January 2006

Welcome to the January issue of Word Power, and hello to this month's new subscribers.

You may have noticed that Word Power's been absent for several months. Pressure of work from new (as well as existing) contracts has been the cause, and we're happy to welcome new clients in the Cosmetics, Spa Bath and Tourism sectors. Matching capacity with demand is a perennial problem for small consultancies, so it's good that the latter always seems to run ahead of the former. But we've missed you, and hope you've missed us. Best wishes to everyone for 2006: we trust things are going well so far … and that this year all your goals and aspirations will be fulfilled and surpassed.

One of our resolutions is to stop worrying so much about dangling prepositions and split infinitives and to get out more. And to prove that this wish is off to a good start, here are some of the Abergavenny Freelancers Group (but not Nick, who was in fact working on New Year's Day) skiving off again in the Black Mountains.

By the way, thanks to those readers who have let us know how much they are enjoying Word Power. It's very encouraging to know that some people actually read it!

"I really like receiving your e-zine - partly the background! But mainly the eclectic mix of 'stuff'' which is not always head-down work-oriented - thanks very much and keep me on the list!

All the best, Jane Newell Brown"

In this issue:

• A Fresh Blended Approach to Learning by Liggy Webb, Commercial Director - Linac
• Extract from Jane Smith's Training Journal review of 'How Not To Write: Simple guidelines for the grammatically perplexed' by Terence Denman
• Word Smart - Part 2: Saving your custom styles in the Normal template
• Questions on business writing
• Word Smiths' publications.

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'How Not To Write: Simple guidelines for the grammatically perplexed'

by Terence Denman

Extract from Jane Smith's review which appeared in the January edition of Training Journal.

Producing a book on effective writing is no easy task, as many authors have discovered. The English in daily use has changed considerably in recent years - influenced to a large extent by the arrival of communication media such as email and texting. But some people love to hang on to the traditional ways, and there is still much disagreement about correct usage. While grammarians continue to debate what is and what is not acceptable, the rest of us just want to know the answers to some crucial questions: "Can I put a comma before 'and'?" "Can I start a sentence with 'because'?" "How do I use a semi-colon?" "What is a split infinitive anyway?"

In this book, Terence Denham, the Trinny and Susannah of the Plain English world, has set out to give our writing wardrobe a complete makeover. He exposes our flabby grasp of sentence structure and grammar rules. He wants us to discard our old-fashioned language, baggy constructions and excess auxiliaries. His mission is to encourage us to get into a sleeker, trimmer, more contemporary writing style.

Denham, an instructor with the Plain English Campaign, understands the needs of his audience. He knows that most of us find the subject of grammar 'as interesting as watching paint dry'. He realises that we need to know how to communicate clearly and concisely, and that we are terrified of making foolish howlers. Accordingly, he has produced rather an unconventional book on grammar. Most writers on this topic get far too involved in the intricacies of grammar theory and often take themselves far too seriously. This book, by contrast, tells us only the bits of theory that we need to know. These are explained in simple terms that a broad range of readers will understand. Furthermore, the book is light-hearted, engaging and, as you might expect, very easy to read.

Ten pounds may seem a bit pricey for such a short book, but 'How Not to Write' could turn out to be one of the best investments in your own development that you ever made. Buy a copy and keep it on your desk for daily reference.

Piatkus Books Ltd. ISBN 0-7499-2601-5. Hardback. £9.99.

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Word Smart - Part 2: Saving your custom styles in the Normal template

When you create a new document in Microsoft Word, it's based on the Normal template. Word provides a number of ready-made styles in this Normal template, which define attributes for body text, headings and many other types of paragraph. The advantages of using Word's style sheet include consistency, the ability to use the Outline view (which shows the structure of your document, with nested headings) and the ability to generate a table of contents automatically.

But Word's default settings aren't exactly at the cutting edge of elegant typography. With a only a little effort the Normal template can be programmed with your own personal variations - rather than Microsoft's boring, ugly choices.

This feature contains a lot of screen shots, so we've put the fully detailed version on a separate page. Click here to view the full step-by-step procedure for changing and adding to Word's default style sheet.

Microsoft never seems too keen on promoting a style-based approach - perhaps because it doesn't really fit with its 'nanny knows best' philosophy. You may find that some of Word's default program settings will try to override the styles that you select. In the next Word Power, I'll explain why you need to turn off certain Autocorrect defaults and how to do this.

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Questions on business writing

In the first six issues of Word Power, we looked at some of the basic points of language and punctuation that many people find difficult in their business writing. This series was well received and gave rise to a number of comments and questions. Here we answer a question from Mr Listrel of Newbury.

"People say that it's wrong to split an infinitive. What's an infinitive and why are we not allowed to split one?"

Many writers have dared to boldly split infinitives, because they feel that not doing so would lead to awkwardness or ambiguity.

All parts of the verb are derived from the infinitive, which is made up of 'to' followed by the main verb root. Here are a few examples: to go, to walk, to be, to feel, to change, to eat, to abandon and to ask.

Strict grammarians say that it is wrong to put an adverb between the two parts of a main verb. They don't like, for example: 'to boldly go', 'to radically change' or 'to finally abandon'. But in the real world, avoiding the split infinitive can result either in weakness (to go boldly), over-formality (radically to change) or ambiguity (to abandon finally). Writing 'boldly to go' may be correct - but it does spoil the rhythmic impact of the original.

People have been arguing for at least 100 years over this issue. However, the consensus seems to be that, while split infinitives are often poor style, they are not bad grammar. Clumsy attempts to avoid them by shuffling adverbs around can in fact create far worse sentences.

Please send us your questions on any aspect of business writing or using Word - and we'll do our best to answer them.

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Word Smiths publications

Unlock the secrets of successful reading

Want to read faster and retain more of what you read? Jane Smith – one of the UK’s leading Speed Reading trainers – shares her secrets in Speed Reading for Success. This information-packed audio CD – rather than a book – is the ideal way of learning the techniques.

"All of the tracks are short and to the point, easy to understand and provide practical and invaluable information, making this a product you don’t want to be without."

Kellie Fowler, Mind Tools website

"A little bit of genius that will help you learn speed reading with ease ... an excellent idea and I wish we had thought of it first."

New Archaeology (USA)

"I would recommend this resource to anyone who needs to get through lots of material quickly and efficiently."

Training Journal (UK)

Speed Reading for Success is fantastic value: order it from Amazon for only £10.39.

Decision Making for Success

This e-book's obviously filling a need, because it's proving a very popular download. It's currently available free. Just click here.

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