Reading for Writers, Part 3: Editing Tips

WORDS ON THE LINE continues its drilling good writing practices into the minds of developing writers. This third article of the series, Editing Tips for Effective Writing from the University of Pennsylvania, is the longest yet. 

This latest link provides some information you might have read in part one from Hamilton College and part two from Hunter College, so you may make the mistake of thinking it's redundant. But it's not. Plenty of new content is there in the Tips for Effective Prose and Avoid Dumb Mistakes sections. Among them are avoiding passive voice, using vivid nouns and verbs, avoiding awkward sentences, knowing your possessives, and knowing your plurals.

Yes, academic content shows up, some of which can be arcane, but just read the parts that will teach you  writing ideas you might not have known and reinforce the good practices you already have.   

Reading for Writers, Part 2: Qualities of Good Writing

Developing writers, WORDS ON THE LINE continues throwing good ideas your way. This new cheat sheet, Five Qualities of Good Writing, comes from Hunter College of the City University of New York. If you think this brief read apparently applies only to essay writing, think twice. The concepts of focus, development, unity, coherence, and correctness emerge in all my writing classes. They relate to messages as basic as emails and as advanced as proposals and white papers. I especially like the organization of these qualities, which is why I selected this three-minute read for you.

Reading for Writers, Part 1: Habits of Effective Writers

Good writing requires a lot of focused reading and writing. Oh, how many times I've uttered that truth on this blog over the past 18 years! One of the problems with many developing writers (others include a lack of patience, perseverance, and practice) is self-orientation. What should they read? How can they put what they read into practice? How do they know they are improving? These are great questions to ask, but I doubt many of these writers even ask them. 

With that thought in mind, WORDS ON THE LINE will offer easy-to-read resources over the next several posts from reliable sources, such as universities and government institutions, and corporations, describing positive writing habits and practices. The first of these is Habits of Effective Writers, a two-page cheat sheet from Hamilton College. The seven habits of effective writing and ten common errors are credible starting points to start reflecting on whether you are employing those habits and avoiding those errors. Be sure to click the link at the bottom of each page for a deeper dive into each issue.

Free Article on Writing Effectively and Efficiently

An article I wrote for the science community, “Crafting Articles: Guidance to Authors for ACS Chemical Health & Safety,” is for a limited time freely available online. 

The publisher awarded "Crafting Articles" Editor's Choice designation because of the value it offers writers hoping to publish their work in ACS Chemical Health & Safety. The article discusses the challenges of professional and techniques for managing those issues. It covers the writing process as well as best practices throughout the rewriting phase, when we revise, edit, and proofread. And it concludes with ways to continually sharpen one's writing skills.      

The tips in this article are useful for any type of business or technical writer. If you know someone who can benefit from the reading, please pass it on to them as well.