Good fundraising writing starts with good sentences. And they can be hard to write, because most of us have bad habits in our writing that needlessly weaken our sentences.

Here’s help from the Publication Coach Blog, at 7 sentences you should stop writing to improve your sentence structure:

1. Sentences beginning with prepositional phrases. It’s a weak start. Instead of By 7am, all the food was gone. Make it All the food was gone by 7am.
2. Sentences with unclear antecedents. When a sentence uses a pronoun (he, she, it, this, etc.) make sure it’s absolutely clear what noun that pronoun refers to (that’s what an antecedent is), usually by making sure the noun is in the previous sentence, not several sentences back — or that you don’t have more than one possible antecedent. So: Bob’s constant companion was a dog named Charles. He was really connected. Who is the “he” there? Instead: Bob’s constant companion was a dog named Charles. Bob was really connected to that dog. Tip: Do a search for “it” and “this” and other pronouns in your text, and make sure your meaning is 100% clear.
3. Sentences using the passive voice. There’s nothing inherently wrong with passive voice, but it can make sentences less clear: All of our food was quickly eaten. Should be: Hungry neighbors quickly at all of our food.
4. Sentences over-using the verb “to be.” Most sentences are stronger and clearer when the verb is an action verb, not “to be.” There are many hungry people in that area. Better: Many hungry people live in that area.
5. Sentences using the word “thing.” It’s bland and imprecise. Instead of The first thing she needed was a nutritious meal. Make that: She needed was a nutritious meal first.
6. Sentences using the phrase “the fact that.” You can always remove that from just about any sentence.
7. Sentences using unnecessary exclamation points — like this! An exclamation mark doesn’t make a boring sentence exciting.