What is blogging all about? Connecting with people. How do you connect with people? Through your thoughts. Words play a vital role in this as your thoughts are transmitted to the readers through them. Thus, it is very important to choose words that would express your feelings and resonate with the readers easily.
I have learned one valuable lesson after being content writer for years – to be precise with words. Yes, there are certain words that we use mindlessly in our writing which given a miss would make our writing better, crisper, and more appealing. Here is the list of such words that you need to stop using immediately.
Qualifiers don’t always qualify
Really big. absolutely sure. Very happy. Why use these qualifiers when you have other words to describe things more aptly? Why be very happy when you can be ecstatic? Qualifiers usually make statements less specific. Moreover, they are subjective. What is very tall to you may not be so to another person. So, try to use more variety of adjectives and adverbs than using qualifiers. Your posts would become more interesting and shorter and crisper.
Get picturesque with words
I went to the office. I went to the bar. I went to a marriage. Doesn’t it sound so boring? What if you drove to the office, walked to a bar, and attended a wedding? Yes, don’t just go but hop and skip and skate and see how your text gets picturesque. Choosing such words would help readers see the images you want them to see and take more interest in what you want to convey.
Amazing! Really? Oh, not so much
We have been using certain words so much that they have lost their beauty and amazing in one such word. Next time you sit to watch an award ceremony just count how many times the winners utter this word. You would be amazed! Players use it, ads have it and comments on social media are heavily loaded with it. It’s time that you go off the track and use marvelous, incredible, astounding, and surprising for a change. It would amaze, errr…startle your readers and give them a respite too.
Think twice before using it…honestly
You were being earnest when you used honesty to emphasize your point. However, think of it from the point of view of your readers. Using honesty in one statement doesn’t make the other statements dishonest or false. There is a chance of your intentions being misinterpreted. So, stay away from honestly and you would become a better writer…honestly.
It’s just not right
Most of us have a habit of adding the word “just” in our writing. We use it to make our statements stronger; however, to the reader, it often becomes an irritation. Remember “just” is a filler that in reality makes your point weak and not strong. Avoid it and see how good your writing sounds.
Do you have a fascination with any word or words? Do you use them more than often in your posts? Next time when you write, recheck your documents and find out the words that can be eliminated to improve the quality. Trust me, like the ones I have listed, there are many more that you can give a miss to write better and crisper.
About the author – Koyel Majumder – A writer with an eye for perfection. She is a content writer