Rules to Write Better English
Henry & Frank Fowler (Fowler
Brothers), leading authorities on use of English, in their book King’s
English, published in 1901 advise that the best way to write English is to
be direct, simple, brief, vigorous & lucid. They advise:
1. Prefer the familiar word to the far
-fetched.
2. Prefer the concrete word to the
abstract one.
3. Prefer the single word to the
circumlocution.
4.Prefer the short word to the long.
5. Prefer the Saxon word to Latin
derived words.
In Art of Readable English,
Rudolph Flesch (published in 1949) says that spoken language is the primary
phenomenon, and writing is only an imperfect reflection of it.
His advice: If you want to learn how
to write, forget the rules of grammar. Learn to write the way you talk. Go out
of your way to re-learn informal & colloquial English & train yourself
to put it on paper.
The obstacles for writers in any
language are the same. They are:
1. Fuzzy thinking
2. Clutter
3. Vagueness
4. Faulty word arrangement
Unless we are clear in our mind what
we want to say, we cannot convey anything clearly.
As per William Zinsser, author of OnWriting
Well, a writer must ask himself: what am I trying to say?
Surprisingly, often we do not know. They must look at what they have written
& ask themselves: have I said it? Will it be clear to the reader reading it
for the first time? If it I not, some fuzz has worked its way into the writing.
Thinking is a conscious act that we
must force on ourselves, as if we are working on other projects that require
logic such as making a shopping list or solving a mathematics problem.
Writing is
a hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right
first time or even the third time. Remember this, if you find writing is hard,
it is, because it is hard.
We conduct workshop on ‘Communication Skills’ and many other soft skills
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details.
By:
Sarwan Singh
@sarwan_singh
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