PROFESSIONAL WRITING TECHNIQUES - Part 2

Professional Writing Techniques
Part 2 of 3

And we continue with the not-so-secret fine tuning
that elevates good writing to Professional Writing~

4. VARY YOUR SENTENCE LENGTH.

     Avoid long, complex sentences. When you load a *compound sentence* with several phrases, the reader may have to read those two or three times to figure out which ones goes with what!

Usually, the problem can be solved by tight writing. Simply eliminate unnecessary words and replace a phrase with a single, precise word.

For example, instead of saying “the teenager seemed to be all arms and legs and was rather awkward,” write “the gawky teenager.” Or you can split the sentence into two shorter ones.

A really short 2 or 3 word sentence
adds energy to the whole paragraph!

Example: Your salesman wasn't surprised that the devise
     had crashed so soon. Are you?

5. SHORTEN OVERLY LONG PARAGRAPHS.

     A paragraph that runs on for half a page or more lacks energy and visual variety.
And it’s boring!

Read your page carefully, watching for a shift in topic or tone. In a super long paragraph there will usually be several. Break the long paragraphs into two or three smaller ones, and adjust the wording as needed.

6. START EACH CHAPTER WITH A "HOOK" TO SNAG YOUR READER'S INTEREST.

    Hooks take many forms, but as the word implies, all are designed to pull the reader into the next paragraph.

A question or short, premise statement works well, such as: Where would we be without plastic? or A working outline makes the writing flow more smoothly. 

Or you can lighten the tone with Oh, and did I mention....? to introduce the topic of the new chapter.

You can also use a tie-in to the previous chapter. With that process in mind, we can now proceed with … or Based on what we just learned about (previous chapter’s information)...

 

     7. CLOSE EACH CHAPTER WITH A CONCLUSION OR A LEAD-IN TO THE NEXT CHAPTER. 

     For example, You'll soon discover that's the quickest way to trim an oval widget! or After you’ve chosen a theme for your project, you’ll need to collect the materials.

But beware! Some writers don't actually close the chapter -- they begin to babble on and on after they’ve made their point. When in doubt, read over your closing paragraph and underline the concluding sentence. Chop everything after that!

And leave your readers eager to turn the page to the next chapter!

Happy editing!

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NEXT WEEK: PROFESSIONAL WRITING TECHNIQUES

Part 3 of 3

 Quotations & Statistics

Clang & Colloquial Expressions

Chapter "Hooks"

Condensing Text

Beware! MS Word Correcrtions!!