Writing Tips Worth Sharing

Writing emails or any form of communication is a skill. But sadly, many take for granted some oft-used phrases which are perceived as right by virtue of the frequency of use, or shall I say mis-use. By courtesy of Kris Spisak whose advice I found very useful, here's a list of phrases to cut in email communications and redundancies to consider to smarten up your writing:

• “At the end of the day…” If you are looking for a wordy cliché to wrap up an argument, this phrase might be a perfect fit. For all other circumstances, you can cut this phrase and simply get to the point.
• “I just…” What is it about that little word “just” that makes it creep into our sentences far more than it should? Whether it is hesitation, doubt, or habit, it almost always can be deleted for a stronger effect.
• “I’m not one to say bad things about…” Do you know what always follows a start like this? The writer saying bad things about something or someone. If you are raising a concern, raise it. There is no need to remind the reader that you normally would never be a complainer or trouble-maker.
• “I think,” “I feel,” or “I believe…” What is written in an email is clearly the thoughts, feelings, or beliefs of the writer. These introductions do not add anything more than a hesitation before getting to your point. Striking them adds confidence to any communication.
• “I thought I would reach out…” Clearly the sender of the email had the idea to write the email to the recipient. This phrase only points out the obvious.
• “I wanted to touch base…” Unless you are discussing a baseball play, this is another example of the writer being unnecessarily wordy. It is evident the sender is connecting with the recipient by the fact that the email was sent.
• “To tell you to truth…” or “To be honest…” I certainly hope everything you write is honest. When lines like these are added, should the reader doubt the accuracy of other communication?

Redundancies to cut to tighten up your writing:

• Advance planning: Planning is always in advance of something, isn’t it?
• Basic fundamentals: The fundamentals are the basics. Pick one or the other.
• Careful scrutiny: It would not be scrutiny if it wasn’t careful.
• Definite decision: What is a decision but definite? If something is not definite, it is probably not a decision.
• Depreciate in value: There is no other way to depreciate.
• End result: Results do not ever come in the beginning.
• Exact same: There are no degrees of sameness. Something is either the same or not.
• Few in number: The word “few” always talks about numbers.
• Final outcome: The “outcome” only comes at the “final” stage. This combination is unnecessary.
• First and foremost: Doubling up on these words does not make an initial point any stronger.
• Forward progress: Backward progress is not possible.
• Free gift: Since you do not hear about “paid gifts” much, think better of your word choice and skip this surprisingly common word pair.
• Invited guests: If someone is crashing the party, they are not really a guest.
• Joint cooperation: Cooperation cannot be done by one party alone. The “joint” is superfluous.
• Major breakthrough: A breakthrough, by definition, is pretty darn huge.
• Necessary requirement: A requirement is never unnecessary.
• [Number] a.m. in the morning or [Number] p.m. in the afternoon/evening: The morning is always the a.m., and the afternoon or evening are always in the p.m.
• Possibly might: The repetition is clear here, isn’t it?
• Postpone until later: To postpone means to put something off until later.
• Still remains: If a decision still remains undecided, perhaps a clunky communication process is part of the slow down. The word “still” does not add anything new to the word “remains.”
• Unintended mistake: Mistakes are by definition unintended. If it was a purposeful action, it would be a poor choice, not an unintended mistake.
• Usual custom: A custom is something that is usual. If it is rare, it probably is not a custom.