Remove These 7 Things To Make Your Writing Breathtaking
The incredible impact of deleting these 7 when I edit
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The easiest way to power up your writing is subtraction.
We have this tendency to add more in. Add a story. Use a metaphor. Give an extra solution. We think these additions enhance our writing. But as Steve Jobs proved when you get rid of what weakens. Your strength doubles in power.
Remove these 7 things to boost your writing.
1. Stop being uncertain
Being soft and gentle in personal conversations works well.
But in your writing it’s weak. Be assertive and direct. Be certain. Readers will find your confidence irresistible. It’s a mistake to try and come alongside readers with soft language. Words like probably and maybe should be deleted. Could, might and I think need to go too.
Your reader is not delicate like a prized ming vase. They are robust and want inspiring. Do this with direct language.
Here’s what I mean:
Delicate: Maybe you could include mindfulness practices into your day
Direct: Use these mindfulness practices daily
Delicate: I think this new productivity app might help you save time
Direct: This new productivity app will save you time
Delicate: Perhaps you could include more green vegetables in your diet
Direct: Add more vegetables to your diet
Delete uncertainty and boldly declare what you think.
2. Complexity
Have you come across the anti-simple campaign yet?
A critical reader told me to stop writing simply.
You’ll end up with uneducated and lazy readers…writing about serious ideas can’t be written like a first grader.
I’ve written a full response here. Rammed with scientific research. But in summary, the evidence proves simpler writing:
is more persuasive
is more pleasant to read
builds reader’s confidence
makes a reader feel included
I love Hemingway. It offers me simpler alternatives. I’m shocked how I complicate my sentences. When there is an easier option, with the same meaning! This is what I mean:
Utilize -> Use
Inquire -> Ask
Facilitate -> Help
Terminate -> End
Consume -> Eat/Read
Implement -> Carry out
If you care about your readers. Remove complexity.
3. Quit being passive
Being passive robs your writing of energy.
Passive is when your subject receives the action of the sentence.
The ball was thrown by Jenny
The active sentence puts the doer first:
Jenny threw the ball
Research has shown passive writing is
harder to read
harder to remember
harder to understand
The active voice is quicker to read and more engaging. Readers love it.
Check out these examples:
P: The report was written by the marketing team
A: The marketing team wrote the report
P: Mistakes were made during the project
A: We made mistakes during the project
P: The decision will be made by the board
A: The board will make the decision
Notice how dynamic the active feels compared to the sluggish passive voice. I struggle to spot the passive voice. So I use Hemingway in my editing process.
Stop being passive and you’ll add vitality
4. Clear the clutter
When sentences are clear, the pleasure part of the brain lights up.
Cluttered writing demands more brain power. But short sentences place a lighter load on the brain. They make reading easier and faster. We love to conserve energy. So clutter will lose you readers. They prefer concise writing. Because this makes their brain smile. And gets the dopamine flowing.
So can you use fewer words to say the same thing? We use longer sentences when speaking to give a listener time to process our words. But this doesn’t work in writing. Make your sentences precise. Look for words you can remove, without affecting the meaning. This’ll make your writing smoother.
Here’s some examples:
Clutter: The final outcome of the experiment was successful
Clear: The outcome of the experiment was successful
Clutter: He personally greeted each and every guest at the event
Clear: He greeted every guest at the event
Clutter: She completely eliminated all unnecessary expenses
Clear: She eliminated unnecessary expenses
Don’t worry about this when you’re writing your first draft. Get the words down. But when you edit, clear the clutter.
Easy to read gets read.
5. End the cliches
People don’t read cliches.
The brain saves energy by ignoring what’s familiar. This is why you can drive a familiar journey. But have no memory of traveling the route. Your brain is lazy and loves to switch to autopilot. The moment your reader thinks they know the next few words. Their brain switches off.
Cliches are an attention killer.
Replace with the literal meaning. This will make your writing vibrant and fresh.
Check out these examples:
Cliché: The ball is in your court
Literal: The decision is yours.
Cliché: Caught between a rock and a hard place
Literal: Facing a difficult decision
Cliché: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch
Literal: It’s wise to wait for results before celebrating
Cliche: A diamond in the rough
Literal: A rare find with potential
I bet you didn’t even read each cliche. You skimmed it. But the literal phrases caught your attention. Your niche has its buzzwords and overdone phrases. Learn to spot these if you want attention on your content.
Replace them to keep the brain engaged.
6. Kill your adverbs
You need strong, descriptive language to captivate readers.
Adverbs weaken your writing but get slipped in everywhere. An adverb describes a verb or adjective. Mostly they end in -ly. Adverbs are a problem because they do the opposite of what you intend.
For example take very, really, or extremely. They are meant to strengthen the sentence. But weaken it instead. An “extremely important meeting” doesn’t sound more significant than an “important” one. A person described as “really brilliant” would sound better as “brilliant.”
Adverbs are so overused readers skirt past them.
When you find yourself adding an adverb. Remove it and replace the word you’re modifying. Instead of very calm, choose serene, tranquil, or hushed.
Here’s some examples of this technique:
Weak: She was very happy
Strong: She was ecstatic
Weak: The cake tasted really good
Strong: The cake tasted delicious
Weak: He was really tired
Strong: He was exhausted
Weak: The sunset was very beautiful
Strong: The sunset was stunning
But what about when you don’t have time or head space to think of a new word? Easy solution. Delete the adverb. The sentence will be stronger without it.
7. Poor design
My heart sinks when I see a wall of text.
Why would you build a wall your reader has to climb over? Long paragraphs force your readers to huff and puff through your words. They are exhausted by it. Use white space to enhance your words:
bullet points
sub-headings
short paragraphs
My favorite trick is to start and end each section with a single powerful sentence. Scan back through this article for some examples.
Remove these 7 things to make your writing crisper. And watch your reader fall in love with your writing.
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Hey Derek, this was an awesome read! I totally agree with everything you said and I resonate with it as a writer myself! I remember doing tons of these when I first started, especially the adverbs and passive voice lol. Everything changed when I started to become more confident in my writing which led to being more direct as well. Thank you so much for sharing this! Your newsletter is awesome by the way! Just subscribed! :)
Wonderful post! The simple vs complex words part hit home for me - I’ve been overly verbose at times, and things get lost in translation. Simple is useful