Language in professional writing is the key to creating a unified and structurally sound piece of work. If you can nail down the following words of advice when writing, you will be well on your way to success!
Context and Word Choice
- In order to be precise in writing, you must use the correct word! In the words of Mark Twain, "The difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between 'lightning' and 'lightning bug.'" (Oliu, Brushaw, & Alred 2007)
- Keep in mind the context of the word. Sometimes you must be more specific.
Conciseness
- Remove unnecessary words, phrases, and sentences. Wordiness or pretentious language may get the job done when trying to meet a required length but also creates confusion!
Bias
- To avoid offending audiences, treat everyone equal! Bias and sexist language are breeders for inequality so therfore use nonsexist language. Ex: Policeman--->police officer (Oliu, Brushaw, & Alred 2007).
- Eliminate his and hers unless you are talking about a specific person.
- There is no need to identify race, ethnic group, or religion of a person in most professional writing.
Plain Language
- Avoid affectation. Too showy or technical language makes for a convoluted paper. Keep it simple! Looking up synonyms in the thesaurus for all the 'plain' words to sound smarter doesn't always work as planned!
References:
Oliu, Walter E., Charles T. Brusaw, and Gerald J. Alred. Writing That Works: Communicating Effectively on the Job. 9th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Great post Megan! I fully agree with your statement that "
ReplyDeleteLanguage in professional writing is the key to creating a unified and structurally sound piece of work. " Sometimes i think because we communicate with friends and professors informally, we tend to forget that we need to learn how to communicate in professional terms when in business. A good reminder to us all!
A very good guide to go by when you aren't sure of how something sounds. I find that all too often I find myself writing in an unprofessional style so looking through your post helps me with identifying what is going wrong. I agree with the section under consiseness. It helps a lot when you continue referring back to the problem, thesis statement or subject in order to not get off topic with "pointless" sentences.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good post and topic for you Megan. You explained it greatly and It was full of useful information.
ReplyDeleteNice use of graphics, Megan, and good voice in your post. Be sure and credit your graphic sources, too.
ReplyDeleteI probably spend more time generating the proper words to express my feelings in my writing than I spend generating the ideas themselves. throughtout your professional career people will be judgeing you by the way you talk, present yourself, speak in public, and write. This makes lanuage critical. Great post.
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