You want to soar above the crowd, right? You're aching for content with a unique quality. Unfortunately, not everybody has a firm mastery of one's mother tongue. But what to do? Tolerating clumsy grammar or ignoring the subtleties of expression is certain to suffocate any uniqueness you imagine your copy having. All it does is convey an image of muddled thinking and disorganization.

RULE # 1: Familiarize yourself with the grammar rules before setting out to outsmart them.

I realize that time may be a luxury you can barely afford, so hire a reputable writer and learn from that person by asking good questions and giving your feedback at every opportunity. But if you can't afford to hire, then you have no choice. You need to get a firm grasp of at least a few good rules of writing style. Don't think of it as unproductive work. It will help you move much faster in the direction you want to go.

The best way to balance your time and get on track is by taking a few minutes every day take (that's all it takes) to learn only a couple of grammar and style rules at a time. They'll sink in better that way. Then practice writing. Starting with the simplest sentences structure. Let me give you a few tips to start you off. Technically, here's the order in which the elements of a sentence should appear: SUBJECT-VERB-OBJECT.

For example: Mary (SUBJECT) read (VERB) the message (OBJECT).

You'll have no problem getting past this elementary level, so don't waste too much time here. Write a few sentences describing a series of events you've recently witnessed. You'll need to keep your use of past and present tenses consistent inside each sentence and each paragraph.

Only after you've achieved consistency will you be able to play around with both the tenses and the order of words inside your sentences. The rules are there to be played around with! Otherwise all writing would be bland and uninspiring. But you can't do that and be creative in any meaningful way without modicum knowledge.

I won't list any grammar rules here. There are lots of good books that deal with grammar and style, the most famous being Strunk and White's "The Elements of Writing." Another I particularly like is Joseph M. Williams' "Style: Toward Clarity and Grace," which may take a little longer to find and study, but it's well worth it.

Rule #2: Don't be afraid to experiment.

As you move up the scale of proficiency-which may take only a few days-don't be too submissive with the rules and conventions of the English language, now that you know what you were unsure of before. It may leave you with a boring text.

Here are some pointers that will help you take your writing to a higher level:

1. Active vs. passive-Most books on writing insist on the use of active rather than passive sentences ("Mary wrote that book," not "That book was written by Mary"). Follow their counsel to the letter and you'll probably end up with loosely strung sentences. It's far more important to allow your sentences to flow one from the other. Leave some sentences passive to maintain flow and consistency.

2. Consistency-Here's a good way to check for consistency inside a paragraph. Just underline the beginning of each sentence. Read those beginnings to make sure that each one ties in with the words and reference occurring at the end of the previous sentence.

3. Information flow-Two great thumb rules to follow: (1) Put the newest or most important information toward the end of your sentence, which information you intend to expand on in the next sentence. (2) Put at the beginning those ideas you've already mentioned or implied in the previous sentence.

Inexperienced writers have the tendency to commit errors of logic. For example, use "neither" to refer to only two things (persons, actions, groups, companies, etc.). For three or more, use none or not any. "Shirley, Clive and Rupert went to town; none wore blue."

Don't abuse "a lot of" too often by employing it in the plural. I realize everybody does it, but "a lot" is singular and will remain singular for the balance of our human existence. But what do you do with the technically correct but weird-sounding "a lot of farmers has singing talent"? Write instead: "Lots of farmers have singing talent." Better still, "Many farmers do." And I can vouch for that, being a part-time "gentleman farmer" myself!

Here's another example. Use "incredulous" to mean skeptical, and incredible to mean unbelievable. I often hear people use quality words about themselves when the word properly applies to the object in their sentence. Outbursts like, "It was so incredulous!" This is really hard on my sensitive ears, so please...By the way, it's perfectly acceptable, idiomatically speaking, to write: "You're incredible, you know that?"

4. Misspellings can alter meanings-With words like "loath," I know how easy it is to misspell. Use "loath" to mean disinclined toward something ("I'm loath to believe it"). Write "loathe" if you dislike something ("I loathe the smell of failure!"). The second is pronounced with the sound of "the."

You will get the hang of it eventually, if you try. Be kind to yourself and take the time. You won't regret it in the long term.

Anthony F. Shaker, PhD, has been ghostwriting and editing for 25 years. He is fluent in several languages, has traveled widely around the world and has written in many areas, both fiction and nonfiction. He works for individual clients and companies both large and small.

AFS Wordstead
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