Do's and Dont's of Writing Good English

Lecture No 03:
Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Good English
Muhammad Naeem
Air University Kamra Campus
Recap-Lecture 02
• Principles of Writing Good English
• Read, pay attention, and imitate.
• Let go of “academic” writing habits (deprogramming step!)
• Talk about your research before trying to write about it.
• Develop a thesaurus habit. Search for the right word rather than settling for any
old word.
• Respect your audience—try not to bore them!
• Stop waiting for “inspiration.”
• Accept that writing is hard for everyone.
• Revise. Nobody gets it perfect on the first try.
• Learn how to cut ruthlessly. Never become too attached to your words.
• Find a good editor!
Effective Writing
• Clear writing starts with clear thinking.
Effective Writing
Before you start writing, ask:
“What am I trying to say?”
• When you finish writing, ask:

“Have I said it?”
Effective Writing
Once you know what you’re trying to say, then pay attention to your
words!
Strip your sentences to just the words that tell.

Effective Writing
• “The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest
components. Every word that serves no function, every long word
that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same
meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that
leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what—these are the
thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a
sentence. And they usually occur in proportion to the education and
rank.”
• -- William Zinsser in On Writing Well, 1976
Do’s and Don’ts
Today’s lessons:
Words:
• 1. Reduce dead weight words and phrases
• 2. Cut, cut, cut; learn to part with your words
Sentences:
• 3. Follow: subject + verb + object (SVO)
• 4. Use strong verbs and avoid turning verbs into nouns
• 5. Eliminate negatives; use positive constructions instead
• 6. Use parallel Construction
Effective Writing
Words
• 1. Reduce dead weight words and phrases
• Get rid of jargon and repetition
Effective Writing
Examples:
“I would like to assert that the author should be considered to be a

buffoon.”

“The author is a buffoon.”
Effective Writing
Examples:
“The expected prevalence of mental retardation, based

on the assumption of a normal distribution of
intelligence in the population, is stated to be
theoretically about 2.5%.”
Effective Writing
Examples:
“The expected prevalence of mental retardation, based

on the assumption of a normal distribution of
intelligence in the population, is stated to be
theoretically about 2.5%.”
Effective Writing
Examples:
“The expected prevalence of mental retardation, based on the

assumption of a normal distribution of intelligence in the
population, is stated to be theoretically about 2.5%.

“The expected prevalence of mental retardation, if intelligence
is normally distributed, is 2.5%.”
Effective Writing
Examples:
“To control infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(M. tb), a robust cell-mediated immune response is
necessary, and deficiency in this response predisposes an
individual towards active TB.”

“Deficiency in T-cell-mediated immune response
predisposes an individual towards active TB.”
Effective Writing
Examples:
“This paper provides a review ofs the basic tenets of cancer biology study
design, using as examples studies that illustrate the methodologic
challenges or that demonstrate successful solutions to the difficulties
inherent in biological research.” and
“This paper reviews cancer biology study design, using

examples that illustrate specific challenges and solutions.”
Effective Writing
Hunt down and cast out all unneeded words that might
slow your reader.
Effective Writing
Very, really, quite, basically, generally
These words seldom add anything useful. Try the

sentence without them and see if it improves.
Effective Writing
Watch out for the verb “to be”
Often “there are” is extra weight.
• There are many students who like writing.

• Many students like writing.
Effective Writing
Dead weight phrases

• in the event that
• in the nature of
• it has been estimated that
• it seems that
• the point I am trying to make
• what I mean to say is
• it may be argued that
Effective Writing
Dead weight phrases

• for the most part
• for the purpose of
• in a manner of speaking
• in a very real sense
• in my opinion
• in the case of
• in the final analysis
Effective Writing
Clunky phrase Equivalent
• All three of the the three
• Fewer in number fewer
• Give rise to cause
• In all cases always
• In a position to can
• In close proximity to near
• In order to to
Effective Writing
Clunky phrase Equivalent
• A majority of most
• A number of many
• Are of the same opinion agree
• At the present moment now
• Less frequently occurring rare
Effective Writing
Beware of Use instead
• With the possible exception of except
• Due to the fact that because
• For the purpose of for
Effective Writing
Wordy Pointed
in spite of the fact that although
in the event that if
new innovations innovations
one and the same the same
period of four days four days
personal opinion opinion
shorter/longer in length shorter/longer
Effective Writing
Constantly be on the lookout for extraneous
words that crop up like weeds….
Ask yourself, is this word or phrase
necessary?
What happens if I take it out?
Most of the time, you’ll find you don’t need
it!
Effective Writing
• 2. Cut, cut, cut; learn to part with your words

Effective Writing
DON'T BE AFRAID TO CUT

Effective Writing
• Be vigilant and ruthless
• After investing much effort to put words on a page, we

often find it hard to part with them.
But fight their seductive pull…

• Try the sentence without the extra words and see how
it’s better—conveys the same idea with more power
Effective Writing
• Parting with your words…
Effective Writing
Example:
“Brain injury incidence shows two peak periods in almost all reports:
rates are the highest in young people, and the elderly.”
More punch
“Brain injury incidence peaks in the young and the elderly.”
Effective Writing
Sentences
• 3. Follow: subject + verb + object

(active voice!)
Effective Writing
“Subject verb object”
or just…
“Subject verb”
Questions
32

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Lecture No 03:

Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Good English

• When you finish writing, ask:

Strip your sentences to just the words that tell.

“I would like to assert that the author should be considered to be a

“The expected prevalence of mental retardation, based

“The expected prevalence of mental retardation, based

“The expected prevalence of mental retardation, based on the

“This paper reviews cancer biology study design, using

These words seldom add anything useful. Try the

• There are many students who like writing.

Dead weight phrases

Dead weight phrases

• 2. Cut, cut, cut; learn to part with your words

DON'T BE AFRAID TO CUT

• After investing much effort to put words on a page, we

But fight their seductive pull…

• 3. Follow: subject + verb + object

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