Adam FrickEFFECTIVE ENGLISH
Hi folks, my name is Adam Frick. I am a professional teacher, trainer, writer and editor. More fundamentally, I help writers and speakers to maximise their effectiveness through English. Whether you are a teenage BA student, a seasoned postdoc or a professional in private industry, my goal is the same: to make you and your skillset as clear, competent and cohesive as possible.
No shortcuts. No ornamentation. No busywork. I am here to help you put your own abilities on full display.
Effective English provides text solutions for any need you might have, with longstanding relationships with academia, government and private industry.What changes?A SHORTER ALTERNATIVE
I edit texts and teach writing for academia, government and private industry.
Who will read your next report, and whose English will that reader expect? I propose a new consensus non-native grammar for native and non-native users alike. A shared language asks every writer to make meaning available across different language backgrounds. The manifesto examines the evidence for changing English-use settings and the teaching choices those settings demand.
Think of choosing a jacket for an appointment. Just as the appointment shapes your choice of jacket, the reader and occasion should shape your writing. With that fit in mind, choose the complexity that helps your message reach the reader.
I help writers and speakers communicate effectively in English, drawing on longstanding relationships with academia, government and private industry.
This version restores the reference to established relationships while keeping a personal voice. The broader description makes room for work beyond editing and writing instruction, but tells a visitor less about the specific services. I would choose between these versions after considering the page, the reader and the information that comes next.
You know your subject; my job is to help you share that knowledge. Perhaps you are putting the finishing touches on a paper, finding your way through a book or preparing to speak to colleagues. We begin with what you want your audience to understand, then work out how your English can help.
You know the research. To make that knowledge available to your reader, I help connect the evidence to the argument. If the connection remains unclear, I ask before changing the text.
I edit the language across your manuscript. Across that longer text, a shared style guide keeps decisions consistent. Alongside the edits, you can review my questions as we work.
We work with real sentences. Through that practical work, you try a revision and discuss the difference. I explain the link between each choice and the intended effect so you can use the same skills again.
A shorter sentence is not automatically a better sentence. Sometimes a reader needs more explanation; sometimes an unusual turn of phrase gives a passage its character. The published examples below let you compare a few possibilities and see the reasoning behind my choices. Pay particular attention to the literary opening, where I would keep the original.
Long, complex phrases tend to come at the ends of clauses; this is called “endweight.”
English often places longer phrases towards clause endings, a tendency known as end-weight.
Wasow describes a pattern, then gives the pattern a name in a separate clause. My revision brings the name alongside the description, so the reader can follow one continuous explanation. Notice the word “often”. English has tendencies as well as rules, and an edit should preserve that distinction.
I have chosen these examples from published sources, with a link beneath each comparison. My revisions demonstrate an editorial decision rather than work commissioned by the original publisher. You can read the source and decide whether my explanation makes sense.
Before changing a sentence, I want to know what you need your reader to understand. On the basis of that answer, we have a reason to choose one version over another. A revision earns its place by helping you communicate that meaning.
Your writing should still sound like you. A good edit can make a point easier to follow while keeping the humour or emphasis that gives the passage character. With that individual voice in mind, I explain my suggestions so you can decide which changes belong in your work.
You deserve more than a page of corrections. When I suggest a substantial change, I explain the problem and show how the revision addresses that problem. Building on that explanation, you can question the reasoning, weigh the alternatives and use the same principle in your next piece of writing.
Think of a sentence as a little train. The subject sets off first, followed closely by the main action, with the extra detail travelling behind. That order gives your reader a way into the sentence before the heavier material arrives.
Cost, access and support after publication shape the team’s decision.
By the time you reach the action in this sentence, you have already worked through three items. I use this example to show why I prefer a compact subject near the beginning. Use the button to see how the same information can follow a different route.
Explore the principle.My work takes me from university classrooms to the pages of scholarly books. In spite of that change in scale, I still need to understand what the writer wants to say and what the reader needs to know. Here are a few examples of that work.
When I edit a substantial scholarly book, I keep the whole manuscript in mind while working through each sentence. I maintain a style guide so a decision made early in the book remains consistent in later chapters. If a passage raises a question about meaning, I take that question back to the author.
I edited an English-language nomination for membership of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. A nomination needs to convey the significance of someone’s work without leaving the reader to guess why a detail matters. To make that significance explicit, my attention went to the language, tone and connections within the case being made.
In my academic writing courses, I help writers understand how a reader follows an argument. We work through examples together, looking closely at what a sentence says and how a paragraph develops. Through that discussion, participants examine the reasoning behind the revision. I want participants to leave knowing why a change helps and when the same approach might help again.
I spend much of my working life helping other people find the words they need. I also write fiction, so I know the feeling of having a passage in mind and struggling to get that passage onto the page. Moving between teaching and editing lets me approach the same problem from different directions. Drawing on those two perspectives, I can help you improve the text in front of you and understand the choices behind the changes.
Beyond my teaching and editing, I also try to put my own advice into practice. My Substack contains my purely personal attempts at writing quality fiction and nonfiction. Through that writing, you can read the choices I make when the subject and the voice are my own. Come have a read and decide how well those attempts work for you.
Read my personal fiction and nonfiction on Substack. ↗Away from work, I am a father of four and enjoy exploring with my children and our dog. Our adventures take us from the beach to city streets and mountain paths. The photographs below give you a glimpse of that side of my life.
Find me on LinkedIn.
I have plenty to say about writing, as my students will tell you. Building on the examples above, these essays explain the principles I teach and the reasons behind my recommendations. Start with the manifesto, then follow whichever topic speaks to a problem you recognise in your own work.
Who should adapt when English connects people with different first languages? I argue for shared conventions that make the meaning explicit. The manifesto sets out the evidence and invites you to test the proposal against your own communication.
Read the manifesto.A sentence can carry a complicated idea without making the reader struggle through complicated grammar. I begin with the core, then show how you can build around that structure. The goal is room for your meaning and a clear route for your reader.
Read the first essay.A clear idea can lose the reader when the connection to the next idea stays hidden. To make that connection visible, I use Manchester’s Academic Phrasebank. The new essay shows how to choose a relationship, name the relevant information and keep the claim within the evidence.
Read the first essay.You do not need a polished brief to get in touch. Tell me what you are working on, who you want to reach and what is giving you trouble. Include your deadline if you have one, and we can talk through the next step.
adam.effective.english@gmail.com