be said in fewer words  Concise; a mark of good writing  Omit words that say nothing  Use gerunds and infinitives  Combine sentences to save words  Put the meaning in subject and verb

4-25 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Omit Words that Say Nothing  Cut words if idea is clear without them ... period of three months ... at the present time  Replace wordy phrase with one word  Ideally, it would be best to put the....  If possible, put the…  There are three reasons for our success…  Three reasons explain the…

4-26 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Use Gerunds & Infinitives  Gerund—“ing” form of verb used as noun  Infinitive—verb preceded by “to”  The completion of the project requires the collection and analysis of additional data.  Completing the project requires us to collect and analyze more data. wordy tight

4-27 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Combine Sentences to Save Words: Example  Infante projected sales of $43 million in the first quarter. Our actual sales have fallen short of that figure by $1.9 million.  Although Infante projected first-quarter sales of $43 million, actual sales are $1.9 million less than that. wordy tight

4-28 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Put Meaning of Sentence in Subject & Verb: Example  The reason we are recommending the computerization of this process is because it will reduce the time required to obtain data and will give us more accurate data.  Computerizing the process will give us more accurate data more quickly. wordy tight

4-29 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 6. Vary Sentence Length & Structure  Edit sentences for tightness  Use short sentences when subject matter is complicated  Use longer sentences to  Show how ideas link to each other  Avoid choppy copy  Reduce repetition

4-30 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Vary Sentence Length & Structure, continued…  Group words into chunks  Keep verb close to subject  Mix sentence structures  Simple – 1 main clause  Compound – 2 main clauses  Complex – 1 main, 1 subordinate clause

4-31 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 7. Use Parallel Structure: Example  During the interview, job candidates will  Take a skills test.  The supervisor will interview the prospective employee.  A meeting with recently hired workers will be held.  During the interview, job candidates will  Take a skills test.  Interview with the supervisor.  Meet with recently hired workers. fa u lty parallel

4-32 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 8. Put Readers in Your Sentences: Example  An election to name a beneficiary other than the participant’s spouse must be made with spousal consent, for any participant who is married.  If you are married, you need your spouse’s consent to name a beneficiary other than your spouse. “You” gives the second example more impact

4-33 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 9. Begin Most Paragraphs with Topic Sentence  Unity—¶ discusses one idea; a mark of good writing  Topic sentence—states main idea  Tells what paragraph is about  Forecasts paragraph’s structure  Helps readers remember points

4-34 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved 10. Use Transitions to Link Ideas  Transition—signals the connections between ideas to the reader  Tells if next sentence continues or starts new idea  Tells if next sentence is more or less important than previous

4-35 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Use Transitions to Link Ideas  To add or continue an idea  also likewise  in addition similarly  first, second, finallyconsequently  To introduce an example  For example To illustrate  For instance Specifically  IndeedAs shown in Table 2

4-36 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Use Transitions to Link Ideas  To show contrast  or on the other hand  To show contrast more important than previous idea  but however nevertheless  To show time  after in the future next  until whenbefore

4-37 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Readability Formulas & Style  Measures text features, such as  Average word length  Average sentence length  Syllables per word  Ignores real difficulty factors  Complexity of ideas  Organization of ideas  Layout and design

4-38 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Instead of Readability Formulas—  Test drafts on actual audiences.  How long to find information they need?  Do they make mistakes using it?  Do they think draft is easy to use?

4-39 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved Organizational Preferences in Writing Style  Good writing varies by organization  Preferred style should be used  When preferred style is bad  Use techniques in this chapter  Help boss learn about good writing  Recognize that a style may serve a purpose  Ask about poor examples you find