Weak Words

Eliminating words is an essential part of writing. In a world where the reader is used to flipping through channels on the TV or going through the internet, writers know they can't risk losing the audience's attention with using too many words.

By taking out words, you can say the same things and get it across with precision. Also, an economic side exists. If you write a 300 page book with each page containing just 10 worthless words, than you're using 3000 more words than you need. That's 7.5 pages extra per book the publisher has to produce. If the publisher makes 3000 copies of the book, that's 22,500 pages they could've saved themselves.

Here are some things that will help in eliminating words.

Cut adverbs. Use stronger, not more, verbs instead. Say, "He scarved his food," instead of, "He quickly ate his food."

Look for ways to replace adjectives. Let nouns and verbs do the work of adverbs and adjectives. Sometimes you can't avoid an adverd, but avoid them when you can.

Don't say the same thing twice. I have to train myself not to say the same thing twice in different words. "Train yourself not to add more words." Strike the word "more" out of that sentence. If you're adding something, doesn't that mean there's going to be more?

Remove weak verbs. If the sentence contains, was, were, are, is, etc., find a better verb to replace these.

Sometimes in replacing these words you'll discover you have to add more words. That's not the case for the most part.

Any comments?