‘It has shrunk!’ ‘Yes,’ I told the document’s author. ‘I removed some of the words and phrases that added nothing to either the substance or the tone. But if you think I have been too severe ….’ ‘Umm … no,’ … Continue reading
Although I haven’t heard it for a year or two, there used to be a common saying among sub-editors: If it’s not true, you shouldn’t say it; and if it is true, you probably don’t need to say it. More often than … Continue reading
A former colleague tells the (cautionary) tale of being commissioned to write a document in support of a new marketing strategy. The strategy itself was very simple. But the marketing director – who needed to sell the strategy to his … Continue reading
‘Anyone who wishes to become a good writer should endeavour, before he allows himself to be tempted by the more showy qualities, to be direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid.’ – H W Fowler
Here’s the bottom line: if you haven’t got anything to say don’t say it. We have just conducted a review of the various ‘corporate’ editing projects KiwiStreet has worked on over the past 12 months. Most were reports of one … Continue reading
The cat sat on the mat. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that, in six simple words, is what happened. The cat sat on the mat. But that’s not what you expect to read when you pick up an ‘important report’, is … Continue reading
I recently read a document that ran to more than 50 pages. In fact I read it twice. I thought that on the first occasion I must have missed some important points. But, after reading it a second time, I … Continue reading
Recently, I was given a rather substantial document to read. It was just short of 80 pages long – most of it text. ‘This is going to take me a moment or two to read,’ I said. ‘Well, you can … Continue reading
For me, one of the hallmarks of good writing is that each sentence, each paragraph, leads the reader to want to read more. This is as true of a commercial pitch document as it is of a short story or … Continue reading
Some of life’s more useful writing lessons are surprisingly simple. Many years ago, one of my classmates discovered the joys of the thesaurus. Overnight his essays became models of the sequipedalianist’s art. He didn’t just replace commonplace words with less-common … Continue reading