Follow the basic outline or format for your genre and look for structural consistency. You may be able to use “short-form” footnotes or endnotes. You’d be surprised how many writers add long, discursive footnotes that few people will read.Īnything in the footnotes should be to-the-point, as direct as possible. You certainly don’t have to do that at length. You may not need to lay out and summarize each chapter. Search for all forms of “to be” and replace them with more active verbs. “It has been said” or “As has been assumed” obscures the actions of the subject. People don’t “gather together” or “join together.” They “gather” or “join.” 5.
“At this moment in time” should be “At this moment” or “In the present-day.” The “main protagonist” is the “protagonist.” I recommend Dreyer’s English (chapter 12) for this.įor example, “general consensus” should be “consensus.” Remove hedging words.Įliminate phrases and sentences with the words “perhaps” and “maybe” and minimize or parse wordy, noncommittal language. Replace “The question as to whether” with “Whether.” 3. “There is no doubt that” should begin with “No doubt.” Rewrite sentences to avoid starting with “There are” or “There is.”Ĭhange “In spite of the fact” to “Although.” In Dreyer’s English (2019, pages 3–4), Benjamin Dreyer, the copy chief at Random House, advised authors to avoid the following “Wan intensifiers” and “throat clearers”: very, rather, really, quite, in fact, just (as in merely), so (as in extremely), pretty (as in “pretty tedious), of course, surely, that said, actually. For example, replace “very tired” with “exhausted.” “Highly regarded” might become “esteemed.” Use more descriptive single words instead. Search for phrases containing “very” and words ending in – ly.
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