0. Revising sentences and paragraphs can make the difference between a not-so-great document and a really effective paper or message. Build time into your writing process for revising, or “re-seeing” your document.

1. Revising Sentences and Paragraphs
To learn how to
Build a forceful style.
Choose between active and passive voice.
Make your writing tight and concise.
Vary sentence patterns.
Use the right tone.

2. Revising Sentences and Paragraphs
Start by answering these questions:
What’s “good” style?
Are there rules I should follow?
What should I look for when I revise sentences?
What should I look for when I revise paragraphs?
How does organizational culture affect style?

3. Use friendly, conversational words.
To Create Good Style
Use friendly, conversational words.
Avoid contractions, slang, and even minor grammatical lapses.
Edit your writing to sound confident, even in uncomfortable situations.
Allow for some individual variation—use your own “voice.”
Good business writing style encourages audiences to read the message. Therefore, choose friendly, conversational words in situations where you’ve spoken with the reader before. Avoid contractions and slang in paper documents to people you don’t know. Be confident, relying on verbs and some individual style, so long as it’s acceptable to your audience.

4. Half Truths About Style
None of the following is necessarily true—decide what is appropriate based on audience and discourse community:
Write what “sounds” good.
Never use I.
Use big words.
Most rules are really guidelines in writing, especially these “half truths.” Always focus on your audience when deciding which style to use.

5. Get a clean page or screen. Try WIRMI (What I really mean is)
To Improve Style
Get a clean page or screen.
Try WIRMI (What I really mean is)
Read the draft aloud to someone.
Ask someone else to read it to you.
Read widely and a lot.
Use the techniques on the next slide.
Improving style is a matter of study and experience. To help you, try these techniques. Recognize that your style may change over time and even with different audiences.

6. Use active verbs most of the time. Use strong verbs.
To Revise Sentences
Use active verbs most of the time.
Use strong verbs.
Tighten your writing.
Vary sentence length and structure.
Use parallel structure.
Put your readers in your sentences.
Following these techniques will help you to make your sentences easier to read.

7. Begin most paragraphs with topic sentences.
To Revise Paragraphs
Begin most paragraphs with topic sentences.
Use transitions to link ideas.
e.g., and, but, however, for example, after, moreover.
Paragraphs are visual and logical units of text. Use them to “chunk” sentences, or put related ideas together. Using topic sentences that state the main idea of the paragraph helps, and linking ideas with transitions let’s readers see relationships among them.

8. To Deal with Poor Style at Work
Use the techniques in this module.
Help your boss (or co-worker) learn about writing.
Recognize that style may serve purposes other than communication.
Ask if people truly like the standard.
Style is often affected by organizational culture, as well as by individual bosses. Just because the style is privileged doesn’t mean it’s the best style, however. To help people in your organization learn a better style, consider these techniques.