Ways to Improve your Writing

Slanted Idea

Do not try to write everything about a given subject. Instead of “Python”, write about “History of Python”, or “How to do data science with Python” or “Using Python in Arduino Projects”.

Write a Strong Lead

It can be the first sentence, the first paragraph, the first several paragraphs. A lead should be provocative, have energy, an implicit promise that something is going to happen, creating curiosity, getting the reader to ask questions. A good lead will make your reader want to keep reading.

Diversity improves software teams in many ways [4,5,6]. Bla Bla Bla

On June 1st the company will go to a 4-day workweek. Bla Bla Bla

Set a Tone and Maintain it

In the first paragraph you set a tone: your choice of words, your arrangement of those words, and your choice of information all convey to the reader some message.

Use Pyramid Construction

It means getting to the point at the top, putting the who, what, when, where and why in the beginning, and developing the supporting information under it.

Use topic sentences

A topic sentence contains the thought that is developed throughout the rest of the paragraph.

Robin had a reputation as a theatrical wunderkind. There was very little in the theatre to which he had not turned his hand at some time or another…

Use transitional phrases

A nice reference site

Steal

Imitate the style and structure from other papers, but not from only one.

Read what you write

Try reading the text out loud, listening how it sounds.

Vary sentence length and construction

Five-word sentences are fine, but several together become monotonous. Write a combination of short, medium and long sentences.

Also, don’t write all sentences the same way, with subject, verb and object; they will bore readers.

Show, don’t tell

Better to show things and leave some conclusions to the reader. See these two versions of a short bio:

Ms. Resnikoff has been loyal, hardworking, and helpful to the company. I think she deserves a promotion.

Ms. Resnikoff turned down two offers from Westinghouse last year. She worked fourteen-hour weekends, and she saved the Renaldo account even after it was discovered that the rabbit warehouse was empty. She deserves a promotion.

I am much more convinced by the second one.

Keep related words together

Related words should be clustered together to avoid confusion.

Bad: The boy rode his horse through the winter woods, strong and proud as could be.

Better: The strong, proud boy rode his horse through the winter woods.

Use parallel constructions

There are times when you should deliberately arrange words and sounds in similar fashion in order to show the reader the similarity of information.

Bad: I drove to the construction site to see what I could find out from the workers. I talked to the foreman. The electricians and I had a discussion. This was followed by a talk with the carpenters. Also, the plumbers told me what they thought. The same view was held by everybody.

Better: I drove to the construction site to see what I could find out from the workers. I talked to the foreman and electricians. I talked to the carpenters and plumbers. They all said the same thing.

Use short and dense words

Rape is a powerful term; sexual assault isn’t. Stop is stronger than discontinue.

A dense word is a word that crowds a lot of meaning into a small space. The fewer words you use to express an idea, the more impact that idea will have. Once a month is monthly; something new is novel; people they didn’t know are strangers; and something impossible to imagine is inconceivable.

Use active verbs

Active verbs do something. Inactive verbs are something. You will gain power over readers if you change verbs of being such as is, was, and will be to verbs of motion and action.

Use strong verbs

Sharpen a verb’s meaning by being precise. Turn look into stare, gaze, peer, peek, or gawk. Turn throw into toss, flip, or hurl.

Use specific nouns

Before you write a noun that is modified by one or two adjectives, ask yourself if there is a noun that can convey the same information. Instead of writing about a black dog, maybe you want to write about a Doberman. Do you want to write large house, or is mansion really to the point? And before you put down cruel treatment, ask if you can make a greater impression on the reader with savagery, barbarity, or brutality.

Say things in a positive way

If you want your reader to experience the silence of a church at night, write “The church was silent.” If you write “There was no noise in the church,” the first thing your reader will hear is the noise that isn’t there.

Prefer specific words

Instead of LeBron James scored well and pulled down several rebounds, use LeBron James scored 35 points and pulled down 18 rebounds.

Put Emphatic Words at the End

If you want to emphasize the amount of money that somebody owes you, you write, “By June first please send me a check for $107.12.” If you want to emphasize the due date, you write, “Please send me a check for $107.12 by June first.” And if you want to emphasize who the check is to go to, write, “On June first the check for $107.12 should be sent to me.”

Highlight important passages, sentences or words

Use italics, sometimes boldface, to promote the relevant parts of the text. They are important for quick reading fragments, which is more common than we’d like to admit.

For instance: “the high positive correlation of 0.8 provides evidence on how stress and mental illness are related.