1. Take responsibility

It is your job to make your writing understood, not the reader’s job to work out what you are trying to say. Readers are busy people, too

2. Be tough on yourself

How many words can you remove from what you have written without changing the meaning? Remove them.

3. Use the present tense

Unless you are writing about history, your ideas and information – and therefore the expression of them – should be current. Use of the present tense makes this clear.

4. sdrawkcab foorP

Proofreading your work backwards forces you to concentrate on one word at a time and increases your chances of picking up spelling or typing errors.

5. Forming positives, comparatives and superlatives

Generally two-syllable adjectives add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative: big, bigger, biggest. Three-syllable adjectives add more or most: comfortable, more comfortable, most comfortable.

6. Keep going

If you’re struggling with a piece of writing, keep going. The words will most likely form themselves into something coherent at some point. You can always go back and attend to infelicities later.

7. Sentence lengths

Short sentences are good for introducing a new point. Long sentences are good for developing an argument.