Although style varies and what constitutes a good writing style is somewhat subjective, the following guidelines can help you write with style:
Keep it simple. Writing doesn’t have to be complicated to be good. It needs to be clear and direct. Unless you have a reason to do otherwise, stick with relatively short sentences and paragraphs.
Establish a smooth and logical flow. Good writing flows smoothly from word to word, sentence to sentence, and paragraph to paragraph. A smooth and logical flow is often the product of a clear idea, the right structure, and meticulous organization. When writing has a strong central idea, heavy-handed transition words—such as although, therefore, and in conclusion—aren’t needed as much to transition from one sentence or paragraph to the next.
USAGE TIDBIT
You can often create subtle transitions by repeating a key word from a sentence or paragraph in the sentence or paragraph that follows it. These transitions can help your writing hold together for the reader, kind of like how I just repeated transitions.
Develop an attitude. Be conscious of the tone you’re setting. Do you want to come across as serious or playful, intimate or detached, angry or conciliatory, tough or tender?
Start most sentences with a subject-verb combo. The subject is the person, place, or thing that’s acting or being. The verb is the action or condition. Starting with a subject-verb combo helps you avoid many common flaws in style.
Vary your sentence structure. Although you should start most sentences with a subject-verb combo, you can combine sentences, add phrases and clauses, and experiment with syntax to establish an engaging rhythm and pace.
Write mostly in the active voice. Active voice makes the subject of the sentence clear. Passive voice omits or hides the subject. Check out these examples:
Active: NASA launched the satellite into orbit.
Passive: The satellite was launched into orbit.
Although passive voice is suitable in certain situations when you want to gloss over the subject, you should usually write in the active voice, which is much clearer and easier to read.
Write with concrete nouns and action verbs. By choosing vivid nouns and strong verbs, you won’t need as many adjectives, adverbs, and phrases.
Choose precise words. You can often reduce wordiness and increase the impact of a message by taking time to choose the right words. Use a thesaurus to scope out your options and a dictionary to narrow your options to the word with just the right meaning.
Trim the fat. Terse expressions have greater impact.
DANGER ZONE
Remain sensitive to a word’s denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (idea or emotion that people commonly associate with the word). Certain words have a positive or negative connotation. Compare the words miserly and frugal. Both words mean to spend money sparingly, but miserly carries the negative connotation of being stingy, whereas frugal carries the positive connotation of managing money wisely.