From the course: Writing with Flair: How to Become an Exceptional Writer

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This, that, and the

This, that, and the

From the course: Writing with Flair: How to Become an Exceptional Writer

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This, that, and the

- Two words used a lot in writing are this and that. When used carelessly, both of those words can harm the clarity of your writing. Let's start with the word this. This is a word often used to refer back to something mentioned in a previous sentence. Teachers of the white crane style of kung fu encourage students to cultivate a tenderness of mind and lightness of body. This gives fighters the ability to kick more forcefully. The problem with saying this to refer back to something in that way is that it can often be imprecise. You have as many as four different elements there that the this could potentially be referring back to and it could be referring back to one or more of those elements. You've got four things that might enable fighters, basically, to kick more forcefully. First, teachers who encourage tenderness of mind and lightness of body, that's one way of reading it. Those teachers, by encouraging this tenderness of mind and lightness of body, might enable fighters to kick…

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