Shred or Shredded?

Here’s another grammatical conundrum for the WORDS ON THE LINE archives. A client, Ms. Terri Kalkiewicz, First Vice President of Investors Savings Bank in Short Hills, New Jersey, recently wrote:

Hi Phil,

Could you settle a dispute for me? Which sentence is correct?

The documents must be shred.

OR

The documents must be shredded.

Thanks for your help!

In my reply, I deferred to some dictionaries, which say that either shred or shredded as the past participle of shred is acceptable. However, most of us—including Ms. Kalkiewicz—prefer shredded because as a regular verb, shred forms its standard past tense by adding ed. After all, would you eat Shred Wheat? Of course not! So if you prefer Shredded Wheat, then prefer shredded documents.


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This What?

In step with the WORDS ON THE LINE entry of February 11, beware of using the pronoun this. For clarity and impact, follow this with the noun it represents. Below is an example with an improved revision.

Weak: Sales rose by 12 percent last quarter. This proves that our company is on a promising upswing.

Better: Sales rose by 12 percent last quarter. This unprecedented growth proves that our company is on a promising upswing.

Sure, the second draft runs two words longer, but remember that being concise means clarity first and brevity second!


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The Following What?

The next time you create a bulleted or numbered list, remember to place a key word after the word following in the lead-in sentence. Example:

Please bring to the Revision Committee meeting the following documents:

• Employee Handbook, 2002 edition
• 2005 Annual Report
• 2006 Strategic Plan, Draft 3
• Revision Committee Meeting Minutes, January 3, 2006

The addition of the word documents is not excessive; it keeps the writer’s list organized and focuses the reader on the content.


To purchase your copy of The Art of On-the-Job Writing by Philip Vassallo, click here: http://firstbooks.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=144

On Being an Unconscious Writer

Here’s a gem from another of my course participants, Walter George, a manager for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. When asked to introduce himself to his classmates and me by stating a goal for the writing course he was about to take, he replied, “I feel that I write well enough, but I want to be an unconscious writer. Right now I’m a conscious writer.”

Now there goes a moment that can take a teacher’s breath away. Mr. George succinctly said what many brilliant minds before him have asserted—that laboring slowly through a draft is not the way to go in a high-pressure work environment. Chapters 2 and 3 of The Art of On-the-Job Writing discuss in detail ways to achieve this unconsciousness by planning and drafting as a writer, not a worrier.

For more words of wisdom from my previous course participants, see what people from New York State Insurance Department, International Flavors & Fragrances, and Investors Savings Bank said in postings on this blog of June 17, October 15, and November 2.


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