Writing Skills 11...Version 11.5/July 23, 2019 Improve Your Writing Skills A Message from John Bachner Professionals are society’s best. That’s why people expect technical professionals

Version 11.5/July 23, 2019

Improve Your Writing Skills A Message from John Bachner

Professionals are society’s best. That’s why people expect technical professionals to write effectively, be it in formal submissions, such as proposals and reports, or in minutes, memoranda, letters, e-mail, texts, and so on. (Because you are a professional, “formal” actually describes everything you write in your professional capacity.) Better writing can help prevent the miscommunication that leads to misunderstandings, and – possibly more important – it can limit another party's ability to allege your miscommunication was the cause of a problem, an indicator of a careless attitude (that could have infected everything you did), or proof that you are not worthy of being recognized as a professional. Recognize that claims and disputes tend to arise two or more years after you complete your services. At that time, the best evidence almost always is what's in writing. What will the trier of fact – a jury, usually – think about your writing? Will it comport with the trier of fact’s image of a professional? Opposing counsel will be quick to remind the jury that, for technical professionals (who are paid a great deal of money in order to provide a perfect result!), words equal numbers. If a jury reviews a letter, e-mail, proposal, report, or other communication you have written, could it be convinced that you were in too much of a hurry to be accurate and thereby caused the problem or made it worse? The numbers that reviewers mark on your FOPP submissions refer to issues listed below. We identify your mistakes so you can learn and improve. Unless a reviewer indicates otherwise, you do not need to revise a submission and resubmit it, except in the case of your draft report (your second report submission), which reviewers will examine with particular interest. They will expect you to submit a final report whose quality indicates you have considered the reviewer’s comments carefully. Note: The person who reviews your draft report will not identify all examples of a given problem: Doing so, and fixing each, is your responsibility; i.e., if the reviewer notes that you have used an expletive, we expect you to check the entire submission for expletives. (Ideally, you should check all submissions for everything.) If you have any questions about what I've written below or on your submission, contact me. Do likewise with inquiries about services our firm provides, such as seminars, proposal/report review, etc.

BACHNER COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

180 Reachcliff Drive Shepherdstown, WV 25443 www.bachner.com Tel. 304.870.4055 e-mail [email protected]

Improve Your Writing Skills Copyright 2019. All rights reserved. Version 11.5 Reproduction by any means whatsoever, print, electronic, or otherwise, is expressly forbidden,

except with the written permission of John P. Bachner.

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CONTENTS

1. Do Not Assume 2. Proofread Effectively

a. In General b. Eliminate Cut-and-Paste and

Header/Footer Errors 3. Avoid Taboo Words, Including

Absolutes 4. Check Your Spelling 5. Beware of Hazardous Homophones 6. Correct Accidental Words 7. Eliminate Slipshod Synonyms 8. Be More Precise 9. Eliminate Danglers 10. Change Words That Have Two (or

More) Meanings 11. Change Subjective Modifiers 12. Delete Useless Words 13. Simplify Your Language 14. Make Subject and Verb Agree 15. Avoid the Passive Voice; Use the

Active Unless Doing So Would Be Inappropriate a. In General b. Don’t Anthropomorphize

16. Avoid Expletives 17. Watch out for Pronouns 18. Avoid Colloquialisms 19. Avoid Jargon 20. Indicate Numbers Properly 21. Don't Put Too Much Space between

the Subject and the Verb 22. Reorganize To Help Eliminate

Confusion 23. Shorter Sentences Are Best 24. Manage Multiple Modifiers 25. Don't Use the Verb “To Be” So Much 26. Maintain Parallel Construction in Lists 27. Apply Effective List Syntax

28. Consider Other List Issues 29. Consider the Visual Component of Written Communication 30. Use Correct Professional Terminology 31. Capitalize Properly a. Proper Nouns b. Titles c. For Purposes of Differentiation d. Acronyms e. Publication Titles 32. Replace Clichés and Archaisms 33. Go around Each (and Other Words

That Have the Same Effect), He, She 34. Indicate Possessives Properly 35. Understand Parentheses and

Punctuate Properly When Using Them 36. Punctuate Properly inside Quotes and outside 37. Use Single Quotes Properly 38. Get e.g. and i.e. Right 39. Realize That “And” and “&” Are Not

the Same 40. Tell the Reader What Is, Not What Isn’t 41. Enhance Your Correspondence Style a. Salutation b. Attention and Salutation

c. The Letter Is Not from You d. Attach, Append, Enclose

e. Letterhead f. Transmittal Sheet g. e-Mail Subject Line

42. Be Consistent 43. Warn Readers When a Document Is a Draft 44. Abbreviate Dates So Your Intent Is Unmistakable 45. Don’t Add a List-Ender When Exemplifying



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1. Do Not Assume

If you absolutely must make an assumption, be certain to somehow footnote it or comment parenthetically that you have made an assumption that you will correct or verify later. For example, do not assume that “Dr. Someone” is a Ph.D., as opposed to a D.Eng., D.Ed., or Sc.D. The most serious mistakes FOPP participants make occur because of assumptions, almost all of which they could have avoided by placing a telephone call.

2. Proofread Effectively

a. In General Given that words in an instrument of professional service equal numbers, and that many contain numbers, too, proofreading is essential. (Design professionals have had to pay $150,000 and more just for one misplaced decimal point. They've had to pay far more because of wording problems.) Proofreading is not reading something over and over again: It is an art. Read critical passages backwards, so your eye will not skip ahead. Check certain features serially; e.g., check all headlines separately; check all subheads separately; check listing methods separately to help ensure consistency; and so on. (Also refer to no. 26, Maintain Parallel Construction in Lists.) Whenever you can check something against a source document, do so. For example, I (as any client representative) will be most upset if you spell my name incorrectly, bollix my street address, write Virginia instead of West Virginia, etc.

Note that gross errors should be catchable even with “reading-it-over-and-over-again” proofing. If gross errors exist in one of your submissions to FOPP, I (just as any client representative) will be offended, because you apparently don’t care enough about me to consider me worthy of the high-quality deliverable I selected you to provide. This disrespect (for which I pay! At home it’s free) will anger me, just as it would any client representative. (An attorney for the other side in a dispute would lead the jury to conclude you are not particularly professional, despite all the money you're paid.) Please do not insult me. b. Eliminate Cut-and-Paste and Header/Footer Errors

Cutting and pasting makes it easy to make mistakes; so does the reuse of headers and/or footers. FOPP staff tends to grade such mistakes harshly in hopes that our unfair attitude reminds you to be particularly careful about checking your cut-and-paste work and headers and footers in the future. Bear in mind that the first report submission is your research plan or research proposal. Your second submission is your draft final report. If you title your second submission what you titled your first submission, we will penalize you heavily, because you should have read this warning.



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One way to remind yourself to check cut-and-paste inserts and headers and footers: Use a different typeface or type color for any reused material. Revert to the appropriate typeface or color only after you have double-checked what you have reused.

3. Avoid Taboo Words, Including Absolutes

You should already know most of the taboo words. They include words like certify, guarantee, warrant, inspect, ensure, safety, and product. GBA has more material about them, if you need it. Refer to GBA Practice Alert No. 5.

Absolute words usually are taboo as well, because they presuppose conditions that generally do not or cannot exist. For example, virtually no site in the world can be free of contaminants, given that any site is likely to have on it a speck of contaminant, even if it is only a billionth of a trillionth of a micron. So do not use words like free of, full, empty, all, none, minimize, maximize, everyone, totally, and must unless you do so carefully. Recognize that unique is an absolute. So are perfect, circular, square, and bald, among many others. (And, by the way, because they are absolutes, they cannot be used in a comparative sense; i.e., something cannot be more unique than something else, just as it cannot be more perfect, more ideal, or more circular. True, one could have a meal that is squarer than another, but, in that sense, square does not refer to a shape.)

Let's be real: I know that Everyone there was bald. probably means Many of the

men there were affected by male-pattern baldness. Let's also be real: What you write as a professional; what you put into your instruments of professional service, should not have to be interpreted to be understood unequivocally, because – by definition – if it has to be interpreted, it cannot be unequivocal. For more on absolutes, refer to GBA Practice Alert No. 13.

Note that you should also treat subjective modifiers – no. 11, below – as taboo

words. 4. Check Your Spelling Society expects technical professionals to know how to spell. Use a spell-

checking feature, but do not overrely on it. Foregoing a personnel analyses wood effect yew. (Yes, every word of the prior sentence, except “a,” is misspelled, but would be deemed correct by some spelling-check software. See, also, Hazardous Homophones and Accidental Words, below.) Imagine hearing this question asked of you while you're on the witness stand: “You don't even know how to spell, do you?” How many jury members might ask themselves, “Gosh, if the technical professional can't even spell, how can I have faith in the professional's ability to add and subtract?” or “If the person doesn't take the time to proofread what the person has written, how can I have faith that the person double-checked the calculations?” Understand the Latin expression, “Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.” Lawyers understand it. Look it up.



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5. Beware of Hazardous Homophones Hazardous homophones are two (or more) words that are pronounced the same,

but are spelled differently and have different meanings. These include, among many others: • effect/affect, • principal/principle, • compliment/complement, • stationary/stationery, • forgo/forego, and • canvas/canvass. Recognize these words when you use them. Be sure to use the correct word.

6. Correct Accidental Words

Accidental words are real words you do not intend, typically because of a keyboarding error. Chances are you have already written manger when you meant manager, mater instead of matter, and posses (“Shoot low. They’re riding Shetlands.”) rather than possess. A spell checker may or may not help; you are on your own. (By the way, note that email (pronounced “ay-my”) is a color.)

7. Eliminate Slipshod Synonyms A slipshod synonym is a word that’s similar to – but is not – the correct word for

the application. Common slipshod synonyms include infer instead of imply, hone rather than home (as in home in on), dubious in the place of doubtful, and mute when what’s meant is moot. At best, slipshod synonyms tarnish your image by demonstrating you don’t know what somewhat simple words mean. At worst, they can alter your meaning and give a crafty attorney a hook onto which to hang a litigious hat. Please note that as does not equal because, determine does not equal identify, and feel does not equal believe. However, verbal does mean oral. Regrettably, it also means written. (Get more guidance in no. 8, Be More Precise, and no. 10, Change Words That Have Two (or More) Meanings.)

8. Be More Precise Think things through in order to be precise. For example, “I believe this research

assignment will help me” implies “I believe that performing this research assignment will help me,” but it doesn't say it. Likewise, when you list things “in order of preference,” are you listing them in descending order or ascending order? (I also cover this in no. 28, Consider Other List Issues.) Beware, too, of using the wrong word because you didn’t think something through; e.g., writing on a fax-cover sheet, “I attach a copy of my letter.” In fact, you cannot attach anything by fax; you only can append. (Also review no. 41(d), Enhance Your Correspondence Style/Attach, Append, Enclose.) And in that respect, realize that you cannot append “my research topic,” nor can you enclose it (in an envelope) or attach it (via staple or paper clip) to a letter, because a topic has no physical form.



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Recognize, too, that, while a topic is part of a research-assignment description, a research-assignment description is not a topic.

Note the significant difference between client and client representative. A

client is almost always an entity of some type (e.g., a business or government agency). A client representative is a person who works in an organization (the client) and usually must report to higher-ups who have a major influence on the individual’s future. Being cognizant of the difference can change your outlook on certain things, given that a client’s chief decision-makers can give client representatives a considerable amount of grief when a consultant’s broken promise forces them to furnish deliverables late and/or over budget. (Note that the same higher-ups can treat client representatives as heroes when the latter are able to provide consultants’ deliverables ahead of schedule and/or under budget. Client representatives love that outcome and the people who make it happen for them.)

Also note the difference between survey (a process) and questionnaire (a survey

instrument); between evaluating questionnaires and evaluating questionnaire responses.

This is important stuff! If you usually communicate in too casual a manner, you

will be unable to communicate precisely when you need to. Get into the habit of being a nitpicker, because that’s the only hope you have of being precise or, at least, less casual.

9. Eliminate Danglers A dangler (or “misplaced modifier”) is a modifying clause that typically appears

at the beginning of a sentence, and fails to modify the word it is intended to. In fact, the first word after the dangler is the word that the dangler modifies. Consider this example from an actual FOPP submission:

As requested, this letter provides my preferred choices for the required research project.

As written, the sentence says that FOPP asked the letter – not the author of the letter – to provide preferred choices. And what about provide? Can a letter actually provide its author’s choices, or does it indicate or identify those choices? A more accurate approach might take this form:

As you requested, I am submitting this letter to indicate my preferred choices for the required research project.

Then we could shorten the sentence by eliminating what should be obvious, to derive:



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My FOPP Class 12 research project choices are, in descending order of preference:...

Danglers often take the form of “dangling participles,” referring to the “ing” form of verbs. For example: Burning the midnight oil, his paper was completed on time. As stated, the phrase indicates that “his paper” was burning the midnight oil. To correctly convey the thought, the author should have written: Burning the midnight oil, he completed his paper on time. It’s easy to tell what a FOPP participant meant when he included the following on his letter requesting a research topic: After discussions with principals and others within my firm, a common theme emerged: In my mind’s eye, I see a common theme wearily exiting a conference room! How about this gem: In addition to being less expensive, regulators in New Hampshire and Vermont… Some guides to English usage say that, because danglers are so common, they are acceptable, as long as the intent is clear. I disagree. Professionals for whom every word is the equivalent of a number cannot afford to be sloppy.

10. Change Words That Have Two (or More) Meanings Many words have two (or more) meanings that could fit within the context of

what you’re writing. Use alternative words, if you can; e.g., more than is better (I believe) than over when talking about quantities, because over also relates to physical position. Likewise, I believe that because is better than since. (As is a slipshod synonym for because.)

Another approach for creating understanding is to add explanations

(parenthetically would be okay; a definitions section or glossary might work, too) that make it about impossible for a reasonably intelligent person to misunderstand you.

If you promise to do something biweekly, will you do it twice a week or once every other week, assuming you keep your promise? It’s better to promise twice a week, if that’s what you mean.



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What if the community sanctions you? Does that suggest that the community

trusts you implicitly? Or does it imply that the community really distrusts you? Because sanction has two, diametrically opposed meanings, either interpretation would be correct. The same holds true for oversight. Is it something you miss or the process of trying not to miss anything?

And what about verbal? It means oral and it means written, because oral

communication and written communication both are enabled by words. Note, too, that e-mail (or E-mail) has one meaning, but email has two (at least).

11. Change Subjective Modifiers

Subjective modifiers retard communication, because a writer's concepts or biases may be radically different from a reader’s. Consider:

A large tree... An unusual color... A loud noise...

and the like. If I see a 100-foot-tall tree and describe it as large, but one of the persons reading what I've written believes that a tree has to be at least 500-feet high to be large, I've miscommunicated, and I might do so every time someone else reads what I’ve written. Therefore, when preparing an instrument of professional service – and everything you submit for FOPP is exactly that – try to manage your communication such that readers can visualize what it is you’re using modifiers to describe:

The tree was approximately 75 feet tall, with a circumference of ten feet at its base.

With respect to the standard classification color chart, the subject color seemed to be composed of 20 percent...

I heard a noise much akin to that of a truck backfire. How much larger than large is very large? How much more unusual is quite

unusual? Generally speaking, very, quite, and words of that nature have no place in your professional writing.

12. Delete Useless Words

Any number of useless words are used in conversation and writing we read every day; e.g., in advertisements, newspaper items, and magazine articles. That does



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not mean that using useless words is right or wise. An example from a FOPP submission:

This area presents many different challenges.

Of course the challenges are different! If they weren't, many would not exist. “I had five different ideas.” Well, of course your five ideas were different. If two were the same, you'd have had only four ideas.

We also see references to past experience. Unless we specifically say present experience or future experience, one has to assume that the experience in question is from the past, making past experience equal experience, which means past is useless.

I will obtain and review [something]… also is a popular phrase, although how one reviews something one cannot obtain I don't know. As such, obtain and becomes useless. In a similar manner, some folks like to write I will review available information. The same concept applies: If it isn't available, you cannot review it, making available useless. Note, however, that readily available has a different meaning; i.e., I will only review the stuff I can get my hands on quickly.

What about this phrase: I will identify possible options.

If an option were not possible, it wouldn't be an option. Be mindful, too, about words and phrases that are useless because of the tense of the verb. As an example:

All our lines currently are busy.

The verb are is in the present tense, meaning the action is happening now. Just as it would be illogical to say all lines are busy in the future or are busy in the past, so is it unnecessary to say they are currently busy; are busy says the same thing, making currently useless. In a similar manner, a vague reference to the future is useless when you use the future tense; e.g., I will be more careful means the same as I will be more careful in the future. Note, however, that it does not mean the same as I will be more careful next Wednesday.

Think about the words you use. If they don't add anything, delete them. 13. Simplify Your Language

Simplify your language when possible, so it is easier for readers to understand it. Don't try to “sound formal” even in your formal writing, unless you have some



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important reason to do so. Note, too, that language that obviously tries to sound formal can make the author sound stuffy or pompous. In addition, it can lead to convolution. For example, why write We will provide you with the report. when you can just as easily say We will give you the report. or We will deliver the report to you on….? Likewise, why write I am writing regarding my assignment. when you can write I am writing about my assignment. or – better yet – I write about my assignment.? Honestly, isn't I want you to write better. better than I would like you to write better.? Isn’t it better to use simpler words than to utilize them?

Lately I've noticed FOPP participants' overuse and misuse of however. Except when it is used to begin a sentence, however should be set off by commas; e.g., “I like to eat meat, however, it gives me gas.” The common error is to leave off the comma after the word, possibly from the mistaken belief that however and but are interchangeable. They are not and, more often than not, but is the better word: “I like to eat meat, but it gives me gas.”

14. Make Subject and Verb Agree

While grammar tends to be democratic almost to the point of anarchy, most “experts” agree that the subject and verb should agree; i.e., a plural subject requires a plural verb, and a singular subject requires a singular verb. Examples:

Wrong: I are happy to see you. Right: I am happy to see you.

Some situations are more difficult to discern, but if sixth-graders can do it, you should be able to, too. If you do not score 100% on the following quiz, admit to yourself that you need to spend an hour or so relearning some things. Which of the following are correct, and which are not?

Jim, as well as Tom, were slated for promotion.

Either the two project managers or Larry were opposed to holding the FOPP seminar in Paris.

Drinking and driving makes for a deadly mix.

Client retention and cultivation is a business essential. Jerry, in addition to everyone else in the class, love the FOPP program. Jerry and everyone else in the class loves the FOPP program.



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15. Avoid the Passive Voice; Use the Active Unless Doing So Would Be Inappropriate a. In General The passive voice usually deadens writing, often makes it difficult to follow (leading to confusion), and – worst of all – can encourage you to leave out vitally important information. What is the passive voice? It is sentence structure that fails to identify who or what took the action indicated by the verb, or does so in a convoluted fashion, by making the subject of the verb the object of the preposition “by.” Example:

The ball was hit by John.

Too often, especially when we're in a hurry, we can forget the “by” part, and thus write, “The ball was hit,” or “A decision was made not to conduct the testing.”

Writers commonly use an expletive phrase (discussed in no. 16, Avoid Expletives) to introduce a sentence or clause written in the passive voice; e.g., It was a terrible thing. In professional material you prepare, terrible thing would be an opinion. The question thus becomes, whose opinion? To answer that question: I thought it was a terrible thing. or I believe just about all of us thought it was a terrible thing.

The active voice is usually better (but see no. 21, Don't Put Too Much Space

between the Subject and the Verb) following the simple sentence structure of Subject (noun (preferably) or pronoun) Verb Object or, in the case of intransitive verbs,

Subject (noun (preferably) or pronoun) Verb Preposition Object (of preposition)

By applying a simple active structure, we would get, “John hit the ball,” or “John Doe, the client's representative on site, told me about 11:00 AM on March 31, while we were both on site, that he decided to forgo the testing we had proposed in our letter of February 13.” b. Don’t Anthropomorphize Note that the use of anthropomorphization to get around the passive can be mind-bendingly bothersome; e.g., This research assignment will analyze the reasons for bad writing. Assignments don’t analyze things; people do. How much more effective it would be to write, I will analyze the reasons for bad writing.

16. Avoid Expletives



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The words it and there have no meaning (are expletives) when used with (typically) the verb “to be,” as in, There are far too many ding-dong requirements in this course. Write with fewer words, not only to give your words more power, but also to reduce: • the number of words needed to relate an idea; • the intimidation created by “too many words” and, thus, delays in reading

them; • a desire to not have to read your stuff because “it's always long-winded”; and • opportunities for confusion. To write without expletives, which are usually unnecessary, just eliminate them and reconstruct the sentence. Doing so with the above, we derive:

... far too many ding-dong requirements in this course. The easy conversion is: This course has far too many ding-dong requirements.

While you're at reconstruction, however, you could say that has is really kind of a dead word. After all, verbs should connote action whenever possible, and has doesn't do much of that. Thus, you could say:

This course is plagued by far too many ding-dong requirements.

But why use the passive voice, where the subject of the action (the ding-dong requirements that do the plaguing) becomes the object of the preposition by? By converting the sentence to the active voice, we would get:

Far too many ding-dong requirements plague this course.

Now we're getting somewhere! Except we can ask, “How many too many is far too many?” Far can be a misleading word, because it reflects your opinion, and your opinion is hardly a universal. As noted in no. 11, Change Subjective Modifiers, your far too many may be someone else's not really a lot. Either be exact without conveying an opinion – 15 ding-dong requirements – or eliminate the use of misleading words. Choosing the latter, we would get:

Too many ding-dong requirements plague this course. How many are too many? Many ding-dong requirements plague this course.



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Oh, and some of the ding-dong requirements don't plague the course? As long as you could categorize more than one of the requirements as ding-dong, you could/should write:

Ding-dong requirements plague this course.

The result is a sentence that uses half the words as the original, loses no accuracy, and gains power. After you practice this type of approach for a while, you will discover that you can do this type of editing quickly. You need to. Remember: Your words equal numbers.

17. Watch out for Personal Pronouns Personal pronouns (I, mine, he, its, etc.) tend to be dangerous words, because each must have an antecedent and determining the correct antecedent can be difficult. It and its tend to be the most common problem-causers, along with their and theirs. Examples:

A review of findings will permit a conclusion. It will indicate... What will indicate? A review or the conclusion?

We will develop seminars designed to address the weaknesses identified through surveys. We will evaluate their effectiveness through interviews.

Does their refer to the effectiveness of the seminars, the effectiveness of the weaknesses, or the effectiveness of the surveys? Here’s yet another from a FOPP participant’s submission: I have also contacted each respective project manager to gain an understanding of the project, our firm’s scope of service, and the current status of each. The question is, current status of each what? the project manager? project? scope? For purposes of clarity, consider repeating what you otherwise would reference through a pronoun. When using pronouns to refer to people (he, him, her, they, them, etc.) in reports, memoranda, correspondence, DFRs, et al., consider using initials/acronyms to avoid confusion, especially the confusion that can arise when what you have written is reviewed years after you write it; e.g.:

I saw John Bachner (JB) hitting John Doe (JD), a FOPP participant, with a stick. JD was unhappy.



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The alternative to the foregoing – He was unhappy – would leave it unclear as to who the unhappy person was.

Note that a company is an it, not a they: Wrong: ABC Associates reviewed their documentation policy. Right: ABC Associates reviewed its documentation policy. Also note that a person is a who, not a that: Wrong: The person that was supposed to edit this for me… Right: The person who was supposed to edit this for me… Proper use of personal pronouns (I, mine, he, its, etc.) requires a solid grasp of grammar fundamentals; e.g., knowing when to use the objective form (whom) and when to use the nominative (who). (Also refer to nos. 33, Go around Each (and Other Words That Have the Same Effect), He, She and 34, Indicate Possessives Properly.)

18. Avoid Colloquialisms Colloquialisms are a form of jargon, except they sometimes don't make sense, given that they tend to be subjective. For example, one FOPP participant said his firm was well-rounded. I'm confident this made perfect sense to him, but I had no idea of what he meant. Also avoid colloquialisms that are too informal for professional correspondence; e.g., Here ya go. and Wazzup?.

19. Avoid Jargon

Avoid jargon or the argot of your profession. Do not assume others are familiar with it. If you must use it, be sure to explain it when you introduce it at first. Example:

We provide computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) services. In fact, our CADD services are...

20. Indicate Numbers Properly

For the most part, you should spell out numbers one through ten (some say twelve); represent higher numbers via numerals. Spell out numbers that begin a sentence, and consider following them (parenthetically) by numerals; e.g., Seventy-eight (78) trombones led the significant marching assembly. Always following a spelled-out number with the number in parentheses may be wise for contracts, but in a text, it can get in the way.



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For purposes of consistency, numbers modifying the same measure should be in the same format. In the example sentence that follows, three and ten are expressed as numerals, to be consistent with the numeral 60: In ten days, FOPP class registration increased from 3 to 10 to 60. Generally, numerals are used with a symbol (8%, $5, 3F), but do or do not (depending on the style reference you use) have to be applied when the symbol is spelled out (eight percent, five dollars, three degrees Fahrenheit).

21. Don't Put Too Much Space between the Subject and the Verb

Here's a sentence taken from a FOPP submission:

Many factors, including regional economies, requirements for local or specific expertise, individual office profit pressures, company culture, logistical considerations, and scheduling deadlines create impediments for movement of work between offices.

By the time we get to the verb (create), we've forgotten what the subject was. Several possible improvements would make the sentence easier to follow and, as such, more considerate of the reader.

One fix is to delete the useless words Many factors, including, to derive:

Regional economies, requirements for local or specific expertise, individual office profit and loss pressures, company culture, logistical considerations, and scheduling deadlines create impediments for movement of work between offices.

Realistically, that's not a good fix, because the expansiveness of the subject still gets in the way of comprehension. A better improvement is:

Many factors create impediments for movement of work between offices. These factors include regional economies, requirements for local or specific expertise, individual office profit and loss pressures, company culture, logistical considerations, and scheduling deadlines.

Because create impediments means impede, we could substitute the latter word to get...

Many factors impede the movement of work between offices. These factors include regional economies, requirements for local or specific expertise, individual office profit and loss pressures, company culture, logistical considerations, and scheduling deadlines.



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Another modification might be:

Many factors impede the movement of work between offices; e.g., regional economies, requirements for local or specific expertise, individual office profit and loss pressures, company culture, logistical considerations, and scheduling deadlines.

This is also a situation where the passive voice may work out well:

The movement of work between offices is impeded by factors such as

regional economies, requirements for local or specific expertise, individual office profit and loss pressures, company culture, logistical considerations, and scheduling deadlines.

22. Reorganize To Help Eliminate Confusion

Often, just a slight reorganization of a sentence can eliminate confusion. Here’s an actual sentence:

I propose to work with four other members of my firm currently enrolled in FOPP to develop a reference manual for the firm that addresses field observation and materials testing.

The organization is such that we could ask, “What will address field observation and materials testing? The manual or the firm?” Watch what happens by virtue of simple reorganization:

I propose to work with four other members of my firm currently enrolled in FOPP to develop for the firm a reference manual that addresses field observation and materials testing.

23. Shorter Sentences Are Best Keep your sentences short. They generate less confusion and are easier to follow.

But don’t use them to excess; combine where appropriate. (In other words, learn how to edit yourself!) Here’s an example:

I completed my review of FOPP’s assignment compendium and

supplemental reading list and herein submit my preferences for the assigned research topic. My selections, in descending order of preference, are:

We could start by breaking two sentences into three, by taking the first long

sentence and turning it into two sentences:



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I completed my review of FOPP’s assignment compendium and supplemental reading list. I herein submit my preferences for the assigned research topic. My selections, in descending order of preference, are:

Now, pruning some excess verbiage (I herein submit, etc.), we would go back to two sentences:

I completed my review of FOPP’s assignment compendium and supplemental reading list. My preferences for the assigned research topic, in descending order of preference, are:

Better? Absolutely. Realistically, however, we can eliminate the first sentence, for two reasons. First, the supplemental reading list “news” is extraneous; it has nothing to do with anything else. Second, the writer must have reviewed the assignment compendium to have selected topics, thus putting the “news” into the “it goes without saying” department. And that gives us…

My preferences for the assigned research topic, in descending order of preference, are:

But hold on! The subject and verb do not have to be as far apart. We can easily say… My preferences for the assigned research topic are, in descending order of preference: The use of preference and preferences in the same sentence is bothersome, however, and – when you look closely – unnecessary. Which gets us to… My preferences for the assigned research topic are, in descending order: But we’re still not there! What is an assigned research topic? Probably what’s meant (see no. 8, Be More Precise) is: My preferences for the research assignment are, in descending order: which we can easily shorten to: My research assignment preferences are, in descending order: Whew.

24. Manage Multiple Modifiers Adjectives modify nouns. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

As a general rule, when you use two adjectives to modify a noun, you separate the



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two modifiers with a comma. You do not do that with adverbs. As such, dirty, blond hair would mean blond hair that had not been washed in a while, while dirty blond hair would suggest a color; i.e., dirty blond. But what if the reader doesn’t know the rules of grammar as well as the writer? For that reason, appropriate procedure would be to create a compound word; e.g., dirty-blond hair or in-your-face, grammar instruction. (Adverbs ending in ly generally are not hyphenated, because an ly ending makes a word’s adverb status obvious.)

Note proper procedure when two hyphenated words use the same base word; e.g.,

entry- to mid-level staff. Note that the hyphen after entry is followed by a space. 25. Don't Use the Verb “To Be” So Much

Overreliance on the verb “to be” (is, am, are, were, and so on) can deaden your writing. Verbs are supposed to be action words. Try to write without the verb to be, substituting something else in each case. (I also cover this issue in item no. 16, Avoid Expletives.) For example, you could convert I was happy with the grade I got. to The grade I received delighted me.

26. Maintain Parallel Construction in Lists Listing is far more difficult than it seems, unless you know the basics. One of the basics is to maintain parallel construction. Consider this example:

Once he completed grading all the papers, John: jumped for joy, sang three songs, and quaffed a tall glass of red wine.

As insipid as the example may be, you will note that each listed item has a verb in it, and, as such, describes an action. Now consider the following example, from an actual submission:

Task 2: Prepare a brief cover letter that will describe my assignment, its goals, and request each recipient to respond.

Notice how the organization after prepare seems twisty and turny (to quote from a five-year-old), thus losing parallelism. As could have been predicted, it seems like a personal pronoun (the most dangerous of all types of words, in my judgment) is at fault; i.e., the word its. Items one and three of the list are fine, because they describe the cover letter. Item two, because of its, at first seems to describe the cover letter, but then we realize it describes the assignment. Momentary confusion occurs; it shouldn't. We could reword the sentence as:

Task 2: Prepare a brief cover letter that describes my assignment and its goals, and requests each recipient to respond.

The rewording has eliminated confusion and restored parallelism. (Note that, for purposes of brevity, we could have eliminated its goals, because one can assume



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that an assignment description would indicate the purpose of the effort. Likewise, we could shorten each recipient to recipients, to derive:

Task 2: Prepare a brief cover letter that describes my assignment and requests recipients to respond.

And speaking of brief, is brief really required? What do you think? I believe this section is fairly brief. Do you believe it is? In other words, do not use subjective modifiers (no. 11, above). The following works well:

Task 2: Prepare a cover letter that describes my assignment and requests recipients to respond.

Now, concluding the digression, a more common form of lost parallel construction occurs when writers mix verb items with noun items. Example:

In order to achieve well, I will:

• develop a first draft; • draft review with Curly, Larry, and Moe; • prepare a final draft (draft paper essential); • document issuance, review, consideration, and redrafting; • recirculation, review, etc.; and • final report.

The first item in a list sets the tone. Assuming you want to keep the first item as is, you should make all other items follow the verb (develop)/object (a first draft) format. Accordingly, we could revise the list as follows to obtain parallel construction:

In order to achieve well, I will:

• develop a first draft, • review the draft with principals of the firm, • prepare a final draft (on draft paper), • issue the document for review, • consider comments received, • redraft and reissue the document, and • prepare and issue the final report.

27. Apply Effective List Syntax

“But I was taught to do it this way” is the common “How-could-I-possibly-make-a-mistake” response when a FOPP participant punctuates a list improperly or uses improper capitalization. That kind of response usually means, “Gee, I think that's the way my fourth-grade teacher taught me to do it.” I'm sure that teacher was a



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marvelous human being, and I'm also sure that maybe you don't remember everything the teacher said. Here are some easy-to-follow suggestions for lists.

A simple list is one where each item consists of just a few words, and none of the items has punctuation in it. Example:

Project Manager Tucker Dowt: pulled his hair, rubbed his eyes, cried, and fell asleep at his computer.

The list in this case is run-on – no bullets or other item prefixes are used – and I have chosen to begin it with a colon. In my world, use of the colon is optional when the list is both run-on and simple (i.e., list elements are separated by commas). I decided to use the colon to advise you, “Here comes a list.” You may have been taught, “You don't need that colon when you separate list items by commas, and you don’t need a comma between the next-to-the-last list item and the and or or that follows it. (That's the “step-down rule”; i.e., if you separate by commas, delete the last comma, and, if you separate by semi-colons, change the last semi-colon to a comma. It’s a bad rule. Do not follow it.) No matter how you do it, someone else looking at your list may have been taught something different, and will assume you are wrong. However, if you follow a consistent pattern, you will find it's easier and, for the most part, others will begin to believe that maybe – just maybe – you're right and they're wrong. The simplest method, I believe, is no step-down, as shown below.

How would you prepare the simple list if it had to be (or you wanted it to be) bulleted? A number of folks would use something like the following:

Project Manager Tucker Dowt:

• Pulled his hair • Rubbed his eyes • Cried and • Fell asleep at his computer.

In preparing a bulleted list, simply imagine the list as a run-on sentence. As such, the prior list would look like this:

Project Manager Tucker Dowt: Pulled his hair Rubbed his eyes Cried and Fell asleep at his computer.

Clearly, that would be incorrect: Punctuation is needed to separate the listed elements. And what’s with the weird capitalization? Given that we are dealing with a simple list, we could show it as a sentence like this:



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Project Manager Tucker Dowt: pulled his hair, rubbed his eyes, cried, and fell asleep at his computer.

or like this:

Project Manager Tucker Dowt pulled his hair, rubbed his eyes, cried, and fell asleep at his computer.

The colon would be mandatory were we to bullet or otherwise prefix list elements, to result in:

Project Manager Tucker Dowt:

• pulled his hair, • rubbed his eyes, • cried, and • fell asleep at his computer.

What I call an intermediate list includes a comma and/or semi-colon in at least one list element, making it wise to set off each element with a semi-colon rather than a comma. Using bullets often makes the list easier to follow, but sometimes, possibly because of space restrictions, you have to rely on a run-on format:

Poor Tucker had to:

• follow every instruction, even those intended to confuse; • get the paper printed out in time to permit internal review; • have his mentor make insightful (yeah, sure) comments; and • go over the spelling two, three, or more times.

Realistically, the bulleted format makes the list so easy to follow, commas would do instead of semi-colons, but then the rules start getting too complex. Simple = comma. Intermediate = semi-colon, especially so because you might have to convert to run-on later, and then look at what would happen if all you had were commas:

Poor Tucker had to: follow every instruction, even those intended to confuse, get the paper printed out in time to permit internal review, have his mentor make insightful (yeah, sure) comments, and go over the spelling two, three, or more times.

A complex list often has sentences intermingled with phrases, uses two or three types of punctuation, and so on. In these cases, the simplest way of handling the list is through bullets, with each bullet marking the beginning of a sentence or a list inclusion that (rules of grammar be damned) is treated like a sentence, even though it isn't one. As an example:



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Tucker Dowt took the following steps to develop his report. He: • Obtained information on the most effective ways of developing a

questionnaire. • Referred to an encyclopedia. (He selected a hard-copy rather than

electronic version.) • Spoke with four principals, including two from his firm and one each

from two others. • Wrote everything he needed to in just six minutes. (Or was that

months?) 28. Consider Other List Issues

When introducing a list, you generally do not need to say “as follows” when readers can see the listed elements follow. As such, “My preferences are:” is better than “My preferences are as follows:”

When listing something like preferences, you may find it appropriate to indicate

how you selected the listing method; e.g., “My choices are, alphabetically:….” If you list by preference, be precise; indicate if the list is in descending order (most to least preferred, which is most common) or in ascending order. Overkill? See item no. 8, Be More Precise. Why give someone a one-in-a-million shot of using your own words against you when, by investing a half-second, you can almost eliminate the possibility?

Should you highlight list elements by using bullets, numbers, letters, etc.? Usually

some type of indication is helpful to the reader, and it generally doesn’t matter what type of elements you use. However, if you intend to refer to listed elements or choices, it may be most effective to say “Choice no. 6 (ringing in the new year),” so you do not have to repeat the entire listing. Be wary of list elements that contain numbers. For example:

My choices are, in descending order of preference: 1. topic no. 6, 2. topic no. 1, 3. topic no. 24, or 4. topic no 5. In that situation, bullets would probably suffice anyway, because we introduced

the list with “in descending order of preference.” However, using numbers creates an element of confusion. Accordingly, if a writer wants to use a “belt-and-suspenders approach,” the best choice might be:

My choices are, in descending order of preference: a. topic no. 6, b. topic no. 1,



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c. topic no. 24, or d. topic no 5. 29. Consider the Visual Component of Written Communication How something looks on a page affects our response to it. Breaking up your copy

with bullets and subheads can often be a big help. Be aware, too, of the use of indents and spacing to make things appear easier to read. Is it better to have fewer pages but have those pages single-spaced and loaded with small type, or have more pages with a larger typeface, more “lead” between the lines, bullets, and so on? My preference is the latter, and I doubt I’m alone. Let me also call your attention to justifying your copy left and right. It makes things visually boring and, more often than not, results in some awkward space between words in some lines. My preference is flush left and ragged right.

30. Use Correct Professional Terminology

Customers do not hire professionals for a job. Clients retain, engage, or commission professionals for an assignment, project, or commission. Likewise, professionals do not perform a scope of work. They perform, or implement, or execute a scope of service. (Contractors do work; professionals perform services.) A work product creates the impression that a professional’s deliverable or instrument of professional service is a product, thus potentially invoking product (strict) liability, rather than professional liability, which is why product is also a taboo word (see no. 3). Field technician or engineering technician is not professional terminology, in my judgment, because the term fails to indicate – as it should – that the “tech” represents the professional in the field; that the professional is 100% responsible and personally liable for everything the field representative says and does while on a project site.

31. Capitalize Properly

a. Proper Nouns We capitalize (i.e., use an initial capital) for proper nouns like John or Los Angeles. Some folks go way beyond that, by capitalizing words like Engineer, Schedule, and so forth. If you do this because of some valid stylistic preference of the firm, so be it (but I'd sure ask why the preference exists, just to learn). And be certain to apply such weird capitalization consistently, so people are not confused (and cannot claim to have been confused) because of inconsistency. In one report I reviewed, the author referred to a group of cities known collectively as the “Northern Coast area.” Two sentences later he changed it to the “Northern Coast Area,” and in the paragraph after that, he changed it again, to “northern Coast area.” A word to the wise: If you intend to employ weird capitalization, do a separate proofreading “sweep” through which you check for nothing except consistency in capitalization. (Also refer to no. 42, Be Consistent.)



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b. Personnel Titles Be mindful that a person’s title within an organization, when merged with the person’s name, usually is capitalized, but otherwise is not. Thus, we could have:

Program Manager John Bachner seems awfully full of himself.

The program manager, John Bachner, seems awfully full of himself. John Bachner, program manager, seems awfully full of himself.

Likewise, “Tom is a principal of the firm,” not “…Principal…”, but it would be correct to write “Firm Principal Tom Jones….” c. For Purposes of Differentiation Do not use “initial caps” to differentiate one type of something from another; e.g., do not use Engineer to mean the engineer of record, and engineer to mean some other engineer. Problems can arise when one of the words is capitalized when it shouldn’t be, or when the other is lower-cased when it shouldn’t be. At the very least, use an acronym or initialism to differentiate, so that you could refer to the engineer of record using the initialism EOR or EoR. We’re aware of a firm that for many years used Site to refer to the site of a project, and site to mean a nonproject site. Doing so is unwise. Again, an acronym or initialism of some kind seems called for, where, for example, the 3.5-acre site of the new Smith Capital Assets Building is referred to as the Smith CAB site; SCAB would also be a possibility, although a somewhat unpleasant one.

d. Acronyms and Initialisms

We create acronyms (a set of initials we can easily pronounce, like NASCAR) and initialisms (initials we speak of by using the letters, like NCAA) by using partial capitalization (such as EoR, above) or “all caps” (e.g., EOR) to signify that what we’ve created is an acronym or initialism (a symbol) and not a word (like “SCAB” and not “scab” from the example in no. 31d, above). Using capital letters to designate an acronym does not mean that the term being symbolized must be capitalized; e.g., ESA is an acronym for environmental site assessment, not Environmental Site Assessment. Accordingly:

Our firm conducts environmental site assessments (ESAs). e. Publication Titles

When referring to a title (of a book, newspaper, magazine article, blog, ezine, et al.), use “initial caps” for every word except articles (a, an, and the), conjunctions (and, or, but, et al.), and prepositions (to, on, behind, etc.), unless the article, preposition, or conjunction is the first word of the title. The alternative is to



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capitalize the first letter of every word of the title, which tends to look weird. (If you were taught that you don’t capitalize “little words” like “is,” you were taught wrong.) Important: Titles should be shown in an italic font or should be within quotes (see no. 36, below). Generally speaking, more substantial works, like books, are italicized, but that does not mean italics would be incorrect to indicate the title of a magazine or magazine article. When both a magazine and an article are involved, or something similar, consider italicizing the more significant of the two; e.g.:

Please refer to the “Limitations” section of our report, Subsurface Study for the Beanstock High-Rise.

f. Academic Degrees When referenced formally, the degree receives initial caps; e.g.: George somehow earned a Bachelor of Science degree. Otherwise, initial caps do not apply; e.g., “He earned a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree; I forget which.”

32. Replace Clichés and Archaisms

Technical professionals (among others) use clichés without thinking how meaningless, or confusing, or inexact they are...nor how they tend to make a writer from Firm A sound identical to a writer from Firm B. Some common clichés (and simple alternatives) are:

Enclosed please find… (I enclose…) I am in receipt of… (I have received…)

Please do not hesitate to call… (Please call me or send an e-mail…) Time is of the essence… (I recognize that you need this by…) At your earliest convenience… (I hope to hear from you by…) I often refer to clichés as archaisms, because the expressions are so old. I refer to

certain old and out-of-date words as “archaisms” if only because they are not clichés. As examples:

…amongst… (…among…) …often times… (…often…)



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…towards… (…toward…) 33. Go around Each (and Other Words That Have the Same Effect), He, She

Each singularizes, and that can create a problem when the group referred to comprises males and females. As an example of singularization, Each FOPP enrollee participates in the seminar. Nonetheless, we'll commonly see constructions that ignore this obviousness; e.g., Each of the FOPP participants is supposed to bring their brain with them. The subject of the sentence is each (participants is the object of the preposition of) and, as a consequence, their is wrong. (I also discuss this in no. 17, Watch out for Pronouns.) The correct sentence would then get us into awkwardness, given that we'd have Each of the FOPP participants is supposed to bring his or her brain with him or her, respectively. Aside from the fact that some folks may assume you cannot tell boys from girls, the sentence just sounds bad. You could make it somewhat better by eliminating the last five words, to derive ...is supposed to bring his or her brain., but that sounds awkward, too. Some people get around this through the construct s/he when the nominative form is involved, but that truly is awful.

Is it possible that the language developed over a time when males dominated and now it just cannot be fixed? No! The solution is simple: Pluralize. Get rid of each which, more often than not, is unnecessary: FOPP participants are supposed to bring their brains with them. (Some pedants may spend hours debating the issue of brains vs. brain, saying that the singular makes it clear that each participant has only one brain. But we have better things to do with our time.)

Note that each does not have to be present for this guidance to apply; e.g., instead

of writing, A professional needs to be mindful of their ethics. try Professionals need to be mindful of their ethics.

34. Indicate Possessives Properly

People seem to have a great deal of difficulty with possessive forms. To make a singular noun possessive, one adds an apostrophe and then an s (e.g., the team’s role in the project), unless the word ends in an s. In the latter instance, one can either add ’s or just an apostrophe; e.g., the loss’s magnitude or the loss' magnitude.

When a plural possessive is involved, usually just an apostrophe is added to the concluding s (e.g., the teams’ roles in the project or the losses’ magnitudes). When the plural form does not end in an s, treat the word like a singular; e.g., gymnasia’s.

A simple general rule to follow is to add only an apostrophe if the word (singular or plural) ends in s, and ’s if it doesn't end in s.



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Watch out for personal pronouns, because they do not use apostrophes to connote possessive; e.g., its is possessive; it’s is a contraction for it is, and its’ means whoever wrote it needs to review a fifth-grade grammar text (its’ is not a real word).

35. Understand Parentheses and Punctuate Properly When Using Them A parenthetical statement is, in essence, an aside (remember Shakespearian drama?) that you handle as though it were not there; e.g.:

John and his dog run fast. John (and his dog) runs fast.

The same applies to punctuation:

John Doe, CEO of Doe/Raymey Associates, sang for sixpence. John Doe (CEO of Doe/Raymey Associates) sang for sixpence.

Note that a sentence that begins inside parentheses will have the ending punctuation inside, too. A sentence that begins outside parentheses has its conclusion outside, too:

(John Doe sang for sixpence.) John Doe was a sketch (if you call singing for sixpence funny). 36. Punctuate Properly inside Quotes and outside

With a few relatively rare exceptions, U.S. style locates commas and periods inside quote marks, and other forms of punctuation (semi-colons, for example) go outside. In other English-speaking countries, commas and periods go outside the quote marks, too.

37. Use Single Quotes Properly Use single quotes to indicate a quote within a quote; e.g., He said, “She said, ‘Buzz off.’” Use double quotes when you are using a somewhat novel word for the first time I call them “fluffleduffels.” or are using a word to express irony According to the “expert,” two plus two equal five.



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Some people use single quotes for such applications, but I don’t know why.

38. Get e.g. and i.e. Right

The abbreviation e.g. stands for the Latin phrase exempli gratia; it means “for example.” The abbreviation i.e. stands for the Latin phrase id est, meaning “that is.” “For example” and “that is” do not mean the same thing; i.e., get i.e. and e.g. right.

39. Realize That “And” and “&” Are Not the Same Some folks incorporate an ampersand (&) in the name of a company. As you know, an ampersand is a symbol for “and.” Please do not use it in your writing to mean “and.” If you do, I will regard it as somewhat unprofessional, & get angry. Your grade will be <what it otherwise would be.

40. Tell the Reader What Is, Not What Isn’t

I don’t feel that’s necessary. Oh? Then what do you feel it is? Tall? Refined? I wasn’t upset. What were you? Nostalgic? Ill? I don’t believe they are the same. So what do you believe they are? Similar? Be conscious of common forms of expression that seem to communicate information, but which, when analyzed, do not. You can avoid misunderstanding by saying or writing things positively; e.g., In my judgment, that’s unnecessary., I took the news calmly., and I believe the two are significantly different.

41. Enhance Your Correspondence Style a. Salutation

In conventional correspondence, people usually write Dear Name followed by a colon (in business) or a comma when the letter is more personal (like a thank-you letter). For whatever reason, when people correspond by e-mail or fax, some folks just use a person’s name; e.g., John, and then hurry on with the message. Because many people regard Dear as a strange way to begin an e-mail, and because Tom, Dick, or Harriet seems brusque and unfriendly, try Hi, Tom., or Greetings, Dick., or Good morning, Harriet., instead. You can also dispense with a salutation and integrate the individual’s name in an opening line; e.g., I enjoyed speaking with you, Tom. or Congratulations, Dick. I heard about your…. or As usual, Harriet, you hit the nail on the head when you…. The same would apply to a fax cover sheet, although the conventional Dear Name approach works okay, too.

b. Attention and Salutation In business-to-business correspondence, from a legal perspective, your

organization (via you as its representative) is writing to another organization. Because you are writing to a known entity who represents the other organization, you have your organization-to-organization correspondence sent



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to the attention of that known entity. Accordingly, if you were writing to the General Widget Corporation, to the attention of its vice president, John Doe, you would set up like this:

General Widget Corporation 1234 Main Street Widgetville, NE 12345-6789 Attn.: John Doe, Vice President Dear Mr. Doe: You would not write Ladies and Gentlemen:, Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:, or

Dear Sirs: unless you knew Mr. Doe to have severe multiple personality disorder.

c. The Letter Is Not from You Given what’s directly above, whom is your letter from? You or the

organization you represent? Obviously, it’s the organization you represent, and failing to make that crystal-clear exposes you to personal liability. (Admittedly, it’s a teeny, tiny exposure, but why create it at all?) When closing a business letter, try:

Sincerely, So & So Associates Thomas A. Gogo Associate d. Attach, Append, Enclose The issue here is precise language. No matter what Bill Gates and other

language-batterers would have you believe, you cannot attach by e-mail. The pervasiveness of the usage (like – ugh – logon instead of log on) causes one to say, “I’m not going to fight city hall on this one.” Still, append or, possibly, embed is better (in my judgment), because you cannot attach anything to anything in cyberspace, nor can you attach when it comes out of the recipient’s printer; only the recipient can attach. The same applies when you send something by fax; you can append, but you cannot attach. You could, however, “attach”, using the quote marks to indicate you are using a word that doesn’t really mean what it says. Note, too, that you cannot enclose things via e-mail or fax, because there’s nothing to enclose “it” in. But you could “enclose”. Nitpicking pettifoggery? Perhaps. But I prefer to think of it as being (or becoming) extremely sensitized to the accuracy of the words one selects, because professionals are supposed to be precise. Remember, a



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plaintiff’s attorney might allege or imply that, because you were not precise in your language, you probably were not precise when it came to your calculations. By contrast, the obvious precision of a professional has actually discouraged claims from being filed.

e. Letterhead If you are providing a covering letter of some type, use letterhead. If you do

not, I will assume that you do not hold me in high enough esteem; that you use letterhead only for the good client representatives.

f. Transmittal Sheet A preprinted, fill-in-the-boxes transmittal sheet says to me, “We like treating

our client representatives like numbers rather than people. It’s so much easier to put checkmarks in boxes than it is to use some type of personal greeting.” If you feel compelled to use such a transmittal sheet, then be certain to use the “Remarks” box to handwrite something that conveys personality; that shows me what is written was prepared by a person and not a robot.

g. e-Mail Subject Line Make the subject line comprise a thumbnail of the content of your message.

As threads get longer, the topic starts often to change; e.g., “Question about ‘detailed’” correctly identifies an e-mail whose author is asking what “detailed outline” means. The same e-mail with “RE: FOPP Initial Submission Schedule” in the subject line references a prior e-mail that conveyed a schedule that provoked uncertainty and has just about nothing to do with the subject of the new e-mail.

42. Be Consistent

If you do something debatable or wrong consistently, you at least convey an image of being careful to do it the same way. The “it” could be a manner of punctuation, capitalization, or whatever. However, when you capitalize, say, “Consultant” in one sentence, but then write “consultant” in another, your inconsistency reflects a lack of understanding, a lack of quality control, and an attitude that could be inferred to be, “I just don’t care.”

43. Warn Readers When a Document Is a Draft When you are submitting a draft, such as the second report submission, be sure to mark it DRAFT and define what that means, or provide an advisory in that respect; e.g.:

DO NOT RELY ON THIS DOCUMENT.

DRAFT FOR REVIEW ONLY.



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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR ATTRIBUTION.

44. Abbreviate Dates So Your Intent Is Unmistakable The date 2/1/18 means February 1, 2018 to many people. It also means January 2, 2018 to many people. No one could confuse Feb/1/18 for January 2, 2018. Given that people commonly say “Friday” when they mean “Saturday” and “February 1” when they mean “February 2,” you will find that also specifying the day of the week (Fri, Feb/1/08) comprises what could be an important quality-assurance procedure. (If you so specify without checking a calendar, and you’re wrong, there’s a far better likelihood that the reader(s) will catch the mistake.)

45. Don’t Add a List-Ender When Exemplifying When preparing a short list of examples, do not end the list with etc., et al., and so on, or other words to that effect, because doing so defeats the purpose of having examples. Consider the following sentence, for example: Refer to letters of the alphabet, such as A, B, C, and so on. By using and so on, I perverted the meaning of such as, making it equal all the choices, not just a few example choices, because and so on is inclusive and thus refers to the letters D-Z. The correct approach would be to write, Refer to letters of the alphabet, such as A, B, and C.

and in that way provide examples only. I could also write,

Refer to letters of the alphabet; i.e., A, B, C, et al. which would be acceptable because i.e. means “that is,” not “for example”; see no. 38, Get e.g. and i.e. Right.

Documents

Writing Skills 11...Version 11.5/July 23, 2019 Improve Your Writing Skills A Message from John Bachner Professionals are society’s best. That’s why people expect technical professionals