The Style Book: Crafting Graceful Prose

A NOTE TO THE READER
INTRODUCTION
C-R-E-A-M, “PROOFREADING,” EDITING, MEMO ORGANIZATION

ORGANIZATION
PROBLEM 1—Missing audience
PROBLEM 2—Missing Big Picture
PROBLEM 3—Ideas not grouped
PROBLEM 4—Missing topic sentence
PROBLEM 5—Missing Setup, Development, and Wrap-up
PROBLEM 6—Missing overall unity

EMPHASIS
PROBLEM 7—Key idea missing from sentence beginning
PROBLEM 8—Key idea missing from sentence middle
PROBLEM 9—Key (new) idea or list missing from sentence end
PROBLEM 10—Variety not used to emphasize key idea
PROBLEM 11—Key idea misplaced in minor position
PROBLEM 12—Too many ideas buried in long sentence
PROBLEM 13—Key word or phrase not emphasized
PROBLEM 14—Key word or phrase not repeated
PROBLEM 15—Dash or colon (and emphatic typography) not used to emphasize
PROBLEM 16—Expletive not used to emphasize or connect
PROBLEM 17—Place, date, and time misplaced at sentence end

LOGIC
PROBLEM 18—Shifting sentence topic midstream
PROBLEM 19—Faulty logic ambushing sentence
PROBLEM 20—Illogical verb completing subject
PROBLEM 21—Illogical preposition or particle completing verb

SENTENCE SUBJECTS
PROBLEM 22—Missing sentence subject
PROBLEM 23—Sentence subject delayed
PROBLEM 24—Sentence subject/verb split

VERBS
PROBLEM 25—Too many nonaction verbs
PROBLEM 26—Unnecessary expletive
PROBLEM 27—Unnecessary “to,” “to be,” and “being”
PROBLEM 28—Padded verb
PROBLEM 29—Redundant verb phrase
PROBLEM 30—Unnecessary progressive verb
PROBLEM 31—Inappropriate passive
PROBLEM 32—Mismatched verbs (shifts in tense, voice, and mood)
PROBLEM 33—Split infinitive
PROBLEM 34—Indicative used for subjunctive

OTHER GRAMMAR PUZZLES
PROBLEM 35—Tricky subject/verb agreement
PROBLEM 36—Dangling modifier
PROBLEM 37—Misplaced modifier
PROBLEM 38—Pronoun shift
PROBLEM 39—Vague “it” reference
PROBLEM 40—Vague “this,” “that,” and “which” references
PROBLEM 41—Confusing “who,” “which,” and “that”
PROBLEM 42—Confusing essential/nonessential fragments (“which” or “that”?)
PROBLEM 43—Confusing “who” and “whom”

WORDINESS
PROBLEM 44—Unimportant word repeated
PROBLEM 45—Redundant word twin
PROBLEM 46—Redundant word triplet
PROBLEM 47—Redundant adjective, adverb, and noun
PROBLEM 48—Padded phrases (other than padded verbs)
PROBLEM 49—Redundant general description
PROBLEM 50—Unnecessary qualifier
PROBLEM 51—Unnecessary modifier
PROBLEM 52—Unnecessary “that,” “which,” and “who” clauses
PROBLEM 53—Unnecessary “that” and “that of “
PROBLEM 54—Unnecessary “a,” “an,” and “the”
PROBLEM 55—Unnecessary parallel word
PROBLEM 56—Unnecessary preposition
PROBLEM 57—Unnecessary prepositional phrase
PROBLEM 58—Formula phrase
PROBLEM 59—Sentences that can be combined
PROBLEM 60—Writing about the writing
PROBLEM 61—Writing about yourself
PROBLEM 62—Saying the obvious
PROBLEM 63—Forgotten Big Picture
PROBLEM 64—Wrong level of detail

WORD CHOICE
PROBLEM 65—Not starting sentence with “and” (“but,” “or,” “nor,” “for,” “so,”  “yet,” “because,” etc.)
PROBLEM 66—Not ending sentence with preposition or particle
PROBLEM 67—Wrong definition or word use
PROBLEM 68—Long word for short
PROBLEM 69—Bad (risky) jargon
PROBLEM 70—Too many abstract or general words
PROBLEM 71—Banal (trite, hackneyed) words
PROBLEM 72—Too many clichés
PROBLEM 73—Too many euphemisms
PROBLEM 74—Pretentious (inflated) words
PROBLEM 75—Doublespeak
PROBLEM 76—Too many trendy (buzz) words
PROBLEM 77—Slang
PROBLEM 78—Wrong word ending
PROBLEM 79—Unfriendly tone

PHRASING
PROBLEM 80—Sentences that qualify themselves
PROBLEM 81—Stacked adjective-noun phrase
PROBLEM 82—Sentence parts not parallel
PROBLEM 83—Moving from indirect to direct quotation (and vice versa)
PROBLEM 84—Missing words needed to complete common phrase
PROBLEM 85—Confusing negative words
PROBLEM 86—Place, date, and time out of order
PROBLEM 87—Size and shape out of order
PROBLEM 88—Number, judgment, neutral description, and noun out of order
PROBLEM 89—Adverb out of order
PROBLEM 90—Cadence out of order

REPETITION
PROBLEM 91—Monotonous sentence lengths
PROBLEM 92—Monotonous sentence patterns
PROBLEM 93—Words with same length or sentence position
PROBLEM 94—Unintentional echo

TRANSITIONS
PROBLEM 95—Missing common transition
PROBLEM 96—Missing pass-the-ball transition
PROBLEM 97—Missing parallel word-and-phrase transition
PROBLEM 98—Missing common-denominator transition
PROBLEM 99—Missing padded-verb transition
PROBLEM 100—Missing associative-thought transition

PUNCTUATION
PROBLEM 101—Missing and misused punctuation (nine problems)

EXERCISES
SUGGESTED ANSWERS

EIGHT WORD LISTS
1. A List of Bad (Risky) Jargon
2. A List of Words to Watch
3. A List of Word Confusions
4. A List of Recent Clichés
5. A List of Formula Phrases
6. A List of Word Twins and Triplets
7. A List of Action Verbs
8. A List of Common Transitions

GLOSSARY
SUGGESTED READINGS
INDEX