《Style-Lessons in Clarity and Grace 9th Edition》written by Joseph Williams

TEN PRINCIPLES FOR WRITING CLEARLY

1. Distinguish real grammatical rules from folklore (pp. 15-25)

2. Use subjects to name the characters in your story (pp. 54-59)

3. Use verb to name their important actions (pp.38-43)

4. Open your sentences with familiar units of information (pp. 76-79)

5. Get to the main verb quickly:

a. Avoid long introductory phrases and clauses (pp.134-135)

b. Avoid long abstract subjects (pp. 135-136)

c. Avoid interrupting the subject-verb connection (pp. 136-137)

6. Push new, complex units of information to the end of the sentence (pp. 92-94)

7. Begin sentences constituting a passage with consistent topic/subjects (pp. 80-83)

8. Be concise:

a. Cut meaningless and repeated words and obvious implications (pp. 113-114)

b. Put the meaning of phrases into one or two words (pp. 114-115)

c. Prefer affirmative sentences to negative ones (pp.116)

9. Control sprawl:

a. Don't tack more than one subordinate clause onto another (pp. 139-141).

b. Extend a sentence with resumptive, summative, and free modifiers (pp. 141-143)

c. Extend a sentence with coordinate structures after verbs (pp. 144-146)

10. Above all, write to others as you would have others write to you (pp. 214-215)

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Updated on 4th April, 2019:

Two principles make readers clear:

1. Its main characters are subjects of verbs.

2. Those verbs express specific actions.

"I often had this experience: i think i've written something good, but my supervisor thinks it's bull-shit."

Quick tip: When you start revising a longer piece of work, look first at those passages that were hard to write because you didn't fully understand your ideas. We all tend to write badly when we are not sure about what we want to say or how to say it.

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Updated on 26th April, 2019:

Quick tip: When you start to revising a complicated sentence, it will probably fit one of these three patterns: X because Y, If X, then Y, Although X, Y. Think of the meaning of the sentence, then try out these patterns.

Whatever is translatable in other and simpler words of the same language, without loss of sense or dignity, is bad.

Readers want actions in verb, but even more they want characters as their subjects. We give readers a problem when for no good reason we do not name characters in subjects, or worse, delete them entirely. So the first principle of a clear style is this: Make the subjects of most of your verbs short, specific, and concrete-- the main characters in your story.

Quick tip: The first step in dianosing your style is to look at your subjects. If you do not see your main characters there expressed in a few short, concrete words, you have to look for them. They can be in objects of prepositions, in possessive pronouns, or in adjectives. Once you find them, look for actions they are involved in. Then make those characters the subject of verb namin those actions.