Thoughts on Language and Presentation
These tips are aimed at improving the consistency of article text, reducing the number of words used to express an idea, and clarifying the meaning of sentences. One of your goals in writing effective articles should be to make the text readable by as many readers as possible. Unnecessary words should be removed, and complicated words should be replaced by simpler words if doing so does not change the intended meaning.
An easy, though incomplete, way to assess your prose for readability is to send it through a fog index calculator. This one highlights complex words for you, while this one lists the longest sentences. If you are writing about a non-arcane subject and your fog index is over 16, you may be suffering from logorrhea. Test the lead section as well. Article leads should be readable by a very large audience, so shoot for an index under 12.
Readable prose
- The word actually in general usage usually means absolutely nothing. In many cases it can be eliminated without changing the meaning of the sentence.
- Readers find it difficult to read a sentence with more than two or three commas. Sentences with too many commas can generally be split with ease.
- Subjects of sentences should ideally have been introduced earlier in the article. In many cases an unintroduced subject indicates the need for an additional sentence. For example, this is what not to write:
- instead, write something like this:
- The verbs use, are/is, and have add less to a sentence than more active verbs. Replacing use with utilize does not improve a sentence. This example replaces had and used with more active verbs:
- Don't start a sentence with "there was" or "there has" or "there is" if "there" doesn't refer to a specific place. Sentences that start like this can be rewritten more simply.
Consistent appearance
- In many articles the strings " - " and "--" stand in for the em dash "—", a typographical feature that Wikipedia allows. You can enter it by typing "—". Read more about this at Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Dashes.
Feel free to knock any of these points on my talk page.
Further reading
Thoughts on Language and Presentation
These tips are aimed at improving the consistency of article text, reducing the number of words used to express an idea, and clarifying the meaning of sentences. One of your goals in writing effective articles should be to make the text readable by as many readers as possible. Unnecessary words should be removed, and complicated words should be replaced by simpler words if doing so does not change the intended meaning.
An easy, though incomplete, way to assess your prose for readability is to send it through a fog index calculator. This one highlights complex words for you, while this one lists the longest sentences. If you are writing about a non-arcane subject and your fog index is over 16, you may be suffering from logorrhea. Test the lead section as well. Article leads should be readable by a very large audience, so shoot for an index under 12.
Readable prose
- The word actually in general usage usually means absolutely nothing. In many cases it can be eliminated without changing the meaning of the sentence.
- Readers find it difficult to read a sentence with more than two or three commas. Sentences with too many commas can generally be split with ease.
- Subjects of sentences should ideally have been introduced earlier in the article. In many cases an unintroduced subject indicates the need for an additional sentence. For example, this is what not to write:
- instead, write something like this:
- The verbs use, are/is, and have add less to a sentence than more active verbs. Replacing use with utilize does not improve a sentence. This example replaces had and used with more active verbs:
- Don't start a sentence with "there was" or "there has" or "there is" if "there" doesn't refer to a specific place. Sentences that start like this can be rewritten more simply.
Consistent appearance
- In many articles the strings " - " and "--" stand in for the em dash "—", a typographical feature that Wikipedia allows. You can enter it by typing "—". Read more about this at Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Dashes.
Feel free to knock any of these points on my talk page.