To Write Well, Forget Everything Your High-School English Teacher Taught You

Jonathan Rick

Myths

Rules

Exercises

LET’S RECAP THE MYTHS

LET’S RECAP THE MYTHS

RULE 1

Break up noun clusters

RULE 2

Make every verb count

RULE 3

Embrace analogies

RULE 4

Bury hidden verbs

RULE 5

Trim the fat

INSTEAD OF THIS TRY THIS

INSTEAD OF THIS TRY THIS

INSTEAD OF THIS TRY THIS

RULE 6

Write the way you speak

RULE 7

Favor contractions

RULE 8

Use visuals

RULE 9

Avoid walls of text

RULE 10

Use subheadings

RULE 10b

Lists and tables, too

•

•

•

•

•

AND NOW, THE RULES

AND NOW, THE RULES

BONUS

RULE 11

Favor abbreviations

RULE 12

Jettison the jargon

RULE 13

Use adverbs sparingly

RULE 14

Favor the active voice

RULE 15

Surprise your readers

RULE 16

Avoid the “this” blob

RULE 17

Think, don’t feel

RULE 18

Employ an editor

RULE 19

Humanize big numbers

ONE MORE TIME

ONE MORE TIME