The Seven Techniques to Write a Good Article

The 7 Techniques of writing
1. Sentence length
2. Sentence structures
3. Choice of words
4. Appropriateness
5. Use of capitals
6. First and second person pronouns
7. Active and passive

1/Sentence length: Keep your sentences to an average length of one and a half printed lines. Some fifteen words but vary the sentence lengths.

2/sentence structures: The beginning of a sentence is the most prominent. So if you want to focus the reader’s attention on a particular idea, bring it up front. Look, for example, at the varying structures you can use in a sentence about taking a friend to the movies.

I took a friend to the movies in town last night. (Focus on me)
Last night, I took a friend to the movies in town. (Focus on last night)

3/ choice of words: Before you start writing, think of your mother or anyone else you are fond of as the person you are writing to, and then start writing. I call this the “dear mum” principle.

Writing in “dear mum” style does not mean that your writing should be simple or stupid, slang or silly. Far from it, my mum was a highly intelligent and sophisticated person, so I would never write to her in a condescending or otherwise improper way.
What dear mum writing means is writing in a way that is normal, everyday, decent, and respectful?
Yes, minister’s language: I refer to your letter of 10 October…
Dear mum language: thank you for your letter of 10 October……

4/ appropriateness: Suit the language to the nature and the background knowledge of the reader.

Here are two extracts from actual letters: one to an eight year old, another to a bank manager

To an eight year old:

Today I got a letter from mummy with some photos of you at a party. You looked like a very funny clown- handsome, too. It will soon be your birthday, and I wonder what surprises mummy and daddy have in store for you. Whatever it is, it’s sure to be good, and I hope you have a great time.

To a bank manager:
Mrs. so and so has told me by phone that she is receiving some papers from your bank, but that the papers are going to the wrong address. She has asked me to remind you that you should send all correspondence and statements about her banking matters to me, as I am dealing with her income tax and other financial affairs.

5/ use of capitals : For the title of institutions and of office bearers, use initial capital letters if you write the full formal titles: use initial lower case letters if you use short informal titles.
6/ first and second person pronouns: Within reasonable bounds, feel free to use first and second person pronouns. This will make your writing more personal and therefore, more reader friendly.
7/ active and passive: The active is better than the passive for two reason;

1 the active expresses the unfolding of an event in the sequence in which it actually occurs: first comes the agent the doer of the action, then the action, finally the target the done to of the action.
2 the active does not allow you to omit the agent from the sentence, but the passive does. In the active, therefore, we always know who is responsible for the action; in the passive, we don’t.
If writers leave out the agent in a passive, they are leaving their readers in the dark as to who is responsible for the action. In many cases, this can be an irresponsible, unethical way of writing. Consider the following examples of passive sentences without agents.

I therefore recommend that, in the main, you use the active instead of the passive.