Know the meaning of the words you use. Keep a good college dictionary close at hand. For special problems, use the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which gives the historical development of words.
Think carefully about the connotations and etymologies of the words you use. English is a rich language. Its syntax and core vocabulary are Germanic (Anglo-Saxon), but at various points in its history it has received heavy infusions of Romance vocabulary from Latin and French. This happy mixture allows for great stylistic flexibility. Be aware of the subtle differences between Germanic and Latinate words. "I was bothered until I worked out an answer" conveys the same basic information as "I experienced difficulty prior to arriving at a solution"; but the two sentences have very different shades of meaning.
Copyright 1996 Yale University. Revised on Monday, May 20, 1996