Writing with Precision : How to Write So That You Cannot Possibly Be Misunderstood

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ISBN: 9780140288537 | 0140288538
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 4/1/2000

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One of the most popular and respected style guides ever written, this handbook by a seasoned writer with more than forty years of experience offers ten principles and seven axioms that professional writers use to express their thoughts clearly and effectively. This latest edition is expanded to include an extensive glossary of American idiomatic expressions, developed to assist users from other backgrounds and cultures; new chapters with tips on little-known facts of usage, such as compound words, hyphenation, numeration, and capitalization; and explanations of technical problems encountered in writing and editing with tips and exercises to help solve them. For anyone faced with the challenges of written English, Writing with Precision can help readers write more clearly, more effectively, and more precisely than they ever have.

Credo

vii

Preface to the Penguin Edition

xii

Preface

xix

Acknowledgments

xxiii

About This Book... Who Needs It?

xxvii

PART 1: Writing with Precision

(160)

Introduction

(14)

Can Good Writing Be Taught?

(1)

What Is Good ``Useful'' Writing?

(4)

Why the Confusion About ``Good Usage''?

(1)

Why Brother to Write Better

(1)

The Economics of Clear Writing

(2)

The Life You save...

(1)

Getting Down to Brass Tacks

(2)

Copyreading Marks

(1)

The Craft of the Editor

(10)

Introduction

(1)

Duties and Responsibilities of the Writer: A Preview

(2)

Duties and Responsibilities of the Editor: A Preview

(1)

Checklist of Editorial DOs and DON'Ts

(2)

The ``Rules'' of Edition

(1)

Ten Principles of Improving clarity and Precision of Written Documents

(1)

Editing Your Own Copy---Hardest Editorial Task of All

(2)

Checklist of Steps in Revising or Self-Editing

(1)

Editing for Strength

(10)

Introduction

(1)

Definitions of Active and Passive Voice

(1)

Make Every Word Count

(1)

An Unwritten Rule?

(2)

When Should You Use a Passive Construction?

(1)

Principle One: Prefer the active voice

(3)

Smothered Verbs

(1)

Principle Two: Don't make nouns out of good, strong ``working verbs''

(3)

Editing for Conciseness and Clarity

(13)

Introduction

(1)

Why Is Conciseness So Important?

(2)

Principle Three: Be concise, Cut out all excess baggage. Keep your average sentence length under 20 words

(9)

Too Much of a Good Thing?

(1)

The Quest for Clarity

(8)

Introduction

(1)

Checklist: How to Keep Writing ``In Focus''

(1)

Clarity Is Everything

(1)

Principle Four: Be specific. Use concrete terms instead of generalizations

(1)

Don't Sacrifice Clarity in Your Quest for Speed

(1)

Abstraction---the Enemy of Clarity

(2)

Use the Right Name for Things

(1)

The Ladder of Abstraction

(4)

The Quest for Precision

(11)

Introduction

(1)

The Importance of Word Order in the English Language

(2)

Ambiguity

(1)

Principle Five: Keep related sentence elements together; keep unrelated elements apart. Place modifiers as close as possible to the words they are intended to modify

(1)

Misplaced Modifiers

(1)

Look Out for ``Only''

(1)

Dangling Modifiers

(1)

Squinting Modifiers

(1)

Consistency

(1)

Principle Six: Avoid unnecessary shifts of number, tense, subject, voice, or point of view

(4)

The Right Word

(9)

Introduction

(1)

Choosing the ``Right Word''

(1)

Good English Is Appropriate English

(1)

Principle Seven: Prefer the simple word to the farfetched, and the right word to the almost right

(1)

The evils of elegant variation

(1)

Principle Eight: Don't repeat a word or words unnecessarily. But don't hesitate to repeat when the repetition will increase clarity

(1)

Reference Works

(5)

How to Make Order Out of Chaos

(9)

Introduction

(1)

Parallelism

(2)

Principle Nine: Make sentence elements that are parallel in thought parallel in form. But do not use parallelism to express thoughts that are not parallel.

(1)

Making Logical Arrangements

(1)

Principle Ten: Arrange your material logically. Always begin with ideas the reader can readily understand. If you must present difficult material, go one step at a time

(2)

Checklist for Logical Arrangement

(3)

How to Write Letters and Memos

(11)

Introduction

(1)

Axiom One: Do not write without good reason

(1)

Plain letters

(1)

Applying the 4-S Formula

(2)

More Advice on Letter Writing

(3)

The Importance of Tone

(1)

Checklist of Common Mistakes to Guard Against

(1)

Don't be Obsequious or Phony

(1)

The ``You'' Attitude

(1)

Using ``Word Softeners''

(1)

Is Tone Always Important?

(2)

Know Your Audience

(6)

Introduction

(1)

Axiom Two: Slant your presentation for your audience

(1)

Checklist for Audience Analysis

(3)

Analyzing Your Reader(s)

100

(1)

Writing for the ``Average'' Reader

100

(2)

Getting and Holding the Reader's Attention

102

(7)

Introduction

102

(3)

Axion Three: Get straight to the point

105

(3)

Exceptions to the Rule

108

(1)

How to Do ``How-to-do-its''

109

(4)

Introduction

109

(1)

Axion Four: Show the reader!

109

(1)

Checklist for Writing Instructions

110

(1)

How to Describe Simultaneous Operations

111

(2)

How to Write Regulations

113

(11)

Introduction

113

(1)

Check with the Legal Staff

114

(1)

Some Steps in the Right Direction

115

(1)

Cutting Out the Legalistic Jargon

116

(5)

The Rules for Shall and Will

121

(1)

The Rules for Must and Should

122

(1)

Checklist for Writing Regulations

122

(1)

Exception Disclosures

123

(1)

Consistency

123

(1)

Axion Five: Be consistent

123

(1)

How to Write Reports

124

(11)

What's the Problem?

124

(1)

Getting Started

125

(2)

Taking Notes: It's in the Cards!

127

(3)

Visualizing the Final Report

130

(2)

Using Footnotes, Credits, and References

132

(1)

Using Copyrighted Material

133

(1)

Summing Up

134

(1)

The Easy Way to Outline

135

(6)

Why the Old-fashioned Outline Often Doesn't Work

135

(2)

Checklist: The Easy Way to Outline

137

(4)

How to Write Like a Pro

141

(11)

Establishing Good Writing Habits

141

(1)

Pat Jones's Advice

142

(2)

Production Rates for Writers

144

(1)

Axion Six: Rewrite---rewrite---rewrite!

145

(1)

The Mechanics of Writing Production

145

(3)

Axion Seven: Allow in your planning for production delays

148

(1)

Deadlines and Supervisors

148

(4)

Retaining and Using Your New Knowledge

152

(9)

Training Is Big Business

152

(1)

Some Ways to Help You Remember---and Use---Your New Knowledge and Skills

153

(1)

The Big Secrets of Learning and Remembering Information

154

(1)

On to the Millennium

155

(1)

Books on Cards

156

(1)

Books on Tape

157

(1)

Department of Anticlimax

158

(1)

Epitaph

159

(2)

PART 2: Editing (and Self-Editing) with Precision

161

(40)

An Editor's Credo

163

(4)

What Is an Editor's Job?

163

(4)

Hyphenation and Word Compounding

167

(5)

Doormats, Floormats, and Fruitflies

167

(1)

So What's the Problem?

168

(1)

Research

168

(2)

Getting Down to Common-Sense Principles

170

(1)

Common-Sense Principle Number One

170

(1)

Common-Sense Principle Number Two

171

(1)

Common-Sense Principle Number Three

171

(1)

Common-Sense Principle Number Four

171

(1)

Avoid ``Second Cousin'' Words

172

(6)

Second Cousins and Lightning Bugs

172

(6)

Capital Crimes

178

(5)

To Cap or Not to Cap?

178

(1)

Using Style Manuals

179

(1)

Top Editorial Priority: Reader Understanding

179

(1)

Why Do We Use Caps, Anyway?

180

(1)

A ``Sea Story'' from Space

181

(2)

Vogue Words and Technical Jargon

183

(4)

A Definition of Terms

183

(1)

Changing Patterns of Language

184

(1)

The Two Cultures

185

(1)

Common-Sense Principles---Vogue Words and Technical Terms

186

(1)

Tell Me Not in Mournful Numbers

187

(4)

Figures? Or Words?

187

(1)

Numbers Speak Louder than Words

188

(1)

Numbers and Cases

189

(1)

Billions and Billions and Billions

189

(1)

All Numbers Great and Small

189

(2)

The Dangerfield Syndrome

191

(5)

Must We Die to Get Respect?

191

(1)

Dictums from a Newspaper Stylebook

191

(1)

Manners of Style? Or Style of Manners?

192

(1)

For Example?

193

(1)

Once More Unto the Breach!

194

(2)

Writers and Editors---Can't We Be Friends?

196

(5)

Crotchets, Anyone?

196

(1)

Two Words Better Than One?

196

(1)

Blue Pencils and Blue Language

197

(1)

How Far, O Lord, How Far?

198

(1)

Two Schools of Thought

198

(1)

Pride of Authorship

199

(2)

PART 3: Handbook

201

(68)

How to Use the Handbook

203

(2)

Alphabetical Listings

205

(64)

PART 4: Exercises

269

(34)

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Writing with Precision : How to Write So That You Cannot Possibly Be Misunderstood

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials