Hello blogging world! Its Scott
Odorico again to update you on the importance (along with the confusion) of vigorous, clear and economical style! Now if anyone out there is like me, he/she would be thinking, "what the heck is this vigorous, clear and economical style stuff?!" I had no idea what in the world this was when I was first taught it, but luckily, I learned that it is pretty simple stuff. With just editing a paper, most students are doing this anyway, without even knowing it! Vigorous, clear and economical style is simply writing that is clear, understandable and easy-to-read, and is easy to apply to your paper! This style will make work less confusing for the reader and not make the reader think about he/she is reading.
When using vigorous, clear and economical style, there are several guidelines a writer should stick to that will make a paper that much better! These guidelines come from How To Write Anything: A guide and Reference and give some great suggestions on how to edit a paper successfully. Here is the list of guidelines every writer should use if using vigorous, clear and economical style:
-use strong, concrete subjects and objects
-avoid clumsy noun phrases
-avoid sentences with long windups
- use action verbs when possible
-avoid strings of prepositional phrases
-don't repeat key words close together
-avoid doublings
-turn clauses into more direct modifiers
-cut introductory expressions such as it, is and there is/are when you can
-vary your sentence lengths and structures
-listen to what you have written
-cut a first draft by 25 percent or more
(Ruszkiewicz 378-383)
I know what some readers are thinking, "now what in the heck does all this nonsense mean??" Well the truth is, no one really knows. I'm just kidding. It's pretty simple once one gets the hang of it. When looking over this list, some of the rules are pretty easy to understand, such as "listen to what you have written," or "vary your sentence lengths and structures." And then there are others, such as, "avoid clumsy noun phrases," or "turn clauses into more direct modifiers," are a lot more difficult to understand. Well let me see if I can clarify some of these confusing ones for the readers out there.
The rule "avoid clumsy noun phrases" may confuse some young writers out there and give them some worries. Well all this rule is advising against is making a simple noun too long and wordy. An example of a clumsy noun phrase would be:
Members of the entire student body at Oregon High School...
A much more clear and understandable way of writing this would be:
Students at Oregon High School...
With this simple rule, writers can clarify confusing nouns for their readers and make the text shorter at the same time.
Another guideline that confuses some students is "turn clauses into more direct modifiers." This adjustment is easy to spot out in a paper and easy to revise. Modifiers using who, which or that can be replaced with a much more understandable modifier. An example of a wordy modifier that can be revised is:
My coach, who is internationally renowned, expected a higher salary.
A way to simplify this modifier is by cutting the who and cutting the commas, and switching up the word order a bit. A revised version of this sentence would be:
My internationally renowned coach expected a higher salary.
By making this switch, a writer makes his/her work flow easier and roll of the tongue. This switch also allows the readers to simply read and not have to think about the text, which is what the author's goal should be.
Overall, vigorous, clear and economical style should be something authors should try to incorporate into his/her paper to make it easier for his/her audience. This style can be achieved by following these guidelines and thoroughly editing one's paper. One last thought I would like to leave all of my readers with is a webpage I came across while googling vigorous, clear and economical style:
Because I could not find a good video on YouTube that has anything to do with this style, I went to google (like any lost person out in the world). This is a google search list when one types in vigorous, clear and economical style. And if one just looks at some of those people who come up on the page one would see Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Hemingway, Ronald Reagan, as well as Harvard College and Joseph Stalin (a great mind, but in a bad way). This must be a sign how using this style can help one's writing style.
Until next time blogging world!
Godspeed.
Work Cited
Ruszkiewicz, John J. How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference, with Readings. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. Print.
Website #1- Google -http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=vigorous+clear+and+economical+style&pbx=1&oq=vigorous+clear+and+economical+style&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=472l15472l0l15598l72l48l14l0l0l4l470l8839l1.29.13.3.1l60l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=5c790db8b679f598&biw=1015&bih=605
