9 Tips on How to Avoid Colloquial (Informal) Writing
9 Tips on How to Avoid Colloquial (Informal) Writing
While it may be acceptable in friendly e-mails and chat rooms, excessive colloquialism is a major pitfall that has brought down the quality of formal, written text. Here are some steps/tips that you can follow to help to improve your overall writing:
Steps:
1. Know the meaning of colloquialism.
2. Understand basic English punctuation.
3. Avoid using common colloquial words/expressions, as listed below. Again, these are words that, while acceptable in speech, should not be used in formal writing.
4. Avoid using “filler” words. These words are not necessary, and should be removed.
5. Avoid contractions.
6. Limit your use of subjective pronouns.
7. Avoid splitting infinitives. An infinitive is a verb preceded by the word “to,” such as “to go” or “to
8. Avoid ending your sentences with a preposition. In most cases, it is inappropriate to end a sentence with a preposition [i.e. down, during, in, into, of, since].
9. Avoid clichés. Clichés are phrases that have been exhausted to the point where they have completely lost originality.
[Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Colloquial-(Informal)-Writing]
