Grammar Insights from Lisa McLendon on Polished Writing

Lisa McLendon’s approach to grammar is refreshingly practical. She treats rules as tools, not shackles, and shows writers how to wield them for clarity, momentum, and voice.

Her workshops and books strip away jargon and replace it with memory-friendly patterns you can apply while you type. Below, you’ll find her most transferable insights, each paired with a micro-edit you can execute today.

Anchor Every Sentence to a Concrete Actor

Readers trust sentences whose first four words contain a flesh-and-blood subject. McLendon calls this the “actor slot,” and she moves it leftward whenever possible.

Compare “A decision was made by the committee” to “The committee decided.” The second version arrives faster and hides no agent.

Scan your draft for passive clusters; if the actor appears after “by,” flip the clause.

Spot Hidden Passives Beyond the Classic “Be + Past Participle”

McLendon flags passives that sneak in as adjectives: “The completed report,” “The dismissed charges.” These phrases omit the completer and the dismisser.

Ask “Who completed it?” then rewrite: “The report the intern completed” or “The charges the judge dismissed.” The noun phrase grows, but accountability returns.

Let Rhythm Replace Redundant Words

Polished writing breathes. McLendon claps out syllables to prove that a one-beat cut often outweighs a thesaurus dump.

She reduced “in the event that” to “if,” trimmed three beats, and kept the meaning. Your ear can do the same; read drafts aloud and mark spots where you stumble.

Use Stress Positions for Emphasis, Not Decoration

The final stress position—last two words before a period—carries the highest semantic weight. McLendon moves new or surprising information there and shoves old news left.

Example shift: “She filed the lawsuit in Delaware, a state with favorable corporate statutes” becomes “She filed the lawsuit in Delaware, where corporate statutes favor plaintiffs.” The revision lands on “plaintiffs,” the true news.

Deploy Commas as Traffic Signals, Not Ornaments

McLendon teaches three functional comma families: listing, bracketing, and linking. If a comma does none of these, it dies.

Delete the comma in “However, the data contradicts the claim” if you already started the sentence with “However” and no real pause exists. The sentence accelerates without ambiguity.

Master the Nonessential Clause Test

Bracketing commas frame information you could lift out without killing the sentence. Try removing the clause; if the skeleton still stands, keep the commas.

“The manager, who joined last year, eliminated overtime” passes the test. Delete the commas and you’ll see the clause is nonessential; retain them.

Slash Nominalizations to Rekindle Energy

Nouns that grew from verbs—“implementation,” “consideration,” “analysis”—suck action from a sentence. McLendon swaps them back to verb form.

“The implementation of the policy occurred Tuesday” turns into “The team implemented the policy Tuesday.” One cut, three gains: agent, verb, immediacy.

Build a Nominalization Radar in Five Minutes

Open your last 1,000-word piece. Search “-tion,” “-ment,” “-ance.” Each hit is a suspect. Ask whether the noun performs any real work or merely occupies space.

Replace “provide assistance” with “assist,” “conduct an investigation” with “investigate.” The vocabulary shrinks; the pulse quickens.

Match Pronoun Shape to Antecedent Distance

McLendon’s distance rule: if more than seven words separate pronoun and antecedent, repeat the noun. Readers fatigue when they hunt backward.

In “The startup, despite rumors circulating among investors, released its roadmap,” “its” is safe. Stretch the clause longer and the bond frays.

Neutralize Vague “This” and “That”

Standalone “this” points at an entire previous idea, but the pointer is blunt. McLendon appends a noun: “This delay,” “This victory.” The echo word crystallizes reference and prevents misreading.

Sequence Tense for Story, Not for Grammar Theater

Writers often twist into pretzels to obey sequence-of-tense rules they half remember. McLendon simplifies: choose the tense that matches the reader’s timeline.

If the report is still true, keep present: “The report shows sales rose.” No need for “showed” just because the writing happened yesterday.

Signal Time Shifts with Temporal Adverbs, Not Verb Gymnastics

“By 2025, the plant will have produced its millionth unit” clogs the verb. McLendon prefers “By 2025, the plant will produce its millionth unit.” The adverb carries the future marker; the verb stays light.

Balance Parallelism Without Sounding Like a Marching Band

Exact repetition bores; skewed parallelism confuses. McLendon’s fix is semantic rhyme, not syllabic lockstep.

“She writes fast, clean, and with humor” wobbles. Swap to “She writes fast, clean, and funny” and the trio sings.

Test Parallelism with Bullet Drafting

Strip the sentence to bullet points. If any item needs a new preposition or auxiliary verb, realign.

“The app saves time, reduces clicks, and eliminates the need for passwords” becomes three clean verb phrases: saves, reduces, eliminates.

Choose Data Verbs That Picture Motion

“Show,” “reveal,” and “indicate” are exhausted. McLendon rotates in verbs that contain motion: “spike,” “plunge,” “climb,” “flatten.”

“Sales climbed 30 %” paints an upward path; “Sales indicated a 30 % increase” paints a finger pointing at a number.

Let Prepositions Carry Spatial Logic

“Against,” “within,” “across” embed micro-stories. “Retention improved across all regions” implies a map; “Retention improved in all regions” merely lists.

Defang Jargon by Translating to a Twelve-Year-Old

McLendon’s “kid test” is brutal: explain the term aloud to an imaginary child. If you stall, replace or define.

“Utilize our holistic onboarding framework” becomes “Use our step-by-step welcome plan.” The sentence loses zero technical accuracy and gains accessibility.

Create a Jargon Log for Repeated Offenses

Maintain a running list of terms you explain more than once per quarter. Turn the list into a style-sheet entry: “Say ‘use,’ not ‘utilize’; say ‘steps,’ not ‘framework.’” Future drafts self-correct.

Employ Em-Dashes as Controlled Interruptions

Parentheses whisper; em-dashes tap the reader’s shoulder. McLendon reserves dashes for content she wants readers to hear in real time.

“We launched—quietly, at dawn—before competitors woke.” The dash pair forces a pause that mirrors the stealth.

Avoid Dash Overload with a One-Dash Rule Per Paragraph

More than one em-dash per 150 words and the eye tires. Swap later dashes to commas or colons to restore hierarchy.

Calibrate Appositives for Density Control

An appositive can double the information load of a sentence. McLendon keeps them lean: one noun, max two modifiers.

“Carlos, vice president of global logistics, signed” works. “Carlos, vice president of global logistics and supply-chain optimization, signed” drags.

Prune Appositives in Opening Lines

Front-loaded appositives delay the verb. Push the title later: “Carlos signed the deal yesterday, cementing his role as vice president of global logistics.” The action arrives first; the credential still appears.

Turn Lists into Micro-Stories

Bullets feel like inventory unless they escalate. McLendon orders lists by drama, not alphabet.

“We lost the client, the referral pipeline, and, finally, our reputation” builds a crescendo. Reverse the order and the stakes collapse.

Cap Lists at Seven Items to Honor Cognitive Span

p>Research pegs working-memory ceiling near seven chunks. McLendon trims to five when possible and inserts white space between longer sets.

Refine Your Default Sentence Length

McLendon’s diagnostic: print a page, draw a slash at every period. If any line lacks a slash, you’ve written a 40-word monster.

Break it. Aim for a 22-word average; allow one 10-word punch and one 30-word swell per paragraph. The variation keeps the inner ear engaged.

Count Syllables, Not Just Words

“Utilization of methodologies” clocks eight syllables; “using methods” clocks four. Half the syllables, half the cognitive load.

Let Negative Space Teach Brevity

McLendon prints drafts at 70 % zoom. Lines that blur usually deserve deletion. If the eye skims, the brain will too.

Apply the same test on screen: narrow the window until text reflows. Fragile sentences collapse; sturdy ones survive.

Insert Intentional White Lines Before Key Statements

A single-line paragraph isolated by white space gains spotlight power. Use the trick only for the sentence you’d tweet.

Close the Feedback Loop with Read-Aloud Revisions

McLendon’s final pass is always oral. She records herself, plays it at 1.25× speed, and marks every stumble.

Sentences that survive accelerated playback will survive hurried readers. The microphone catches rhythm flaws the eye excuses.

Trade Manuscripts with a “Cold Reader” Weekly

A reader who knows nothing about your topic spots ambiguity faster than an expert. One hour of their confusion saves days of reader attrition.