The little red writing book - Brandon Royal 2007
Keep it simple
Style
Principle #8: Use simple words to express your ideas.
The most fundamental way to simplify writing is to use simpler words. Simpler words — verbs, nouns, and adjectives — have broader meanings in English, while more complicated words have more specific meanings. Thus, you have a higher “margin of safety” when using simpler words.
Some writers adhere to the idea that “big words” are bad. The belief is that anyone who uses big words is just trying to impress the reader. The point embodied by Principle 8 is that the everyday writer should err on the side of using simpler words. That is not to say that there is no occasion for “bigger” or more specific vocabulary in writing, but rather that the writer should always consider how appropriate the vocabulary is for a given audience.
USING SIMPLER WORDS
The following chart shows how we may substitute a less familiar word with one that is more familiar and, therefore, easier to understand.
Acceded Agreed |
Accumulate Gather |
Adaptability Adapt |
Aggregate Total |
Ameliorate Improve |
Apprise Tell |
Ascertain Find out |
Attributable Due |
Augment Increase |
Cognizant Aware |
Demonstrate Show |
Diminutive Tiny |
Disseminate Send out |
Effectuate Carry out |
Endeavor Try |
Enumerate List |
Execute Carry out |
Facilitate Make easy |
Formulate Devise |
Implementation Implement |
Locality Place |
Materialize Develop |
Mitigate Lessen |
Modification Change |
Obfuscate Obscure |
Obviate Avoid |
Proficiency Skill |
Resourcefulness Resourceful |
Substantiate Prove |
Utilize Use |
Note: Principle 6 addressed the use of specific, concrete words as opposed to general, vague ones. Principle 8 focuses on the use of simple words. The art of writing requires that the writer reconcile these two concepts. Small words are not necessarily specific words. For example, in the following two sentences — “It’s a nice house” and “The overtime period was great” — the writer should consider replacing the words “nice” and “great” with more specific ones or, alternatively, opt for additional follow-up sentences. After all, the reader will likely wonder: what does “nice” or “great” really mean?
EXERCISE
Rewrite the following sentences by expressing the ideas more simply.
See suggested solutions
1. There is considerable evidential support for the assertion that carrot juice is good for you.
2. We anticipate utilizing hundreds of reams of recycled copy paper in the foreseeable future.
3. This plan will provide for the elimination of inefficient shipping practices.
4. Educationwise, our schoolchildren should be given adequate training in the three Rs — reading, writing, and arithmetic.
5. Only meteorologists can perform a detailed analysis of changing climatic conditions.
6. With reference to the poem, I submit that the second and third stanzas connote a certain feeling of despair.
7. That dog is the epitome, the very quintessence, of canine excellence.
8. The hurricane destroyed almost all structures along the coastline. Most homes were destroyed when a confluence of water and wind joined forces to rip off roofs and collapse walls.
9. Which point of view do I adhere to? That’s a good question. While I am against war, I also realize that some situations require the use of military force.
10. Like Napoleon’s army that marched on Russia more than a century before, the German army was also unable to successfully invade Russia because its soldiers were inadequately prepared for winter conditions. German soldiers didn’t even have proper winter clothing to withstand the subzero temperatures.