Tidying is a source of relief in many things. Living in a room full of things that are out of their place, or working on a table that is unkempt is very difficult for most people. When things are tidy, it is easier to exist. You will be able to be more efficient in whatever you do and won’t strain your mind worrying about all the mess. Same goes for your writing. Communicating through words is a very tricky thing to do. There are many aspects that hinder a proper communication where the sender of the information is not able to explain things to the receiver of information. You need to make sure that your writing is very clear and whatever that you’ve wanted to convey is conveyed without fault. When we write, it is very easy for us to get lost in thoughts and words that we stop making sense or confuse the readers by providing extra information or very little of it. Readers when come face to face with a content that is cluttered and the ideas are jumbled up; they lose interest and stop reading. As nothing makes sense, they get stressed trying to join pieces and make sense of it. As a writer, your primary focus must be to communicate effectively and that will only be possible if your content is compact and tidy. Our experts have identified that most writers struggle with this. To be of service and improve your writing skills, our experts have designed some tips that can prove to be your holy grail for writing. Tighten up your apron; it’s time to clean up!
Eliminate all unnecessary words from your text. Read your script and identify all the words that don’t add much meaning to the text and are just a waste of pace. For example the word ‘very’ it does not serve much purpose when attached with a word that has a higher degree of it. As-in the sentence: ‘I am very thirsty’, can easily be replaced with the sentence: I am parched. Parched works as a replacement for very thirsty. It is a great way to eliminate all the extra words or the ‘fuzz’ from your text. This trick will not only make your sentences concise and to the point but it will also be easier to understand and grasp. Readers will appreciate this greatly because this helps increase the readability of the text.
Redundancy is your license to failure. When writing we often repeat the same things over and over again. It an unconscious effort but it makes our writing suffer greatly. We are not able to draw conclusions from our writing and it keeps going in circles and circles. This is a very irritating thing for readers as they get bored and tired of reading one thing multiple times. Other than ideas we also tend to have redundant phrases or words that we are very fond of using and use excessively whenever we write anything. It clutters our writing and forces readers to isolate our script and read something else. To avoid this you must go over your script and identify where your content has become redundant and rephrase the sentences to set it straight.
To explain things it is necessary to give details. A popular rule in writing is to show not tell. It means that when you are talking about something you must give sufficient details that will help your reader picture the events. If you do not provide sufficient information, your reader will not be able to fully understand. For example, if you are writing a story, it is important for you to describe the setting of it properly. You can use the five senses rule and elaborate on what you can sense, smell and see. This will help the reader picture things more clearly. However, when describing or explaining do not go overboard. People also tend to go overboard and provide excessive information. This is completely unnecessary and will further clutter your writing. It is foolish to write an entire paragraph on why the character chose to wear heels rather than flats. Excessive details that don’t add any meaning to the plot or support it are absolutely useless and will bore your audience.
What are writing for? Are you writing to impress the audience with your vast vocabulary? No? Then why do you insist on using superfluous words?
Many writers are under the impression that a good piece of writing is one that is filled with fancy vocabulary or complex sentences. Simplicity is the best way forward. The audience would rather appreciate if you make your writing as easy to read as possible. Many people from your audience will not be familiar with the words you use. Finding your writing difficult to understand, they will not read ahead and move on to something that is easier to understand. If you can’t help yourself from using these words while writing, then go ahead with it. Once you have completed writing, review your script and highlight all such words and replace them with easier ones.
Do not use long run-on sentences. Many new writers make this rookie mistake. They use long sentences that are a mouthful for people to read and are overloaded with information. Because of this a text that is full of long sentences is cluttered and fails to put the message across clearly. When writing anything it is best to use a mixture of long and short sentences. This helps the reader read your work easily. More so, even your long sentences shouldn’t be too long. They should be around 15-17 words long. Avoid using connectors and elongating your sentences, be wise and break them into two.
One big reason why our writings turn out to be untidy is that we do not plan before we start writing. Planning is a big part of the writing process. It helps us visualize what we want to write and how it will look like in the end. Planning helps you gather all your thoughts and formulate them into paragraphs or chapters. It gives you a layout to follow when you actually start writing. It is normal to lose track of thoughts and go blank when you are writing. Planning will help you get back on track and start from where you left. Hence, it is a crucial step to follow before you start writing.
Use active voice when you write. Using active voice is a great trick that our experts swear by. Rather than beating around the bush and using several sentences to talk about one thing it is better that you use active voice and go straight to the point. Doing this will help you avoid using redundant and vague sentences. Writers do argue that using passive voice makes their content sound more posh and impressive. However, in most cases it is found out that it only over complicates things and confuses the readers.
Edit your document. Editing is the only way to tidy up your document after you have written it. Editing Services will help you find out all the errors that you must have made when writing. Many people ask us what the best time to edit our document is. Our experts say that after you have written your document, you must go and have a cup of tea, relax, watch a movie or do anything that takes your mind off of the document. It will be useless to edit your document right after you have finished writing it as at that time your brain is cluttered and you won’t be able to identify the mistakes and overlook many of them. Thus do it with a fresh and relaxed mind.
Ask someone else to proofread your document for you. This is a very good decision as it brings many benefits to the table. You will be able to get a fresh pair of eyes read your book; they will be able to pinpoint mistakes quickly and easily. You can even ask them for criticism that you can use to improve your writing skills and the document itself. You don’t necessarily have to hire a professional proofreader; you can find someone competent from your social circles and ask them for the favor. However going for a professional proofreader will bring you the most benefits.
That’s It! Tidying up your writing is now possible and even fun. Take the advice of our experts and turn around your writing game. Follow them religiously and your writing will be as tidy as can be. Good luck!
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