Polishing for Your Audience

Polishing for your audience entails a certain amount of catering to the reader; it is a mindful approach as to how the reader will interpret your writing. For example, if you are writing to high school students, then you likely do not want to make technical references in your material unless you know the readers will be technical students. In a similar way, you do not want to write using inner city or ghetto slang if you are writing to a group of farmers.

So, when you polish your manuscript, you will want to take out the slang or technical language and change the wording to better fit your audience. Part of the retro-fitting of your content language, that is, rewording after it is written, includes taking care to correctly use common expressions. It is extremely common for new writers to improperly use or misuse certain phrases or expressions in the content of their writing.

Here is an abbreviated list of commonly misused words:

• Aggravate/Irritate.


• All right.


• Allusion/Illusion.


• Alternate/Alternative.


• As to whether.


• Comprise.


• Disinterested.


• Due to.


• Effect/Affect.


• Enormity.


• Farther/Further.


• Fix.


• However.


• Importantly.


• Irregardless.


• Kind of.


• Line, Along these lines.


• Literally.


• Nice.


• Nor.


• Offputting/Ongoing.


• Oriented.


• People.


• Prestigious.


• Regretful.


• Respective.


• Secondly, thirdly, and so on.


• Split infinitives. Placing an adverb between to and its infinitive.


• Thanking you in advance.


• They/He/She. Mixing singular and plural pronouns.


• Unique.


• While.


• Whether/Rather.

1. Rewriting. A reworking of a sentence, paragraph, or section of your writing.


2. Rhythm. A linguistic pace or cadence in which the words flow with a music like beat.
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