Readers of your press releases and articles will understand your message better if your writing is concise and powerful. As important as proper punctuation is, editing your work for unnecessary filler words is essential. There are words we can eliminate from our writing in order to get the message across more clearly. Here are 5 words to avoid when writing your next press release.
Photo Courtesy of: Pete O’Shea
Improving Your Writing Skills: 5 Words to Avoid
- Think
Saying you ‘think’ something is implied if it is written down. The reader knows a thought you shared is your opinion just by reading it, so improve your writing skills by eliminating this word from your writing!
- Just
“This product is just great!” Using the word ‘just’ may sound like adding credibility or intensity, but is actually weakening your sentence. Eliminating it won’t remove any meaning from the sentence and will only strengthen your writing skills.
- That
Sometimes ‘that’ can come in handy to add clarity to your sentence, but usually ‘that’ is just a filler word wasting space on the page. Instead of saying, ‘It’s the house that is green,” you could say, “The green house.” By tightening your writing, ideas will be easier for readers to understand and read quickly. No one wants to get bogged down in unnecessary wording.
- Got
‘Got’ is a word acceptable in conversation but not in writing. Using ‘got’ instead of interesting verbs is a waste of an opportunity to describe what you mean to your readers. Your writing skills will improve when you present the audience with dynamic sentences like, “He obtained his degree,” instead of boring ones like, “She got an award.”
- Good
Saying your product or service is ‘good’ isn’t going to cut it. Use a more descriptive word to tell your readers what makes your product good. Do you offer a unique benefit? Lead with the benefit(s) of the product and not that it is “good” at doing what it does.
You can improve your writing skills by eliminating many unnecessary and redundant words. Your writing will be stronger, more compelling and you will save valuable space to spread your message!
What other words can you think of to cut from your writing?
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