I recently attended a writing seminar that was put on by the economics department of UNI. Admittedly, it seemed kind of weird at first, since writing seminars typically would be sponsored by people in a department that revolves around that type of stuff (like English). But I decided to give it a shot, and I am definitely glad I did. I got some of the best writing tips I have ever received, and I learned more in this four-hour experience than I have throughout entire semesters of writing classes. I have taken the liberty of pulling some of the ideas from the seminar and putting them on here for your viewing pleasure. Trust me, this will be worth the read.
The examples below come from a handout given to the seminar by Dr. Kenneth McCormick. I have inserted my own commentary into the rules for clarity.
1. Get the fat out (GTFO) of your sentences!
What does this mean? Take out everything you don’t need! Most times, we are trained to write in ways that force us to “fill space” (also known as bullshitting). We often have reports or assignments that require a certain number of pages, and even if we only have half that many pages’ worth of content, we have to fill the space. So we train ourselves to inject useless phrases and words into our writing. For instance,
The level of wages rose because of the presence of improvements in productivity.
First, there is no need to describe the wage rate as a “level.” So that can be omitted. If there were improvements in productivity, it is already implied that they have a presence, so that portion of the sentence is redundant. Finally, we can change the suffix on “improvements” to make the sentence a bit shorter.
Wages rose because of improved productivity.
We went from 13 words down to 6, and we still managed to say the exact same thing. It is less cumbersome to read, and it requires less sifting through rubbish. The objective here is, as Dr. David Hakes says, “write to inform, not to impress.”
2. Write Shorter Sentences
Shorter sentences give your readers time to pause more frequently. They won’t have to rummage through long, run-on sentences, struggling to find the point. This is one of the biggest problems I have with writing, as I think too much and always have to inject extra thoughts into my sentences. Regardless, let’s break down an example from the handout.
The immediate effects of the new economic policies have been to strike a bit of terror in the hearts of government workers, to plant smiles on the faces of the rich, and put frowns on the faces of the poor, who have long benefited from the federal safety net.
We will break this sentence down into many by starting with a simple statement.
The new economic policies have had three immediate effects.
The following sentences will be a list of sorts.
They have struck a bit of terror in the hearts of government workers. They have planted smiles on the faces of the rich. And they have put frowns on the faces of the poor.
At this point, you are probably thinking two things. First, it does look cleaner. Second, the last sentence does in fact start with a conjunction. I know that from the day we come out of the womb, the doctor slaps us on the ass and screams, “NEVER BEGIN A SENTENCE WITH A CONJUNCTION!” But the truth is, this rule is much farther from black-and-white than we are taught. It is perfectly fine to begin sentences with conjunctions, as long as you do not do it too often. Like all things, take your conjunctions in moderation.
If you are unfamiliar with conjunctions, you can remember what they are by the acronym “FANBOYS.” The letters stand for for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.
3. Be careful with pronouns
This rule is pretty straightforward. If you are saying “he” or “she” or “it,” make absolutely certain that it is clear to who or what exactly the pronoun is referring. For example,
Plesch treated Keynes until his death.
Until whose death? It is unclear whether it is Plesch or Keynes that is dying. This can be fixed by replacing the pronoun with the actual name of the person.
Plesch treated Keynes until Keynes’s death.
This does seem repetitive, but repetition is fine if it provides clarity. In this case, repetition is necessary. Another problem people tend to have with pronouns is the excessive use of the phrase “he or she” or “his or her”. We have been brainwashed with the idea that if we pick a gender and exclude the other, we are being sexist in some way. This is a ridiculous notion. Just pick one and stick with it.
If a student wants to get good grades, they need to study.
If a student wants to get good grades, he or she needs to study.
Both of these sentences are poorly composed. In the first sentence, “they” is a plural pronoun, but the subject to which it refers is singular. Never use a plural pronoun for a singular subject. In the second sentence, the independent clause after the comma is much bulkier than it needs to be. Instead, we have two options:
If a student wants to get good grades, he needs to study.
If a student wants to get good grades, she needs to study.
Both of these work very well, and I can guarantee that nobody is going to be offended because you left out his gender.
4. Write in an active voice
This rule is a bit more difficult to explain, but it is easy to see how it works through example.
Mistakes were made.
This is a common statement made by political figures. There is nobody or nothing in the sentence that is doing anything. It is as if things just happened out of nowhere. A more active approach to this sentence would be:
We made a mistake.
This sentence informs the reader who it was that made the mistake. It is still concise, but it is far less vague. Here is another example:
The discount rate was lowered by the Fed.
Becomes:
The Fed lowered the discount rate.
In both of these sentences, it is clear who was doing the lowering. But the second sentence has a bit more punch to it and reads more strongly than the first.
5. Cut the jargon.
Never use a big word when a small word will work in its place. By doing so, you are alienating some of your readers and can come across as arrogant. For instance, George Orwell has demonstrated this idea nicely:
Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commesurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictably must inevitable be taken into account.
If you are reading that and thinking, “What the hell am I looking at?” don’t worry, you are not alone. The academic world is plagued with this type of writing. It all comes back to whether you are writing to inform or to impress. Are you trying to sound smart, or are you actually trying to get a point across? If someone writes like this, you can rest assured that they either have nothing important to say or they don’t know what they are talking about. In either case, you would be better off not reading it.
6. Do not “ing”
This comes back to the idea of using a more active voice (in my opinion). Cut the “ing”s off and make your words more active.
The best way of entering the market is through the side door.
As you can see, the “ing” on the “entering” is a bit unnecessary. To clean it up, change it to:
The best way to enter the market is through the side door.
It says the same thing, but it feels lighter and cleaner.
7. Read what you write after you write it.
This helps you to make sure that you are saying what you mean to say. If you don’t look over your work, you could end up with sentences like this:
Lack of food is a necessity of life.
Coups are generally not as big as civil wars according to people dying.
Growth would eliminate infant morality.
It’s all about style
Take these rules in stride, as they are all about style of writing. But ultimately, if you apply these ideas to your writing, you will find that your writing will be neater, cleaner, and much more concise. And it will be much more enjoyable to read! I hope these helped.
If you have any questions about writing, go ahead and leave a comment, and I will try to address it.
