In a recent writing workshop, I asked students to name their biggest writing complexes. Unsurprisingly, many said his writing suffers from too much wordiness.
When I’m editing the work of others, there are five simple things I look for that, when I remove them, make an immediate difference. The next time you’re writing a press release, brochure, email, etc., take a moment to see if you can identify and eliminate any of these problems.
1. prepositions. Due to their linking nature, connecting nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in a sentence, prepositions tend to include extra words and are also a red flag to introduce a two- or three-word phrase that includes another noun or actor. . I’m certainly not suggesting that you write without using prepositions; just make sure that whenever you see one, you consider whether you can make your point more succinctly. (You can find an exhaustive list of prepositions at Wikipedia.org.)
two. anger… The “going to” expression automatically adds unnecessary words to your sentence that can be removed simply by replacing “going to” with the “will” expression. Example: Instead of “We’re going to focus on” or “We’re going to focus on…” Try: “We’re going to focus on…”
3. Aid. Many writers insert the word “help” before the key active verb in their sentence, such as: “We’re working to help raise awareness…” or “Our solution is helping provide additional benefits.” But by removing the “help” you remove the ambiguity and make a stronger statement. Proof: “WE ARE CREATING awareness”. Or, “Our solution IS OFFERING additional benefits.”
Four. That. “That” may be the most needlessly overused word in the English language. In The Careful Writer, Theodore M. Bernstein devotes nearly five pages to an explanation of when “it” should and should not be used. On the contrary, to the dismay of grammarians everywhere, my advice here is simple: read the sentence aloud without using the word “it” and if it still makes perfect sense, forget it.
5. Forms of the verb “to be”. Words like am, is, are, was, were, being, and been simply imply a state of existence. There is no action. There is nothing that can be seen, heard, felt, smelled or tasted in the mind’s eye. Every time he sees these verb forms, it’s a red flag that the “actor” in his sentence is lazy. It’s essentially just “sitting there”. Get off the couch and DO something!
ADDITIONAL TIPS: One of the places that verbiage likes to hide is in the first half of sentences. Watch for long introductory clauses that act as a story line that builds to your main point. Readers will thank you for getting to your point quickly and then providing any background or follow-up information later.
Copyright Good Word Communications LLC 2009