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Writing Hack: Sharpen Your Sentences

September 9, 2020 //  by Janet Grant//  9 Comments

For the first, oh, decade or so of my writing career, I thought my writing was pretty good. So I didn’t understand why magazine editors found it necessary to take my perfectly serviceable sentences and render them “less interesting.” That is, until I realized, the editors were showcasing how to upgrade my writing using a writing hack or two.

Writing hack #1: Look for belabored beginnings

I liked to sound as though I were a pondering sort of person. As a result, I tended to start my sentences with something like:

There’s just something about our current suspended lives that makes me melancholy.

Editors would change that to read:

Our current suspended lives make me melancholy.

Suddenly my sentence went from twelve words to seven. And it’s so…direct. Eventually I realized that I wasn’t sounding like I pondered but like I was ponderous.

Writing hack #2: Look for passive verbs

I clogged up my writing with sentences such as this:

It is fair to say that the upcoming presidential debates will draw a large viewership.

How about I switch out that “it is” and shorten the sentence in the process?

The upcoming presidential debates will draw a large viewership.

The sentence reduces down from fifteen words to nine. And it conveys more energy.

Writing hack #3: Replace passive verbs with unexpected verbs

What if I rewrote the sentence this way:

No doubt the upcoming presidential debates will snag a large viewership.

Okay, now we’ve put the sentence on a diet and given it a makeover.

Writing hack #4: Use your word processing program’s search feature

Until your brain learns to switch on a red light every time you commit writing a needlessly ponderous sentence, here’s a trick. You can utilize Word’s search feature to find some of the offending sentences for you.

Search for:

  • there are
  • there is
  • it is
  • is
  • are

And, yes, most sentences beginning with “there are,” “there is,” and “it is” can readily benefit from a diet.

Easy cleanup

We don’t often stumble onto such straightforward ways to cleanup our writing. Especially considering you can ask your computer to do the looking for you.

By the way, I have to confess that I almost started this section with this sentence:

It isn’t often we stumble onto…

Yup, I can now mumble to myself, “Physician, heal thyself.”

In what ways are you prone to writing belabored sentences? Raise your hand if you identify with being a  “there are,” “it is” kind of writer, like me.

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Category: Blog, Writing CraftTag: how to change passive verbs to active verbs, how to improve your writing, simple changes to improve your writing

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  1. Kim Ligon

    September 10, 2020 at 5:37 am

    I tend to tack on ‘already’, ‘yet’ or ‘just’ . Great tips! Thanks!

    Reply
  2. Jeanne Takenaka

    September 10, 2020 at 5:51 am

    I may be raising my hand and waving it. I’ve had to work hard to identify and eradicate “There are…” and other phrases you’ve shared here. I also tend to use words like “some” unnecessarily.

    Thanks for these tips!

    Reply
  3. Kristen Joy Wilks

    September 10, 2020 at 6:46 am

    I have a chatty writing style that lends itself to long and confusing sentences. Going back over my work, I have to cut length and things like “inexplicably” and “ill-considered” and of course “indubitably.” Not every one … but really, how many times does one need to use these big fun words. Yeah, not as often as one thinks during the first draft, ha!

    Reply
    • Janet Grant

      September 10, 2020 at 10:39 am

      Ha! I can relate the love of three-syllable words.

      Reply
  4. Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

    September 10, 2020 at 6:58 am

    My words, they often lumber
    like yawning elephant,
    or woolens worn in summer
    to the revival tent.
    Sentences go ’round and ’round
    (Does he even have a point?),
    words that chase like hare and hound
    and never deign appoint
    the clarity of discipline,
    the crystal prism born of light;
    instead they sag like margarine
    left out on a summer’s night,
    oils relinquishing their bonds
    to become small, sticky ponds.

    Reply
    • Janet Grant

      September 10, 2020 at 10:40 am

      Well expressed per usual, Andrew. I especially enjoyed the woolens in the revival tent.

      Reply
  5. Lester Bauman

    September 11, 2020 at 11:18 am

    Good thoughts about the ongoing war between active and passive voice. No matter how hard I try, I keep stumbling.

    Reply
  6. Emma

    September 20, 2020 at 11:22 am

    Thanks. Often a “paid” essay https://getpsychologyessay.com/ is only the main one for your own work. This option will increase your chance of getting “excellent” and save you enough time. Well, if you are satisfied with a modest three, then you don’t need to worry too much. The work done for you will be enough to cross the minimum threshold.

    Reply
  7. Barbara Moriggan

    June 12, 2021 at 11:21 am

    Amazing tips! I think that a lot of students are frustrated because they get to an essay service and the quality is just not good enough for the grade. It is all about communicating with the student. An essay is an opportunity to communicate your thought process. We can learn a lot about ourselves by what we write. If you are going to use an essay service, you have to make sure that you are using someone who is professional. This is a big consideration if you do not have the time to look for a tutor is too busy.

    Reply

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