If you haven't seen this linked from other sites yet, Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) posted the following article to his blog: The Day You Became A Better Writer. If you haven't read it yet, I encourage you to do so.
The main point of the article is simplifying your writing. I know this is one area where I have problems. Two of my worst habits are using complex sentence structures and active vs. passive voice.
Complex Sentence Structures:
Ugh: Dr. Sinister looked over Bobby and Jane and snapped his fingers, pointing at the two of them. Immediately, they were both grabbed by two men each, while two more jumped beside Dr. Sinister with their weapons drawn.
I'm embarrassed to admit I wrote that mess. This is a cut-and-dry case of trying to do too much in too few sentences. The above could easily be broken into five or more sentences and be more readable. As it stands, that paragraph is borderline painful to read.
Active vs. Passive Voice:
This is a misuse (or overuse) of the word "was". For example:
Passive: The steak was eaten by Frank.
Active: Frank ate the steak.
Both sentences say the same thing. However, you can plainly see the Active version is both shorter and quicker to comprehend.
I think I began doing this because I'm a programmer, and I tend to see this in other programmers' writing as well. As programmers, we're often given the end result and have to work backwards. Even if we're starting at the very beginning of a program, we have to constantly keep the end result in mind. Consequently, when constructing sentences, we consider the object before the subject.
Hopefully, Scott's article gives you a few ideas about how to improve your writing. I know I'm going to be more conscious of my structure and voice in the future.
