Page 19 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

These guidelines should help you make the most of this book as you work
toward becoming a better writer.

1. Consistency matters. When you make a style choice, stick with it

throughout your project. When you choose a tense (see section 6.4),

person (see section 6.1), or tone, think twice before switching to a
new one.
2. English offers many options. There may be more than one

acceptable choice. There isn’t necessarily just one answer for every

language dilemma.
3. Words can have more than one meaning and more than one use. Be

wary.
4. English is illogical in places. Trying to make it logical is a mistake.

Instead, bend to it.
5. There is a variety of linguistic terms for the same features of English.

It is more important to understand the concepts than to know all the
terms.

6. Write for your audience (see section 2.2.1) rather than for yourself.
Write appropriately for the situation.

7. Write to be understood. Don’t let anyone’s rules get in the way of
good communication.

8. Avoid doing things differently than everyone else. It can distract from
your message. This especially applies to beginning or nonfluent

writers, as they often reach beyond their abilities.
9. Avoid the urge to put writerly tricks to work unless they come

naturally to you. Simple does it. Before literary writers could do clever
things with their work, they had to understand the ordinary ways of

language. Basic language rules underlie everything they write.
10.Use a thesaurus only to remind yourself of words you already know.

Don’t use a thesaurus to find new words for your writing. You are
very likely to misuse new words, because a thesaurus does not

always indicate which words are appropriate for which contexts.