How to Write Clearly (2)

• Now, within each pile, do the same thing-arrange the points in logical, understandable order.

There you have your outline, needing only an introduction and conclusion.This is a practical way to outline. It's also flexible. You can add, delete or change the locations of points easily.

2. Start where your readers are.
How much do they know about the subject? Don't write to a level higher than your readers' knowledge of it.

But do remember that your prime purpose is to explain something, not to prove that you're smarter than your readers.

3. Avoid jargon.
Don't use words, expressions, phrases known only to people with specific knowledge or interests.
Example: A scientist, using scientific jargon, wrote, "The biota exhibited a one hundred percent mortality response." He could have written: "All the fish died."

4. Use familiar combinations of words.
A speech writer for President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, "We are endeavoring to construct a more inclusive society." F.D.R. changed it to, "We're going to make a country in which no one is left out."
CAUTION: By familiar combinations of words, I do not mean incorrect grammar. That can be unclear. Example: John's father says he can't go out Friday. (Who can't go out? John or his father)

5. Use "first-degree" words.
These words immediately bring an image to your mind. Other words must be "translated" through the first-degree word before you see the image. Those words are second/third-degree words.

First-degree words:
face, stay, book

Second/third-degree words:
visage, countenance, abide, remain, reside, volume, tome, publication

First-degree words are usually the most precise words, too.

6. Stick to the point.
Your outline - which was more work in the beginning - now saves you work. Now you can ask about any sentence you write: "Does it relate to a point in the outline? If it doesn't, should I add it to the outline? If not, I'm getting off the track."

Then full steam ahead - on the main line.


Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: Popular US Presidential Nicknames 美國總統的綽號

美國第一任總統華盛頓George Washington的綽號是 the Father of His Country 國父
南北戰爭時期的總統 Abraham Lincoln 發放奴隸解放令 = the Great Emancipator (解放者)
二十世紀中期後, 人們開始用某一些總統的縮寫來取代他們的名字,
例如:
F. D. R. = Franklin Delano Roosevelt
J. F. K. = John Fitzgerald Kennedy
L. B. J. = Lyndon Baines Johnson
W = George Walker Bush (W要用德州腔發音)


Grammar Gym
Your outline - which was more work in the beginning - now saves you work.
saves your work: to need less effort or energy to get something done
- Chelsea loves her slow cooker because it saves her a lot of work in the kitchen.
- Jill is very organized, and whenever she is in charge of a project, she saves me a lot of work.


Language Lab
delete v.
to remove something that has been written down or stored in a computer:
- Many important files were deleted from the computer's hard disk.
- The whole chapter was deleted by the editor because the length of the novel was too long.

inclusive adj. 包容性強的, 各色人種都有的, 包含的, 包括的
including a wide variety of people, things etc
- The organization is far more inclusive than before.
an inclusive price or cost includes everything
inclusive of
- The rent is $20,000 per month, inclusive of utilities.

jargon n.
words and expressions used in a particular profession or by a particular group of people, which are difficult for other people to understand - often used to show disapproval
- Keep it simple and avoid the use of jargon.

off the track adv. 偏離軌道, 離題
to begin to deal with a new subject rather than the main one which was being discussed:
- Our discussion really got off the track. Now we need to focus on our agenda.
on the right track 方向正確
to think in a way that is likely to lead to a correct or incorrect result:
- The sales figures showed that we're on the right track.

full steam ahead = full speed/steam ahead 全速前進, 竭盡全力
doing something with as much energy and effort as possible:
- To meet the deadline, our team went full steam ahead day and night.
- After the ship left the harbor, the captain yelled our, "Full steam ahead!"


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