Guardian Unlimited | Style guide | Neither pedantic nor wild?

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"Capsal Hi-Impact Communication Presenters of Business Writing and Communication Skills in Plain Language"

Rules for writing good

1. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old hat)
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.
12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. One should NEVER generalize.
15. Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
16. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
17. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
18. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
19. The passive voice is to be ignored.
20. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.
21. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
22. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
23. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth-shaking ideas.
24. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
25. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
26. Puns are for children, not groan readers.
27. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
28. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
29. Who needs rhetorical questions?
30. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

The Sunday Mail QLD: Simple English 'saves money' [30may04]

Mondegreens Ripped My Flesh

Yahoo! Groups : plainlanguage Messages : Message 3864 of 3864 - plain language in spanish - list of websites

The tyranny of language - Opinion - www.theage.com.au:
"The tyranny of language"

Plain English Campaign: Press office: Our latest press release: "At the end of the day... we're fed up with clichés"

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | 'With all due respect, it's not exactly rocket science'
As the Plain English Campaign publishes a list of the language's most annoying phrases, Mark Oliver wonders what might have happened had one of history's great orators used them. So imagine that you are huddling in an air raid shelter, listening to the wireless as Winston Churchill begins to speak

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage
Cliches, to be honest with you, drive us mad

Edward Tufte: Books - Essay: The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint:
"Alas, slideware often reduces the analytical quality of presentations. In particular, the popular PowerPoint templates (ready-made designs) usually weaken verbal and spatial reasoning, and almost always corrupt statistical analysis. What is the problem with PowerPoint? And how can we improve our presentations? "

SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Society Guardian | Bureaucratic jargon:
"To write effectively, we need to know three things: why we are writing it; what we want to happen as a result of our writing; and who we are writing for. If the target audience includes the public then this means using shorter sentences (average about 15-20 words), shorter words and avoiding jargon. So don't write in plain English henceforth - write in plain English from now on."

Plain Language Commission - site index

SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Society | English Kiss: Keep It Short and Simple

There is no shortage of helpful advice to authors. My book, The Plain English Guide (OUP, 1995) distils it into 20 guidelines. To summarise them:

· Use appropriate language - not too pompous, not too colloquial.

· Write sentences of reasonable length - 15-20 words on average.

· Favour active-voice verbs.

· Don't smother verbs beneath noun phrases: so 'We prepared...' not 'The preparation was undertaken by us...'

· Use personal reference words.

· Use a main heading. In long letters, use subheadings too.

· Use vertical lists to split up complex information.

· Use a top-heavy triangle structure, giving the big news early in each section. Alternatively, use chronological order if this will help the reader.

· Use tables, charts and graphs to help the reader understand.

· Reread your letter before it goes out. Revise it. Then revise it again. You don't have time, but you have to make it.

· If you've an important writing job to do, arrange your environment to suit you. This might mean booking a writing room in the office, or working at home.

Finally, remember the words of Lord Denning, the leading judge, in the 1980s: "It is better to be clear and brief than to go drivelling on."

· Martin Cutts is research director of Plain Language Commission

The Abbey National Group | Press Releases
Three quarters (74 per cent) of Britons believe that businesses deliberately use jargon to confuse and deceive consumers. More than half (56 per cent) think that jargon is used as a cover by people who don’t know what they’re talking about, yet nearly a third (31 per cent) admit to using it themselves to impress their own customers and clients, according to new research

Humorous Grammar Rules I

Communication Canada - Home Page

WWLIA - Plain Language

Hobbies: Writing - articles, hints, and tips for the freelancer and professional

Communication Canada - Successful Communication Tool Kit - Literacy and You