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Write it Right Wednesdays

Omit needless words

July 8, 2020

Sometimes in our pursuit to be perfect we over do it and our sentences become wordy. The reader can lose the meaning or intention of the sentence if it’s too wordy. Now, if you’re one of those people who reread everything you write then this will be an easier transition for you than those who don’t because the first step to omitting needless words is editing your writing.

When you’re editing your writing hopefully you’re not only fixing grammar mistakes, but sentence structure as well. When looking at sentence structure there’s three things you should do. Of course there’s more to sentence structure than these three steps, but I’m assuming you already know the basics; such as a sentence should have a subject and predicate. First, check to see if it’s a run-on sentence. Second, ask yourself does it express clearly what you’re trying to say. Third, try to rewrite it so that it’s less wordy, if possible. Now, the third one might be tricky for some. Here’s a few examples from The Elements of Style to help you…

Omit needless word/ sample sentences

“His cousin, who is a member of the same firm..” – No/ “His cousin, a member of the same firm…” – Yes

“Trafalgar, which was Nelson’s last battle…” – No/ “Trafalgar, Nelson’s last battle…” – Yes

“There is no doubt that….” – No/ “No doubt…” – Yes

“The reason why is that…” – No/ “Because…” – Yes

As you see from the examples, making a sentence less wordy means just removing a few words or using better words. When editing your work really comb through each sentence and omit needless words by using the above sentences as examples. If you’re editing and don’t see any mistakes look harder. They are there, I promise you; and so does your high school ELA teacher.

As always, if you have any questions about this blog post or comments feel free to email me at [email protected].[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]