Five Quick Ways to Trim Your Writing

Many people get bogged down in details when trying to write a note. Tired of writing notes that you know are too long? Tired of spending too much time trying to get your point across? These five quick tips can help you cut back on your writing.

1. Know what you want to say. Think carefully about your message. Write down your thoughts and create a short summary before writing. If time allows, let those thoughts settle before writing so that you feel comfortable with your message.

2. Get straight to the point. Determine the most important point you want to communicate. Avoid unnecessary details and background, giving the reader too much information about how or why you came to a conclusion. Think “Dragnet”: Just give them the facts.

3. Use active verbs and avoid unnecessary verbiage. If you write a lot of sentences using “are” or “is”, you are using the passive voice. The passive voice should not be used when writing because it weakens your message. An example of unnecessary verbiage: You don’t write “I’m going to attend” when you know you will attend. You will “attend”.

4. Avoid adjectives, adverbs and flowery language. Don’t write “did extremely well.” If you did better than “good,” say so. Use a more precise word: great, fantastic, etc. Even if you’re trying to praise someone’s performance, you can do it with just a few thoughtful words.

5. Be your own publisher. Before completing your note, please take a minute to review it as a reader. Delete everything that is not necessary for the message.

These are pretty simple tips. However, once you’ve tried these tips, you’ll quickly notice the difference. Not only will you be happy with your written communications, your readers will be too.