Wow, you want to confuse a reader right out of the gate?
Well, here’s an easy, no-brainer way to do it:
Use the same pronoun to refer to different things in a sentence.
This is a great, nay, inspirational example from an “internationally famous, best-selling” author (and, hey, I’m sure he’s a multi-millionaire!) who can’t write his way out of a paper sack.
They learn to focus on the most important tasks and make sure they get done.
Here he’s talking about productive people—and he’s one of them, I’m sure—and their busy lives. The problem happens because “they” refers to the people, and then “they” refers to the “important tasks” in the same sentence.
I’ve been thinking about how to make his concept clearer, and have a couple of possibilities.
Productive people learn to focus on the most important tasks and make sure they get done.
That’s a little better.
Or how about:
Productive people learn to focus on their most important tasks. Once those tasks are completed, then and only then do they move on.
I guess I’ll have to think about it a little more, but do watch your pronouns and focus on them, because otherwise they’ll confuse your readers and make them go away.
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