Greetings,

A thousand thank-yous for sending me the replacement newsletters ... I think (hope) I have the archives up to date. If you come across any links that are pointing in a rather devil-may-care way to my C drive instead of to another web page (yes, another legacy of my crash ... and my inability to make FrontPage co-operate fully), please let me know. I've fixed most of them - but with so many pages out there on the ether, I know I will have missed some.

This week, by special request, another look at one of the key elements in good writing:

How to Be Concise

These days, time is precious - so don't waste anyone's time with writing that jumps from place to place like a mad woman's knitting. Your readers deserve to be treated with respect, so plan what you want to tell them ... and then just tell them.

1. Sentences should be short; 25 words is good, around 18 is better. Don't use qualifiers in your sentences unless absolutely necessary (qualifiers add nothing to the essential meaning of a sentence -  'absolutely' is an example of a qualifier).

2. Paragraphs should also be short - 3 - 5 lines maximum. Nothing is more daunting than line after line of text.

3. Remember the rules of good writing you learned at school:

• Vary the length of sentences
• Vary the beginnings of sentences

TIP - start each sentence with a different part of speech to ensure that your sentences have a different structure as well as different beginnings. Check these examples for ideas:

Adjective: Strange as it seemed ....

Adverb: Presently the crowd parted to reveal ....

Noun: Producers waited for the results of the ....

Verb: Flushed with success she ....

Preposition: Beneath the surface of the ....

4. Use Topic sentences to begin each paragraph. The topic sentence contains the main idea of each paragraph.

5. Vary the length and structure of paragraphs. You can develop the topic sentence of a paragraph by any of these methods;

• giving examples
• listing features
• classifying features
• comparing or contrasting features
• defining terms

6. Link each paragraph to the ones before and after it to give your writing continuity.

Here’s one of those clever little word games that little kids (and big kids) always enjoy:

Thanks to LaVonne for sending this.

This week’s quiz:

Pair each of these words with a synonym (similar meaning) in the list below:

sanctuary, equivalent, repudiate, meticulous, conditional, scandalous, repression, potential, redemption, solemn

1. over-scrupulous

2. latent

3. awesome

4. refuge

5. restraint

6. salvation

7. shameful

8. renounce

9. contingent

10.tantamount

Last week's quiz:

Eliminate the jarring word:

The following announcements were all heard and reported by visitors to the "Going Underground" website.

On the Piccadilly Line:
"To the gentleman wearing the long grey coat trying to get on the second carriage, what part of 'stand clear of the doors' don't you understand?"

Heard at Earl's Court:
"The train at platform three is not going to Parsons Green but to Richmond. The train approaching platform two is also not going to Parsons Green but to Ealing Broadway. These trains are not going to Parsons Green despite what the signal men think."

At Camden town station (on a crowded Saturday afternoon): 

"Please let the  passengers off the train first... Please let the passengers off the train first... Please let the passengers off the train first... Let the passengers off the train  FIRST!...
Oh go on then, stuff yourselves in like sardines, see if I care, I'm  going home."

Doesn't that make you glad you work at home ... or wish you did?

~ * ~

Word of the week: Zugzwang n. A state of play in a game of chess such that any of the various moves open to the player with the next move will damge his position. He is then said to be "in zugzwang." Ther term has obvious potential as a descriptive of certain stock situtations of married life. (Hall of Superior Words)

 

Tautology of the week: I heard this last night, on one of the interminable programs about the impact the Olympics is having on every aspect of life out here:

A Latin phrase for those who managed to get tickets to the Olympics ... or maybe for those of us who will be watching from the comfort of our living rooms:

Sedilia haec, nonne praestant? (These are great seats, aren't they?)

Regards,

Jennifer

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