Three Writing Rules That Might Be New to You

By Jean Reynolds, Ph.D.

I’m a sworn enemy of grammar gobbledygook that’s useless and hard to understand. For example, every toddler knows what “Stop!” means. Do we really need an expensive grammar book to tell us that “Stop!” is an imperative? No.

Today I’m going to offer you three writing rules that are practical and easy to use. I’ve often taught them in police writing workshops over the years. They’re worth thinking about, even though you won’t find them in any grammar book.

Rule 1. If a sentence has more than three commas, consider rewriting it.

This rule might sound strange to you. Professional writers often use four, five, and even six commas in a sentence. So let me assure you that this is only a rule-of-thumb.

Nevertheless, I stand by it. If there are lots of commas in a sentence, it’s probably overloaded with information. I would bet serious money that it can be revised into two shorter and simpler sentences.

Long and complicated sentences are hard to read and even harder to understand—especially if the cop who’s reading them is tired after a long shift. (In my town, officers routinely work 12-hour shifts.)

I know that some writers hate short, simple sentences. “I want to sound smart!” is the eternal cry. If that’s your philosophy, you’re wrong. Serious writers don’t try to show off what they know. Their goal is effective communication—and that requires brevity and clarity.

Rule 2.  “If it starts with it, it’s a sentence.”

I read too many sentences like this one: “Frank Jones called me again, it was the third time vandals had broken his garage door.” That’s a mistake called a run-on sentence. (Some teachers call it a “fused sentence” or a “run-together sentence.”)

When it starts a new sentence, you need a period and a capital letter: “Frank Jones called me again. It was the third time vandals had broken his garage door.”

Here’s another example: “I pushed on the door, it wouldn’t open.” Wrong! It starts a new sentence. Use a period and a capital letter: “I pushed on the door. It wouldn’t open.”

Rule 3. Think twice about using the word being.

I want to assure you that being is a perfectly respectable word; I use it all the time. But it’s also a word that can gum up a sentence. Here are three sentences that should have been rewritten:

Being that we’d had a lot of rain, I wasn’t able to take any fingerprints.

Jackson was being drunk and disorderly.

Residents are being warned about the escaped convicts.

These revisions sound more natural:

Because we’d had a lot of rain, I wasn’t able to take any fingerprints.

Jackson was drunk and disorderly.

Officers are going door-to-door warning residents about the escaped convicts.

Growing As a Writer

There you have it! Let go of the idea that better writing has to be a big, onerous project. A few minutes a day—along with some concentration and practice—can yield big benefits.

A version of this article originally appeared in Standard and Training Director Magazine.