"It is a badge of honor to accept valid criticism." (Prov 25:12, LB)
"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."
- Thomas Jefferson
Checking, editing and rewriting is an essential part of the writing process. In fact, it should
take much longer than the writing of the first draft version. It is also very important to shorten
pages and cut out all unnecessary words. Less is more.
Beverly Caruso is a freelance writer and editor, and has authored seven books
and numerous articles. She has trained writers from 25 countries.
Bev has kindly written this article for the Guide. It is an illustration of the importance of
editing and shortening, that she was able to cut her original 700-word piece down to 400 words.
Anyone can be a writer on the Internet. It seems everyone is - using poor spelling, poor grammar, poor logic! Add to that confusing instructions, incomplete thoughts, rambling nonsense, and dead-end links.
It's enough to make one want to reach for a well-written book from a reputable publisher!
We who would evangelize on the Internet must guard against weakening the Gospel through poor
presentation. Instead, we can take time to think through what we want to say, say it, then go
back and polish our work. When writing, less is more. One page of writing should feel like it
was cut down from ten pages - always sharper and more focused. Do most editing and checking
using paper printouts rather than on-screen.
- After writing, let it cool off for several days, you'll look at it more objectively.
- Cut out any unnecessary elements. Look for tangents and digressions.
- Ask about each sentence, "Can I say this using fewer words?"
- Eliminate redundancies - two words with the same meaning: "few and far
between", "exact same".
- Eliminate non-working words: "essentially", "basically", "the reason was", or "because".
- Look for repetition: "Our organization provides large scale humanitarian aid, establishes humanitarian programs, and supports humanitarian efforts.
- Choose nouns and verbs over adjectives and adverbs.
- Replace passive verbs with active verbs - this will also shorten word-count.
- Watch for jargon, cliches, misspellings, inaccurate-statements, wrong
punctuation, etc.
- Change multi-syllable words to shorter words: "thought" instead of
"cogitated", "said" instead of "suggested" or "responded".
- Rethink and rearrange - is your introduction really in the third paragraph? Move it to the beginning.
- You'll spot errors more easily if you read your piece aloud.
- Set your work aside again for several days. Then ask yourself these questions:
Is this piece coherent?
Did I stick to my subject?
Did I fulfill the promises I made my reader at the beginning?
Did I keep unity of tone and style, or did I switch from folksy to formal, or from flowery to plain?
Did I switch from writing in the first person to the third?
Have I mixed tenses - starting out in the present and changing to the past?
Can this be understood by someone whose mother-tongue is not English?
Are all relationship between the ideas clear?
Are transitions smooth?
- Use cut-and-paste to verify that every link is usable.
- Make a printout and have someone else go over it using this checklist. Be prepared to
accept critiques humbly.
The ideal person to ask is a writer, journalist, English teacher, or proof-reader.
Remember, your site visitors can leave forever with the click of a button. And what sounds obvious to you the writer,
may not make sense to someone else, especially a second-language reader in another country. It is very important to
remove idioms which would be confusing. Reading a passage out loud to someone else can help
to identify problems. English can be strange - as the humorous lists below show us.
- Information Pollution by Jakob Neilsen, the guru of Web usability:
"Excessive word count and worthless details are making it harder for people to extract useful information. The more you say, the more people tune out your message."
- Invite constructive criticism and learn from it.
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Confused, or what? (Some words have multiple meanings!)
- We must polish the Polish furniture.
- He could lead if he would get the lead out.
- The farm was used to produce produce.
- The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
- The soldier decided to desert in the desert.
- This was a good time to present the present.
- A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
- When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
- I did not object to the object.
- The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
- The bandage was wound around the wound.
- There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
- They were too close to the door to close it.
- The buck does funny things when the does are present.
- They sent a sewer down to stitch the tear in the sewer line.
- To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
- The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
- After a number of injections my jaw got number.
- Upon seeing the tear in my clothes I shed a tear.
- I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
- Ths singer had to record the record.
- Will you be able to live through a live concert?
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