Why you should learn to KISS

Susan Pierotti, Creative Text Solutions 'Nominalisation' is a word that describes itself all too accurately. A nominalisation is a noun that is built up from other simpler noun or verb forms: for example, noun, nominate, nominalise, nominalisation. Governments, businesses, and people trying to impress use them all the time. In the appropriate context, such as when one needs to sound academic or abstract, they are useful. But, instead of sounding erudite, intelligent and grand, they can sound bland, lifeless and flabby. Rather like trying to eating a plate of blancmonge, reading text full of this wordiness makes you fed up pretty quickly!  Some examples Don't write 'afford an opportunity'; write 'allow' or 'let' instead. 'Has a requirement for' is just gasbagging; write 'needs'. 'Provides guidance for'? 'Guides' is more effective. The longest word in the English language is ' antidisestablishmentarianism', a classic case of nominalisation. Bet you didn't know that it refers to the 19th century political status of the 'established' (government-approved) Church of England in Scotland, Ireland and Wales. 'Established' became establishment, then disestablishment, antidisetablishment, etc, etc. Another example: the capacity of the dun-coloured quadruped in its ability to jump is not limited by the inertness of the canine. Or, to put it more simply, the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. [caption id="attachment_280" align="aligncenter" width="150"] The capacity of the dun-coloured quadruped...[/caption] Learn to KISS A good rule of thumb is KISS where you can. KISS is an acronym: Keep It Short and Simple. Verbs are action words; they affect the speed and direction of what you write Short nouns also have power and impact. Creative Text Solutions' workshop, Make Your Writing ZING! will not only teach you how to KISS, but give you many other useful tips to give your writing pizazz. Book at http://clearlytalking.com/event-registration/?regevent_action=register&event_id=25