"Avoid it", the style guides write, "unless you really know what you are doing". The implication is you don't. With examples like "a book is bought by me", they show the passive voice's clumsy wordiness. It requires "more cognitive effort", points out one guide, though so to be honest does the very next sentence, "this … Continue reading You’ve been had. The passive voice was never bad.
Category: Effective writing tells a story
Why “Minimalism” doesn’t mean “plain writing”
John Carroll's sound instructional principles became known as Minimalism — a term that would frequently be mistaken for the idea of just writing less.
Redundancy is Not a Crime
The grammar police may criticise our doubleplusungood writing, but our loyalty should be with more plausible authorities — our global audience.
Serve Content in Tasty Chunks
Well-thought-out content sets are like a good stew — each chunk has a distinct role. Carrots bring sweetness; potatoes, substance. In the same way, carefully designed information is served in purposeful pages whose structure reflects their intent.
Does Your Writing Tool Leave Space to Build a Story?
Every piece of business writing should tell a story. But constructing an argument or plot takes focus. Helpful tools remove the distraction of presentation and allow direct manipulation of the logical structure.
The Author is Alive: A Reading of Marcia Riefer Johnston’s “Word Up!”
"Word Up!" is a required read for anyone who's interested in language, wants to improve their writing, or just needs a clickworthy headline about a weird Chinese goat.
How Just a Little Data Analysis Can Improve Your Content
Slides from a webinar I presented on February 5th, 2013, organized by [Comtech Services](http://comtech-serv.com/).
