Lesson 3: The Importance of Word Choice and Consistent Writing
Use short active sentences
Traditionally technical writers are told to always use short active sentences. This is good advice, but writers today are generally granted a bit more leeway than those of twenty years ago. Short active sentences still communicate instructions better than passive or long sentences - they leave less room for ambiguity or misinterpretation. However, some passivity and longer sentences are generally allowed within conceptual material (depending on your editor and group style rules).
In all cases, extraneous words should be removed. If your sentence makes sense without "the fact that" then delete that phrase. Extra words just give people more ways to misconstrue your meaning.
