Use Short Subjects
When writing a sentence, try to make the subject shorter than the verb. This will help readers understand the sentence better. Compare the following two sentences: To the idea that we should hold a weekly staff meeting, I agree. I agree that we should hold a weekly staff meeting. The first sentence is not only difficult to read, [...]

Use Active Constructions
Very often, sentences are difficult to read when they contain verbs in the passive form. In a passive form sentence, the subject of the sentence has the action performed on it, while in the active form, the subject is the doer of the action. Compare the following two sentences. Active: My husband repaired the computer. Passive: The [...]

Use Common Words
There seems to be a misconception about how to be a good (English) writer, especially amongst non-native English speakers. More often than not, during my tenure as report editor/writer, people who tend to use sophisticated uncommon words are the native Indonesians. It seems they think that by using sophisticated words, people will automatically perceive them [...]

Writing Short Sentences
When I first started an editing/writing job at an international humanitarian organization, I enrolled in a long distance course on how to write effectively. As a non-native English speaker and writer, I have learned so much from it and I will share some of what I have learned in a ‘learn how to write’ article [...]