Here are three easy ways to ameliorate your writing:

No. 1: Avoid fancy words like "ameliorate." (In this case, use "improve" instead.) That way, your syntactic structures will be pellucid, laconic and unpretentious... er, clear, concise and down-to-earth.

Writers often resort to highfalutin words when they try to avoid repeating the same word, a practice dubbed "elegant variation," or more aptly "INelegant variation."

This ranges from the banal ("The Dow dropped 125 points, the Nasdaq shed 246 and the S&P gave up 33") to the banana ("elongated yellow fruit").

This synonym mania can lead to amusing Tyrann-o-thesaurian wrecks. Billiard balls become "numbered spheroids," Easter egg hunts "hen fruit safaris," oysters "succulent bivalves" and stolen bases "purloined hassocks."

No. 2: Avoid inserting unnecessary and unneeded words that add nothing to the meaning of your sentence.

See what I mean? That sentence could be rendered more succinctly as, "Avoid unnecessary words."

Many people think they'll appear knowledgeable if they pack as many words and phrases as possible into a sentence. Such inflation and bloviation creates huge, oversized airbags of sentences. Like Thanksgiving Day parade balloons, these sentences can be Goofy.

Which statement, for instance, is more lovely? "I love you" or "I'm enamored of you." Keep it simple, Cupid.

No. 3: Read your writing aloud.

I know, I know. In many offices and public spaces, reading aloud to yourself is regarded as a sign of mental disturbance. But sometimes giving voice to your prose — literally — is the only way to detect flaws in the flow.

It's especially useful in finding:

— repeated words — This is a common occurrence occurrence in text written or edited on a computer. Oops!

— omitted punctuation — If your voice naturally pauses at a certain spot, insert a comma.

— awkward phrasing - If you have trouble saying it, chances are your reader will have trouble reading it. While your sentences might look graceful on paper, the true test of their elegance is on the tongue.

— lack of rhythm — Reading your prose aloud exposes flaws in cadence. For instance, my original version of the previous sentence was "When you read your prose aloud, you'll also detect cadence flaws," but that sentence lacks a strong beat.

The second version pulses more rhythmically. Besides, it ends with the word I want to emphasize — "cadence."

So, think globally, write vocally. Hear! Hear!

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His new book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, California, 90254.

Photo credit: ha11ok at Pixabay