How to Write Clearly
Writing Clearly
I wrote before about writing plainly or writing clearly, but it was not much more than a brief intro. It’s time we looked a little harder at the issue. Two-dollar words do nothing to clarify communication, but their use is a major factor in muddying the waters (making things less clear). But this isn’t just me saying this.
The following quotes, by two of America’s best writers, show their opinions on using two-dollar words, which are often the primary culprit of poor communicating.
- Mark Twain famously wrote “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
- Ernest Hemingway, who was famous for his spartan writing, said of William Faulkner, “Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”
And these two writers didn’t just say that, they lived that philosophy. Twain and Hemingway wrote as if they were talking to the reader, telling them a story. Faulkner wrote as if he were preaching from a pulpit.
Big words aren’t the only obstacle to good writing. Unnecessary words and phrases muddy the waters just as often. I’ve included a couple of examples from one of No Mistakes Grammar Bites books. The examples will give you an idea of what we’re talking about.
That took the paragraph from forty-two words to twenty-eight words. That’s a thirty-three percent reduction—not bad. Now let’s look at another one.
Not every paragraph is going to be so cluttered with unnecessary words or phrases, but most will contain a few. If you learn to spot them and learn how to reword the sentences to edit them out, your writing will greatly improve.
As an example, let’s rewrite the paragraph above. It’s not a horrible one, but it could use trimming.
Not every paragraph will be cluttered with unnecessary words or phrases, but most will contain a few. Learn to reword the sentences, and your writing will greatly improve.
Basically, in order to write more clearly, always remove absolutely everything that isn’t necessary, and by no means, ever use a word that’s not needed
Now look at that ridiculous paragraph rewritten:
> To write more clearly, remove unnecessary words and avoid words that aren’t needed.
When you check your writing, there are plenty of words (unnecessary ones) to look for, but the bigger culprits are usually the unnecessary phrases—if for no other reason than they waste more space. Consider the following:
- During the course of . . .
- Best of all time . . . .
- Best/worst ever . . . .
- In the process of . . . .
- In my personal opinion . . . .
- In order to . . .
- Never before/never once . . .
Let’s look at a few real-life examples of how to fix these issues.
- During the course of the game, I had to go to the restroom three times.
- During the game, I had to go to the restroom three times.
- Of all the movies I’ve seen, that was the best of all time.
- Of all the movies I’ve seen, that was the best.
- I’m in the process of painting my kitchen.
- I’m painting my kitchen.
- I need a car in order to go to the mall.
- I need a car to go to the mall.
There are dozens more phrases, and, once you start looking for them, you’ll recognize them more often.
Summary
If you want people to enjoy your books, forget the two-dollar words, toss your thesaurus to the side, and just talk to the readers. Tell them a story and get them involved. They’ll thank you for it.
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