wordchoice
Word Choice
Short words are best and the old
words when short are best of all.
—Winston Churchill
Back to Writing Style
Big Words
Don’t go for the biggest, fanciest, most puffed up words you can find just because you know them; keep your writing simple and direct.
Don’t show off. In good writing, the biggest word is often not the best choice to communicate effectively.
Short and to the Point
Use as few words as possible to say what you mean.
Don’t force your reader to work too hard to understand what you could have expressed more simply and directly.
Remember that teacher who used to ramble on and on and on? Be kinder to your readers.
► Look at each sentence and paragraph and decide whether, ignoring your ego that thinks everyone wants to know absolutely every passing thought you have ever had, the reader really needs to know all this detail and all your thoughts in all these words.
► The reader probably doesn't care what the writer had for lunch today, yet many writers include their nonessential thoughts in their writing as if the reader cared.
Make sure you stick to the essential points and don't wander off into asides.
► Avoid overusing "I think." For the most part, any reader assumes these are your thoughts. So, don't state the obvious, especially in such a trite way. This writing fault is most typical in academic writing.
Ambiguity
This will permit me to warn of the ambiguities of language, citing the priest who wrote to the bishop pleading his appearance at the reopening of the church after the roof was repaired. The bishop grumpily agrees, but only if the pastor fails to enlist the services of someone less distinguished. At deadline time, the pastor telephones and apologizes for summoning the bishop, pleading that he tried and tried but could find no other person less distinguished than the bishop.
—William F. Buckley Jr
Consider whether your words have any potential for being misread by someone who doesn’t already know what you mean to say.
Watch out for an “it”, “she” or “he” that could refer to more than one thing or situation, as follows:
When “it” in an early part of the sentence precedes what the “it” refers to, you leave the reader dangling in suspense.
When “it” refers to something two sentences back, the reader may not clearly understand this.
If using “he” or “she”, make clear who this pronoun refers to.
Copyright © 2007 Donna K. Reeder