12 tips for eliminating unnecessary words

Don’t think twice about using differently, currently or the reason why in your writing? It’s time you should.

In workshops and in writing guides, the admonition “use fewer words” is one of the cardinal rules. Although I resist the excision of allegedly superfluous adverbs and adjectives, I heartily acknowledge that many other parts of speech are often unnecessary. Here are other ways to reduce word count:

1. “The standards define the process to the mobile phone using two different methods for invocation.”

Whenever you see the word different, consider whether it’s necessary. By default, it’s almost always not. For example, if two methods are described, they’re almost certainly by definition different: “The standards define the process to the mobile phone using two methods for invocation.”

2. “Currently, many of the digitized publications have not been properly paginated.”

By the same token, currently is almost always superfluous; the context generally makes clear that the statement refers to the present. Again, when the default setting is obviously relevant, omit the word: “Many of the digitized publications have not been properly paginated.”

3. “Ethics, on the other hand, is future oriented, that is to say a present choice is based on a future desire, intent, or consequence.”

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