Chapter 1 -- Writing Myths and Truths If a writer were to pen a book titled "The Only Way to Write," she would have guts, but that's about all. Even if her book were technically perfect and complete, the premise is all wrong. In the matter of writing, one of the few things on which writers can agree is that they will disagree, sometimes to a great degree. I have seen writers argue over the appropriate spelling of adviser (advisor?) and spend vital energy discussing whether to capitalize all the words of a book title, or only the ones with more than three letters. Some newspaper headline writers would break up a family before separating a verb from its helpers, while others think the helpers and verbs are perfectly capable of surviving alone. The rules are bewildering; who is correct? Are there any rules about writing that you can make stick? Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Much of the time, with some exceptions. Longer answer: You'll do best if you know most of the rules, then open your mind. This is like adding your own ingredient to a recipe because you know in your gut that the result will be excellent. This introductory chapter to Good Writing Made Simple offers some of the truths and myths about our subject and attempts to walk in the middle between people who insist on the rules and people who believe no rules are good rules. Good writing requires standards, but which ones? Some rules exist that may have had some purpose long ago, but like wisdom teeth, the reason for their being has long since passed and no one remembers why they were important. They are just there, taking up valuable rule space. Still, the rule monitors will insist they be observed. This chapter cannot begin to list all the rules for good writing and won't attempt to. We want these lessons to be short. Plus, we don't know all the rules. The purpose of this lesson, instead, is to arm you to make your own decisions about which rules are important for the kind of writing you want to do. TRUTH 1: To write well, you must read. Not to copy someone else's style, but to discover how people use the language, to be exposed to the ideas of others, to discover facts you didn't know before. Even to increase your vocabulary. All kinds of reading works, from the newspaper to a biography to a novel to the Bible. Ideally, it should be something you enjoy. But you should expose yourself to a variety of writing, not only something you think is easy or fun. TRUTH 2: Correct spelling is important. U dont uhgree? Thenk u shud bee abl 2 rite wat u wont witout wureeng abot mizspeled wurds? Spelling words the way they sound is all right if you really don't care about being understood or respected. But people who want to share their ideas and care about what others think should try to spell correctly as an aid to quick and correct understanding. Remember when your little brother was learning how to color and didn't know yet that the color was supposed to go INSIDE the lines? You tried to teach him -- right? -- by telling him that no one could tell what the picture was unless he stayed inside the lines? Writing is the same way. It's helpful if each word is spelled a certain way and we all stick with that spelling or something reasonably similar. Doesn't mean you have to know how to spell every word in the world. But it does mean that when you're not sure of a word, you should look it up. Don't just ask Mom or Dad or your older sister. YOU look it up. (You don't ask someone else to brush your teeth, do you?) TRUTH 3: Simple words are often the best. Some people think if a 25-cent word is good, a 50-cent word meaning the same thing is better. Wrong. The reason for using the simplest word you know is very similar to the reason for spelling correctly (see TRUTH 2). Do you really want people to know what you mean? Yes? Then use the shortest words you can find that express clearly what you mean. A waiter at an expensive restaurant once asked, "And what kind of LICK-wid will you be having with that?" While "liquid" is not exactly a 50-cent word, the waiter was trying for some reason to avoid its 25-cent sister, "drink." Remember, short is better than long, one syllable better than two and way better than three. Common words are fine, unless you are using "common" to mean something other than "normal," or "average." Yes, "common" has more than one meaning. Look it up. TRUTH 4: Good grammar are important. If you don't think so, then the previous sentence is probably fine with you. You may not care if you sound like an uneducated hick when you speak or write. If you do care, then make your subjects and verbs agree. Learn what a prepositional phrase is. Learn the difference between sink, sank and sunk. Use "ain't" only if you're writing fiction and an uneducated hick has the floor. Learn when to use a period, a semicolon and a comma. Know what a run-on sentence is. TRUTH 5: People rarely speak and write the same way. So your best friend's mother may say "ain't" even though she is not an uneducated hick. This could mean that she knows the rule and is breaking it for some reason. Correcting her is not wise. And if you cannot help yourself, correct gingerly. Your outcome probably would be better if you just told yourself that your friend's mother misused the word and not say anything to anyone else. Because... TRUTH 6: Using good manners is important, too. But that's another discussion. TRUTH 7. Active voice is more interesting than passive and also offers more information. Take a simple test. Which of the two sentences below is more interesting and informative?     Sentence 1: The vending machines were removed from the school even though it was shown that some of their foods were nutritious.     Sentence 2: The superintendent banned the vending machines from the school even though the health teacher proved some of the food was good for students. If you chose the second sentence, you have learned the lesson. If you chose the first sentence, read them both again until you get it. And remember: In active voice, the subject takes the action. In passive voice, the subject is hidden. The action is done to someone or something, but you don't know who the doer was. I ask you, is that fair? Don't you want to know WHO removed the vending machines? We're going to end with seven because we can tell you're getting tired. You're not? OK, we're getting tired. NEXT CHAPTER: Words are our friends. Treat them well.