How to improve writing (no. 126)
A conjunction that makes no sense.
How to improve writing (no. 125)
“He typically mentions the fictional serial killer in the context of immigration, claiming without evidence that migrants are coming in from insane asylums and mental institutions and often using dehumanizing language.”
How to improve writing (no. 124)
“What she did not say is that you can’t make friends of 50 years when you are in your ninth decade, the kind who knew you way back when.”
How to improve writing (no. 123)
Subject and verb should always agree. Sheesh, NY Times.
How to improve writing (no. 122)
“Pitch in today for a chance to meet myself,” etc.
How to improve writing (no. 121)
It makes better sense to arrange the elements in order of their severity.
How to improve writing (no. 120)
There are, not is, plans.
Recently updated
It’s difficult to improve writing when you’re angry.
How to improve writing (no. 118)
“What’s in Store for the Future of Higher Education?”: that’s the subject line in an e-mail from The Chronicle of Higher Education .
Joe and me and I
Who writes this stuff? And who approves it?
How to improve writing (no. 116)
The target of a plot is not at its center.
How to improve writing (no. 115)
One of Joe and my favorite parts about being on the campaign trail is meeting supporters just like you.
How to improve writing (no. 114)
A sentence from the NYT.
How to improve writing (no. 113)
A New York Times obituary opens with a sentence that tries to say too much.
How to improve writing (no. 112)
I made it almost through a New York Times article, and then I hit this single-sentence paragraph.
How to improve writing (no. 111)
I wrote a letter yesterday to the CEO an insurance company about the 109 minutes I spent on the phone trying to find out why a payment didn’t go through. Here’s how I made the first paragraph better.
How to lay off of Josh Marshall
But now that I know that Josh Marshall doesn’t write, I’m going to lay offa him.
How to improve writing (no. 110)
It never fails: or, rather, it always fails. I look at Talking Points Memo and I end up tinkering with one or more sentences from Josh Marshall.
How to improve writing (no. 109)
“He is a proud father of daughter X, son-in-law Y, two granddaughters, and daughter, Z all residing in Michigan.”
How to improve writing (no. 108)
As I’ve written in a previous post, “Every time I look at Josh Marshall’s Talking Points Memo, I end up rewriting one or more sentences.”
How to improve writing (no. 107)
Follow the logic of chronology.
How to improve writing (no. 106)
I was going to quote a sentence from The New York Times this morning until I realized how awful it was.
How to improve writing (no. 105)
“Writing should be regarded as an activity that necessitates critical thinking, an aspect that is necessary to all good writing.”
Recently updated
How to improve writing (no. 104), now with more improvement.
How to improve writing (no. 104)
“One man stood on the bridge, which crosses the Intracoastal Waterway, holding the American flag upside down — widely recognized as a symbol of his belief that the country is in distress.” Needs rewriting.
How to improve writing (no. 103)
A sentence in need of help, from a New York Times obituary for Margaret Keane, painter of big-eyed children.
How to improve writing (no. 102)
Diminutive but impactful? Nah.
How to improve writing (no. 101)
Put things where they belong.
How to improve writing (no. 100)
"It is unclear what the inspector general has done since then, in particular, whether the inspector general has referred the matter to the Justice Department”: a terrible sentence from The New York Times.
How to improve writing (no. 99)
“In your opinion, are Republican candidates in midterm elections who have received former President Trump’s endorsement more likely or less likely to win their primary races than Republican candidates who did not?”