Successful Article Writing - Style and Phraseology by Liz Canham

This is delicate because it's rather subjective and down to personal preference, but I like to see a balance between totally correct written English and the normal spoken word, so that the end result doesn't seem too stilted.

As an editor, I won't reject something with a sentence starting "OK, now you've written your list, you need to whatever" although it's not strictly grammatically correct, because it sounds natural. I do, however, hate the continual use of "And", "But", "So", "Also" and similar words to start a sentence. It isn't necessary. Look at it like this; you wouldn't start the first sentence of an article with any of those words because it wouldn't make sense, so why is it supposed to be alright because the sentence is in the middle of a paragraph?


Here is an example: "When I first went to school, we were only allowed to play tennis at weekends. But in 1972, the rules changed and we could also play on Tuesdays."


This should be one sentence. There is absolutely no need to start a new sentence with "But", a comma will suffice and then you have "When I first went to school, we were only allowed to play tennis at weekends, but in 1972, the rules changed and we could also play on Tuesdays."


Similarly, "When I first went to school, we were only allowed to play tennis at weekends, which was annoying. And we still had to wear our school games kit."


Again, a new sentence is being started where it isn't needed and where it doesn't make any sense. This should read "When I first went to school, we were only allowed to play tennis at weekends, which was annoying, and we still had to wear our school games kit." Alternatively, you might say "When I first went to school, we were only allowed to play tennis at weekends, which was annoying. In addition, we still had to wear our school games kit."


End of lecture, that's just one of my little bugbears.


Overuse of keywords is another problem which I encounter frequently. Some search engine optimisation software suggests that you can't have too many keywords in an article, but I disagree. It's irritating and doesn't make for interesting reading for your human visitors. Why not use "it", "them", "he/she", "that" or "this" sometimes, instead of the noun.


Style really is difficult to write about, as everyone has different ideas on what is right and what isn't. Personally, I'm not fond of a succession of short sentences as they sound as if they've been written by a six year old. I would much prefer to see: "The lion is quite a placid animal, if he doesn't feel threatened and will rarely attack humans.", rather than "The lion is quite a placid animal. The lion doesn't attack humans except when he's frightened.".


If you are selling articles, be aware of the gender of the purchaser. A great big chap may not feel entirely comfortable publishing articles entitled "Weddings - My Wedding Dress" or those which include phrases such as "When I went through the menopause…..".


You may also want to avoid other overtly intimate subject matter. Stop and think whether people really want to read the gory details of YOUR divorce, or would they rather hear in general terms about the possible consequences of divorce.


Liz Canham is the webmistress of Liz-e-Biz.com which offers tips, tools and training for internet marketing newcomers.

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