When I teach writing I use a short piece by William Zinsser from the American Scholar: "Writing English as a Second Language" (Winter 2010). Yes, my students are native speakers. Regardless, this essay is spot on for college students. (I've blogged about it before here.)
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| A WPA poster from 1937. Courtesy of the Library of Congress. |
Zinsser offers up a host of great tips:
Cut horrible, long Latin-origin words: "communicated, conversion, reconciliation, enhancements, verification." When these are used/overused they lead to stilted or stuffy prose.
Use good, short, simple nouns: "infinitely old Anglo-Saxon nouns that express the fundamentals of everyday life: house, home, child, chair, bread, milk, sea, sky, earth, field, grass, road."
"I have four principles of writing good English. They are Clarity, Simplicity, Brevity, and Humanity."
"So remember: Simple is good. Writing is not something you have to embroider with fancy stitches to make yourself look smart."
Use good, short, simple nouns: "infinitely old Anglo-Saxon nouns that express the fundamentals of everyday life: house, home, child, chair, bread, milk, sea, sky, earth, field, grass, road."
"I have four principles of writing good English. They are Clarity, Simplicity, Brevity, and Humanity."
"So remember: Simple is good. Writing is not something you have to embroider with fancy stitches to make yourself look smart."
Undegrads and grad students need to hear that advice over and over again.
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