----------------------------------------------------------------- THE BETTER WRITING SKILLS NEWSLETTER, December 2007 By Tim North of Scribe Consulting (http://www.scribe.com.au) http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the December 2007 Better Writing Skills newsletter. IN THIS ISSUE 1. "Assisting" versus "helping" 2. Business and technical reports must be easy to read 3. "Until" versus "till" 4. How do we punctuate quotations? 5. Just for fun Your comments and questions are always welcome. Just send e-mail to: info@BetterWritingSkills.com Cheers, Tim North Perth, Western Australia ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. "Assisting" versus "helping" ----------------------------------------------------------------- My first correspondent this month, James, asked about the difference between "assisting" and "helping" clients: As part of my job, I am allowed to assist people to the nth degree but I have never been allowed to actually help someone. Why is this? Every report I have seen from any government agency allows for, and offers, lots of assistance, but never any help. Is there a reason for this? I would much prefer to help people than assist them. Is there actually any difference? It's a great question, James. I have two theories. #1. Tim's cynical theory ------------------------ Like many such choices, this one may just be a habit. When people see everyone else making a certain choice (in this case "assist" rather than "help"), they may just assume that this is the best way. After all, everyone else is doing it. After a while, this becomes the "correct" way and, by implication, every other way is thus wrong. #2. Tim's "they know what they're doing" theory ------------------------------------------------ It may be that in your workplace there is a definite and well understood difference between the terms "assist" and "help". (For example, the terms may be defined in legislation.) If so, the use of "assist" rather than "help" may be deliberate and reasonable. You'll need to do a bit of local searching and questioning to see if this is really the case, James. A bit of searching turned up one possible distinction between the terms on a web site called "TeachMeTeamwork.com". Here's what they had to say: To help someone means to step in, as in an auto accident. When you see someone on the pavement, you're going to go in and help that person, you're going to touch them, you're going to turn them over, you're going to direct traffic, and so on. Usually you help someone after they're already in trouble. To assist someone (individual or team) means to guide them but not step over the line and help them out of the predicament. They have to be awake and alive enough to request assistance rather than needing you to jump in and save the day. http://tinyurl.com/3ayyqs Hope this helps (or should that be "assists"?). -- (c) 2007 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Business and technical reports must be easy to read ----------------------------------------------------------------- Back in the October 2006 newsletter, I made the following comments about the importance of clarity and simplicity in business and technical writing: In my own experience, the writers that I admire most are the ones who can take a complex subject and explain it simply. That, in my view, is the pinnacle of a writer's skill: the ability to make the unclear clear. Why is it that so many academic and government writers feel that it's their job to do the opposite? :-) You don't earn people's respect by filling your writing with buzzwords and technical jargon in a futile attempt to "impress" them. You gain their respect by providing clear arguments in plain English. My next correspondent, Alice, writes: I am a technical writer for a biotech company in Rockford, IL. I want to let you know that I really appreciate your website and your better writing skills newsletter. I especially liked the article "What do I admire most in a writer?" I'm in 100% agreement with you on that one. I am a scientist and work with scientists. I am always trying to encourage my colleagues to use simple language. Here is a column I wrote for an internal newsletter: All good writing is concise. Literary writers have individual styles and can weave words into beautiful tapestries of many colors. Writing for science, however, must be exceptionally clutter-free and unambiguous. Scientists must convey their message with short, simple words in straightforward sentences. Using pretentious words and elaborate explanations alienates the reader. You may have seen this following example of how a scientist might rewrite the poem "The Night Before Christmas": It was the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period preceding the annual Yuletide celebration and throughout our place of residence, kinetic activity was not in evidence among the possessors of this potential, including that species of diminutive rodent known as Mus musculus. So keep it simple. A well-written sentence contains not one unnecessary word. Don't write "due to the fact that" when "because" will suffice. And don't be tempted to use a fancy word when a small word is sufficient. Scientific information is just too important to be misunderstood. I agree with everything that Alice has said, and her advice applies equally well to business and other styles of writing. Thanks for your comments, Alice. Oh and wasn't the parody of "The Night Before Christmas" gorgeous? Here's a link to the full poem: http://tinyurl.com/26dvr6 Enjoy. -- (c) 2007 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Do you know someone who'd like this newsletter? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Do you have a friend or colleague who'd find the Better Writing Skills newsletter interesting? If so, please feel free to send a copy of this issue to them. Alternatively, please tell them they can browse back issues here: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/newsletter.html Thanks for helping to make this newsletter so successful! ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. "Until" versus "till" ----------------------------------------------------------------- My final correspondent this month, another James, wrote: A few years ago when my son was attending high school in Birchip he had to write an essay for an English class. He wrote something like: "The job will not be finished till the last seed has been planted". The essay was returned with a correction showing that "till" was incorrect and that it should have been "until". I have been unable to find anyone who can tell me a reasonable explanation as to why this would/should be so, or even if there is a difference in the meaning of the two words. Can you shed any light on the subject please? I'm going to use this question as an opportunity to mention a wonderful writing-related web site. They describe themselves as so: "Bartleby.com combines contemporary and classic usage guides to form the best full-text searchable resource on the web." In seeking an answer for James, Bartleby had the following clear and simple comments: You can use "till" and "until" interchangeably in both writing and speech, though as the first word in a sentence "until" is more common: "Until you get that paper written, don't even think about going to the movies." The complete article can be found here: http://www.bartelby.com/64/C003/0284.html Hope this helps. -- (c) 2007 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. How do we punctuate quotations? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Quite some time back, I noted that writers of US English normally use double quotes to mark dialogue. For example: "Hello," he said. Users of British English, though, can use single or double quotes, although single quotes seem more common: 'Hello', he said. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the comma has moved too. Users of US English typically place it within the quotes; whereas, users of British English usually place it outside the quotes. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2007 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Just for fun ----------------------------------------------------------------- Did you enjoy that parody of "The Night Before Christmas"? Here's a page that contains links to over twenty parodies of the same poem: http://tinyurl.com/yqedhe Well, that's it for 2007, folks. Have a safe and happy holiday season. See you all in February 2008. -- Tim North. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like more help with your writing? ----------------------------------------------------------------- On my Better Writing Skills web site, you'll find my range of jargon-free, downloadable e-books that will help you to become a better writer. 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