Plain English Pt. 1: How To Write A Clean Sentence

Grammar is dreadful.

It feels pedantic, restrictive, and it holds a lot of people back from giving writing a real shot because they don’t want to get it wrong. Even worse, every grammar guide out there threatens to do a better job than melatonin.

So, if you have resented your high school English teacher or felt like you'll never get the hang of grammar, you’re in luck.

Starting from this week, we’ll kick off a new 3-part series: Plain English, where I’ll plug the missing pieces from your English education. My only goal here is to skip all the pedantic stuff and show you what works.

• In week 1, we’ll cover all the grammar you need to start composing coherent sentences.
• In week 2, we’ll give you the key principles of writing with style + flow.
• And in week 3, we’ll dissect what makes great turns of phrase so memorable.

So, get excited, and let’s start with this week’s key reframe:

You already know more about grammar than you think

To put it simply, grammar rules aren’t commandments from which we’ll produce perfect writing. In fact, it’s merely a set of guidelines to make our writing intelligible to everyone.

If you understand this newsletter, it means that you already have an implicit grasp of grammar. And as the writer, I have to play by those implicit rules you already know to produce writing you can understand.