A sporadically promulgated annotated listing of arguably worthwhile, recently published online reading, new or revised websites of potential utility or ostensible interest, and other internet-accessible experiences that, were it not for the casually collected, cavalierly collated, & capriciously collocated components comprising these posts, could easily be overlooked - which would be, in some cases, a shame
Web Sites
A web site from the Feds that includes irony, parody, and useful information? Did I miss the Revolution while I was tracking down 1952 photos of Giles Brindley?
In any case, PlainLanguage.gov, which is sponsored by The Plain Language Action and Information Network, is dedicated to the goal of Plain language (also called Plain English) which is defined as “Communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it.”
Plain Language is also a government mandate; On June 1, 1998, President Clinton issued an executive memo requiring agencies to write in plain language. This strikes me as one of the better uses of my taxes.
While the entire site is worth browsing, How To/Tools contains the tools and tips for writing clearly.
Even better is High Tech Humor, a mock treatise on technical writing that includes this dismissal of commas:
Commas are a sign of weakness. Good sentences are clear without the use of commas. Bad sentences use commas as a crutch to help readers limp along. Rewrite any sentence that requires the use of a comma. If all else fails just take the commas out of the sentence without changing anything else. Occasionally sprinkle a few commas into the document at random just to keep the English-major weenies happy.
Best of all is Nine Easy Steps to Longer Sentences, an impressive tutorial by Kathy McGinty on bulking up ones writing. Anyone who has read more than a couple of Heck Of A Guy posts will not be surprised to learn that I offer a post-graduate course in this methodology.
