Passive When an application of wax is made to this surface a brilliance is imparted to it. Active Waxing this surface brightens it. Principle 6 Write like you talk Some grammarians would insist that"write like you talk"is poor grammar.They prefer "write as you talk."But this violates the rule "write like you talk." "Write like you talk"has its limitations.Most of us do talk rather untidy English.We repeat ourselves.We pause.We hesitate.However,in our speech we do not use long,involved sentences laden with multi-syllable words that usually occur in our writing. "Write like you talk"also has its limitations when it comes to news writing.Newspapers-many at least-still prefer that news stories be written in inverted pyramid style and in an impersonal manner. Principle 7 Use terms your reader can picture Avoid fuzzy words."Conditions,""situations,""facilities,""inadequacies"are typical examples. An engineer might say an alloy is"not fabricable."This is a general term that might mean several things.When asked for a more specific meaning,the engineer might say "the alloy cracks when it is cold-rolled." Principle 8 Tie in with your reader's experience Much communication fails because writers ignore readers'beliefs,ignore how they came by them, and how firmly they hold them. Words are not fixed.They vary in meaning from person to person,the meaning depending upon the experience of that person and the pictures the words call to mind. Highly abstract terms often are useful for thinking,but they are tricky in communication because they are open to such wide interpretation. 33 Passive When an application of wax is made to this surface a brilliance is imparted to it. Active Waxing this surface brightens it. Principle 6 Write like you talk Some grammarians would insist that "write like you talk" is poor grammar. They prefer "write as you talk." But this violates the rule "write like you talk." "Write like you talk" has its limitations. Most of us do talk rather untidy English. We repeat ourselves. We pause. We hesitate. However, in our speech we do not use long, involved sentences laden with multi-syllable words that usually occur in our writing. "Write like you talk" also has its limitations when it comes to news writing. Newspapers — many at least — still prefer that news stories be written in inverted pyramid style and in an impersonal manner. Principle 7 Use terms your reader can picture Avoid fuzzy words. "Conditions," "situations," "facilities," "inadequacies" are typical examples. An engineer might say an alloy is "not fabricable." This is a general term that might mean several things. When asked for a more specific meaning, the engineer might say "the alloy cracks when it is cold-rolled." Principle 8 Tie in with your reader's experience Much communication fails because writers ignore readers' beliefs, ignore how they came by them, and how firmly they hold them. Words are not fixed. They vary in meaning from person to person, the meaning depending upon the experience of that person and the pictures the words call to mind. Highly abstract terms often are useful for thinking, but they are tricky in communication because they are open to such wide interpretation