(1)  Use concrete words. Concrete words are easy to understand because they relate to the five senses. For example, the term M16A2 is meaningful to a military audience because it represents an object that you can see, feel, and use. Abstract words, on the other hand, are hard to understand because they fail to recall experiences of the five senses. Some language experts describe words in terms of an abstraction ladder.

(2)  Use common words. You will find that it is harder to write "gobbledygook" than simple language because you must translate common words into uncommon, impressive sounding words. Many writers use "gobbledygook" because they believe it adds dignity to their writing.

(3)  Use familiar words. Some words cover such a broad field that the reader is unable to decide what you mean. Avoid vague, ambiguous words or ideas that obscure your topic. Consider the following example where unrelated and distant words and ideas hide the real meaning.

(4)  Avoid wordiness. Use words that have meaning to your audience. Often our writing is cluttered with words that add nothing. We use words that could be omitted; we use phrases when a word would do. Learn to recognize this "excess baggage" and delete it from your writing. Following are three wordy sentences with examples showing how you can improve them.

(5)  Avoid stilted words and phrases. Some words or phrases are used so exclusively in writing that they have an artificial, stilted flavor; while you may need to use such words occasionally, try to find plain common terms instead. Compare the following examples:

(6)  Avoid overworked words and phrases. Some words and phrases have become trite and tiresome. Ordinary and simple words attract by their simplicity and naturalness. Look for fresh but common words that clearly communicate. Notice the difference between the following expressions.

(7)  Don't bury your verbs. Verbs are relation showing words. They show action (we go), state (he became), feeling (she likes), or existence (you are). A buried verb is one that has been hidden in other words. Buried verbs decrease the forcefulness of your writing while increasing the potential for misunderstanding. If you free these verbs, they will add force to your writing. We bury verbs by adding the ending ance, ent, al, ing, ed, tion, sion, and age. Consider the following example:

The need for investigation of the sounds became apparent to them.

The need to investigate the sounds appeared to them.

(1)  Avoid misused modifiers. Modifiers, whether they are words or phrases, should be near the words they modify. If you use modifiers carelessly, you will confuse your reader. There are three general types of misused modifiers: dangling modifiers, misplaced modifiers, and ambiguous modifiers. Any of the three will lead to confusion, as shown in the following examples.

(2)  Watch for faulty pronoun references. A pronoun should be placed as near as possible to its antecedent so that no intervening word is mistaken for the antecedent. If necessary repeat the antecedent to prevent misunderstanding. Further, pronouns should agree in number with the nouns to which they refer.

(3)  Use parallel construction to tie parallel thoughts together. Use the same grammatical structure to express parallel ideas.

(1)  Don't omit words in sentences which compare or contrast ideas.

(2)  Don't omit parts of compound verbs of more than one tense. Two different verb forms may be required if your sentence uses more than one tense.

(3)  Don't omit necessary prepositions. Some prepositions are commonly used with certain other words to form idiomatic phrases; for example, bring to pass, addicted to, come by, and situated on. In writing, you must respect the relationships of these expressions if you are to avoid awkwardness and misunderstanding. When you have two or more such phrases in a sentence, use the correct preposition with each.

(1)  Avoid mixed construction in sentences. Mixed construction often comes from using the wrong subject-verb relationship and from repeating an object or a conjunction.

(2)  Use short sentences. Short sentences are easy to read because our eyes can pick them up with little effort. Such sentences are easy to understand and remember because they form clear thought patterns.

(1)  The topic of active or passive voice in writing seems to create a lot of confusion. The problem is that many writers confuse voice with tense and conclude that passive voice always refers to the past while active voice refers to the present or future. Voice only shows whether the subject is performing the action (active voice) or receiving the action (passive voice). Active and passive voice never refers to tense but to action.

(2)  You form the passive voice by using a form of the verb "to be" with the past participle of the main verb. First, the past participle’s endings are -ed or -en. Second, some form of the auxiliary verb "to be (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been) will always precede the past participle.

(1)  When you place the emphasis on the action rather than the actor.

(2)  To describe a condition where the actor is unknown or unimportant.