length and change the position of the topic sentence. Make
sure that one paragraph leads naturally on to the next. Use
the single sentence paragraph sparingly. Remember that
dialogue has specific rules for paragraphing. Each speaker
starts the speech at the beginning of a new paragraph.
Eliminating jargon
‘Jargon’ derives from a Middle English word meaning
‘meaningless chatter’. It is described in the Oxford dictionary
as ‘unintelligible words, gibberish’. It has come to mean
language used by a particular group of people – lawyers,
teachers, politicians and others. Some ‘jargon’ words have
become common usage. Words ending in ‘-ise’ have become
embedded in our language:
finalise prioritise privatise normaliseIf you are a member of a particular group, you may be
tempted to use your ‘in’ jargon at other times. Guard against
this. Remember that the words and expressions will probably
only be intelligible to other members of your group.
Avoid using jargon.Avoiding clichés
You should also avoidclichésin your writing. These are
expressions that have been used over and over again. They
were original when used for the first time – probably by
Shakespeare or in the Bible.
He stopped dead in his tracks.IMPPROVING YOUR STYLE / 131