Watch the double negatives when writing Sep24 '05

One rule of writing is that there should only be one negative per sentence.

For example, the following sentence hurts my ears:

I don’t disagree that people can’t act normal in situations where there’s not an agenda.

What!? Can anyone decipher that?

A good thing to do is re-read your sentences, and clear out all of the negatives, by replacing them with positives.

So, to re-write that previous sentence:

I agree that people can only act normal in situations where there’s an agenda.

Ah. Much better.

By limiting yourself to only one negative per sentence (or none, if possible), you make the sentence more understandable to the reader.

Sentences like the one above make me quit reading immediately.

Categories: Writing

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matthom is published and produced by Matt Thommes - an independent publishing enthusiast, mobile blogger, content creator, informative writer, web developer from Chicago. Never one to conform, Matt intends to promote the effect the web has on our lives, in an effort to intensify, instruct, and clarify all that is happening around us.

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