Say your new friend has invited you to a party with these directions: "I live by the
hill just past the college. It's a big yellow house." You might get to the party if there is only one hill in your area,
one college, one road "by the hill" from your present location, and one big
yellow house. But what if there are 6 or 7 hills in your area, 3 colleges, and
hundreds of big yellow houses? How will you ever find the party?
And what does this have to do with best practices in
writing?
Giving specific information about your idea is like giving
specific directions to a place where your thoughts are located. If you don't give
enough specific information, your reader might get lost.
Assume that your reader is not as familiar about the
terrain of thought you are exploring in your writing as you are. If you really want your
readers to come to your party, give them specific information that will help them follow
your thoughts. top
THE "BE SPECIFIC" RULE AND THIS TUTORIAL.
One of the best ways to make your writing and speaking clear, convincing,
inviting, and powerful is to BE SPECIFIC.
This tutorial will give you definitions and examples,
practice and resources—all designed to help you understand and skillfully use the
"be specific" rule of writing. At any time, you can use the menu at the top to
skip around, depending on what you want. If you want more explanation of the concept
or examples, click on Definition and Examples. If you
want some practice, click on Practice. If you want more
information from other Internet resources related to development of writing through the
"be specific" rule, click on Resources.
For information about accessibility, sponsors and contact
information, permissions and copyright, how to cite the tutorial, how to use it, and links
to a related Webliography--go to About this Tutorial. top
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