How to Eliminate Nominalizations

Introduction The subject of how to eliminate nominalization was again brought forward at an STC event held in Bethesda, Maryland. STC Washington DC Baltimore Chapter Last night (March 27, 2019) we enjoyed yet another STC Washington DC Baltimore Chapter’s Competition Awards Banquet. (In case you are not aware of it, STC WDCB is running a…

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Using "In Question" in Plain Writing

I have a confession to make. I have a bad habit. Once in a while I emphasize an object with the qualifier “in question”. For example: “Save the variable in question to the database.” What I really mean, in terms of plain writing, is very simple: the pronoun “this”. I could easily say “save THIS…

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How to Remember When to Spell Out Numbers in MS Word

Here is an easy way to remember when to spell out numbers in MS Word… You probably wonder when to write a number in Arabic numerals and when to spell it out openly. You don’t have to guess that anymore. MS Word has a grammar setting that lets you know whether you are doing it…

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Plain Writing Online Course

(Copyright-free photo by Nick Morrison at Unsplash dot com) © Ugur Akinci Plain Writing is not only a good idea but it’s now the law of the land in the United States since October 13, 2010. See: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/obama-signs-law-understand/story?id=11902841 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-946 Very soon all U.S. Government departments and agencies will have to produce all their documents in…

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President Obama Signed Plain Writing Act of 2010

  © Ugur Akinci A new era has begun in the United States when President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act of 2010 on October 13, 2010. According to this, all U.S. government agencies and offices are now mandated to create all their documents and communications in clear, uncomplicated English. Here is the text of…

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