Clear and Concise Gets Point Across

Hello, Followers!

This is my first post on the Writing Center blog, and as the only aspiring journalist among its ranks, I thought I would share some writing tips that are followed by writers in print media. 

In studying, I found there are parallels between academic writing and journalistic writing.  The most important of these similarities is writing clear and concise sentences.  In journalism, we are writing for the public and use a more conversational writing style, while in academia there is pressure to use complex vocabulary, but this is not necessary.  Fellow blogger Mario Perez recently wrote an entry about just that.  As long as the main point of the piece is conveyed to the reader, the prose seems to fall to the wayside.  Stay within your comfort zone when writing and it should go smoothly.

Revisions are also a very important in the success of a piece of writing.  The finished product should be polished, excluding unnecessary words and sentences.  Successful writing is all about precision.  Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”   Some easy ways of catching errors in your writing are to step away for a while and come back with a fresh set of eyes; read your paper aloud; or ask someone else to read your paper.  We use all of these strategies in the Writing Center, and I know I have had success in the past using these same techniques. 

Write in a way that is comfortable to you.  Use your own voice and don’t feel pressured to impress a reader using words you are not familiar with.  If the writing is clear and precise, the reader should leave informed, with a clear idea of what you were talking about.

--Natalie Hughes

Good Writing Watch!

Sing it, Robin. Sing it.

Perhaps the most essential key to writing well is simply reading well. Almost all successful or excellent writers surround themselves with good writing. Thankfully, this is not a very hard task -- even for those of us too busy to thumb through a 300 page novel. Today, let's take a look at three writers who we can listen to, rather than read!

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD!

Perfect Punctuation: Our Comrade the Comma

Perk up, Persian Cat, commas aren't so cruel!

Our readers will recall how I revealed, last December, the mysterious and troubling powers of the dash. Now, we shall continue this Perfect Punctuation series with many writers' greatest hurdle: the comma!

Countless people feel as though comma rules are endless and uncertain, arcane and imperfect. To these writers, I implore greater punctuation patience. Instead of surrendering to comma catastrophes, let's just learn a little at time. Today, we're going to start with three easy comma rules from OWL:

Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

Many grammar-nerds such as myself refer to these coordinating conjunctions as the FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so! The beauty of coordinating conjunctions is that, when paired with a comma, they are as powerful as a period! So, I could say:

I love cats. They really don't care about me.

...Or...

I love cats, yet they really don't care about me.

However, if the subject is the same on both sides (i.e. you don't have two independent sentences) then a comma is unnecessary:

I love cats fur. I really like how they generally disdain human interaction.

...If we combine them...

I love cats fur and really like how they generally disdain human interaction.

You see? No comma needed. That comma + FANBOYS tells the reader to expect a new subject (i.e. a new sentence). The exception to this rule is if the subsequent sentence is sufficiently short, like: "I like my wife and she likes me."

As the sentences grow in complexity and length, the necessity of that clarifying comma increases.

Follow the jump and watch your knowledge grow!