How to write concisely even if you’re short on time
As Thomas Jefferson said, “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”
We all know that crisper more succinct writing is nearly always better when writing in the workplace. And wordiness is more common in earlier drafts of a document. But what are specific techniques that you can use to help make your writing more concise?
The items below are candidates for deleting when you’re editing your writing,
Redundancy. Have you written two sentences in a row that essentially convey the same idea?
Unnecessary descriptions or explanations. Have you included a definition of a term that your reader is likely already familiar with?
Delete words that mean nothing, e.g. very, really, generally, actually, great, basically, extremely, I believe, I think (readers already know that your writing is your claim)
Delete double words, e.g. hope and trust, full and complete, true and accurate, free gift, completely finished, terrible disaster, unexpected surprise