The most important writing tip of all is: Keep it simple.
Too many people try to be writers. They get stuck trying to construct new kinds of sentences, trying to shine or to equal Shakespeare or Fitzgerald. Or worse, they try to write like a business person speaks—or worst of all, like a politician.
Instead, try to tell your story or get your point across.
Some writers and editors recommend writing without any revising. Just get the words down, worry about grammar, spelling, tense, voice or anything but the ideas. That requires knowing clearly what those ideas are. (See my previous series of posts, “Get a GRIP” for more about making sure you have a clear idea of what you’re trying to write before you start writing). Just state as simply and as bluntly as you can what you want to say. Almost always, that’s the most effective—that is, that kind of writing achieves the goal you started with.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; you can always go back and fix them. Writing means re-writing. Once you have a draft, you can move sentences and paragraphs around, change words and clarify your expression. But you can’t do that until you have something written down.
Examples:
Wherever possible, use verbs instead of strings of nouns and adjectives.
Instead of:
- “On issues related to …”—write “about”
- “in the six-month period” of “over the course of”—write “between March 1 and August 31”
- “expressed discontent with”—write “were dissatisfied”
- “taking a leadership role”—write “leading”
- “relates to the fact that”—write “because”
- “in recent years”—write “recently”
- “would expect to”—write “expects”
- “these measures enabled management to discern any areas in which improvements can be made by operations”—write ”management could identify improvements operations could make …”
- “the regulated firm is typically given 30 days to respond”—write “the regulated firm usually has 30 days to respond”
- “X achieved high rankings for new online presentation of resources and tools”—write “X revised its website, making online tools and resources easier to access.”
I recommend dropping the phrase “achieved high ranking,” because that focuses on the organization’s goals, not the reader’s. Why should they care about the company’s satisfaction rankings? What they care about is what it does for them. Yes, there may be some value perceived in the testimonial aspect of high satisfaction ratings, but still, what is important in that example is the new functionality of the website.
See how much shorter and clearer the revised messages are?
What are your pet peeves—what phrases or styles of writing bug you the most?
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I love a message that is short, sweet and to the point. I love the examples you provided. I completely agree. I typically write that first draft and then do as you say. Whenever I can replace a phrase with one word, I do. It makes the writing concise and tight. Great tips today Scott!
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Oooh, Scott, don’t get me started on my pet peeves… too many. I guess my main one would be using “that” too much like “He saw that it was…” NO! He saw it was…” Great post. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid – for those who didn’t know) is always the best advice.
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I tend to write by stream of consciousness, because I can’t seem to type fast enough to get the scene into the computer. I take one day and go back to slash those pesky mistakes and delete extra words. I love seeing another author show revised phrases to make it clear that simpler is better.
My first editor smacked me upside the head (on paper) by redlining all the complicated phrases I was using. She often crossed out a long phrase and inserted one word. That opened my eyes. Sometimes I allow a character to spout complicated phrases to establish their own peculiar vernacular. That is actually more difficult to write than short dialog, but we must change things up at times. Thanks for reminding us to avoid extra words except when necessary.
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All good points, Scott. Your posts on writing are always helpful; they bring me back to the important parts.
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My biggest pet peeves are when writers try to over complicate a scene by pumping up their sentences with big words. Actions scenes with long drawn out descriptions make me yell at the author, “get out of the way.”
An example might be:
He pulled his right arm back and hesitated, before unleashing his fist that collided with his opponents head knocking it back. My preferred way of having that written would have been. He punched him and was satisfied with his opponents head snapped back.
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My pet peeve is too much description. While I appreciate a great turn of phrase, I end up skimming much of the content when a story line is interrupted to describe the incredible waterfall and steep terrain as the person was running away from the killer. LOL!!!! Stick to the story and don’t lose your reader trying to elaborate, pontificate or describe every detail. SHOW them the detail in the way your story is told.
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Yes, yes, yes. Don’t ever ‘try’ to be a writer. Great stuff.
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I agree, too many people try and ‘be’ another writer. There are so many great tools out there to help writers find their voice.
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My pet peeve is personal about my own efforts – I despise when I’m bored with what I’m writing. I figure, if I’m bored, my readers will be bored – that is what usually stifles my efforts. Not that I don’t know where the book has to go, but I’m bored getting there. Meh… got to think of something more interesting I suppose to move the story along.
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Great post Scott. I agree with keeping it simple.