Fundamentals of Writing

Dr. Nandita Choudhury

Objectives

• Importance of effective writing skills

• To acquire generally useful techniques for
effective writing
• To learn specific skills that apply to all forms of
writing
• To utilize easy exercises that can help to
improve writing
• The seven C’s of effective writing
A CHALLENGE!

Please write a one-sentence definition of

“WRITING EFFECTIVELY”
DEFINITION

To communicate specific information or

ideas, utilizing the formats, language and
content relevant to the work place.
THE ABCs OF WRITING

• Writing aims to capture a thought or idea, to

transfer it to a permanent format, making it
tangible.
• The responsibility of that transfer falling
squarely on the writer’s shoulder.
• If communication is the ultimate goal, write for
the audience, not for personal style.
THE ABCs OF WRITING

• Writing has to be much clearer than

spoken language because it lacks non-
verbal cues like hand movements and
facial expressions.
• Objective, factually based writing is
stronger and more persuasive than
writing that relies on opinion and hearsay.
THE ABCs OF WRITING

• Any idea can be conveyed through writing. If

you can think it, you can write it.
• Great care is required to ensure that your
message is accurately interpreted by the
audience.
• There is always more to say about a topic.
THE ABCs OF WRITING

• Good writing is composed of many ideas,

all connected by a single purpose (e.g. a
thesis statement).
• Every sentence should connect to the
central goal of the paper.
The Seven C’s of Written
Communication

• Completeness
• Conciseness
• Consideration
• Concreteness
• Clarity
• Courtesy
• Correctness
The Most Common Problems
in Documents

• Long sentences
• Passive voice
• Weak verbs
• Superfluous words
• Legal and financial terms
• Numerous defined terms
The Most Common Problems
in Documents (cont’d)

• Abstract words
• Unnecessary details
• Unreadable design and layout
Use the Active Voice with Strong
Verbs

The time you spend searching for a good verb is

time well spent. When a verb carries more
meaning, you can dispense with many of the
words used to bolster weak verbs.
Weak verbs keep frequent company with two
grammatical undesirables: passive voice and
nominalizations.
The Active Voice and Passive
Voice
• Active:
“Microsoft bought our company.”
• Passive:

“Our company was bought by Microsoft.”

• Obscure Passive:
“Our company was bought.”
 Passive Constructions

• It generally adds length to a sentence --

25% to 33% on average.
• The agent or human actor is often
obscured or deleted.
• Responsibility for actions in the sentence
are obscure or missing entirely.
How to recognize a Passive
Sentence

• Some form of the verb “to be.” (“The stock was bought
by an investor.”)
• Another verb in the past tense. (“The stock was
bought by an investor.”)
• A prepositional phrase beginning with “by.” (“The stock
was bought by an investor.”)
How to recognize an Active
Sentence
• Doers Before Verbs.
• Before: The foregoing fee table is intended to assist
investors in understanding the costs and expenses that a
shareholder will bear directly or indirectly.
• After: This fee table shows the costs and expenses you
would pay directly or indirectly if you invested in our fund.
Nominalizations

• Does the sentence use any form of the verbs to

be, to have, or another weak verb, with a noun
that could be turned into a strong verb?
• In the samples that follow, strong verbs lie
hidden in nominalizations, nouns derived from a
verb that usually ends in -tion.
Nominalizations

• Before: “We made an application.”

• After: “We applied . . .”
• Before: “We made a determination.”
• After: “We determined . . .”
• Before: “We will make a distribution.”
• After: “We will distribute . . .”
Personal Pronouns

• Why Use Personal Pronouns?

• First, personal pronouns aid your reader’s
comprehension because they make clear what
applies to your reader and what applies to you.
• Second, they allow you to “speak” directly to
your reader, creating an appealing tone that will
keep your reader reading.
Personal Pronouns (Contd--)

• Third, they help you to avoid abstractions and to use

more concrete and everyday language.
• Fourth, they keep your sentences short.
• Fifth, first- and second-person pronouns aren’t gender
specific, allowing you to avoid the “he and she” dilemma.
The pronouns to use are first person plural (we, us, our)
and second singular (you, yours).
Omit Superfluous Words

• in accordance with by, with

• in the event that if
• subsequent to after
• prior to before
• despite the fact that although
• because of the fact because, since
• in light of because, since
• owing to the fact that because, since
Omit Superfluous Words

• Before: “The following summary is

intended only to highlight certain
information contained elsewhere in this
prospectus.”
• After: “This summary highlights some
information from this prospectus.”
Write “Positively”

• Positive sentences are shorter and easier to

understand than their negative counterparts.
• Before: “Persons other than the primary
beneficiary may not receive these dividends.”
• After: “Only the primary beneficiary may
receive these dividends.”
Write “positively”

• not able • unable

• not accept • reject
• not certain • uncertain
• not unlike • similar, alike
• does not have • lacks
• not many • excludes, omits
• not often • few
• not the same • rarely
• not . . . unless • different
•
Avoid Jargon and Legalese

• Ruthlessly eliminate jargon and legalese.

Instead, use short common words to get your
points across. In those instances where there
is no plain English alternative, explain what the
term means when you first use it.
Replace Jargon and Legalese
with short, common words

• If you’ve been around your industry for

awhile, it may be hard to spot jargon and
legalese in your writing. Ask someone
from outside the industry to read your
writing.
Synonyms

• Choose the Simpler Synonym

• Surround complex ideas with short,
common words. For example, use end
instead of terminate; explain rather than
elucidate, and use instead of utilize. As a
rule of thumb, when a shorter, simpler
synonym exists, use it.
Parallelism

Parallelism means ensuring a list or series of items is

presented using parallel parts of speech: nouns, verbs, or
adverbs.
Before: “We invest the Fund’s assets in short-term money
market securities to provide you with liquidity, protection of
your investment, and high current income.”
Parallelism

• Keep Your Sentence Structure Parallel

• That sentence was unparallel because the
series is made up of two nouns and an
adjective before the third noun.
• After: “We invest in short-term money market
securities to provide you with liquidity, to protect
your investment, and to generate high current
income.”
Thank you
and
Happy writing