Acronyms are great. They allow you to repeat titles, names, and concepts easily. The problem is that your reader may not know what they mean, and this hurts communication. Our advice is simple: the first time you use an acronym, write out the full name first and add the acronym in parentheses.
Do this for every acronym, even if you think most readers will know what it means because some might not. You only need to do this the first time you use the acronym. After that, you can freely use the acronym without risking losing your readers. Here’s how to do this:
“The Association for Advancement of Retired Persons (AARP) was founded in 1958. The AARP provides . . . .”
This is the strategy for day 156 in 300 Days of Better Writing, available at Hostile Editing in PDF, Kindle, and paperback formats.
For a sample of 300 Days of Better Writing and other books by Precise Edit, download the free ebook.
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