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Tag Archives: language
Language/Writing Tip 28
A short one on colours: “Red colour is important to my life.” That’s redundant. “Red is important to my life.” (since “red” is obviously a “colour”). If you want to emphasize the colourness of the colour red, write: “The colour … Continue reading
Language/Writing Tip 27
Here are two quick ones: 1) “too long” can neatly be replaced by “overly long” when used before a noun. “This too long novel is dull.” “This overly long novel is dull.” (Hyphenated “too-long” has a smidgen of humour. E.g. … Continue reading
Language / Writing Tip 26
Here’s a quick rule that you’ll be tempted to break often: don’t have two massive sentences in a row. A fiction editor once told me that 20 words is already a long sentence. Two qualifications: “long” is not pythonesque; fiction … Continue reading
Language/Writing Tip 25
Instead of a proper tip,a list of comma splices: 1) “The ending is also the climax, the whole story almost unveils in front of us, but when the friend tells him what the flower means, we are surprised and understand … Continue reading
Language/Writing Tip 24
Two quick tips: 1) In written English, don’t bother with “it seems TO ME.” “It seems” always shows your personal attitude. 2) The sentence lead-in “It can be seen that….” very soon clogs up the sentence. To save a few … Continue reading
Language/Writing Tip 23
Experiment with where you place your quotations. Compare the following: 1) “‘We’ve got him now!’ said Joe. ‘He can’t get down without being caught!’” vs. 2) “Joe said, ‘We’ve got him now! He can’t get down without being caught.’” vs. … Continue reading
Language/Writing Tip 22
Here are a three off-the-cuff tips for adding life to your writing: 1) Use adverbs when relating neutral information or citing other sources: Compare: “As Jones states, ‘Hamlet is a famous play.’” vs. “As Jones CORRECTLY states, ‘Hamlet is a … Continue reading
Language/Writing Tip 21
Another short one this week: The phrase “Until not a long time ago…” is less idiomatic than “until not long ago…” “Until not long ago, I cheered for Ptuj.” It’s obvious that “long ago” has to do with time, so … Continue reading
Language/Writing Tip 20
A short one: Drop the “I” in “As I mentioned earlier.” Just write: “As mentioned…” (Two further notes: Do not overuse this phrase. Also, see if you can drop the “earlier” – the past tense tells us not to fast-forward.) … Continue reading
Language/Writing Tip 19
Spot the stylistic problems in this passage: “Inspiration is something of a strength in this little text, and with that I’m thinking more or less of its rather positive qualities. The sentences are fairly short and, on the whole, clear, … Continue reading