Clarity, Part 2

In this section, I will write about four additional topics that I need to work on in order to improve the clarity of my writing. These topics include: active verbs, mixed constructions, emphasis, and variety.

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1. Active verbs: I have noticed that I have frequently used passive verbs unintentionally in my writing. I never thought it was such a big deal, but this section helped me realize how ineffective these verbs really are. Unlike active verbs, passive verbs do not place emphasis on the subject, and they end up making sentences unnecessarily wordy. It is especially tempting to use passive verbs in my QRG, since passive voice is often used in scientific writing and my QRG focuses on a scientific topic. However, I will have to make sure that I only use passive verbs when it is absolutely necessary, or not at all.

2. Mixed constructions: This section helped me understand how easy it is to fall into the trap of using mixed constructions. These constructions often do not make grammatical or logical sense, but I have caught myself using them when I am in a hurry to write all of my ideas down. These sentence structures often make sense in my head, but I now realize that they do not really make sense on paper. I will have to pay special attention to these mixed constructions in my own writing.

3. Emphasis: This section focused on the ways you can use grammatical elements, such as subordinate clauses and coordinating conjunctions, to emphasize key ideas in your writing. I was especially surprised by how influential the grammatical structure can be in your writing. The grammar can drastically change the key idea of your sentence, so I will definitely have to make sure my writing is emphasizing the key points I was hoping to emphasize.

4. Variety: This section outlined different ways you can add some variety to your sentence structures. I have noticed in my own writing that it is easy to fall into the trap of relying only on one type of sentence structure. I might use too many simple and compound sentences, but end up neglecting complex sentences, or vice versa. This section gave me many tips on how to avoid doing this, which will prove to be very helpful in my own writing.

After reading through my QRG, I realized that the topics I reflected on above really do influence the clarity of my writing. For instance, I noticed some sentences that used passive verbs rather than active verbs, as shown below:

"In this way, Twitter has been used by many with and without scientific backgrounds to express conflicting viewpoints regarding the issue."

However, when I change the sentence so that it uses an active verb, the sentence becomes much more concise:

"In this way, many with and without scientific backgrounds have used Twitter to express conflicting viewpoints regarding the issue."

I also found some mixed constructions, as demonstrated by this sentence:

"Others, such as Dieter Egli, a member of the team of researchers at New York Stem Cell Foundation, expressed his support for the research through a well-respected news corporation, the MIT Technology Review."

The use of a plural subject and a singular noun does not make sense, so I changed it to correct this inconsistency:

"Others expressed their support for the research through well-respected news corporations. For instance, Dieter Egli, a member of the team of researchers at New York Stem Cell Foundation, offered his insight to the MIT Technology Review."