Professional Writing tips ( word choice) 25-55

25- Write for your reader
26- Write as if you’re talking
with your reader
27- Use ‘I’ and ‘you’
28- Use contractions unless
your writing is formal
29- See if you can avoid ‘am’,
‘be’, ‘is’, ‘are’, ‘was’, ‘been’,
‘were’, and ‘being’
30- Prefer small words to big
words
31- Prefer simple words to hard
words
32- Prefer specific words to
general words
33- Prefer English words to
foreign words
34- Prefer non-technical words
to technical words
35- If you must use a foreign
word or a technical word,
then define the word
36- Know the difference
between ‘that’ and ‘which’
37- Prefer verbs to nouns (for
example, use ‘apply’ rather
than ‘make an application’)
38- Prefer short sentences to
long sentences (aim for an
average of 20 words)
39- Prefer short paragraphs to
long paragraphs (aim for an
average of under 100
words)
40- Use 50 to 70 characters a
line
41- Don’t write ‘he/she’ or ‘he or
she’
42- Don’t write ‘and/or’
43- Avoid clichés
44- Avoid exclamation marks
45- Connect modifying words to
the words they modify (for
example, ‘I gave him only
$1’, not ‘I only gave him
$1’)
46- Use the same word for the
same thing
47- Change negative phrases to
positive phrases (for
example, write ‘he forgot’
rather than ‘he did not
remember’)
48- Ignore the ‘rule’ that you
can’t start sentences with
‘So’, ‘And’, and ‘But’
49- Ignore the ‘rule’ that you
can’t end sentences with
words like ‘to’ and ‘of’
50- Take care with pronouns—
make sure your reader
knows what ‘it’ refers to
51- Don’t use ‘former’ or ‘latter’
52- Avoid filler phrases like ‘It
should be noted that’
53- Be consistent with matters
like ‘-ise’ and ‘-ize’ and
capitalization
54- Use 1 noun to name 1 thing
55- Don’t use ‘&’ unless it’s in a
company name