Writing Guidelines: Nag, Nag, Nag

I don’t care if I repeat myself. The Hubby finds it annoying, but when it comes to rules for writing, you can never hear them enough. Let’s face it, we all forget rules when we are writing.

Here are some guidelines from the CopyDiva blog, worth repeating:

The best way to improve readability in marketing, blogs, articles, even white papers:

1. Use the active voice: Write your sentences in the active voice instead of the passive voice. Active engages readers, passive drags down readability.

2. Use simpler language: Perfect example — instead of “utilize,” a 3-syllable word, try “use.” Opt for shorter simpler words wherever you can. Don’t try to impress with your large vocabulary.

3. Vary sentence length: Write the way people talk. Most people speak in phrases that vary in length, especially good public speakers. Write a mix of sentence lengths to keep the tempo lively.

4. Use the language of your audience: Writing for people who have specific technical knowledge? Use terms they understand, but sparingly. Too much jargon bores even the most technically-adept person.

Got that? Of course, this does require that you re-read and edit your stuff before you publish/submit/save. You do know that, don’t you? Of course you do…