Misc writing tips

Active and Passive Voice in Writing Active Voice what technical writers use, unless they are attempting to “skirt” around blame or being intentionally less direct. when the subject performs the action expressed in the verb. Ex. Brody threw the ball. Ex. Gertrude Stein wrote the introduction. Ex. The microwave was purchased in July. Passive Voice When the subject receives the action of the verb. Ex. The ball was thrown by Brody. Ex. The introduction was written by Gertrude Stein. Ex. I purchased the microwave in July. The easiest way to avoid or fix passive voice is by adding a first person pronoun like I, me, my, our etc.

Fix the following sentences: The lights had been turned down. The next batter was hit by a pitch ball. Several of the games were played at night. A new school will be constructed here. More than 100 elements have been discovered.

Six Steps to Better Writing Use the active rather than the passive voice. Keep it short – short, simple sentences convey information more effectively than long, complex sentences do. Keep paragraphs short – in news, three or four sentences per paragraph are generally sufficient. Use action-packed verbs and figures of speech – ex. “sales plummeted last month” or “readers responses flooded our office”. Avoid clichés – “in this day and age”, “growing by leaps and bounds”, or “take the bull by the horns”. Eliminate wordiness – every word counts! Remove every word, phrase, clause or sentence that does not add new information or improve the article. Ex. “the walls were sky-blue in color”, The words “in color” are redundant and can be omitted. Don’t use lengthy expression (“in advance of” or “at the present time”) when simple words (“before” or “now”) will do. Avoid pompous phrases and words – don’t use difficult vocabulary. Lincoln's Gettysburg Adddress – possibly the most eloquent speech ever made by a United States president – contains just 268 words. Of those, 196 contain one syllable, and only 20 words have more than two.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, given November 19, 1863 on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth. http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/Lincoln/gettysburg.html

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