Power Writing 101: Tips and Tricks to Get You Taken Seriousl

Power Writing 101: Tips and Tricks to Get You Taken Seriousl

Notice that each bullet follows the same format: action verb, object of verb. To stray from this format is to do a disservice to the bullet. Paralellism also works in a sequence separated by commas. 'I like pie, I like cake, and I like pudding.' Another example: 'She enjoys climbing, hiking, and fishing.' The incorrect version of this sentence: 'She enjoys climbing, hiking, and to fish.'

Avoid wordiness. Eliminate the following words and phrases from your vocabulary, and feel better about yourself: very, unique, being that, utilize/utilization, a lot, needless to say, it goes without saying, in back of, without a doubt, at some point in time, as to whether, it seems to me, oddly enough. They're just filler, and they're in the same category as their credibility-stealing cousins redundancy, the double negative, and the passive voice.

Go easy on the prepositional phrases. 'The girl who was sitting on the porch of the house that was up on the hill, felt the breeze as it was gently blowing through her hair.' Eegads, what a mouthful! Correct this problem by breaking up your ideas into separate sentences. "The house stood atop the hill, and as the girl sat on the porch she felt the breeze blowing through her hair."

Use adjectives sparingly. 'What' But my English teacher taught me...' Forget about what your teacher said. You're running with the big dogs now. Which is more interesting' 'The boy skipped happily and grinned openly,' or 'The boy skipped down the hill, a grin playing about his face.'

Don't repeat words. I repeat: don't repeat words.