100 ways to improve your writing - Gary Provost 2019
Don’t cheat
Twelve ways to avoid making your reader hate you
Readers expect writers to be honest. Don’t let them down. Even when writing fictional stories, don’t mislead readers or hide facts from them. Especially, don’t lie.
The exception to this is the unreliable narrator, used by novelists from Agatha Christie to Gillian Flynn to great effect. Even then, a well-written unreliable narrator will provide clues to his or her unreliability that the reader misses at the time and sees only in hindsight.
Adhere to the guidelines below, and readers will reward your honesty by believing in your words.
Don’t |
Do |
Don’t obscure the quotes you use. If Mr. Green said, “I, uh, uh, occasionally have a drink,” don’t edit the quote so that it reads, “I . . . drink.” The meaning of the two quotes is different. |
Do show compassion for those you quote. If Mr. Green said, “I, uh, uh, occasionally have a drink,” there is no reason to include Mr. Green’s stammers in your quote (unless you are trying to prove that Mr. Green is not an effective speaker). Your quote should read, “I occasionally have a drink.” |
Don’t present another’s idea as your own. If you are writing about the water imagery in Shakespeare’s comedies and you read a book by Rosemary Gilvary in which there is a list of all the water imagery in Shakespeare’s comedies, you must give Ms. Gilvary credit if you make use of the list. |
Do give credit where credit is due. |
Don’t ignore facts. If you are writing a paper in which you want to prove that smoking marijuana will lead to lower grades in school, you should not ignore facts that run contrary to your argument. If you discover that several outstanding scholars have smoked marijuana, you should reveal that fact and find a way to incorporate it into your argument, perhaps by saying that these scholars would have performed even better had they not smoked marijuana. |
Do show how the other side feels, and do present facts that the other side would use to refute you. Such facts can be used to your advantage. |
Don’t pretend to have proved something you haven’t proved. If you write a memo in which you insist that employees must stop taking fifteen-minute coffee breaks because company policy forbids them, do not conclude your memo by writing, “Employees who take fifteen-minute coffee breaks make more work for those of us who limit ourselves to ten-minute coffee breaks.” If you wanted to make that argument, you should have written a memo in which you proved it. |
Do consider what it is you want to prove and then spend your time proving it. |
Don’t lie. Occasionally, a writer will be tempted to write something that isn’t true. Are all boxing fans bloodthirsty? If not, don’t write that they are. Be careful to point out what is your opinion as opposed to what is a fact. |
Do introduce opinions as opinions, and not as facts. |