5 Tips to Make You a Better Writer

TIP 1

Master the Simple Declarative Sentence

Think of some of the great quotes of our time:

"The buck stops here."

            Harry S. Truman

"I have a dream."

            Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Make my day."

            "Dirty Harry" Callahan

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

            President Ronald Regan

"Give peace a chance."

            John Lennon

“Yes we can”

            Barack Obama

What do they have in common? They are all simple, direct, declarative sentences.  All of these quotes are only a few words long and, if you take out the proper name, none of the words are longer than 6 letters.  A bright elementary student would have all of these words in their vocabulary.  A dull elementary student can understand them.  A genius created them. 

Unless you are writing academic gobbledygook or legal briefs, the goal of good writing is to communicate and not to impress everyone with your mastery of obscure linguistics.  This bears repeating: Write to communicate and not to impress.  Too often the "rookie" will wear out their thesaurus and dictionary looking for impressive words when a simple word would have been better. Much better.

 If you want a larger -- and paying -- audience for your work, use the language that most people will understand presented in a straightforward manner.