Rudolf Flesch's Rules: 25 Tips for Powerful Writing

The Book: How to Write, Speak and Think More Effectively ^ | 1/24/2017 | Rudolph Flesch

[Dan Baker]

As a FReeper, you're no doubt someone who strives to communicate with a certain degree of flair and influence.

In fact, one of the excellent things I find about Free Republic is it's a great on-line sandbox for sharpening your writing style and matching wits with other FReepers.

Now, as an independent analyst in the telecom industry, I write a lot, so I've always admired the writing style in well-edited journals, such as Fortune, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times.

So the question becomes: how can I best learn and adopt the clear and interesting writing techniques of the best commentators and journalists out there?

Well, a few years ago I ran across an invaluable series of books written by a guy named Rudolf Flesch, and reading his works has given me much solid professional advice over the years.

Rudolf Franz Flesch (1911 — 1986) was an Austrian-born naturalized American author, and also a readability expert and writing consultant who was a vigorous proponent of plain English.

Flesch consulted with magazine publishers and authored many books for the layman on how to write & communicate.  The practical writing principles (and rules) he taught are the same ones employed by large and successful media publishers from the 1950s to today. Toward the end of his career, Flesch compiled and synthesized his knowledge in: How to Write, Speak and Think More Effectively.  This book is a extremely dense with advice, but is also a highly readable collection of his life's teaching. It believe it's the finest book of advice in non-fiction writing you'll find anywhere. The book is out of print, but you can find used copies of the book on Amazon.

Now to help embed Flesch's writing rules in my own head, I compiled and condensed many of Flesch's key writing tips into the 25 rules and visuals below.  I added slightly to Flesch's points, figuring he'd want to update a few things given that our visual and hyperlink options have exploded in the internet age.

Hope you find the list useful.  I'm look for some advice on ways to distribute this knowledge to a wider audience.  Here are some questions I have:

• What format(s) would be most useful to you?  I'm trying to design a quick reference card -- something like that.
• How should I best distribute this content, say, to kids in high school?  How would you teach it?
• If I created some software that analyzed a text according to these rules, how valuable would that be?  What would you expect people to pay for that?

Thanks, Dan Baker — dbaker_ at _technology-research.com

1. Abbreviate where you can.
2. Active voice is better than passive.
3. Articles, conjunctions & prepositions (reduce).
4. Commas (reduce them).
5. Contractions are good.
6. Cut needless words.
7. Dialogue often.
8. Factor expressions
9. First person singular (use).
10. Help the reader read.
11. Numbers in the text.
12. Parentheses (use them).
13. Personal sentences & words.
14. Punctuate to reduce words.
15. Pronouns (use to shorten names)
16. Question marks add interest.
17. Readers (remember them).
18. References & links in the text.
19. Shorten sentences & paragraphs
20. Simple words are preferred.
21. Specify things to boost interest.
22. Symbols in the text.
23. Underline for emphasis.
24. Verbs (choose them over nouns).
25. Visuals ( use to create interest).

 

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[Dan Baker]

It’s a great list! Thanks. William Safire is excellent. I’ll check this book out.

[Dan Baker]

True. Singling out a single word — while not grammatically correct — often works. Twitter-speak might encourage more of this.

[Dan Baker]

I agree. You can go too far simplifying the text. Especially as you move into more technical areas, complex words are necessary.

[Dan Baker]

Many people online like to abbreviate to the point of obscurity. It's very true. Writing in the context what readers know is key.

[Dan Baker]

Good ones! Being mean was a specialty of H. L. Mencken, one of the greatest of newspaper pundits. William S. Schlamm of National Review posted this on the dust cover of the book H. L. Mencken's Smart Set Criticism:

There is not a single page [in the book] that left me without the sensation of sinful delight, the kind of laughter that comes from the darkest corner of the soul -- where man, in spite of his obligations to brotherhood and kindness and charity, succumbs to his inborn malevolence.

[Dan Baker]

Thanks. This is very useful to me, Yaelle. Flesch’s advice is definitely for someone who already knows the basics of writing.

And yet, I realize my images are a too cutesy for the sophisticated writer/reader. So my approach is not targeted enough.

For high schoolers, I guess there’s just no substitute for reading articles in the fine journals. Doing that instructs the mind as much as teaching the rules directly.

[Responsibility2nd]

I know these are standard “rules” for “effective” writing, sometimes the passive voice is best employed.

Says someone who just wrote in the active voice.

[mad_as_he$$]

Excellent post, thank you.

[Responsibility2nd]

You two are correct. It annoys me to see the sloppy excerpting so many FReepers do when posting.

One trick I use quite often when posting an excerpt is to add the writer’s conclusion. Oftentimes the summary is a good wrap up of the major points.

[HarleyLady27]

I have this book, used it to write papers in college...yes I did graduate... lol...

One of the most important things I learned was to write how you think...

If you notice, when I post a reply, it’s from me about how I feel on the subject...

Great Article Dan, thank you for posting it!!!

[Yaelle]

I definitely like what you are doing. Writing for comprehension and readability necessitates simplicity.

[Scarpetta]

That’s a direct quote from the character Mary Katherine Gallagher in the movie SUPERSTAR.

[Auntie Mame]

Great post. “How to Write, Speak and Think More Effectively,” is a fantastic book. Note, in the title of the book are the words, “and THINK More Effectively.” It’s highly readable and chock full of information you won’t find anywhere else.

One thing I started doing after reading this book was to go through my text and search for the word “that.” Most of the time it can be deleted. Sometimes it should be changed to “which.”

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

If you use the passive voice the reader has a right to wonder what you are not saying. It may betray that you can’t use the active voice because you don’t know enough about what you’re talking about, or because you don’t want to explicitly say what you do know.

If you are talking to the owner of a car, you might prefer to say “The car’s fender got dented” rather than “I dented your fender.”

[Dr. Sivana]

If you use the passive voice the reader has a right to wonder what you are not saying.

I understand that, but most developed languages have a passive voice for a reason. Sometimes the idea you was to express is better rendered, "She was murdered" than "someone murdered her". Fowler himself warned about making totems out of these sorts of recommendations.

[Dan Baker]

You're right, HarleyLady27.  I've read your comments and the way you write in the first person singular certainly adds zest to what you say!

If you recall in the Flesch's book, there a chapter about Montaigne, that 16th century Frenchman who went overboard taking about himself, but also endeared himself to his readers because he was so honest and talked about everything (even his sex life).

Well, not much has changed.  So much of public discussion today is fake and phoney.  When someone comes along who is provocative and speaks hard truth, well they often become highly credible!  Successful radio talk show hosts certainly understand this principle.

Another strategy Flesch talks about is purposely revealing to the reader you are not an expert in the subject matter you're talking about.

What?!  At first, this advice sounds ridiculous.  But by downplaying your expertise, you actually gain credibility with the reader.  (NOTE: The hundreds of ___fill-in-your-subject___ for Dummies books out seem to proves this point.)

But then, Flesch advises following up to explain how you became an expert by doing the research and synthesizing the knowledge of the many experts you spoke to.

[Dan Baker]

Very interested in the readability scales.

Definitely contact me by email (dbaker___ at ___technology-research.com).

Sounds like we are on the same wavelength for sure.

[Dan Baker]

Hi, Dr. Sirvana,

I think you are right. At the least, a passive voice sentence every once in a while breaks up the monotony a bit of active voice.

[The Truth Will Make You Free]

Goodest list ever.

[The Truth Will Make You Free]

Thanks! I have the book, but never finished it. The summary and examples are great.

Avoid exclamation points? (picture #16) I don't think so! And the use of inclusive feminine pronouns (as in picture 10) always grates me the wrong way.