I'm happy to welcome Karen Lange, author, teacher, and former homeschool mom, to my blog. Karen agreed to do a guest post on writing tight. Enjoy!
“The most valuable of all talents is that
of never using two words when one will do.”
Thomas Jefferson
This is one of my favorite writing quotes. I
think of it as the bumper sticker for word economy.
If, as Jefferson suggests, we examine our writing, looking for places where one word will replace two, can we sharpen our prose?
I think so, and I've long believed that crisp writing makes a great statement. It is also necessary to meet word counts. Weeding out unnecessary words and phrases helps communicate without clutter and fluff.
Here are a few ways I eliminate that dreaded "clutter and fluff":
1) Ditch excess modifiers and hedging words. Words like very, really, quite, fairly, kind of, and truly don't add as much emphasis as we think. When removed, the result is cleaner and nothing is compromised.
2) Remove empty phrases. Trim out phrases like there seems to be, in order to, needless to say, on account of, and what I mean is for clear, crisp statements.
3) Don't be redundant. When phrases like free gift, past history, honest truth, and end result are pared down to gift, history, truth, and result we've heeded Mr. Jefferson's advice, haven't we?
Does Jefferson's quote strike any chords with you? What methods do you employ to tighten your writing?
If, as Jefferson suggests, we examine our writing, looking for places where one word will replace two, can we sharpen our prose?
I think so, and I've long believed that crisp writing makes a great statement. It is also necessary to meet word counts. Weeding out unnecessary words and phrases helps communicate without clutter and fluff.
Here are a few ways I eliminate that dreaded "clutter and fluff":
1) Ditch excess modifiers and hedging words. Words like very, really, quite, fairly, kind of, and truly don't add as much emphasis as we think. When removed, the result is cleaner and nothing is compromised.
2) Remove empty phrases. Trim out phrases like there seems to be, in order to, needless to say, on account of, and what I mean is for clear, crisp statements.
3) Don't be redundant. When phrases like free gift, past history, honest truth, and end result are pared down to gift, history, truth, and result we've heeded Mr. Jefferson's advice, haven't we?
Does Jefferson's quote strike any chords with you? What methods do you employ to tighten your writing?
