Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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April 19, 2006

Editing: Just Some of My Very Different Thoughts

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:24 am

Power Editing

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Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very”; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.
– Mark Twain

In the Successful Blog Cafe last week Rob at Jamdo’s article offered advice on how to strip out excess words in your posts to increase keyword density. That’s good editing advice. In fact, much of editing is taking out ALL of the words that you don’t need.

Words that Writers Don’t Need

As bloggers, we write in a conversational tone, but conversation moves fast and easy. We can correct if someone doesn’t understand what we’re saying. They can interrupt if we’re going on, and on, and on, and on. We’re likely to notice if our audience walks away while we’re still talking.

Unfortunately, we don’t have those luxuries when the words are written. More written words don’t necessarily build more bridges and rapport. Additional words can get between the reader and our message. Here are places I go to remove extra words that creep in while I’m writing.

Out, Out, Damn Words

So, there you have them — Some of my very different thoughts on how to tighten up your writing. Tighten up your writing, and readers will hear what you’re saying more easily.

Everyone has their little “word things.” What are yours?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related articles
Editing for Quality and a Content Editor’s Checklist
Writing–Ugh! 10 Reasons to Get Jazzed about Writing
Writing for a Diverse Readership





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2 Comments to “Editing: Just Some of My Very Different Thoughts”

  1. June 25th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
    Working at Home on the Internet » Blog Archive » This Weeks Helpful Reads…Week 2 said

    [...] Editing: Just Some of My Very Different Thoughts by Liz Strauss… Liz’s take as an editor on the over use of words in writing. [...]

  2. January 11th, 2007 at 5:52 am
    Designers who Blog: Design, Illustration, Photography, Web, Advertising, Branding … said

    [...] Successful Blog: Editing [...]

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