Clarity, Part One

In the blog post below, I will be discussing what I learned from the "Clarity" section in Rules for Writers.

_BuBBy_. "365 Day Project." Jully 28, 2011 via Flickr. Public Domain Dedication.

Mixed Construction

This section explains mixed construction of sentences. It reviews how to "untangle" syntax, connect subjects and verbs and how to to avoid using "when", "is where" and "reason." This section was interesting because it explains how to revise sentences so they make sense; I did not know that beginning a sentence with a long prepositional phrase causes a "double subject." Also, I found it interesting that using "is where" to explain a subject is incorrect unless the subject is an actual place.

Variety 

This section explains how to provide sentence variety in a draft. When a piece of writing becomes long and wordy, the content can become redundant and boring. The book suggest to combat this by inverting sentences, varying sentence opening and changing sentence structure every now and then. I learned that an inverted sentence does not follow the normal "verb-object" pattern; rather, the verb would come after the object. In addition, I found the examples of different sentences (simple, compound, complex and compound-complex) helpful when considering how to vary structure. 

Choosing Appropriate Language

This section was the most interesting to me because it was a little humorous. The book explains how to use the correct language and how to avoid offending the audience. I learned what "jargon" really is: a language only certain groups share. Also, the book advises to avoid using pretentious, sexist or slang language. These are important in a QRG because its intended for all audiences; therefore, the content must be approachable by all. I also like that the book advises to consider revising language that may offended certain groups of people; when drafting I consider a single reader rather than a group so I must be careful to make sure I will not offend a bigger audience. 

Wordy Sentences

This section is the most helpful to me because my sentences are usually wordy and unclear. In this section, the book provides advise on how to tighten sentences, avoiding repetition, cutting out "empty" phrases and simplifying the sentence structure. I found the advise "reduce clauses to phrases and phrases to single words" because I usually feel like my sentences are too simple when I do that; however, they can be too confusing if I don't. 

Reflection:

After reviewing both Jessica and Nick's blogs, I learned more about mixed construction and wordy sentences.

One of Jessica's sentences says "Zaha Hadid wasn’t expected to design a cheap stadium by any means and the skyrocketing cost of the stadium is the reason why it is being scratched." I suggested she break up the sentence to reduce the amount of information presented. I also suggested she vary the construction by changing the second part of the sentence to "The design is being rejected because of the skyrocketing cost."

One of Nick's sentences stated "Even the Chinese researchers behind the study have agreed that the technique is not ready to be used in a clinical setting." From this, I learned how to condense wordy sentences. I suggested Nick replace the last part of the sentence to "....not ready for clinical use" in order to eliminate empty phrases.