TAGUIG CITY UNIVERSITY

Effective Writing: Better

Writing Through Appropriate
Vocabulary and Grammar
By:
Valentino G. Baac, Ph.D.
Vice President for Administration
Taguig City University
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When do we have Effective Writing?

• Relay information clearly
• Your reader understands exactly
what you mean

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Basic Characteristics of Effective Writing

1. Good writing has a clearly defined

purpose.
2. It makes a definite point.
3. It suggests that point with
specific information

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Basic Characteristics of Effective Writing

4. The information is clearly

connected and arranged.
5. The words are appropriate and
the sentences are concise,
emphatic and correct.

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Effective Writing
1. Use concrete rather than vague
language
2. Use active voice whenever possible
• Active voice – the subject is performing the
verb.
• Passive voice – the subject receives
the action
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Effective Writing
3. Avoid overusing there is, there are,
it is, it was, etc.
4. To avoid confusion, don’t use two
negatives to make a positive without
good reason.
Unnecessary – He is not unwilling to help.
Better – He is willing to help
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Effective Writing
5. Use consistent grammatical form
when offering several ideas
(Parallel construction).
Correct: I admire people who are
honest, reliable, and sincere.
Incorrect: I admire people who are honest,
reliable and have sincerity.
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Effective Writing

6. Place descriptive words and

phrases as close as is practical
to the words they modify.

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TEN PRINCIPLES OF CLEAR WRITING

1. Keep sentences short

2. Prefer the simple to the complex
3. Prefer the familiar word
4. Avoid unnecessary words
5. Put action into your verbs
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TEN PRINCIPLES OF CLEAR WRITING

6. Write the way you talk

7. Use terms your reader can picture
8. Tie in with your reader experience
9. Make full use of variety
10. Write to express, not to impress
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TRAITS OF GOOD WRITERS:

TRAIT 1
• Good writers see the world as their
journalism laboratory, a storehouse
of story ideas.
TRAIT 2
• Good writers prefer to discover and
develop their own story ideas
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TRAITS OF GOOD WRITERS:

TRAIT 3
• Good writers are voracious collectors
of information.
TRAIT 4
• Good writers spend too much time
and creative energy working on their
leads.
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TRAITS OF GOOD WRITERS:

TRAIT 5
• Good writers talk about “immersing
themselves” in the story.
TRAIT 6
• Most good writers are bleeder rather
than speeders .
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TRAITS OF GOOD WRITERS:

TRAIT 7
• Good writers understand that an
important part of writing is the
mechanical drudgery of organizing
materials.
TRAIT 8
• Good writers rewrite.
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TRAITS OF GOOD WRITERS:

TRAIT 9
• Good writers tend to trust their ears
and their feeling more than their eyes.
TRAIT 10
• Good writers love to tell stories.

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TRAITS OF GOOD WRITERS:

TRAIT 11
• Good writers write to please themselves
and meet their own expectations.
TRAIT 12
• Good writers take chances in their writing.
TRAIT 13
• Good writers are lifelong readers
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HAVE A
GOOD DAY
TO ALL!

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