Perfect written English: All you need to get it right first time

174 Pages·2008·1.42 MB·English

by  West C.

Perfect Written English
Chris West has been a professional writer for many years. He has
written fiction, including Death of a Blue Lantern, travel (Journey to
the Middle Kingdom) and non-fiction, where he is best known as co-
author of the bestselling The Beermat Entrepreneur. He has written
for the business press, authoring a column in Director magazine for
five years, and reviewed travel books for the Independent on Sunday.
Chris has also worked in marketing and PR, writing copy, press
releases and ghosted press pieces, and as a writing and communica
tions trainer. Married, with one daughter, he lives near Cambridge.
More details on www.chriswest.info
Other titles in the Perfect series
Perfect Answers to Interview Questions – Max Eggert
Perfect Babies' Names – Rosalind Fergusson
Perfect Best Man – George Davidson
Perfect Calorie Counting – Kate Santon
Perfect CV – Max Eggert
Perfect Interview – Max Eggert
Perfect Numerical Test Results – Joanna Moutafi and Ian Newcombe
Perfect Personality Profiles – Helen Baron
Perfect Psychometric Test Results – Joanna Moutafi and Ian Newcombe
Perfect Pub Quiz – David Pickering
Perfect Punctuation – Stephen Curtis
Perfect Readings for Weddings – Jonathan Law
Perfect Wedding Planning – Cherry Chappell
Perfect Wedding Speeches and Toasts – George Davidson
Perfect
Written English
Chris West
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Adobe ISBN: 9781407004532

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Introduction
I love that quote from Wittgenstein. When I'm ploughing through
some ghastly corporate report, impenetrable piece of academic
postmodern-speak or someone's unpunctuated, mis-spelt email, I
look up and imagine the great philosopher's words shining out like
a beacon of hope. We are not fated to drown in a sea of illiteracy.
Good writing matters, and always will matter.
But the tide of poor writing does seem to be rising. My personal
bugbear is 'managementese':
In this document a number of initiatives are subjected
to an examination process with respect both to viability
and ongoing strategic relevance . . .
This empty, heartless gobbledegook is now written – and even
spoken – in big business, in government and (of all places!) in
education.
Of course there are other sorts of bad writing, too. Dull
writing, ambiguous writing, downright incomprehensible writing,
writing that shows a failure to master the basics of grammar and
punctuation, writing so full of padding you want to pop it with
a pin, writing that wanders aimlessly, writing that deliberately
obfuscates in order to deceive. All such writing is at best impolite
and at worst dangerous. Dangerous? On a simple level, it's dangerous
INTRODUCTION
because it is unclear, and can thus misinform or misdirect. At a
deeper level, it's dangerous because it encourages dim-witted
conformity. Clear thinking and the ability to communicate those
thoughts effectively are powerful weapons in the hands of those
who want to question and change things, or of those who wish to
question misguided change. A society where stupidity is patron
ised and intelligence becomes equated with the ability to spew
out jargon – well, George Orwell got there well over half a
century before I did: such a society is the hellish world of 7984
and Animal Farm.
Never mind. This book isn't a rant, but a handbook for change.
We can all do something about this. You've started, by picking up
this book. I hope you'll enjoy working through it, and that you'll
keep on referring to it as you develop your skills in our beautiful,
subtle, expressive and infinitely valuable language. As you do so,
take pride in standing up for what is good, strong and lasting
against what is meretricious, enfeebling and cheap. The revolution
starts here!