by Barbara McNichol

 

“Writings are useless unless they are read, and they cannot be read unless they are readable.” – Theodore Roosevelt

After encouraging writers to quit rambling when crafting their paragraphs and chapters, I want to make sure you don’t stall out.

What techniques can keep your motor running smoothly? Take these four tips to heart.

1. One Thought, One Sentence

2. Steer on the Sunny Side

3. Build Bridges to Guide Your Reader

4. Place Strongest Words at End

1. One Thought, One Sentence

Unless you’re a novelist whose style calls for long, descriptive sentences, in the nonfiction world, it’s best to express one thought in one sentence and end it. Spend another sentence on the next thought, and so on. Keep your prose moving forward with short, succinct sentences.

2. Steer on the Sunny Side

It’s hard for readers to track what’s being written when it’s stated in a negative way. And most of the time, negative statements require a lot more words to make a point. Avoid using “no” and “not” except when you strongly want to emphasize or contrast something.

Negative: The answer does not lie with their carelessness or incompetence.

Better: The answer lies in having enough people to do the job.

Negative: We can’t incorporate all the design features without increasing the unit size.

Better: To provide all the design features, we have increased the unit size.

3. Build Bridges to Guide Your Reader

Since your goal is to whack wordiness, you may consider bridge words and phrases extraneous. Yet, the transitions from one sentence to another do keep your motor running and should be kept in high gear. Why? They create logical links that smooth the road like a well-maintained highway.

Examples of bridge words that . . .

connect two ideas of the same kind         and, plus, as well as

add another thought        besides, also, what’s more, besides, then, again,

compare or contrast ideas    but, still, however, yet, rather, likewise

 reinforce an idea             indeed, in fact, of course, by all means

show results                          as a result, consequently, thus, hence

 4. Place Strongest Words at End

Consider placing your most prominent words at the end of your sentence. Doing so provides emphasis and helps push your writing from one new idea to the next. E.g., “With your new ability to whack wordiness, you’ll drive smoothly toward your writing destination.” The main message hinges on “drive smoothly” rather than on the support statement “with your new ability . . .” It strengthens your intent.