I tend to write very quickly and without much thought to style (sort of the way I dress too.) It’s a major pain in the ass when you look at a sentence, know that its not clearly written or punctuated, and try and figure out why. It’s not like you can look up your sentence in a book. And if you don’t know whats wrong with a sentence, its hard and tedious to go through a whole book on style to find out what it is. After reading the last sentence im thinking I should include grammar as well. Anyway I’ve asked Echelon to please send back all the communication of mine they surveille and send it back with red marked corrections. They have’nt gotten (?) back to me but there is a “Florist’s Van” parked across the street from my house all the time now. Anyone know of an efficient way to improve grammar and style?
Get a copy of Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style.” That, and practice. If you’re looking for a quick fix (say 1 week), you’re out of luck. Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway didn’t get good overnight; they practiced.
If you’re writing too fast, find a way to slow yourself down. I’ve heard of some writers that put their first drafts on scrap paper. This forces them to do at least one rewrite.
Practice, practice, practice.
However, don’t worry about style per se. Trust your instincts – if the sentence sounds wrong to you, then rewrite it so it doesn’t. Do a lot of reading to get an idea of this.
Worry about style in the editing phase. Write your first draft without being concerned about it. You can go back later and fix it.
As a student of the written word, I suggest reading everything you write out loud. I’m not saying out loud in your head, I mean out loud where another person could possibly hear you.
I guarantee you’ll find many mistakes and will be able to catch yourself as you write the next time.
But remember this - forget what your grammar school teachers said. You do NOT put a comma “every time you pause when speaking.” So wrong!
Get Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style” to teach you the rules, and follow that with “The Art of Readable Writing” by Rudolph Flesch to teach you when to break them. The Flesch book is short and easy to read (no surprise there, huh?) and should be required reading for just about everyone.
You can write as fast as you want as long as you remember the cardinal rule: one thought per sentence. No more, no less.
For more rules, look at the teeny tiny tome mentioned in earlier posts.
In addition to the advice already given above, may I make another suggestion?
Read. A lot. Read whatever interests you – fiction, non-fiction, training manuals, whatever. Immerse yourself in reading, and slowly your writing will improve as you begin to absorb the way others write.
What Sauron said. Read constantly. Anything you want is fine (newspapers, magazines, novels, essays, etc.). I would tend to say that a decent novel or essay would be best but if you don’t like reading much then grab whatever suits you. Your writing will improve through osmosis alone.
For a really high polish on your writing the book Elements of Style is a must have.
What Sauron and Whack A Mole said. Read, then read some more. If you know you’ll have to write something in a particular style, read things written in that style. For instance, if you have to write an article about some topic, read articles on related topics, as many as you can find. Once you get a feel for how the style should read, you will be able to write it with greater ease. If you need to write something funny, read funny things. Speech? Read speeches. You get the idea.
The other important point is to think before you write. Have the full thought in mind before you set pen to paper, or whatever, and finish the thought. Not planning in advance what to put down results in sentences that start one way and head off another direction at the predicate like some rogue herd of cows I once knew. See? Make sure you’re talking about the same thing all the way through.
If your ideas come to you really fast and you feel like you need to get them down before you lose them, make an outline. Put down your main thoughts there, and if you think of some fabulous phrase you absolutely must use, jot it down as part of the outline. Then go back and flesh it out slowly based on your outline. To me, that’s a rewrite in itself, because it gives you the first chance to look over your ideas and decide if they make any sense. If not, you can scrap it, and you’re only out an outline instead of a whole dissertation.
English Teacher checking in:
-
All of the above posters are correct: The Elements of Style is quite simply the most effective book ever written on achieving clarity in writing.
-
Practice is also key.
-
Hemingway is supposed to have said, “Easy writing makes hard reading.” Digest that thought then re-read the OP… writing with the reader in mind can not be done, “very quickly and without much thought to style…” That’s the simple fact of the matter.
Now that I’m feeling nitpicky, Barbarian said:
I don’t mean to be difficult, but I disagree. I don’t see this as a valid rule at all. Complex sentences are, when properly constructed, a wonder to behold.
I also suggest that the student of modern writing read Stephen King’s On Writing. He is an undisputed master of Modern Prose and his book is entertaining, inspriting and instructive.
One other thing…
Never proof read your own papers.
Actually, that’s not entirely correct. You have to proof read your own papers but after you’ve done that and refined your paper as you see fit it is vital you have someone else proof read for you. You’d be surprised at things you let slip by because you knew what you meant. That may not be the case for your readers however. A competent proof reader is invaluable.
When you do proof-read your own stuff, set it aside for a while–at least a day–before proofing it. You’ll catch a lot more errors that way.
Im never sure whether or not thanking posters for answering constructively is good etiquette or worthless if not well intended spam. Well anyway, thanks.
Funny what you all say about reading. I've been reading "The Swamp Thing" since #147 and my style hasn't improved at all! I wonder if it's the rarity gap of #340 that has left me english no good. No, I'm on the erudite tip, and if the previously mentioned Osmosis theory of style is true, then in my case the diffusion gradient is in favor of style flowing out of me and into the book. A review of my previous posts reveals wildly hypomanically constructed sentences and posts that, when finished, end up answering my own question. While being the poster boy for ADD has bought me mild celebrity among the distracted set, I pay for it in poor english. Now I wish I hadnt told my 10th grade English teacher that I wouldnt read "Walden" cuz a guy that never got laid was no accurate judge of anything.I agree that reading as much material as you can get your hands on is most likely your best bet. Examine a wide variety of authors and subjects. Keep a dictionary handy while you read and look up any words that you don’t understand; then re-read the passages so you can see how those words are used. There’s an instinctual feel for words, phrasing, and grammar that one develops over time.