Writing Tips: Proofread, Use a 'Nut Graf,' Avoid Using 'I' Too Often

Writing tips: (1) Proofread one's own work twice, or thrice, before submitting. (2) Include a nutshell paragrah, or "nut graf," high up in the piece to summarize why the reader should take interest. (3) In writing first person, try to avoid using "I" over and over.

Possibly these writing tips may be of use to my sister and fellow scribes here at Associated Content, but a main reason for putting them down is for self-reinforcement. My recent works have contained far too many "misteaks," and have lacked nut grafs. I've even been using "I" too much.

So, in considering these writing tips, please, "Do as I say, not as I do." Or rather, to avoid using "I" twice, "Do as suggested, not as displayed." Also, it would be neat to see writing tips from others in the AC network.

Who Am 'I' to Talk?!

The need for self-reinforcement arrived earlier today, after kindly counseling a gifted and promising new AC peer with a writing tip to improve first-person writing with avoidance of using "I" too often. This may seem rather odd: If we're writing in the first person, mustn't we use "I" in order to be clear? The answer is, yes! But if we use "I" a little less often, we sound less redundant and, in a way, we sound a little more humble.

Great advice, eh? But then it dawned on me that I have been using "I" way too often (demonstrated in this very sentence) because I have been overlooking the same principle that I have always propounded. For example, the following was part of a recent writeup:

"As the Christmas Parade came to a close, one local politician whom I have known for 35 years passed by me with a perfunctory, 'Hi Mike.' Another local politician whom I have known for 25 years passed by in the opposite direction with a perfunctory, 'Hi Mike.' I'm thinking, have I
become out of touch where these folks barely acknowledge me? So I started the one-block walk back home, and the second one came back and approached me, asking could I 'believe!' that the first one had become such a jerk? So that's what was up. Neither wanted to greet me in front of the other. All the troubles we have in Saginaw, and the local people can't get along."

Shame on me. With some self-editing, the same passage would have read as follows:

"As the Christmas Parade came to a close, one local politician of my acquaintance for 35 years passed by with a perfunctory, 'Hi Mike.' Another local politician who has been a friend for 25 years passed by in the opposite direction with a perfunctory, 'Hi Mike.' Did this mean I've
become out of touch to a point where these folks barely acknowledge me? But on the one-block walk back home, the second one came back and approached and asked, 'Can you believe (the first one) has become such a jerk?' So that's what was up. Neither wanted to greet me in front of the other. All the troubles we have in Saginaw, and the local people can't get along."

That's one "I" in the revised version, compared to six "I's" in the original. Removal of the excessive "I" references is sort of like a drill, often enacted at the close of drafting a first-person piece. (Note: "My" and "me" also are first-person, of course, but they don't seem as self-centered as repeated "I" usage.)

Careless Self-Proofreading

Speaking of doing rereads before submitting, my track record on this count during recent months has been extremely poor. Even after admonishing myself several times, the "missteaks" have lingered: Misspellings, or dropped words, or skipping over errors such as "of" instead of "if" or "their" instead of "they're." Obviously I'm reading my stuff after it's submitted and published, or else these boo-boos would not have been noticed. So, why not catch them ahead of time? This is just a matter of discipline and patience. Ironically, the peer who received my "avoid 'I'" tutelage is among those who writes with virtually no careless errors.

Nutshell Paragraphs Make Big Difference

This leads to the use of nutshell paragraphs, or nut grafs, which is one of the best chunks of advice offered in modern journalism schools. The old way of teaching "who, what, where, when, why and how" still applies, but the nut graf steps things up a notch.

Here's an example of a piece that tells a story within itself, but not a larger story.

"Joe Doakes (who) watched his home (what) at 1001 Disaster Lane (where) catch fire at 10 p.m. Friday evening (when) because his Christmas tree caught fire (why) because a flammable ornament was placed above a hot light (how)."

Extra effort for the nut graf, explaining why a reader should be interested, could go as follows:

"Doakes and his family escaped their home unharmed, but some other families aren't so fortunate. According to the National Fire Prevention Association, an average of 250 Christmas tree fires occur annually in the United States, leading to an average of 14 deaths and 26 injuries per year, with property damage that approaches $14 million. Furthermore, 1 in 18 Christmas tree fires leads to fatal consequences."

In a recent first-person account of "Thanksgiving Memories," regarding the Thanksgiving season deaths of both my parents, I avoiding using "I" too often (lol) but neglected the nut graf. Therefore, a reader may have reacted, "That's said but part of life, Mike, so what are you really trying to say?" The piece lacked a nut graf near the start. Here's what could (and should) have been inserted:

"Some readers may already have experienced the passing of beloved elders. Other readers may have this experience ahead in their futures. Regardless, while we often speak of 'quality of life,' we also should think of 'quality of death,' which is the question of whether elders are at peace in their illnesses, or are suffering."

This simple insertion, which would have taken 5 extra minutes before I hit the "send" button, would have made a tremendous improvement.

So, those are a trio of writing tips. Do readers have others to offer?