Clipmarks | missangelyss's 'writing' clips

10 Words to Avoid When Writing

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:37:36 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss
clipper's remarks: I think I am really kind of guilty of a lot of these. ;c)

Really: "Avoiding this word is a really great idea."
Reason: A really great idea is the same as a great idea. If you need to emphasize something, such as the "greatness" of an idea, use a single word that means what you are trying to say, e.g., "Avoiding this word is an excellent idea."

Think: "I think the government should stop people from writing poorly."
Reason: If you write an opinion, the reader understands that you also think it. Just say what it is you think, e.g., "The government should stop people from writing poorly."

Sort of/Kind of: "Using these words is sort of annoying to the reader."
Reason: If using these words is only sort of annoying, you haven't told the reader exactly what it is. If it is annoying, say so: "Writing this way annoys the reader." If it is not annoying, tell the reader exactly what it is, e.g., "Using these words bothers readers." Use words that mean what you are trying to say, and give the reader exact descriptions. This also applies to "kind of."

Tags: english, writing

12 Writing Tips From George Orwell

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:14:30 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss

Clip Source: www.writingclasses.com

George Orwell has earned the right to be called one of the finer writers in the English language through such novels as 1984 and Animal Farm, such essays as “Shooting an Elephant,” and his memoir Down and Out in Paris.

George expressed a strong dislike of totalitarian governments in his work, but he was also passionate defender of good writing. Thus, you may want to hear some of George’s writing tips.*

A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:

What am I trying to say?
What words will express it?
What image or idiom will make it clearer?
Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

And he will probably ask himself two more:

Could I put it more shortly?
Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

One can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:

Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

* From “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell.

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Tags: writing

Write Your Name In Elvish In Ten Minutes

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 21:27:52 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss
clipper's remarks: The geek in me made me clip this.

Clip Source: www.starchamber.com

You want to write your name in Elvish, but every place you go seems to make it harder than it ought to be. Elvish writing looks beautiful and mysterious, but does it really have to be impossible to understand? Why doesn't somebody just spell out the alphabet so you can simply substitute the letters and get straight to the result? That's exactly what I've done here. Learn to write your name in Elvish in ten minutes. It's not very hard.

Tags: elvish, tolkein, writing