Writing "everyday English" - advice for international students
contributed by: Deborah Wood, the Writing Program and Writing Place, animalover53@gmail.com
summer 2012
1) Write like you speak, but avoid being too informal.
2) Try to use the active voice (saying who does what) rather than passive voice.
3) Use strong verbs where applicable.
4) Use effective transitions between sentences and paragraphs. To do this, it helps to make an outline before you start writing.
5) Omit extraneous words.
6) There are stronger ways to start a sentence than using "there are" (pun intended!)
7) Vary sentence length; break long sentences into two sentences.
8) Use a comma in most compound sentences before the conjunction connecting the clauses ("but," "and," etc.).
9) Use adverbs and adjectives judiciously; sentences are usually stronger without them.
