Sentence-Style Problems

Sentence-Style Problems

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 Contents
Preface
About the author
Action-verb problems: actions missing in action
Spotting action-verb separations
Fixing action-verb separations
Evaluating action-verb separations in context
Fun with action-verb separations
Practice
Character-subject problems: characters missing in action
Spotting character-subject separations
Fixing character-subject separations
Evaluating character-subject separations in context
Fun with character-subject separations
Practice
Bad passive voice
Spotting Bad Passive Voice—both good and bad
Fixing bad passive voice
Fixing passive-voice nominalizations
Evaluating passive voice in context
Fun with bad passive voice
Practice
Wordiness and redundancy
Spotting wordiness
Fixing wordiness
Evaluating wordiness in context
Fun with wordiness
Practice
Wordy expletives
Not Watergate expletives
Advanced expletives
Fixing wordy expletives
Evaluating expletives in context
Fun with wordy expletives
Practice
Noun stacks
Spotting noun stacks
Fixing noun stacks
Evaluating noun stacks in context
Fun with noun stacks
Practice
Awkward, wordy, perplexing negatives
Spotting problem negatives
Fixing problem negatives
Fun with problem negatives
Practice
Wordy metadiscourse and hedging
Fixing metadiscourse
Trimming the hedges
Evaluating metadiscourse and hedging in context
Fun with metadiscourse and hedging
Practice
Choppy text
Spotting choppy text
Fixing choppy text
Evaluating choppy text in context
Fun with choppy text
Practice
Weak coordination
Spotting weak coordination
Fixing weak coordination
Fun with weak coordination
Practice
Awkward pronouns
Spotting awkward pronoun problems
Fixing awkward pronoun problems
Fun with awkward pronoun problems
Practice
Word-phrase-clause problems
Spotting word-phrase-clause problems
Fixing word-phrase-clause problems
Fun with word-phrase-clause problems
Creating verbal elbow room with noun clauses
Practice
Long introductions & interruptions
Spotting long introductions
Spotting long interruptions
Fixing long introductions
Fixing long interruptions
Fun with long introductions & long interruptions
Practice
Pompous word choice
Spotting pompous word choice
Fixing pompous word choice
Evaluating "big" word choice
Fun with pompous word choice
Practice
Overly long sentences
Spotting overly long sentences
Fixing overly long sentences
Evaluating long sentences in context
Fun with overly long sentences
Practice
Sentence-style wrapup
Review of sentence-style problems
Practice
Additional resources
Subjects and verbs
Verbal phrases and clauses
Coordination and subordination
Sentence diagramming: a simple method