General rules:
- Don’t try to tell the whole story
- Be specific and use concrete terms
- Focus on one thing at a time
- Write conversational English
- Write factually and accurately
- Write in the active voice
- Write a beginning, a middle and an end
- Start strong
- Simplify
Do
- Tell stories in a LOGICAL order.
- Write as you talk and talk as you write. (Keep sentences short. If you have a long sentence, follow it up with a short one)
- One thought per sentence. Just one!
- Use the PRESENT tense.
- Use the ACTIVE voice.
- Paint pictures with your words. (Let the viewer make the conclusion – you tell/describe what’s going on.)
- Describe people, don’t label them. (Tell exactly what they do as opposed to using their official title.)
- Use verbs as adjectives. (eg. If you say “he struts or saunters…” you’re giving a picture without using an adjective.)
- Treasure small words.
- Make freight trains. (Don’t pile up adjectives)
- Use acronyms.
- Stop at danger words like “who” and ‘which”.
- Say what you don’t need. Be direct.
- Use clichés.
- Use jargon.
- Use vague language. Be specific.
- Use synonyms or elegant variations.
- Use numbers. If you have to use them, write them out in your script and round them off.
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