EDITING TIP FOR APRIL

GETTING RID OF CLUTTER IN YOUR WRITING

If your house or office is anything like mine, you probably struggle with the tendency to accumulate "stuff" and the resultant feeling of being cluttered. It's all too easy for writing to suffer from the same problem of clutter. In general, most of us tend to include more words than necessary when we write. The cardinal rule in most writing, especially technical writing, is "Keep it simple!" Most readers have a short attention span. If you can't hook them and keep them interested, they will either look elsewhere or, if they have no choice about reading what you have written, they will resent you for making it more complicated than necessary and very likely not hear the message you are trying to communicate. Below are some common phrases that add to the "fat content" of your writing, phrases which should be ruthlessly cut from your communication.

Cut these phrases:

"a personal friend" (what other kind of friends are there?)
"It should be pointed out that..." (okay, just point it out)
"at this point in time..." (try something shorter, like "now" or even "these days")
"do a study of the effects of..." (what about just "study the effects of")
"There are some people who think..." (again, just "some people think")
"impact" as a verb (though this one is so entrenched that perhaps it's a losing battle)

Of course, these are only a few examples. There are many more. If the task seems a bit daunting to you, consider contacting Oxus Communications for help with your writing and editing needs.

Follow this link to January's editing tip.
Follow this link to February's editing tip.
Follow this link to March's editing tip.