From the course: Writing with Flair: How to Become an Exceptional Writer
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This, that, and the
From the course: Writing with Flair: How to Become an Exceptional Writer
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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Contents
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The beauty of clarity3m 47s
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Fuzzy thinking5m 44s
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Missing links7m 53s
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Out-of-focus ideas6m 52s
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Misplaced modifiers5m 16s
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Ambiguity2m 14s
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Ambiguity: Exercises4m 36s
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Careless comparisons4m 24s
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Clumsy contrasts3m
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Dubious distinctions1m 50s
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Curly writing4m 42s
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Jargon and buzzwords4m 45s
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Mixed tenses3m 41s
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It versus they2m 45s
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This, that, and the7m 39s
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Remove clutter2m 59s
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