You’ve
finished your draft. You read it again; it kind of sucks. There’s something
missing, it sounds blah, not like you at all.
What
happened to your voice? Are you robbing your writing of its power?
You have a
never-ending challenge to grab and keep your reader’s interest. If you can’t
hold their attention and engage their emotion, you may lose them.
Be Precise
Many words
and phrases are so commonplace they glide unnoticed past our radar. These words
are eroding your reader’s attention and weakening your writing.
The easiest
way to strengthen your writing is to cut those weak words and phrases, those words
that don’t add to the overall meaning and make it difficult for readers to
understand.
Many of
these words are filler words, words to keep our hands busy at the keyboard
while our brains find the next thought. These words add no value to sentences
and can and should be cut.
Precision
should be the goal of every author. You are creating these worlds
and your characters. You are the authority. Don’t weaken that
authority with vague details and fuzzy ideas.
Think of it
like gardening. You’ve planted your healthy vegetable garden and it’s growing
green and strong. But what happens when you don’t keep it weeded? The weeds strangle
the plants and kill the entire garden. Just as weak words will strangle and
kill your story.
Every word
you use should bring something important and unique to the sentence. Your words
must engage and attract attention, express emotion and advance the plot.
Really?
Weak phrases
can make your writing sound bland and boring. Really, actually, very and
just are bland words. They add nothing and can almost always be deleted.
Good,
bad, small, big and nice are subjective and vague. They don’t tell the reader anything. Is tall six feet or six feet eight? Tall to
one person can be short to another.
What is a good
pizza? Does that mean it tastes good, or it's made with healthy ingredients, or it’s
shaped like a cat instead of round? Or is the crust just crispy enough, the sauce tangy with garlic, the mozzarella hot and stringy? Then say that.
Vague words
should be replaced with more powerful and specific words. There are a plethora
of nouns, verbs and adjectives just waiting for you to choose them.
Most of us
tend to use safe words, the words that pop into our heads first, the words
everyone is using. But don’t self-edit on autopilot. Make every sentence sing
by choosing the right words to convey your meaning.
You want to
use appropriate language for your subject, genre and audience, but you don’t
want to sound like everyone else. Your writing should stand out, you want your
voice to be unique.
Be Bold
Don’t you
lose interest when reading something long-winded and rambling? So will your
readers.
Sifting
through useless words exhausts them. They want to know the key points of your story.
Grab them and hold them by using powerful and meaningful words. Be concise.
Write what
your inner demons or muse demand you write, but then clean it up.
- Remove redundant phrases to create stronger, more direct sentences that get your point across faster.
- Strengthen weak adjectives by replacing weak words with one strong word. Seek out and use the best words for the situation.
- Eliminate vague verbs that don’t move your point forward.
- Delete filler words that add no meaning and simply take up space.
- Construct dynamic sentences using active voice to promote a stronger and more direct tone.
Every word
should earn its place in your story. If it doesn’t add anything, delete it.
There will
be times where your story demands vague phrasing for plot reasons. But when not
necessary, don’t take the chance on confusing your readers by using vague words
such as seems, appears, looks as if, approximately, about, roughly, more or
less, almost or nearly.
Be bold and
precise in your word choice.
To Cut or Not to Cut?
While few of
these words are explicitly bad for writing, eliminating them or decreasing them
can make your writing clearer, more direct and much easier to read.
Your writing
should take the reader on a journey, each word moving the reader closer to the
conclusion. If it doesn’t, get rid of it.
It’s easy
for these words to make their way back into your writing. Incorporating these
checks into your Self-Edit regimen
will make your writing more powerful.
Download
your free copy of Self-Edit Checklist: Vague, Weak and Unnecessary Phrases
and keep it handy for your Self-Edit.
