Write it Right

By Cliff Harrington

Communication is essential. The two most familiar forms of communication are spoken and written.

We live in an age now dominated by online publication. That hasn't always been the case. Newspapers, magazines and books dominated readers' attention for centuries. The constant through all the ages has been writing.

Without that we lose

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cliff Harrington
• Release date: Jun 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890212313

Cliff Harrington

Cliff Harrington is a journalist with 46 years experience. Cliff was born in rural Rockingham, N.C., and is a product of segregation-era elementary and middle schools before graduating in the first class at integrated Richmond County Senior High School.He also is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the early years of his professional career with what then was Knight-Ridder newspapers, through fellowships he did additional journalism-related studies at Miami of Ohio University and the University of Maryland-College Park.Cliff entered a newspaper newsroom in 1977 and never left.He started as a sports intern, earned a full-time staff position and went on to cover high school, college and professional sports. He moved on to Multimedia newspapers (now known as Ganett) where he shifted to news writing and worked as a police and courts reporter before being promoted to editor in 1984.He has been a copy desk chief, and editor for an array of staffs of writers in South Carolina and North Carolina. He has worked at The Columbus, Ga., Ledger-Enquirer, The Greenville, S.C., News-Piedmont, The Charlotte Observer and recently retired as executive editor of The Rock Hill, S.C., Herald newspaper.Through all the years, Cliff's focus has been on the precision and craftsmanship that goes into writing. It is out of his passion for writing, and deep respect for those who built the foundation of his passion, that this book has been written.

Book preview

Write it Right

How to express your complete thought in writing

Write it Right

How to express your complete thought in writing

By

Cliff Harrington

Write it Right: How to express your complete thought in writing

©2024 by Cliff Harrington All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Published by Cliff Harrington

ISBN: 979-8-89021-232-0 Paperback

ISBN: 979-8-89021-233-7 Hardback

ISBN: 979-8-89021-231-3 eBook

Printed in the United States of America

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Chapter 1: Thought is an Essential Element 1

One thing is not negotiable 4

Chapter 2: All about the tools 6

Punctuation 11

Chapter 3: The reader experience 15

Antecedents 18

Rhythm 19

Chapter 4: Self discipline 21

Conclusion 23

Just for Fun 24

Introduction

Language is the foundation of any society. If you want to create chaos, simpy use confusing language. That will create mayhem.

I’m reminded of the Biblical recollection of the tower of Babel. There are plenty of interpretations that I won’t write about in this setting. But my point is the effort failed because the language became confused and they could no longer communicate. Therefore they could not work together.

That message is relevant even today.

One way we identify – and label – people is based on their language or dialect. We quickly pick up on patterns and influences – from geographical to cultural. Northern patterns. Southern patterns. Midwestern patterns. City patterns. Rural patterns. Racial patterns. However, they all are connected by one common, consistent thread. Grammar dictates the use of a subject, verb, and descriptives.

That’s how we communicate. Spoken or written, it does not matter. In this book, I’m focused on writing, but writing and speaking are siblings birthed of the same parents.

There’s