1. Cut long sentences
in two
I’m not talking about
run-on sentences. Many long sentences are grammatically correct. But long
sentences often contain several ideas, so they can easily lose the reader’s
focus because they don’t provide a break, leading readers to get stuck or lose
interest, and perhaps the reader might get bored and go watch TV instead.
See what I mean? If you
spot a comma-heavy sentence, try to give each idea its own sentence.
2. Axe the adverbs
(a.k.a. -ly words)
Adverbs weaken your copy
because these excess words are not truly descriptive. Rather than saying the
girl runs quickly, say she sprints. Instead of describing the cat as walking slowly,
say he creeps or tiptoes. The screen door didn’t shut noisily, it banged shut.
Find a more powerful
verb to replace the weak verb + weak -ly adverb combo.
3. Stick to one voice
Sometimes it’s necessary
to use both first and second person, but that can be jarring for readers. For
example, you might start your introduction talking about yourself, then switch
halfway through the piece and start addressing the reader. Try to stick to “I”
voice or “you” voice throughout one piece of writing.
And if you must switch,
start with one and finish with the other. Don’t move back and forth between the
two. Your readers will get lost.
4. Remove extra
punctuation
A powerful hyphen here
and a thought-provoking semicolon there can be effective. But a piece of
writing littered with all sorts of punctuation — parentheses, colons, ellipses,
etc. — doesn’t flow well.
Oftentimes, you can
eliminate these extra pieces of punctuation with commas or by ending a sentence
and starting a new one — and that makes your writing that much stronger.
5. Replace negative
with positive
Instead of saying what
something isn’t, say what it is. “You don’t want to make these mistakes in your
writing” could be better stated as “You want to avoid these mistakes in your
writing.” It’s more straightforward.
If you find negative
statements in your writing that contain don’t, shouldn’t, can’t or another such
word, find a way to rewrite them without the “not.” That will probably mean you
need to find a more powerful verb.
6. Replace stuffy
words with simple ones
Some people think jargon
makes their writing sound smart, but you know better. Good writing does not
confuse readers. If they need to grab a dictionary to finish a sentence, your
writing has room for improvement.
To get your point
across, use words people are familiar with. The English language has thousands
of words. You can certainly find a shorter or more common word in your
thesaurus than a jargony one.
7. Remove redundancies
You don’t need to say
the exact same thing with two words. Did you catch the redundant words in that
sentence? Here’s a better version: you don’t need to say the same thing with
two words.
Brand new, advance
planning, basic necessities… the list of these common phrases is longer than
this blog post. Check out About.com’s 200 Common
Redundancies and then start snipping!
Sometimes sneaky
redundancies are separated by an “and.” If you say your sentences are
straightforward and to-the-point, they are neither. You don’t need both words.
Your sentences are straightforward. Or, your sentences are to-the-point.
8. Reduce prepositions
Though prepositions (of,
in, to, for, etc.) are helpful little words, they make sentences more lengthy
because they cannot stand alone. Prepositions need lots of friends. By cutting
the preposition and the words that follow, you can cut three, four or even five
words. Sometimes a prepositional phrase can be replaced with just one more
direct word, or cut completely.
An easy way to cut
prepositions is to look for opportunities to make something possessive. The car
of your neighbor is really just your neighbor’s car.
9. Cut “in order to”
You never need it. If
you’re going to the kitchen in order to make a sandwich… Your sentence could be
tighter. Because you’re really going to the kitchen to make a sandwich.
That “in order to” makes
it take a millisecond longer to arrive at the meaty part of the sentence, which
means your story is dragging more than it needs to.
10. Don’t use “start
to”
Did you start to walk
the dog, or did you walk the dog? Is the car starting to roll down the hill, or
is it rolling down the hill? “Start to” is a more difficult phrase to deal with
than “in order to,” because sometimes you do need it. But more likely than not,
you don’t
Rather than making
“start” the active verb, use the verb that’s actually more active — like
walking or rolling — to tell your story.
11. Nix “that”
In about five percent of
your sentences (total guess from the grammar police), “that” makes your idea
easier to understand. In the other 95 percent, get rid of it! “I decided that
journalism was a good career for me” reads better as “I decided journalism was
a good career for me.”
12. Replace “thing”
with a better word
Usually when we write
“thing” or “things,” it’s because we were too lazy to think of a better word.
In every day life, we may ask for “that thing over there,” but in your writing,
calling anything a “thing” does not help your reader. Try to replace all
“thing” or “things” with a more descriptive word.
13. Try really hard to
spot instances of “very” and “really”
This is a very difficult
one to remember. I almost never get it right, until I go back through my copy,
and the word jumps out at me, and then I change the sentence to “This is a
difficult one to remember.” Because really, how much is that “very” helping you
get your point across?
It doesn’t make the task
sound more difficult. Same thing with “really.” It’s not a “really” difficult
tip to remember. It’s simply a difficult tip to remember. Got it?
14. Make your verbs
stronger
“Make” is sometimes used
in the same way as “start to,” in place of what could be a stronger verb. For
example, I first titled this post, I wrote “25 ways to make your copy
stronger.” When I re-read it, I realized the verb wasn’t strong. I’d used
“make” as the verb, when it doesn’t tell the reader much at all. So I changed
the title to “25 ways to strengthen your copy.” Eventually I realized “tighten”
was an even better verb.
15. Ditch the passive
voice
As this UNC handout explains,
using the passive voice isn’t really wrong. But whenever you have the chances
to make your writing clearer, you should — and avoiding the passive voice
is one of those instances.
I know the passive voice
when I see it, but I’m bad at explaining it, so I’m going to leave that
to Grammar Girl.
Explaining grammar is her specialty.
16. Refer to people as
“who” not “that”
John is the guy who
always forgets his shoes, not the guy that always forgets his shoes. It’s easy
to make this mistake because that has become acceptable in everyday
conversations. But it’s more noticeable when it’s written down.
17. Avoid “currently”
“Currently” is virtually
always redundant. Don’t write: “Tom Jones is currently a communications
director.” If Tom Jones is anything, he’s that at that moment; you don’t need
“currently” to clarify. Just get rid of it.
18. Eliminate “there
is” or “there are” at the beginning of sentences
This is often a symptom
of lazy writing. There are lots of better, more interesting ways to start
sentences. Oops. See how easy it is to make this mistake? Instead of starting a
sentence with “there is,” try turning the phrase around to include a verb or start
with you.
For example, replace the
sentence above with “Start your sentences in a more interesting way.” If your
copy includes a lot of phrases that begin with “there is” or “there are,” put
some time into rewriting most of them.
19. Match up your bullet
points
Bullet points are
a popular and effective way to organize complex ideas. Just make sure your
bullets correspond to one another.
Too often, writers mix
and match mistakes with what you should do or make transition to shoulds
halfway through the post — which only confuses the reader.
If your piece is called
3 Career Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make, here’s a bullet point that works:
- Forgetting to tailor your resume each time you
apply for a job
Here’s one that doesn’t
work (because it’s not actually a mistake — the writer inadvertedly switched to
what you should do):
- Make sure you tailor your resume
Often you can turn any
idea into a tip by adding a verb. For example: “Remember that sitting on your
head helps you write better.” Make your bullet points consistent and your
writing will read more smoothly.
20. Use contractions
Which sounds more
personable: I am heading to the market that is close to my house, or I’m
heading to the market that’s close to my house? Contractions make your writing
sound friendlier, like you’re (not you are) a real person. And that makes it
easier to connect with readers.
Contractions can also
make your post easier to read and comprehend. So go out of your way to include
them in your posts! Your editor will thank you.
21. Steer clear of the
ing trap
“We were starting to …”
or “She was skiing toward …” Whenever you see an ing in your copy, think twice
about whether you need it — because you probably don’t.
Instead, get rid of were
or was, then eliminate that ing and replace it with past tense: “We started to
…” or “She skied toward …” Pruning excessive “ings”
makes your writing clearer
and easier to read.
22. Check your commas
with that and which
When used as a
descriptor, the word “which” takes a comma. But the word “that” doesn’t. For
example: “We went to the house that collapsed yesterday” or “We went to the
house, which collapsed yesterday.” Confused about when to use “that” vs.
“which?” Grammar Girl offers
a great explanation.
23. Replace “over”
with “more than” for numbers
Over 200 people did not
like your Facebook page — more than 200 people did. Of course, everyone will
know what you mean if you use “over.” But using “more than” is one of those
little details that will help your writing shine.
24. Hyphenate
modifiers
Whenever you modify a
noun with more than one word, you need a hyphen. Lots of people don’t follow
this rule, so it’s a great way to show you actually walk the walk. That means
you need a hyphen if you’re writing about full-time work.
But you don’t need one
if you’re working full time. Got it? The exception: No need to hyphenate modifiers that
end in “ly.” Those are OK on their own. So your newly hired employee doesn’t
need that hyphen.
25. Identify your
tells
No matter how good of a
writer you are, when you sit down to write a first draft, you have a tendency
to spit out sentences in a certain way or use certain words. The more familiar
you become with editing your own copy, the more quickly you should be able to
pick up on your tells. And, the more ruthless you can be to eliminate them from
your writing.
“Start to” plagued me
while writing my book; I made the “start to” mistake again and again. But once
I knew to look for it during revisions, I was able to correct it. (Hint: If
this is a problem for you, try using Word’s search function to look for
“start.” You’ll catch each one, so you can evaluate them individually.)
Some of these tips originally ran on
thewritelife and AlexisGrant.com.
