5 Ways to Eliminate Deadwood for Direct and Concise Writing

5 Ways to Eliminate Deadwood for Direct and Concise Writing I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil, Truman Capote once said. In other words, what we cut out of our writing is sometimes more important than what we put in. So lets continue to cut the clutter. How do we stop wasting words and get to the point? Here are five more strategies to apply when revising and editing essays, memos, and reports. Use Active Verbs Whenever possible, make the subject of a sentence do something. Wordy: The grant proposals were reviewed by the students.Revised: The students reviewed the grant proposals. Dont Try to Show Off As Leonardo da Vinci observed, Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Dont presume that big words or lengthy phrases will impress your readers: often the simplest word is the best. Wordy: At this moment in time, students who are matriculating through high school should be empowered to participate in the voting process.Revised: High school students should have the right to vote. Cut Empty Phrases Some of the most common phrases mean little, if anything, and should be cut from our writing: all things being equalall things consideredas a matter of factas far as I am concernedat the end of the dayat the present timedue to the fact thatfor all intents and purposesfor the most partfor the purpose ofin a manner of speakingin my opinionin the event ofin the final analysisit seems thatthe point that I am trying to maketype ofwhat I am trying to saywhat I want to make clear Wordy: All things being equal, what I am trying to say is that in my opinion all students should, in the final analysis, have the right to vote for all intents and purposes.Revised: Students should have the right to vote. Avoid Using Noun Forms of Verbs The fancy name for this process is excessive nominalization. Our advice is simple: give verbs a chance. Wordy: The presentation of the arguments by the students was convincing.Revised: The students presented their arguments convincingly. Or . . .The students argued convincingly. Replace Vague Nouns Replace vague nouns (such as area, aspect, case, factor, manner, situation, something, thing, type, and way) with more specific words- or eliminate them altogether. Wordy: After reading several things in the area of psychology-type subjects, I decided to put myself in a situation where I might change my major.Revised: After reading several psychology books, I decided to change my major.

Savage Wars Of Peace review essays

Savage Wars Of Peace review essays Max Boots book, The Savage Wars of Peace, is researched and written very well. He brings a new light and importance to the small wars or low intensity conflicts that in time, helped America become a world power. He began writing the book because he wanted to provide a concise history of Americas small wars abroad that...relate[s] the past to problems confronting the United States today. In the end he realized that not only did he write a book about small wars that could relate to present problems, but also a book that shows how the United States has always found itself being drawn into the savage wars of peace. The main theme of this book is that in America's history, war in some variety is the rule and not the exception. Dissimilar to the accepted myth, the United States military has fought several small wars to support the country's interests overseas, often times without a preceding announcement of war. Boot skillfully explains how the country started out as a commercial po wer before becoming a great power in the 1890s and then, finally, a superpower in 1941. Boots book is an informational read providing useful information on small wars, while including a great base for the science, as well as the art, of waging small wars. Along with all the different areas he touches in his book, most importantly Boot's novel contains some very important lessons that may prove to be very useful to the duty-bound Coalition completing its task in Iraq. The book provides information and facts that is not always well known. He mentions many actions, conflicts, and moments in history that are not always mentioned in many of the text books read today. Boots writing is not dry, or uninteresting. On the contrary, he is able to hold interest with his creative titles, and subtitles, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, of different sections within the book, al...