Concise writing is a must for the virtual world. People don’t have time to do much anymore, and even reading takes a hit, as individuals skim and scan text on the Internet to get exactly what they need and want; no more, no less.Cleaning up your language to have concise, snappy writing that says it all in as few words as possible is key. Passive language is old, and trimming down the word count, eliminating filler goes farther than flowery prose.
“That is” can be an enemy, and cutting out those two little words does amazing things for shortening sentences into something more professional and businesslike. They’re not necessary for understanding a sentence, and taking them out leaves the message clear and crisp.
Trim down what isn’t needed. A sentence that contains “that is being used,” “that is worn,” “that is placed on the,” or “that is considered,” can all be chopped to “being used,” “worn,” placed on the,” and “considered.” The grammar doesn’t suffer, the sentence flows nicely, and the text sounds better.
There are other tricks to creating concise language, but taking out “that is” can get you started nicely into noticing other words you can trim and cut, reducing passive language and filler for more effective writing.
