Write Right - Defence Academy of the United Kingdom

What is effective writing?Some people would say that writing is effective as long as it isgrammatically correct. But grammatically correct sentences don’talways make sense. If grammatically correct was the only thing weneeded to worry about the following 2 passages would be alright.A meeting to discuss the use of the Stn squash courts as atemporary morgue during Exercise BLOWHARD will take place at1000 in the Stn Conference Room. All interested bodies are invitedto attend.Cpl Barber was only slightly injured when attacked by a fellow doghandler’s Alsatian. The OIC RAF Police said the dog would begiven another chance.Both passages are grammatically correct, and we may think that weknow what the authors meant. But because the meaning is ambiguousthe writing cannot be described as effective.To make up sound yet useable hard-and-fast rules for effective writing isvery difficult. With English there is often no single correct method ofputting things; ideas can usually be expressed in several different ways.Also, English is a living language in that it changes over time. So ifenough people were to say we was for long enough, it would eventuallyreplace we were as the accepted form.It is perhaps better if we say that:Writing is effective if it achieves the purpose that the writerintended.In this booklet we offer guiding principles that will help you to writeeffectively. They are not strictly rules; rules, as the old proverb goes, are‘for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools’. Let’s start bylooking at exactly what it is that makes writing effective.4