The careless writers we’re discussing... don't mean to shoot themselves in
    the foot. They might start out organized and sensible but become impatient
    and a little scared, so they rush the process....

    Once you decide (a) that you have something worthwhile to say and
    (b) how and to whom you want to say it, take time... to determine (c)
    what it might mean to readers [or hearers—that is, how different segments
    of your audience might interpret it differently].... Maintain that
    perspective as your work progresses, checking now and then to ensure that
    your text is
  • clear and concise
  • free of jargon, convoluted phrases, and verbal showing-off
  • consistent with your brand....

    No matter how trivial the medium and homely the message, writing
    presents continual and abundant opportunities to convey joy and excitement
    or comfort and compassion. Apply the math to those opportunities, let a
    smile be your punctuation, and in a single day feel the world hum with a
    more hopeful, peaceful, whimsical vibration….
ccc
aaa
Write Better Right Now (It Could
Save Your Life)
(under revision) by Mary Campbell
Order or download
this beautiful book of poems,
prayers, meditations, songs,
Unfamiliar Territory:
Prayers, Meditations, and Songs,
Vol. 1, by Mary Campbell
    Se


    Jon Winokur tweets Writerly Wisdom
    of the Ages. It's plenteous on his
    AdviceToWriters website.
    For the last forty-some years I’ve been working with nonwriters whose jobs
    require them to write. In my experience, about a third believe that they
    write well… or at least well enough.... [The truth is that not one of them]
    consistently communicates well in writing.

    This is bad news. It means that there are millions of writers who believe
    that their work is being read and understood, and millions of readers who
    think that they’re getting the information they need, and they’re all
    mistaken, and it’s making them cranky....

    Does the following sentence mean anything to you?
    We integrate world-class strategy, proprietary methodologies, and
    advanced analytics to drive sustainable results.

    Me neither. This common and tedious business-writing style actually holds
    readers at arm’s length and fails... to forward the writer’s objectives.
    Beyond that, there’s a sly animus that I perceive in much of the writing for
    public audiences... [a sort of sneering at the reader that says, in effect, I’
    m smart and you’re not, so I can feed you this word salad though it lacks
    both flavor and substance....]
    Excerpt from the forthcoming handbook Writing for Humans,
    by Mary Campbell. Click here for a PDF of the full chapter.
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    If you’re afraid you can’t write, the
    answer is to write. Every sentence you
    construct adds weight to the balance
    pan. If you’re afraid of what other
    people will think of your efforts, don’t
    show them until you write your way
    beyond your fear. If writing a book is
    impossible, write a chapter. If writing a
    chapter is impossible, write a page. If
    writing a page is impossible, write a
    paragraph. If writing a paragraph is
    impossible, write a sentence. If writing
    even a sentence is impossible, write a
    word and teach yourself everything
    there is to know about that word and
    then write another, connected word and
    see where their connection leads. A
    page a day is a book a year.
    —Richard Rhodes

    The editorial "we" has often been fatal
    to rising genius; though all the world
    knows that it is only a form of speech,
    very often employed by a single needy
    blockhead. —Thomas Baington Macaulay
Don't use no double negatives.
Eschew obfuscation.
The passive voice should rarely be used.
About those sentence fragments.
Avoid clichés like the plague.
And don't start with conjunctions.
Avoid commas, that are not necessary
Correct speling is esential.
Never generalize.
Hyperbolizing will kill you.
Join clauses good like a conjunction
should.
Profanity is for assholes.
Proofread carefully to see if you words
out.
Verbs has to agree with their
antecedents.
When dangling, watch your participles.
Who needs rhetorical questions?
Perform a functional iterative analysis on
your work to root out third-generation
transitional buzzwords.
Cambridge Dictionary grammar search
Cambridge Dictionary translator