TIP #5: How To Write Concisely (3rd instalment)
Most people want to write more concisely, but what exactly is ‘conciseness’?
It’s the ability to make your point in as few words as possible. And that means omitting redundant or needless words.
In my book (rhetorica® — a toolkit of 21 everyday writing techniques), I break needless words down into five categories. Here are the final two: abstract nouns and needy verbs.
Needless words, category 4: Abstract Nouns
What’s the trouble with abstract nouns? They don’t convey concrete things, but intangible, intellectual concepts, which are harder for the reader’s brain to process. The more abstract your writing, the harder your reader has to work.
Common abstract nouns include extent, degree, nature, fashion, way, manner, basis. We can often remove them:
Needless words, category 5: Needy Verbs
These are emotionally dependent verbs that crave company in the form of an adverb (a word that qualifies a noun, like
noisily in the first example):
The cup falls noisily to the floor
The share price will drop sharply
She got less and less angry
Profits are climbing steadily
He’s changed the team completely
She examined the document closely
But English is full of resilient verbs that can do the job on their own, without annoying adverbs hanging on their every word:
The cup crashes / clatters to the floor
The share price will plummet
Her anger abated /subsided
Profits are soaring
He’s transformed/revolutionised the team
She scrutinised the document
In the next issue of Writing Tips for Top Consultants, we’ll look at plain English and why it’s the way to go. Till then!
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Notes on these readability stats: my ASL (Average Sentence Length) is 10.8 words, outside the recommended range of 15–20, but that’s due to the short examples; none of my sentences is in the passive voice — yay!; my readability scores 69.6%, well above the threshold of plain English, which starts at 60% FRE (Flesch Reading Ease).
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Want to turbo-charge your writing? Then join us on the next
rhetorica® open course in February 2017
click here to find out more.
