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20 Rules For Good Writing
by Bob Brooke 

Beginning writers often fail because they overlook some of the basic rules of good writing. Unfortunately, the only reference most of them have are the techniques they learned in school. But the techniques of academic writing are far from what writers of non-fiction and fiction use today. Follow these 20 simple rules to good writing and your writing success will soar. 

1. Use plain, conversational language. Write as you talk. Today’s writing is conversational and more fluid than what you learned in school. Pretend your reader is sitting across the table from you and converse with him or her. 

2. Write to express, not to impress. Unfortunately, all writers learned their first basic techniques in a school environment where everyone tries to impress themselves on others. Express yourself to your reader. 

3. Write clearly. Avoid writing in circles or in language that your reader will find difficult to understand. You accumulated 1,500 basic words by the time you were 14 years old. Use them. 

4. Avoid gobbledygook and jargon. Be mindful of your reader. Jargon, the words used by a specific profession or group of people, are only know to those people, not to your reader. If you must use jargon, explain it in the context of your message.

5. Prefer the plain word to the fancy. If your reader has to go look up a word you’ve written, you take the chance that their train of thought will be interrupted. Also, they may find something more interesting to do than finish reading what you’ve written. 

6. Prefer the familiar word to the unfamiliar. Everyone is accustomed to using familiar words. Use the words you normally use in conversation. 

7. Prefer the Saxon word to the Romance. Believe it or not, more Saxon (Germanic) words are familiar to English-speaking people than those based on words from Romance languages like French and Italian. 

8. Prefer nouns and verbs to adjectives and adverbs. Nouns define persons, places and things, and verbs define actions. By using them in the right combinations, your writing will sing. 

9. Prefer concrete(picture) nouns and action verbs. Use concrete nouns–those that don’t require an adjective–and dynamic verbs–those that don’t require an adverb–to explain their meaning. Concrete nouns and dynamic verbs each project a definite image in the reader’s mind. 

10. Never use a long word when a short one will do. Keep your words short–4-7 letters and 2 syllables is average. Your reader will thank you for them. Shorter words make any piece of writing easier to read. Writing has nothing to do with the intelligence of the writer, unlike what is subconsciously taught in school. 

11. Master the simple, declarative sentence. It’s difficult to write a simple, declarative sentence. Writing tight is harder than rambling on about a subject. 

12. Prefer the simple sentence to the complicated. There’s nothing wrong with a simple sentence. In fact a string of simple sentences will communicate your idea more clearly than a series of long, complicated ones.  

13. Vary your sentence length. Writing comes alive when you use sentences of just one or two words in combination with those of up to 15 words. Sentences should be somewhere between 6 and 17 words long on average. Avoid extra long 60-word sentences. 

14. Use the active voice. Academic writers have a tendency to use the passive voice, in which the subject becomes the direct object. If you notice verbs like was written, (a combination of the some form of the verb to be and the past tense of the verb) you know you’re writing in passive voice. Make your subjects do the acting. 

15. Put statements in a positive form. Avoid using negative words or prefixes like not, non-, un-, etc. Try to say what you have to say positively. 

16. Use short paragraphs. Shorter paragraphs are easier to read, thus a piece of writing reads faster. But using all short paragraphs provides a staccato effect. To avoid a jumpy feeling to your writing, use a variety of lengths of paragraphs, sometimes using a single sentence paragraph for emphasis. 

17. Cut needless words, sentences and paragraphs. We all like to hear ourselves and our writing reflects that. After finishing your first draft, remove unwanted words, sentences and paragraphs. Your writing will become tighter and easier and more enjoyable to read. 

18. Put the words you want to emphasize at the beginning or end of your sentence. While it’s hard to do this in your first draft, take a hard look at your sentences after you’ve written them and rearrange for the best emphatic effect. 

19. Revise and rewrite. Too many beginning writers take what comes first and make it what comes last. Remember to go back over your writing and adjust it for clarity, accuracy and reading ease. Improvement is always possible.

20. Develop a natural style. While it may take awhile, you should try to develop a natural style, one that is yours and no one else’s. This can take time, but it’s worth it in the end.

Bob Brook is a prolific travel and business writer, Bob Brooke has traveled to over 60 countries, covering such diverse subjects as living under terrorism in Northern Ireland, shopping in Hong Kong, training through Eastern Europe, discovering the Russia of the Czars, gallery hopping in Paris, and exploring ruins in Mexico, his specialty. He has authored six books, one of which, The Amish Country, showcases the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Amish community. His articles have appeared in many national and international publications, including Adventure West, Delta Sky, Business Traveller(UK), British Heritage, and Travel Mexico. He’s also the recipient of Mexico’s prestigious La Pluma de Plata Award for excellence in travel writing. Brooke also writes three weekly columns-"Everyday Genealogy Online," "Antiques Almanac," and "South of the Border". To contact Bob: bobbrooke@bobbrooke.com

For more by Bob:
BobBrook.com