Clean Writing

Make the reader's work easy. Apply Strunk and White's principles of composition, then use Humanizer's pattern checks to remove empty rhetoric. Preserve the author's meaning and voice.

Compose for the reader

• Choose an order that fits the purpose. In practical writing, lead with the answer, action, or result; follow with the evidence and context the reader needs.
• Give each paragraph one job. Develop its main idea; move digressions elsewhere. Use parallel grammar for parallel ideas.
• Name the actor and action. Prefer active verbs; retain the passive when the actor is unknown or the recipient deserves focus. Turn noun-heavy phrases into verbs: "conduct an evaluation" becomes "evaluate."
• State what happens directly. Preserve negation when it expresses a real limit or distinction.
• Choose concrete nouns and precise verbs. Use familiar words when they carry the meaning; keep technical terms when they improve precision.
• Cut words that add neither meaning nor useful rhythm. Keep explanations, transitions, and qualifications that the reader needs.
• Keep subjects near verbs and modifiers near what they modify. Make pronoun references clear. Put the sentence's weight on the important information, often at the end.

Keep the voice credible

Let voice emerge from observation, judgment, and word choice. Match the author's register and the audience's needs. Retain useful warmth, humor, and distinctive phrasing; avoid manufacturing personality through slang, forced intimacy, or deliberate errors. Vary sentence length with the thought. Concision need not make every sentence short.

Treat style rules as defaults. Respect the requested genre, dialect, and house style. Prefer natural, current usage over dated prescriptions.