7 Ways to Simplify Your Writing
February 27, 2008
This is a guest post by Loren Blinde of Writing Power. Loren teaches college English, and she launched Writing Power to help people enrich their lives by improving their writing. Feel free to contact her at loren@writingpower.net
Many people begin to pursue simplicity in part to make their lives easier. They resolve to pare down their possessions because 1) less “stuff” is easier to manage, and 2) with less clutter, they can find the items they need with less trouble.
But as an individual continues to practice simple living, intangible benefits begin to surface. Simplicity is a lifestyle choice. Simplifying helps a person to clarify his or her values and priorities: by not keeping a lot of other junk, a person can emphasize that which is truly important to him or her. Achieving simplicity also indicates that a person is at peace with his or her life rather than holding on to the past. Moreover, achieving simplicity requires deliberate action and effective decision-making, two signs of a strong character.
Simple truly is beautiful. So, why stop at simplifying our homes, our schedules, and our finances? Why not simplify our writing as well?
I propose that simplifying your writing can have a dramatic effect on the level of happiness and meaning in your life. Simple writing is deliberate and clear-headed. Simple writing emphasizes the important. Most of all, because readers have to do less mental work to extract meaning from a simply-written piece, simple writing is productive, efficient, and powerful.
To achieve simplicity, a writer must pay attention to two things: 1) removing clutter from his or her writing, and 2) presenting the essential material clearly and effectively. The following seven tips will help you simplify and enliven your prose, whether you’re writing in an academic, personal, or professional context.
1. Toss Wordy Phrases: certain phrases are like clutter. They add little to your writing, but they always seem to find their way into it. The good news is that you can usually cut them right out of the sentence or replace them with one word. For example:
It is evident that wordy phrases deaden writing.
Wordy phrases deaden writing.
What happened was I slipped.
I slipped.
In each case, the second sentence is punchier, more direct and forceful. To help you recognize this verbal clutter, I have compiled some examples. For more, check out Strunk and White’s famous guide, The Elements of Style.
The question as to whether = whether
Due to the fact that = because
In a haphazard way = haphazardly
Liberty is a thing which = liberty is
2. Don’t Overuse Prepositions: sometimes, these little words are indispensible. The problem occurs when too many prepositional phrases latch onto a sentence. It becomes difficult to wade through them. For example:
The reason for the weather is the moisture of the air from a low pressure system that started over the ocean.
An oceanic low pressure system caused this humidity.
To help you in your weeding, here is a partial list of prepositions: at, around, over, under, through, to, of, for, by, from, on, out, in, between, among
3. Trash Passive Voice: in active voice, the sentence’s subject does something. (“The boy hit the ball.”) In passive voice, the sentence’s subject has something done to it. (“The ball was hit.”) Passive voice is generally undesirable because it is less precise, and often it obscures the doer of the verb’s action altogether. (For a detailed explanation of what passive voice is, what’s wrong with it, how to spot it, and how to fix it, check out this post.)
4. Prefer Vivid Verbs to Adverbs: adverbs are generally unnecessary. As writers, we often think that our prose may not have the same ring without a good adverb. I certainly understand this perception: even though I know they aren’t as cool as they sound, adverbs are one of my worst writing habits. But compare these two sentences:
She was very upset by her performance at Friday’s game.
She was devastated by her performance at Friday’s game.
Which one sounds stronger to you? Or take this example:
We could understand her because she spoke clearly.
We could understand her because she enunciated.
Which one sounds more specific?
The first four tips focused on what to remove to simplify your writing. Now that we have gotten rid of the junk, we can move on to stage two of simplification: organizing. The next five tips will help writers enhance readability by arranging sentences in the clearest, most reader-friendly manner possible.
5. Keep related words together: modifiers (both words and phrases) belong next to the words they modify. Check out this example:
I broke my shoe’s heel on the curb, which was really expensive.
What was really expensive? The shoe, the heel, or the curb? Common sense may tell us one, but the sentence’s construction tells us another. Moving the modifying phrase will clear it up:
I broke the heel of my shoe, which was really expensive, on the curb.
Or, an even better modification:
I broke the heel of my expensive shoes on the curb.
Likewise, sentences are easier for readers to decipher if the subject and the verb are together. Because readers process sentences in short term memory first, a long interjecting phrase between subject and verb increases the chance of misunderstanding. For example:
A writer, despite many demands on his or her time that tend to sap creative juices rather than amplify inspiration, must worship clarity.
Chances are good that by the time they get to “creative juices,” most readers will have forgotten the subject of this sentence altogether. Moving the subject and verb together will greatly increase this sentence’s readability (although this writer might do well to put the thesaurus down and use plain words once in a while):
A writer must worship clarity despite many demands on his or her time…
6. Combine Short Sentences for Clearer Meaning: At first glance, this direction seems at odds with simplicity’s mandates. Wouldn’t a short sentence be better than a long one? After all, they’re called simple sentences for a reason.
True. Short, single-clause sentences can be gorgeous. But often, a string of simple sentences may be redundant. I mean, a plain white tee-shirt could be the height of simplicity, but twenty-five plain white tees? Not so much. Consider this example:
Writers choose to write simple sentences for many reasons. One of these reasons is that they’re afraid of making a mistake in punctuation. As a result, their sentences sound monotonous.
Why not put this material in one complex sentence instead:
Because they’re afraid of making a punctuation mistake, writers often choose to write monotonous-sounding simple sentences.
7. Vary Your Paragraph Length: Too many short paragraphs may suggest a lack of development; overly long paragraphs may cause readers’ eyes to glaze over. If every paragraph is the same length as every other, it can feel mechanical. The simple rule? Let content be your guide: each paragraph should have a clearly articulated point. Secondarily, remember all of the adages that praise variety? They’re adages for a reason.
The simplest rule of all is this: think of your reader when you’re writing. Don’t let your reader get overwhelmed by verbal clutter, and don’t let passive or misleading sentences confuse him or her. Give your reader your best, most vivid, most interesting work.
Thanks to Loren for her excellent post! Please take some time to read and subscribe to her site Writing Power.
If you’d like to contribute a post – or even an idea for a post – please e-mail me at LivSimpl at gmail. I’d also welcome the opportunity to write for your site!
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Seeing the beauty in the world around us
February 25, 2008
I admire photographers because they can capture the beauty in so many things that are 1. either extremely ordinary or 2. obviously beautiful, but difficult to reproduce in a photo.
I stumbled upon a wonderful Flickr stream full of photos I found remarkable, unexpected or made an involuntary smile break out across my face. As I look at them my imagination easily wanders to beautiful places where coffee cups become eye candy, youthful innocence is seen everywhere and raspberries in a bowl become so beautiful you don’t dare eat them.
As part of the mission of LivSimpl is to “enjoy the little things we all too often take for granted”, I thought it would be appropriate to direct you to the site so you can hopefully find some of the same pleasure and wonderment in this talented photographer’s view of the world. And, if you’re like me, you’ll come away looking at things, and for things, in a new way.
Back in action…starting Monday
February 23, 2008
It’s been a very hectic three weeks but it should all be at an end now! Preparations for the big pitch at work have been wrapped up (at least as far as I’m concerned) which means things should get back on schedule now with more consistent posting. Thank you for your patience!
I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend with my family with whom I’ve had entirely too little time to see over the past little while. Posts will resume next week with a The Finer Things article featuring a very talented photographer as well as a guest post from an English professor. Please stay tuned!
- David
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Why doing "something" gets very little done
February 21, 2008
It’s common (for me at least) to feel busy, but find at the end of the day I haven’t accomplished much. It’s frustrating; there’s always that monkey hanging on my back, bogging me down despite the fact that I’m always doing something.
That “something” that I’m always “doing” is the key. Because doing “something” is often Procrastination Through Alternative Productivity. It’s when I’m working to keep from doing something else I don’t want to do.
Dreading cleaning the bathroom? I’ll organize the book case instead.
Boring project at work? I’ll sort through some of this e-mail I’ve been meaning to respond to.
Phone calls to return? I think I’ll write a blog post.
Sound familiar?
The result? We do a lot but we don’t get much done and the thing we need to get done isn’t going away; meanwhile we’ve wasted a lot of time doing a bunch of little, unimportant tasks. This can leave a person feeling frustrated, stressed and wondering, “Why can’t I seem to make a dent in this project?” It’s even hard to enjoy down-time when there’s a nagging burden in the back of your head, always reminding you of the work you haven’t completed.
It’s interesting to note that when I hear that nagging, my thoughts of, “But I organized the junk drawer!” never seem to make it go away.
I admit that when I learned about this idea a couple of weeks ago it hit a bit too close to home. I’m very good at convincing myself that I’m being productive (“But creating e-mail filters in Outlook is an investment in time! Think of how much more efficient I’ll be in the long-run!”) and what’s perhaps scariest is that I don’t realize I’m doing it.
So how does one change their behavior to avoid Procrastination Through Alternate Productivity? My best answer is to first identify when you’re doing it and then force yourself to stay (or get) on task through sheer will power. Don’t think about how much you don’t want to do the task. Instead, create a good mental image of how good it will feel to have the project off your plate. What are you going to do when it’s finished? Focus on the benefits of being done instead of what’s keeping you from doing it.
It’s something I’m going to make a concerted effort to work on. After all, if I’m willing to work, I might as well be accomplishing something.
LivSimpl
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What a simple Valentine’s Day tradition has taught me about life
February 18, 2008
My wife and I aren’t huge fans of Valentine’s Day. It’s fine and all, but we don’t particularly like
to go overboard. Still, it’s an excuse to go out and have some fun and we’re always up for that.
Our Valentine’s tradition started the second year of our marriage. A bit strapped for cash (as newlyweds tend to be), we decided to do a blatantly low-budget Valentine’s. Instead of going to a fancy restaurant, we went to The Belgian Waffle and Omelette Inn. A step down from Denny’s, this local dive is open 24 hours and sports vinyl booths with lumpy seats and bad lighting.
We’d driven past the place for months, always commenting that we’d have to eat their sometime. It turns out that Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion. I order the Belgian waffle with whipped cream, ice cream and strawberries. Yes, it’s more breakfast (or dessert) than dinner, but it’s a special occasion, right? My wife usually opts for some kind of omelette. This way we feel justified in eating at this particular restaurant.
After dinner we head to Walmart (normally, I try to avoid shopping there) where we set a small budget, usually $5-7 with which to purchase each other a gift. It makes gift giving an exercise in creativity: the first year my wife got me shoe insoles and I bought her an exceptionally tacky Dale Earnhardt calendar.
She hung it proudly in our apartment and I walked with a new spring in my step. It was wonderful.
These gifts even inspired a song which my wife wrote, composed and recorded for me. I still have it on my iPod and listen to it regularly. Someone wrote a song for me! It makes me smile every time I think about it.
I mention these things because I think they serve as a good example of not needing to be overly extravagant to have a good time. A lot of people (me included) feel pressure to always out-do some unspecific standard that’s been set. Why? I think if I had a billion dollars in the bank I think I’d still go to The Belgian Waffle and Omelette Inn for Valentine’s Day. Of course, if I were a billionaire I’d tip a lot better and I’d probably order two helpings of the strawberry and ice cream covered waffle, but I don’t think much else would change.
I’m not saying that getting dressed up and going out to eat is a bad thing – hardly. In fact, we went out to a nice restaurant for my wife’s birthday this month. But I don’t think high-cost, flashy and often expensive outings/experiences have a corner on happiness and good times. One of my wife’s family’s most talked about, and laughed about, vacations was a “never-ending road trip” to the Grand Canyon. Another was when they drove out to help the victims of the Oklahoma tornadoes. But instead of heading back toward Colorado when they were done with the clean-up, they were 20 miles away from the Missouri border before they realized they were going the wrong direction. All great memories (now, anyway. I’m told the Grand Canyon trip nearly resulted in a complete brawl) and all done with a family simply sitting in a car together.
I would go so far to say that if you can find fulfillment in simpler, more fundamental things you’ll be happier more often and have a greater satisfaction with life. Do you need a fancy Valentine’s dinner to be happy with your significant other? Or could a take-out Chinese picnic on your family room floor bring you just as much joy?
I’d love to hear your comments and any similar stories you’d be willing to share. Please leave word in the comments or send me an e-mail: LivSimpl at gmail.
Thanks for reading!
LivSimpl
Photos courtesy of here and here.
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Unscheduled down time
February 16, 2008
Sorry to everyone for the unexpected down time tonight. A friend of mine was helping me tweak my DNS and other domain-name-related settings in hopes of producing unique URLs for each post. Apparently the servers are taking a while to update everything – longer than expected.
However, I guess if you’re reading this things are back up and running.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
- David
This month only: bring a friend to 24 Hour Fitness for free
February 14, 2008
Just a quick heads-up for all you people who are better about getting to the gym than I’ve been: 24 Hour Fitness is letting members bring a guest for free for the rest of the month (sorry I found out about it so late).
So if you have a friend who has been interested in getting in shape, or need a little motivation yourself, you have about two weeks to jump in and start to develop the habit.
Working out with a friend has a lot of benefits, the largest being you’re much likely to make it to the gym if you know someone else is waiting on you, and vice-versa. Of course, you can
motivate, encourage, and share in each other’s successes as well.
It can feel intimidating.
But it’s all in my head. And I’ve progressively gotten better at realizing that and not letting it psych me out.
In all the times I’ve been to the gym I’ve never run into anybody who was rude or judgmental. Even the huge guys who could easily curl me left-handed have always been, at the very least, polite. There seems to be an unspoken respect for anybody who’s working out: You’re here. You’re doing it. You’re working toward whatever it is you’re working toward. Good for you. Keep it up.
So now that you’ve had a peek into my soul (and probably some kind of suppressed playground trauma) hit the treadmill and weights with gusto and don’t let your fears stand in your way!
LivSimpl
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4 problems and 5 solutions for using Gmail as online storage
February 13, 2008
One common complaint I hear (and have) about Gmail and the entire suite of Google Applications is the lack of online storage.
The common solution thus far has been to e-mail yourself a copy of whatever file you want to store or transfer from one computer to another using Gmail’s generous 20 MB attachment limit. This is fine unless you’re constantly testing the 6.4 gig storage capacity (I actually have a friend who was using 90%+ of his storage because he’d e-mail himself to transfer/store files) or you don’t want to deal with the clutter that comes along with it.
While there are some work-arounds, from what I understand they violate your terms of service and I’m not about to do anything to lose my precious Gmail account(s) and, subsequently, my e-mail.
That being said, here are four problems with using Gmail for file transfers/online storage:
1. Letting your account inch slowly toward capacity. For most of us, this isn’t a problem but there are certainly those out there who are pushing the limits.
2. All those attachments can become quite unwieldy. It can become difficult to find the specific files you’re looking for, especially if you’re backing up multiple versions.
3. Taking up space in two e-mail accounts. One in the sending account and one in the receiving account. Plus, you’ll have to delete the file from the sending account which requires a separate login which, frankly, is a hassle.
4. Manually adding multiple files to attach to an e-mail is tedious. Attach. Browse. Select. Open. Repeat.
How to avoid all this hassle and clutter? Here are five tips for managing your Gmail account as a repository for your online storage and transfer needs:
Tip # 1: For those of you wanting to simply transfer a file from one computer to another (for example, if you needed to crank on a work project at home) attach the file to an e-mail as you normally would, but instead of sending it to yourself, save it as a draft. This keeps a single copy and makes it easy to locate, download, and discard the file when you’re done with it.
Tip #2: If/when you decide to e-mail yourself a copy of a file for storage/backup purposes, write a description of the file and other keywords in the body of the e-mail. This will help you accurately search for the file later on, should it become necessary. If you’re uploading something with copy (words) that could easily be copied and pasted into the e-mail, do it.
Tip #3: Received a file with an attachment you want to keep long-term? Create and apply a “Storage” label to those messages for easy reference later on and archive them to get them out of your inbox. When you need to retrieve the attachment, simply click on the “Storage” label on the left side of the screen and you’ll have a nice list of all the attachments you wanted to hang onto.
Tip #4: If you’re running low on space and want to delete messages with attachments, or you want to find a particular attachment and don’t want to wade through your thousands of messages (or you’re like me and just don’t like clutter), you can search for e-mail with attachments by typing the following into the search bar: “has:attachment” (no quotes). This will bring up every e-mail you’ve ever received that has an attachment (assuming you’re an Archiver and not a deleter).
Want to narrow the search further? Try “in:inbox has:attachment” (no quotes). This will only bring up the mail in your Inbox that has attachments. This search technique works with all your labels.
And I’d recommend sending the file to yourself using the same account. By that, I mean if I need to send a file to my LivSimpl account I’d send it from my LivSimpl account. That way I instantly know I received it and can nuke the Sent version without having to log into a separate account.
Tip #5: There’s a handy Firefox Add-On that
allows you to drag-and-drop files into the file path in the browser. It can be found here.
I hope you found this beneficial! Oh, and I’ve put a new poll in the upper-right portion of the sidebar. I figured if I’m going to put Gmail tips on here, I’d better make sure people are using it. Please take a moment to vote.
As always, your comments, feedback and suggestions are more than welcome. Thanks for reading!
LivSimpl
P.S. You can also try Google Docs for uploading (and editing) Word, Excel and Powerpoint files.
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Portion of the Gmail logo found here.
Simplify grocery shopping and save a few bucks by keeping a list handy
February 11, 2008
This post was written by a long-time reader, Peter, who came to my aid last week when my job turned insane. So a big “thank you” to him! If anyone else has a suggestion for a tip or would like to submit a post, please shoot me an e-mail.
A lot of people use lists to help simplify their lives. I find that lists help simplify grocery shopping and they help me get things done on busy days. One tactic that I’ve used for the past couple years is to keep a notepad on the refrigerator with a magnet. It’s especially helpful for shopping lists, since I’m usually in the kitchen when I notice that we’ve run out of something.
Editor’s note: lists are great for the grocery store because you’re less-likely to impulse shop if you have a list to stick to.
I have a little trick for making the notepads too. You can buy notepads that have magnets on the back, but it’s cheaper to make them. If you’re like me, you get several phone books a year on your doorstep, even though you probably don’t use them. The phone books often come with magnets glued to them bearing some sort of advertisement. (In my area they are mostly ads for ambulance-chasing lawyers.)
I went out and bought a cheap pack of small notepads for less than two bucks, and then glued a couple of the magnets on the back of the notepads. The magnets are thin, and can be cut easily with scissors. If you really want to go all-out, you can attach a pen to the notepad too, although I just keep one on the top of the fridge. When I go to the grocery store or run errands, I just tear the list off the notepad and take it with me. Having the list in a convenient place helps me to actually use it, which makes shopping and errands a lot easier.
Again, thanks much to Peter for the tip! Does anyone else have a similar system for keeping up a grocery list? Any suggestions for improvements on his method? Please leave word in the comments. LivSimpl
P.S. Note Peter’s subtle plug for the site on his list in the picture. 
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Millionaire on $11 an hour
February 8, 2008
Looks like yesterday’s post may have been a bit premature. Still, this is going to be a quickie.
CNN has a short video report on a man who’s been a mill worker his whole life making $11 an hour. He retired as a millionaire and has made significant philanthropic donations in his community. How did he do it? What I took away from it was that he invested well and lived simple. Of course, I may be biased.
This story makes me think of The Millionaire Next Door, a book I’m currently re-reading and plan on writing a post or two about in the near future. Essentially, it’s not about income, it’s about lifestyle. But more on that later. Here’s the link to the video.
LivSimpl
P.S. Thanks to long-time reader, Peter, who promptly sent in a guest post yesterday, as well as to those wishing me luck at work. It’s appreciated!
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