In our classes, we always discuss reader-centered writing; that is,
writing that fully considers readers and what they want and need and how
they're going to use the document. Another element of this is "noise."
"Noise" can be categorized as the distractions readers face when reading.
Some of these, of course, are caused by the writer and some are the result
of noisy offices,...
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Posted in: how to improve poor writing
Too many writers (and non-writers) we've worked with over the years fail to use appropriate or effective topic sentences. As you may recall from seventh grade grammar, a topic sentence tells readers what to expect from a paragraph. While the topic sentence doesn't have to be the first sentence in a paragraph, many readers expect it to be and take that first sentence as their "cue" in terms of what the...
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A lot of writers don't think much about writing logically and how it can affect scientific or technical writing; that is, they often simply assume that their readers will understand what they're trying to do and why. The problem with this, of course, is that our readers may not understand the point we're trying to make or why we're making it.
Recently, we illustrated logic by using a paragraph that...
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Why oh why do some writers seem to intentionally want to muddle meaning and make reading and understanding that much more difficult for readers? It's astounding to me that some writers intentionally use words that obfuscate (how's that for a word??) meaning. Essentially, they use "pompous" language, or to put it simply, big words that aren't necessary. Using pompous language is a pet peeve of mine,...
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popupWhy Effective Writing Makes a Difference in the WorkplaceDoes your team struggle to write clear, concise documents? We can help! Talk to one of our experts!
Regardless of the size of the organization your work for, you need to be able to write technical and scientific documents successfully. Poorly structured material, or material that wanders off topic, can give the impression that the writer is poorly qualified...
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