Although your writing is not something you can change overnight, you can make a little bit of progress every day.
There are useful online resources which can help you to write more clearly and effectively and to develop sharper skills as an editor. Here are my six top recommendations:
1. The European Union 'Fight the Fog' campaign for clear writing at http://europa.eu.int/comm/translation/en/ftfog/index.htm. This is a very engaging site with a 12-page 'How to Write Clearly' booklet and 'Teach Yourself Fog-fighting' exercises similar to those used on my course. There's also humour here, and advice on how to fight 'Eurobabble'. Highly recommended.
2. The UK Plain English Campaign at http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/. This is an independent pressure group promoting the use of clear written English in government, law and business. Go to 'Free Guides' for PDF versions of their useful and practical writing booklets, including 'How to Write Plain English'.
3. Sherry Roberts business writing seminar at http://www.editorialservice.com/11ways.html gives 11 tips for effective writing. Simple and effective.
4. The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University, USA, has excellent pages on writing at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/pw/index.html. Advice on many topics including memos, reports and letters. Useful and easy to read. The home page links to resources on punctuation, grammar and spelling. This is probably the biggest and longest running OWL on the web. Update: the new Purdue writing site is at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/.
5. The Editorial Eye at http://eeicom.com/eye/eyeindex.html is widely used by professional editors. It has a searchable database of articles on editing and language. It's not a list of practical tips, but you may find answers to your questions here.
6. If you are a legal professional you may find Bryan Garner's Legal Writing in Plain English at http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/garner/ useful. This is the free online version of his book, but there are many tips and exercises here on how to edit your legal writing to make it more reader-friendly.
Also on the language of law, you may like to read about the work of Clarity, a worldwide group of lawyers whose aim is the use of good, clear language by the legal profession. http://www.adler.demon.co.uk/clarity/home/about.htm
