Hardly anyone can write a really good first draft. Even for short articles or blogposts, it is best to write it, put it aside, and look at it later. If you submit something to a print publication, it may have a copy editor on staff. On the web, you simply have to do it yourself. In another Factoid I have already shown how to choose between that and which.
This article explores some other easy things to look for.
First, check your spelling, grammar, and syntax.
People used to complain about having to know the right way to spell a word in order to look it up, but electronic spell checkers have taken that excuse away. Factoidz allows authors to check spelling by clicking one button on the editing screen, and so do similar sites.
It doesn’t take most neophyte on-line writers long to learn the risks of losing work entirely by composing directly on a site’s editor. Authors soon learn to start with some kind of word processing program as well. Even Apple’s bare-bones TextEdit automatically changes some common misspellings and underlines any word not in its dictionary in red. The red does not necessarily mean that you have misspelled the word; surely any spell checker will mark "Factoidz."
Nevertheless, the red warns of a possible error. Investigate and change as appropriate. Numerous misspelled words in an article expose the author’s carelessness in writing and cause prospective readers to wonder about similar carelessness in fact checking and reasoning.
Examining the red is the first and easiest part of checking spelling. Unfortunately, a correctly spelled word might simply be the wrong word. Look for homonyms like its/it’s, to/too/two, air/heir, their/they’re/there, etc., to verify that you have typed the word you really mean, not something that sounds similar. (It helps to know when and when not to use an apostrophe.)
Microsoft Word, at least, marks suspicious grammar (as well as such errors as two spaces between words) in green. As with spelling, you can look at the online suggestions and make changes automatically. Beware, however; sometimes the suggestions actually entail changing a correct usage that does not conform to the software’s algorithm to an incorrect usage that does. Electronic help cannot substitute for your own knowledge.
Make sure "this" or "that" is not the subject of a sentence.
The strongest, clearest writing comes from choosing strong nouns and verbs that communicate meaning. "This" and "that" are adjectives. Why do so many authors make one of them the subject instead of a noun? We probably talk that way all the time, but we listen with our ears and read with our eyes. Speech goes by quickly; written language gets digested more slowly.
If you find you have written a sentence whose subject is "this," ask yourself, "this what?" That is probably what you want to use for your subject. (Oops! The answer to the question is probably what you want to use for your subject.)
Using either of these adjectives alone where a noun belongs not only robs your writing of the strength and interest of the right noun, but might add an unwanted ambiguity. This section of my article has focused on eliminating these words, used alone, as the subject of a sentence, but look at every instance of either one. More often than not, the problem appears in the subject, but using either word alone as an object would have the same problems.
Sometimes it may be enough to add an appropriate noun after "this" or "that." Sometimes the greatest improvement comes from substituting a noun for the misused adjective.
Look at all forms of "to be"
Most verbs portray some kind of action. "To be" (including am, is, are, was, were) means only some kind of existence. Any other verb is stronger and more vivid. Active voice is stronger than passive voice, which, after all consists of some form of "to be" plus a past participle.
Both "to be" and passive voice exist in language because we could not properly communicate either in speech or writing without them. On the other hand, many writers overuse them.
Lazy perhaps? Here’s an extreme case: I was a substitute teacher once in an elementary school class. The lesson plan told me to ask the students to write sentences using a list of ten adjectives. The first student to hand in a paper had merely written, "My friend is a ________ friend" ten times, filling the blank with each word in turn. She demonstrated no understanding of the meaning of any of the words.
No one with ambition enough to write articles online would deliberately cop out that way, but from the number of times "is" appears in some articles I have read, it appears that many authors do not look to see if they can find a more interesting way to write the sentence.
If your intention is to evade personal responsibility for something or to cloud your meaning, nothing serves the purpose better than passive voice. Bureaucrats and diplomats excel at using long strings of passive verbs for obfuscation. Writers for article sites have no need to crawl under the desk and hide behind vague language, but overuse of the passive voice can weaken the effect of their work.
So look for every form of "to be" and ask, can I find better way to express this thought? Is there a more vivid verb? Would it clarify my thought to recast this sentence in active voice? The answer may be that it is best to leave it alone, but more likely, you will greatly improve your article by recasting the sentence.
This article took me longer than usual to draft, because I tried to take my own good advice while I wrote. But sure enough, I overused "to be." I also noticed other ways to improve sentences here and there. I improved the article by giving it that second look.
