Verbiage…We read it all the time. Long sentences that take ages to get to the point and use so many words that the reader soon loses interest.
Of course, what such writing needs is a good edit, cutting out the unnecessary words that extend and elongate the sentence while, at the same time, hiding or obscuring what the writer is actually trying to say.
One way of doing this is to hand your text over to an editor, or at least to someone else who can look at your draft with a fresh pair of eyes.
Of course this is not always possible. Sometimes we all have to edit our own work.
If this is the case, one easy way to make big improvements to your writing is to introduce more verbs into your sentences.
In fact, you can’t really get enough verbs in your writing. They lift texts, making them easier to read. They also give the reader a much clearer sense of what you are trying to describe.
When reading texts, readers like things to happen. They don’t want to read line after line with very little activity. It’s boring. It’s static. And it’s not very inspiring.
Verbs give your writing that sense of activity. They are the spice that can liven up what would otherwise be a very dull collection of words.
It’s therefore really important to get as many verbs in as possible. One effective way of doing this is to convert nouns into verbs.
I’ll give you an example.
Instead of writing:
Young Jimmy wanted to make improvements to his writing technique
Try
Young Jimmy wanted to improve his writing technique.
Or
The Government was set to make an announcement on changes in the price of peanut butter
Try
The Government was set to announce changes in the price of peanut butter
The latter examples work better because switching the nouns (improvements and announcement) to verbs (to improve and to announce) make the sentences shorter, clearer and more dynamic.
Less verbiage. More Verbs.
If you’d like help editing your texts click here or contact Adam Woolf on 01788 335284Less Verbiage. More Verbs.
Verbiage…We read it all the time. Long sentences that take ages to get to the point and use so many words that the reader soon loses interest.
Of course, what such writing needs is a good edit, cutting out the unnecessary words that extend and elongate the sentence while, at the same time, hiding or obscuring what the writer is actually trying to say.
One way of doing this is to hand your text over to an editor, or at least to someone else who can look at your draft with a fresh pair of eyes.
Of course this is not always possible. Sometimes we all have to edit our own work.
If this is the case, one easy way to make big improvements to your writing is to introduce more verbs into your sentences.
In fact, you can’t really get enough verbs in your writing. They lift texts, making them easier to read. They also give the reader a much clearer sense of what you are trying to describe.
When reading texts, readers like things to happen. They don’t want to read line after line with very little activity. It’s boring. It’s static. And it’s not very inspiring.
Verbs give your writing that sense of activity. They are the spice that can liven up what would otherwise be a very dull collection of words.
It’s therefore really important to get as many verbs in as possible. One effective way of doing this is to convert nouns into verbs.
I’ll give you an example.
Instead of writing:
Young Jimmy wanted to make improvements to his writing technique
Try
Young Jimmy wanted to improve his writing technique.
Or
The Government was set to make an announcement on changes in the price of peanut butter
Try
The Government was set to announce changes in the price of peanut butter
The latter examples work better because switching the nouns (improvements and announcement) to verbs (to improve and to announce) make the sentences shorter, clearer and more dynamic.
Less verbiage. More Verbs.
If you’d like help editing your texts click here or contact Adam Woolf on 01788 335284
