Writers Resource Group, Inc.
Delivering intelligence:  On point.  On deadline.  On budget.       
                                                                                                                                   

Fresh Peach 
"A simple grammar mistake
 Is a BRIGHT RED FLAG
That can ruin an otherwise good first impression."
                                              --Sister Mary Patrick

 

 
  In business today, clarity is the key to credibility
 
Mary Pat here.   Every few weeks or so, I take time out from my duties to share my English grammar notes with WRG's clients, colleagues and friends. After 35 years at St. Dom's Academy, I've earned my English grammar chops, believe me.  Chances are, you already know these rules. But when we get busy or in a hurry, we all tend to forget them.  That's how errors creep into our writing. Worse yet, a simple grammar mistake can ruin that good first impression and taint your reputation for accuracy and excellence.  Now, read on, pay attention and sit up straight in your chair.

All the best wishes,
Sister Mary Pat, Our Lady of Perpetual Correctness
Chief Grammarian, Writers Resource Group, Inc.
  

Fresh Peach

Our Lady of Perpetual Correctness Gun Club (Sister Mary Pat, 2nd from right)       

Down with Double-talking Wordiness

               

               It's all too easy to generalize the way we do one thing is the way we do everything.  Right or wrong, most people do it.  Your writing is a good or bad example of what people see you do.  If it's filled with double-talking or wordiness you've turned off your audience.  Start avoiding this error right now.  Today.  Don't wait.

 

Double talking

                "Sister Margaret Baptiste is the original founder ."  Original founder is double-talk.  Sister Margaret is either the founder or she isn't.  Certainly, she's not the original founder.  Here's another:  Mix together.   We can mix things.  We can put things together.  But you'll have to admit it's pretty hard to mix together at the same time.  Advance warning.  Warnings usually come in advance of an incident.  Using advance and warning together provides no additional margin of safety.  Trust me on this.

One more:  Untrue lie.  Father Flanigan over at St. Dom's hears confessions that he's sure are untrue.  Some are outright lies.  But I'd wager on even his best day he never hears fabrications so far-fetched that would qualify as untrue lies.    

The point is that authors generate power from the precision of their writing.  Double-talk squanders that power.  It wastes your time and that of your readers.  Don't do it. 

 

Wordiness

                Free gift; really and truly; reserved exclusively.  The writer of these three word pairs meant them to emphasize the point.  All she did was exhaust us poor readers.  In fact, all gifts are free by definition.  Really and truly means the same thing.  Things that are reserved are indeed exclusive to the person for whom they're reserved.  Am I right? 

                Some other wordiness errors I've come across in my 35 years of teaching such things:  Sit down in the pew.  A better usage would be simply:  Sit in the pew.  Sister Katherine cleaned up the vestibule.  Instead, try, Sister Katherine vacuumed the vestibule.  "We're all out of sacramental wine again," said Father Flannigan."  Flannigan should have said, "The sacramental wine is gone."  Actually he really should have admitted to serving it for evening cocktails, but that's another story. 

The tricky thing about wordiness is that it often sounds fine when read aloud.  But when reduced to words on a printed page, it looks and reads amateurish.  Make your writing crisp and clean.  Economize.  Say what you want and then let your readers get on with their lives.  Until next time, I'm Sister Mary Pat for Writers Resource Group.

 

Source:  Painless Grammar, by Rebecca Elliott, Barron's Education 2009

 

About Writers Resource Group, Inc.
 
Writers Resource Group provides professional literary services to all types and sizes of companies.  Industry specialties include financial services, manufacturing, industrial, health care and professional services.
 
Sister Mary Pat gracefully receives inquiries and fan mail at SMP@WritersResourceGroup.com
Visit our Website at
www.WritersResourceGroup.com
Or contact Chris Malburg, Managing Editor directly at 310 375-9251 or by email at CRM@WritersResourceGroup.com