The Office WriterWritten by Peter B. Mann
So you’ve been hired as an assistant editor. That means you'll be doing a lot of writing. Maybe you will be named editor of company newsletter, but you are likely to be writing newsletter. Or maybe you will be writing news releases, reports, speeches, or simply memoranda. Whatever assignment, main thing to remember is that you have to communicate. To communicate most effectively, keep your writing simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. Never use two words where one will do. Use short sentences. Avoid dense text by using bulleted lists, brief paragraphs, and subheadings. Give readers your full attention; always put yourself in their place and keep your writing conversational. Read it aloud -- or at least mouth words -- to verify that it is conversational. If your readers can simply go with flow, they are most likely to catch your meaning and remain interested. Remember, writing should never get in way of communication. The Heading The title should be interesting and informative. It should let your readers know what you are writing about -- and why that is important to them. In some cases, title is merely part of heading. A memorandum, for example, will usually have a heading that is standard for company or organization. It will include this information: To: (the recipients) From: (the official or department) Subject: (the title) Date: (the date of issue) In other cases -- for example, articles in company newsletter -- title will be a headline, choice words drawn from opening paragraph and fitting into a snug space on printed page. If document is part of a series, heading will indicate that. For example: The Primary Concern, Fifth in a Series; or Insight No. 7: The Primary Concern. Subheadings If an article is lengthy -- that is, a full page or multiple pages -- use subheads to break it into readable segments. Unless content dictates otherwise, there should be no more than two subheads on an 8 ½” x 11” page of double-spaced copy. Usually, a subhead will consist of few words and won't take a full line; it should grab reader’s attention and reveal something about subsequent material. The Paragraph A paragraph should consist of a few sentences related to same subject matter. In general, a paragraph should contain between 150 and 200 words. If it must be longer, look for ways to break it up. For example, if it contains a series -- James collected Rolling Stones CDs, DVDs, and concert posters -- change it to a bulleted list. James collected Rolling Stones: *CDs *DVDs *Concert posters Doing so adds “air” to page, diminishing density of type. It makes page an easier, quicker read. Style note: There is disagreement about proper punctuation for this bulleted list. A particular style is not sacrosanct, however. The important thing is to adopt a style and use it consistently. The Sentence The sentence is basic building block of every written product, whether it is a memo; a book review; a press release; a news article; or a feature story. So it is in constructing individual sentence that writer establishes an article's readability and interest level. Here are some guidelines for ensuring it will score high on those scales: *The sentence should be concise. *It should be simple and straightforward. *It should flow conversationally. *The reader should be pulled by flow. There are two essential elements in a sentence: subject (a noun or pronoun) and predicate (a verb, one word or several words that tell what action subject is taking or has taken).Most sentences also contain articles (a, an, the) and modifiers (adjectives, adverbs). An adjective modifies a noun; it is a word or phrase that names or describes an attribute of noun. For example: blue room, tall woman, balding man, once and future king. An adverb, on other hand, modifies a verb. It is a word or phrase that expresses time, place, cause, manner, or degree. For example, he read slowly, she spoke articulately. Adverbs may also modify adjectives, other adverbs, or adverbial phrases. Frequently, a sentence will include a prepositional phrase. A preposition is a brief word (of, for, by, at, to, under, over) that introduces a phrase modifying a noun, verb, or clause. Every prepositional phrase has its own object. For example, to movies, under bridge, after a few minutes, across lake. Note: “Concise” is not a synonym for “brief.” A long article may consist of concise writing. The test is whether every word is necessary. Check each word in a sentence; does it clarify or add meaning, or is it superfluous? If all superfluous words are eliminated, writing is concise. Brevity, of course, is desirable, too. If writing is concise, article is likely to be as brief as subject matter allows. Punctuation *The period (.) marks end of a sentence; it also separates elements of an Internet site name [the “dot” in “dot com”]. *The comma (,) separates items in a series; divides a compound sentence; sets off interjected material; with a small conjunction (but, for, and), connects two independent clauses; sets off introductory phrases; sets off name of larger geographical entity when citing city, state, or province, nation; separates discrete adjectives (“short, stocky fellow”). *The colon ( : ) follows a phrase that introduces a list; follows an independent clause that introduces an explanation; follows salutation in a business letter; separates an independent clause from a quotation it introduces; in a script, separates speaker’s name from his/her speech. Note: If clause following a colon is a complete sentence, it should begin with a capital letter. *The semicolon (;) separates two complete thoughts; separates items in a series if one or more of them contain a comma; *Quotation marks (“ “) begin and end quoted material; enclose titles of lesser works, such as chapters and episodes (for titles of books, television programs, and films, use italics); serve as a symbol for inches. *Quotation marks (’’) begin and end quoted material within quoted material; serve as a symbol for feet. *Question mark (?) at end of a direct question. *Parentheses ( ) begin and end interjected material, as well as references and other information that is related to but not suitable for main text. *Brackets [ ] set off parenthetical material that occurs within parentheses. Capitalization In headlines: Choose an “up” or “down” style and stick with it. The “up” style: Capitalize all words in headline except articles and prepositions that are no longer than four letters. The “down” style: Capitalize only first word of headline and any proper nouns that appear in it.
| | Salt Therapy and its European well-known beneficial effects in respiratory diseasesWritten by LTiba
The benefits of salt therapy (also called Halotherapy) or speleotherapy are well known and documented in Europe. Halotherapy uses dry aerosol micro particles of salt and minerals to treat respiratory diseases and seeks to replicate conditions of speleotherapy (from Greek speleos=cave), a treatment that has been practiced in old salt mines of Eastern Europe since early 19th century. In mid 18th Century a Polish health official Felix Botchkowski, noticed that workers of salt mines did not get ill with lung diseases. He wrote a book about effects of salt dust in 1843. His successor M. Poljakowski founded a Salt Spa in Velicko near Krakow, which is still in operation. During Second World War salt mines were often used as bombproof shelters. After spending time there many people who suffered from asthma felt that their health had gotten better! Today there are many salt sanatoriums in Europe (Austria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia …). The Halotherapy belongs to category of physical therapies non-drug and non invasive treatments of diseases. In former Soviet Union, medical researchers engaged in a concerted effort to develop physical therapies in order to avoid costs and side effects of drug therapy as well as microbial and tumour resistance. Russia has become world leader in developing and testing new and increasingly effective physical therapies. Many of clinical trials have focused on Halotherapy as a treatment of asthma and chronic bronchitis and also very effective as a main or adjuvant therapy across entire range of upper and lower respiratory tract diseases. Respiratory diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Most drug therapies of respiratory diseases have only palliative effects, and many have significant side effects, especially those with corticoids or steroids. So, a physical therapy like Halotherapy is greatly needed. Speleotherapy also makes a great demand on patients' time. The mines are not conveniently located for most people and total cost is fairly significant. The effectiveness of speleotherapy is not acknowledged in all countries of world, but in countries like Romania (Praid, Tg.Ocna, Seiged, Sovata, Slanic, Ocna), Poland (Wieliczka), Germany (Teufelshöhle), Austria (Hallen, Solzbad-Salzeman), Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Nakhichevan mines in Azerbaijan, salt aerosol plays an important role in treatment of chronic respiratory diseases, working well with or without medical treatment and without any known side effects. Because of these, pregnant women with asthma or other respiratory diseases could use this therapy without any harm to child. Very well known and appreciated in these middle-eastern European countries, this therapy is covered by public health care system. In Romania there are also many salt lakes - Sovata with 7 salt lakes, Ocna Sibiului with 52 salt lakes in S-W of Transilvania, very well known in treatment of infertility, metabolic diseases, skin diseases. These salt lakes were usually formed by collapsing of salt caves ceilings. All these salt lakes have different salinity, increasing with deepness – from 9g/l to 320g/l. This salt therapy being very well known for its beneficial effects, a Romanian inventor put his mind at work and developed a device that is able to reproduce a speleotherapy micro environment in your home in an affordable and convenient way. Internationally recognized, with Gold and Silver medal at “Salon International des Inventions”, Geneva and “World Exhibition of Innovation, Research and New Technology”, Brussels, this Romanian invention brings new hopes in natural treatment of chronic respiratory diseases.
|
