Some writing tips
I’ve spent the past 2 weeks on and off reading ‘Bugs in Writing’ and have definitely learned about some mistakes to avoid in writing. In order to fix these mistakes, it is best to do a lot of your own writing so you can find them and eliminate them. I will try to write a brief note about some common mistakes here. I haven’t asked the author for permission, so I will try to do it here in a very general and concise manner.
#1. Avoid using passive voice. Passive voice just means that when you say something about the world or some event that happened, make sure you identify ‘who or what’ was involved. The ‘who or what’ is commonly referred to as an agent.
For example,
Wrong:
The tea was made.
The program was written.
The computer was dropped.
Correct:
Mark made the tea.
Jane wrote this computer program.
Christopher dropped the computer.
#2. Speak directly to your reader. Never address your audience as the reader or refer to yourself as the author. You should speak directly to your reader. You should refer to her as you. If you are the sole author of a book, use I and if you have co-authors, use we. In addition, avoid using one, as in One should realize … or One has written.
#3. So, So that and Such that. Just remember the following:
So means therefore
So that means in order that
Such that means in such a way that
#4. Two or more. Use the terms between, each other, either, and a couple to refer to precisely two entities; and you should use among, one another, any one of, and several to refer to more than two entities.
I will add some more tips later on, but probably not many. The problem is that I haven’t gotten permission from the author and several of the tips have examples that are best quoted verbatim from the book.