You know that feeling when you open up your closet and it\u2019s so stuffed with clothes you don\u2019t wear that you can\u2019t find the ones you really like?<\/p>\n
Or maybe your desk is piled with papers that need filing, and you waste all kinds of time looking for that one you need? Clutter adds stress and sucks up valuable time.<\/p>\n
The same situation applies to writing. Unnecessary words and redundancies in a page or paragraph obscure its core meaning and interrupt its flow.<\/b> The essence of your message is buried under all those excess words.<\/p>\n
Once you\u2019ve written the first draft<\/a> of your novel or short story, it\u2019s time to go back and look for cluttered sentences and paragraphs.<\/p>\n Ferret out words that don\u2019t add to the meaning or imagery<\/b> and are just hampering the fluid flow of ideas. Look for instances of overwriting or beating a point to death. Say it once — or twice, max — then move on. Otherwise you risk annoying your readers.<\/p>\n Ready to search out the clutter in your story?<\/p>\n Reveal the essence of your message by streamlining your words. Instead of \u201cin spite of the fact that,\u201d just say \u201calthough.\u201d Instead of \u201cin the vicinity of,\u201d say \u201cnear.\u201d<\/p>\n Replace \u201cin the direction of,\u201d with \u201cto\u201d or \u201ctoward.\u201d Instead of \u201ccame in contact with,\u201d say \u201cmet.\u201d Instead of \u201cduring the time that,\u201d say \u201cwhile.\u201d No need to say \u201clocated at\u201d \u2013 just say \u201cat.\u201d<\/p>\n Before:<\/i><\/p>\n On their cross-country trip, they slept each night in the cheap motels located less than a mile\u2019s drive from the<\/b> interstate.<\/p>\n After:<\/i><\/p>\n On their cross-country trip, they slept each night in cheap motels just off<\/b> the interstate.<\/p>\n Before:<\/i><\/p>\n The car drove slowly through the large complex heading in the direction of<\/b> a secluded building at the back of the facility. It was located <\/b>on the shore of the Mississippi River. The vehicle came to a stop<\/b> next to the entrance to the building<\/b>.<\/p>\n After:<\/i><\/p>\n The car drove slowly through the large complex toward a secluded building on the shore of the Mississippi River. It stopped next to the entrance.<\/p>\n Before:<\/i><\/p>\n He was shooting off his mouth in the bar last night telling everybody that he was going to<\/b> find the bastard that ratted on him.<\/p>\n After:<\/i><\/p>\n He was shooting off his mouth in the bar last night about<\/b> finding the bastard that ratted on him.<\/p>\n Before:<\/i><\/p>\n He moved his mouse pointer over to<\/b> the other email that <\/b>he had received.<\/p>\n After:<\/i><\/p>\n He clicked on the second email.<\/p>\n Leave out those tiny details that just serve to distract the reader, who wonders for an instant why they\u2019re there and if they\u2019re significant.<\/p>\n Before:<\/i><\/p>\n He had arrived at<\/b> the vending machine and was punching the buttons on its front with an outstretched index finger <\/b>when a voice from behind him broke him away from<\/b> his thoughts.<\/p>\n After:<\/i><\/p>\n He was punching the buttons on the vending machine when a voice behind him broke into his thoughts.<\/p>\n In the first example, we have way too much detail. What else would he be punching the buttons with besides his finger? We also don\u2019t need to know which finger he\u2019s using or that it\u2019s outstretched, since everybody does it pretty much the same. Minute details like these just clutter up your prose.<\/b><\/p>\n Before:<\/i><\/p>\n An angular snarl stuck to his face,<\/b> the officer indicated with a hand gesture<\/b> a door that was behind and off to the right <\/b>of Jason. He swung his head around<\/b> to look in the direction the officer was pointing<\/b>.<\/p>\n After:<\/i><\/p>\n Snarling<\/b>, the officer gestured<\/b> to a door behind<\/b> Jason. He turned<\/b> to look behind him.<\/p>\n Words like \u201cit was\u201d and \u201cthere were\u201d simply get in the way of your story without adding anything useful.<\/p>\n Before:<\/i><\/p>\n I headed down a rickety set of wooden steps to the basement. There was a dim light ahead in the hallway. To the right there were cardboard boxes stacked high. To the left, there was a closed door with a padlock. Suddenly, I heard muffled sounds. There was someone upstairs.<\/p>\n After:<\/i><\/p>\n I headed down a rickety set of wooden steps to the dimly lit basement. To the right, cardboard boxes were stacked high. To the left, I saw a closed door with a padlock. Suddenly, I heard muffled sounds. Someone was upstairs.<\/p>\n I could play around with this some more, but you get the picture.<\/p>\n Read the sentence out loud, and if it still makes sense without the \u201cthat,\u201d remove it. This change smoothes out the sentence so it\u2019s less clunky and flows better.<\/p>\n Before:<\/i><\/p>\n She said that you thought that<\/b> it was too expensive and that<\/b> you wanted to shop around.<\/p>\n After:<\/i><\/p>\n She said you thought it was too expensive and you wanted to shop around.<\/p>\n Cluttering your sentences with too many unnecessary words can get in the way of clear communication and confuse and subliminally irritate the reader. Go through your manuscript and see where you\u2019ve cluttered up sentences and paragraphs with little words and phrases that aren\u2019t needed and just impede the natural flow of ideas.<\/p>\n The phrases in italics are redundant here:<\/p>\n We passed an abandoned house that nobody lived in<\/i> on a deserted street with no one around<\/i>. The house was large in size<\/i> and gray in color<\/i>.<\/p>\n At this point in<\/i> time, the truth is that<\/i> complaints are increasing in number<\/i>, but I don\u2019t see that as a problem to be solved<\/i>.<\/p>\n For example:<\/p>\n She moped around the house, unable to concentrate on anything. She felt sad.<\/p>\n He paced nervously around the room, muttering to himself. He was agitated.<\/p>\n In both instances, the second sentence can and should be deleted.<\/p>\n In real life, people don\u2019t usually speak in lengthy, complete sentences or uninterrupted monologues. Read your dialogue out loud to make sure it sounds natural<\/b>, not like a rehearsed speech.<\/p>\n [bctt tweet=””Read your dialogue out loud to make sure it sounds natural,” says @JodieRennerEd<\/i><\/strong>“]<\/p>\n Break up any blocks of one person speaking at length by rewriting them in questions and answers or a lively debate, with plenty of tension and attitude. Try using lots of incomplete sentences and one- or two-word answers, or even silences.<\/p>\n How would your characters actually speak in real life? Think about their personalities and character traits<\/a>. For example, men, especially blue-collar men, tend to be terser and more to-the-point than women.<\/p>\n Looking for more ways to declutter your writing? In my editor’s guide to writing compelling stories, Fire up Your Fiction<\/i><\/a>, I offer lots of concrete tips with examples for streamlining your writing for a smoother flow and pacing. Also, check out the post on tightening your copy<\/a>.<\/p>\n How do you streamline your writing?<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is your writing cluttered? Use these strategies to clean it up and let your words flow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":3575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[54,69,13],"class_list":["post-3573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-craft","tag-editing","tag-writing","tag-writing-a-book"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritelife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. Avoid little-word pile-ups and eliminate redundancies<\/h2>\n
2. Don\u2019t drown your readers in details<\/h2>\n
3. Take out empty, \u201cfiller\u201d words<\/h2>\n
4. Take out the word \u201cthat\u201d wherever it\u2019s not needed<\/h2>\n
5. Delete words or phrases that unnecessarily reinforce what\u2019s already been said<\/h2>\n
6. Don\u2019t <\/b>tell<\/i><\/b> after you\u2019ve <\/b>shown<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n
7. Condense any long-winded dialogue<\/h2>\n