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Chapter 8 Writing Style
Consider the words defective and broken. Both are used to describe
something that does not work properly. But, when a customer claims a
product is defective and the manufacturer claims it is broken, the shades of
meaning between the two words clash. After all, defective implies manufacturer
responsibility, whereas broken implies user responsibility.
Use the dictionary, thesaurus, and your own experience to distinguish
shades of meaning and choose the most appropriate words. If you are
concerned that the message may be misunderstood, add context to explain the
intended meaning. By doing this, there will be no confusion regarding the true
meaning.
Achieving Four C’s of Communication
When editing a written draft, look for places where you can make the
writing clear, concise, courteous, and correct. Remember, these are the four
C’s of communication. Avoiding redundancies, clichés, and trendy words and
using familiar words are ways to achieve the four C’s of communication.
Avoid Redundancies
A
redundancy
is repeating a message or saying the same thing more
than once. Two or more words may have the same meaning or two or more
sentences may say essentially the same thing. This can confuse or irritate
the reader. In the following example, a manager is asking a staff member to
follow up on an issue after a meeting. After reading the draft, try to identify
the redundancy. Then, look at the revision to see how the repetition has been
eliminated. Also notice the changes add clarity, conciseness, and precision to
the writing.
Draft
At Monday’s status meeting, you mentioned there is a potential for cost
overruns on the Jamison Park project. If you feel there could be cost
overruns, I need an itemized list of what specifi c items are likely to incur
additional costs so that we can discuss these with the team.
Would you please send me a summary listing areas of potential overruns
and the reason that is causing each item to run over budget? I would like
to have this before next Monday’s status meeting so we can discuss the
details with the team.
Revision
At Monday’s status meeting, you mentioned potential cost overruns on
the Jamison Park project. Please send me a summary listing the items
that may run over budget and the cause of each overrun. I would like to
have this by Friday so we can discuss the details with the team at next
Monday’s meeting.
Avoid Clichés
To make your writing concise, be on the lookout for clichés.
Clichés
are
overused, commonplace, or trite phrases. Often, clichés are not well received
by the reader because it seems the writer is not being original. However, a