How to write more simply
One of the major points noted by reviewers in academic papers is language which is unnecessarily obscure and obtuse. The reviewer or editor may feel that there is a good point in there somewhere, but it is not easy for the reader to see what it is.
By contrast, good English is economical and spares redundant words. In his delightfully witty book, Lost for Words1 John Humphreys describes the qualities of good English as:
| '...clear, simple, plain and unambiguous...free of jargon, although there will be exceptions. It should be easy to read and listen to rather than a chore. At the very least it should not make our tongues fur up.' |
In these pages we provide some suggestions on how you can make your style clearer. We will do so under the following headings.
Writing
a purpose statement
Good
introductions and conclusions
Some
things to avoid
Make
effective transitions
Using
headings
What
makes a paragraph
Topic
sentences
Ensuring
coherence
Paragraph
length
Use
the active rather than the passive voice
Use
parallel sentence construction
Use
punctuation carefully
Use
phrasal constructions carefully and accurately
Cut
the clutter
Avoid circumlocutions
Avoid 'padding' words and tautologies
Avoid unnecessary determiners, qualifiers and modifiers
Change clauses into phrases and phrases into single words
Avoid using nown formulations for verbs
Avoid repetition or excessive detail
We are grateful to Professor Gabriel Jacobs, Professor of European Business Management at University of Wales, Swansea, for permission to use extracts from an article 'Call Vocabulary Acquisition: the University Institute Experience'. Extracts from this article remain his copyright.
1Published by Hodder and Stoughton, 2004, £14.99
