The purpose of this chapter is to appreciate the role of style in any document. Style can be accomplished through clear, concise, and fluent sentences, and also through the use of precise language. A tone that will connect with your audience is also important, in addition to recognizing that various cultures have various style preferences. It is also important to realize that words can have unintended legal and ethical consequences. However, there are both benefits and drawbacks to using digital editing tools.
What you have to say in your document is just as important as how you say it, and the style of your writing is determined by your sentence construction, the length of your sentences, the way you connect your sentences, which words or phrases you choose, and the tone in which you write. Your style, however, is more than simply mechanical correctness-- it must be readable. To best help your reader understand the point that you are trying to make, you should revise your work until you have a style that is clear, concise, fluent, exact, and likable.
When editing for clarity (the element that allows your read to reach each sentence just once), there are several suggestions that you should follow. You should avoid ambiguous pronoun references, and also ambiguous modifiers, which is a word or a group of words that provides information about another word or group of words. You should also unstack modifying nouns because too many nouns in a row creates confusion and reading difficulty. As I stated in the last blog post, coherent writing means that every sentence will build upon the preceding sentence, while at the same time looking ahead to the next one. With this being said, you ought to arrange your words for coherence and emphasis. You should also use active, as opposed to passive, words whenever possible. With this being said, you should use a passive voice selectively, particularly when your audience doesn't need to know the agent. A passive voice is also preferred when you want to be indirect or inoffensive. You should also avoid overstuffing sentences, which means giving no more information in a sentence than a reader can easily process and retain.
Your document will be most effective when you explain your point in the fewest amount of words. This means that you should also avoid wordy phrases, or, in other words, phrases that can be reduced to one word easily. It is also a good idea to eliminate redundancy, which is saying the same thing twice. You should avoid needless repetition as well because this will only clutter your document and dilute its meaning. Avoiding "there" or "there is" sentences is a good practice, too-- this means that you can place the key word in each sentence at the beginning, where they can best be emphasized. An "it" opening is also unnecessary, and needless prefaces should always be deleted-- be sure to get right to the point! Weak verbs, which express no specific action, should be avoided, in addition to excessive prepositions. Nominalizations are nouns that are manufactured from verbs, but they are also harder to understand than the verbs themselves. If at all possible, you must try to make negatives positive because a positive expression is easier to understand than a negative one. You should also try to celan out clutter words, because they tend to stretch a message without adding any meaning to it. Needless qualifiers should also be deleted.
When editing your document, you should also check for fluency, which means that sentences are easy to read because they provide clear connections, variety and emphasis. In order to help with fluency, you should combine related ideas and also vary your sentence length and construction. Short sentences are best for special emphasis, too.
Sometimes the exact words are difficult to pinpoint, but your reader will most likely prefer simple and familiar sounding wording. Also, if you are writing a technical document, you should use the technical term and then define it in a glossary later. It's also a good idea to avoid useless jargon-- this means not inventing nouns or verbs by adding -wise or -ize to the end of them. You should also use acronyms selectively, because, chances are, your audience will not know the meaning of them. Clichés should also be avoided because they make the writer seem lazy or careless. Misleading euphemisms are also unnecessary, and overstatements (exaggeration) should be avoided. Generally, it is important to be specific and concrete in your writing because it makes your words easier to visualize. Analogies are also better than comparisons because they sharpen the images you are trying to convey.
Tone is a very important piece of your document because it is uniquely yours-- it's the personality that you convey between your words. Tone is created by the distance you place between yourself and the reader, and the attitude that you take towards your topic of interest. A formal or semiformal tone should be used when writing for your superiors, professionals or academics. A semiformal or informal tone is suggested when writing for your colleagues or your subordinates; an informal tone should be used when writing conversationally. You should always avoid a negative tone whenever you must convey negative, or bad, information. It is always a good practice to find out what tone your reader actually prefers before you start writing. And whenever you are in doubt, don't be too casual!
Readers also relate better when you address them directly, so use "you" and "your" whenever applicable. "I" and "we" are also best whenever you are describing yourself or your organization. Always try to emphasize the positive, and do your best to avoid an overly informal tone. Personal bias should always be left out, as well.
Several guidelines that will help you avoid sexist usage are important and described below. It's best to use neutral expressions, and to eliminate pronouns, when possible. You should use plural forms, and occasional paired pronouns, which include him or her, she or he, and his or hers. Condescending diminutive endings should be dropped, and you should use Ms. instead of Mrs. or Miss, unless you know the person personally or that they prefer a traditional title.
To avoid making offenses of any kind, there are more guidelines that you should follow. It's best to be as specific as possible when referring to something cultural or someone's national identity. Potentially judgmental expressions should be avoided entirely, and person-first language should be used when referring to people with disabilities or medical conditions. Demeaning expressions should be avoided, as well, and age-appropriate designations for both genders should be used.
Word choice may also have legal and ethical implications, some situations where this might arise are as follows: assessing risk, offering a service or product, giving instructions, comparison of your product with competitor's products, and evaluation of an employee.
Group Discussion Question: How important would you say tone is in writing? Have you ever had to alter a favored tone of yours to fit a particular type of document? How difficult was it for you?
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