There is, however, a style of writing that works for almost all American audiences. I call it the KISS Style. Use the KISS Style whenever you are not sure of the style your audiences expects. Heck, use it when you are sure, and your writing will still succeed more often than it fails. When I need my own writing to be clear, I revise toward a KISS style.
Find my notes on the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) style below. These notes are lifted from a style sheet given by a newspaper editor to new writers. The advice is practical and to the point.
The KISS style works in almost all writing situations. It even works on an academic audience, an audience who likes convoluted, precise, qualified prose. Why does the KISS Style work so often? Bet on most of your audience being lazy, and--most of the time--you'll win. Write in a style which requires them to do the least work possible, that is, in short, subject-verb-object sentences, and most audiences will describe your writing as clear and precise.
Pay particular attention to the advice on writing short, right branching sentences. If you learn no other thing in this class, learn to follow the SVO<24 rule, and you will be happy you took the class.
Steve
SVO<24
What's that mean? Subject-verb-object sentences of generally less than 24 words.
Good writing starts with good sentence structure, and that means simple construction: subject-verb-object. Not blah, blah, blah, S-V-O. All that does is delay meaning.
This also is called the right-branching sentence: Think of S-V-O as the engine of a train. A short train.
Problem writers use a lot of commas and other punctuation. A good remedial exercise is to try writing a story with no commas. That, of course, means sentences should be short. Research shows that 20-word sentences are fairly clear to most readers. Thirty-word sentences are not.
Here's an even easier test: If you can't read a sentence aloud without taking a breath, it's too long.
Ten guidelines to clearer writing
1. One idea per sentence.
No: Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., experienced the largest of recent high school murder rampages last week, and DeKalb schools, along with police, are reacting to a rumor of violence at DeKalb High School.
Yes: School officials and police are reacting quickly to a rumored threat of violence at DeKalb High School.
The response follows last week's high school massacre in Littleton, Colo.
2. Limit sentence length to 23-25 words. If you can't read a sentence aloud without a breath, it's too long.
No: After the announcement was made by President John La Tourette that he will be retiring early next year, Boey, under his board authority, created an ad hoc committee that will find representatives to sit on the actual search committee. (38 words)
Yes: President John La Tourette announced last month he will retire early next year. (12 words) Boey has since created a temporary committee to choose a search committee. (12 words)
3. S-V-O: Subject-Verb-Object. Right-branching sentences (think of a train engine). Don't delay meaning. Don't use a lot of commas.
No: Mauger, who worked as a bursar at DePaul University in Chicago prior to working at Beloit, said she missed the university environment.
Yes: Mauger was a bursar at Chicago's DePaul University before her Beloit job. She missed the university environment.
4. Use strong verbs and an active voice.
No: The poem will be read by La Tourette.
Yes: La Tourette will read the poem.
5. Reduce difficult words to their simplest terms. Don't let bureaucrats dictate your word choices.
No: The search committee will be constructed in accordance with Article 8 of the NIU constitution.
Yes: NIU's constitution dictates the search committee's makeup.
6. Don't back into a sentence.
No: The end of the academic year and the end of the legislative session were two reasons La Tourette cited.
Yes: La Tourette cited two reasons: the end of the academic year and the end of the legislative session.
7. Don't use more than three numbers in any one sentence.
No: Wednesday, the NIU baseball team's winless streak hit 22 as NIU (4-37-1) dropped a twin bill to Miami (21-18-1), 8-2 and 10-5, at Oxford, Ohio.
Yes: Oxford, Ohio Ñ NIU's baseball losing streak reached 22 as the Huskies dropped a doubleheader Wednesday to Miami, 8-2 and 10-5.
8. Use no more than three prepositional phrases per sentence.
No: Students who will be graduating from NIU will be honored at a senior luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center.
Yes: Friday's senior luncheon will honor students about to graduate. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Holmes Student Center's Regency Room.
9. Choose the precise word.
No: This will increase the number of participants from 55 students a week to 200 students a week, and in that extra 145 students the age for attendance also will change. The present center is only equipped to handle children ages 2-6, but the new center will have the capacity to serve infants, too. (2 sentences, 53 words total)
Yes: This will increase the center's weekly capacity, from 55 children to 200. And, while the current center takes children ages 2-6, the new center will take infants, too. (2 sentences, 28 words total)
10. KISS (keep it simple, stupid).
No: Biological sciences professor Karl Johnson passed away Tuesday at the age of 55, following a long, courageous battle with cancer.Yes: Biology professor Karl Johnson died of cancer Tuesday. He was 55.
--
Often the accurate answer to a usage question begins, "It depends." And what
it depends on most often is where you are, who you are, who your listeners
or readers are, and what your purpose in speaking or writing is.
-Kenneth G. Wilson, usage writer (b. 1923)
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