Appendix II

Checklist: Keys to Great Writing

The purpose of this appendix and Appendix III is to help you pull it together, to gather the various tips and techniques presented throughout this book so that you can see them at a glance, continue to work with them over time, and incorporate them into your writing.

I compiled these appendices with the thought that they would be useful to you both now and in the future. If you return to this book for a review six months—or six years—from now, or if you simply want the lessons to stay fresh in your mind as you continue to develop your writing skills, Appendix II and III are the sections to turn to.

Economy: Eliminating Patterns of Wordiness

Make every word count.

• Delete unnecessary modifiers (rather than true fact, write fact; rather than free gift, write gift).
• Eliminate redundant categories and word pairs (rather than pink in color, write pink; rather than first and foremost, write first).
• Replace wordy expressions with single words (rather than during the course of, write during; rather than until such time as, write until).
• Watch for wordiness in sentence beginnings and endings (rather than What I want to say next is, write Next; rather than Does it stink like rotten meat would smell to you? write Does it stink like rotten meat?).
• Take the most direct route (rather than The first point that needs to be made is, write First; rather than not significant, write insignificant).

Precision: Diction, Word Choice

Use the right word.

• Draw on a broad vocabulary to use the most precise, appropriate words for your meaning and audience (often the simplest, not the fanciest, word).
• Choose words for their sound, mood, and feeling (their connotation) as well as their literal meaning (their denotation).
• Use words that convey definite meaning (rather than We were affected by the news, write We were relieved by the news or We were devastated by the news).
• Use words that appeal to the five senses (rather than The room smelled good, write The room smelled of freshly cut oranges; rather than My bicycle is dirty, write My bicycle is coated with red mud).
• Use natural language as opposed to needlessly formal, fancy, or awkward language (rather than As per our discussion, write As we discussed; rather than It is imperative that we commence in a timely fashion, write We need to start on time).

Action: Movement, Verbs

Use action verbs to animate your writing.

• Make your sentences tell stories (rather than An investigation was conducted concerning our accounting procedures, write The IRS investigated our accounting procedures; rather than There was a crash in the stock market, write The stock market crashed).
• Use verbs to animate your descriptions (rather than The tree was big, write The tree rose one hundred feet into the air; rather than The lawn was expansive, write, as Fitzgerald did, The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile).
• Prefer the active voice over the passive voice (rather than The Frisbee was thrown to my son, write I threw the Frisbee to my son; rather than An attempt was made to determine the cause for the system failure, write We tried to determine why the system failed).
• Prefer action verbs over nominalizations (rather than make a recommendation, write recommend; rather than take under consideration, write consider).
• Avoid noun stacks (rather than an acquisition candidate identification process, write a process for identifying candidates for acquisition; rather than quality control improvement recommendations, write recommendations for improving quality control).

Music: Variety in Sentence Length, Structure, Rhythm, and Type

Listen to the sound of your language.

• Use punctuation to create pauses and emphasis.
• Use colons to create pauses and anticipation.
• Use semicolons to suggest a close relationship between two statements.
• Use dashes to create abrupt pauses and emphasis.
• Vary your sentence structure to create emphasis and energy.
• Use subordinate elements to indicate relationships, control emphasis, and create variety.
• Place important words at sentence endings for closing emphasis.
• Use elliptical constructions for economy and cadence.
• Use sentence inversions (anastrophe) for variety and emphasis.
• Use repetition for emphasis and rhythm:
  • Repeat words in sentence beginnings.
  • Create a succession of short sentences.
• Place a short, punchy sentence after a longer, more complex sentence for variety and emphasis.
• Use sentence fragments for a conversational style and for emphasis.
• Use rhetorical sentence types for effect:
  • Use loose sentences (those in which subordinate elements follow the main clause) for a relaxed structure.
  • Use periodic sentences (those in which subordinate elements precede the main clause) for emphasis, expectancy, and flourish.
  • Use balanced sentences (those that contain parallel elements—also called coordinated and parallel sentences) for emphasis and rhythm.
  • Use antithetical sentences (those with contrasting elements, often in parallel structure) for emphasis and contrast.

Personality: Liveliness, Unpredictability, Humor, Sincerity

Write with creativity and imagination.

• Use figurative (or nonliteral) language to appeal to your reader’s creativity and imagination.
• Use comparisons and analogies to clarify or reinforce your meaning.
• Use metaphors to point out similarity between dissimilar things.
• Use similes (comparisons using like or as) for intentional effect (He works like a horse); use metaphors (comparisons not using like or as) for insistent, surprising effect (He is a horse).
• Make unlikely comparisons to surprise your reader and convey your originality.
• Evaluate your similes and metaphors on the basis of their aptness, novelty, and simplicity.
• Use personification to add life to your writing.
• Be playful or use a lighthearted tone to appeal to your reader’s sense of humor and intelligence.
  • Use wit (from the Old English witan, “to know”) to create a comic twist or surprise, as Peter De Vries did when he said, “I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paperwork.”
  • Use puns (plays on words) advisedly—not everyone appreciates them.
  • Use situational irony to convey the disparity between perception and reality.
  • Use verbal irony (Socratic irony)—which often involves saying the opposite of what you mean—to convey the disparity between literal and implied meaning.
  • Use understatement (meiosis) for a more subtle style of humor.
  • Use overstatement (exaggeration or hyperbole) for a more outlandish style of humor.
  • Use self-deprecating humor to poke fun at yourself.
• Use language that reflects your personality and values.