When we speak, most of us hesitate at some point.  Then we fill that space with “uh,” “you know,” or the current younger generation favorite, “like.”  Because writing emulates speaking, we can fall into the same bad habits.  I call these “Hesitation Words.”

We add them to our written communications as we pause in an essay.  Rather than continue writing directly and actively, we hesitate.  Then we add unnecessary words.

Here are several:  “That,” “just,” and “now.” 

“That” is overused.  If you go back over your writing and look for all the times you’ve used it, you’ll find that you can eliminate half, perhaps more.  Check it out.  The one underlined in this paragraph is a good example.

“Now” is a word often used to start a sentence.  It’s kind of a summary word, like we are asking the reader to consider something extra special that will follow.  It’s overused and serves no purpose.  If you write, “Now, the next morning,” why not write, “The next morning?”  Again, go back over your writing and eliminate “now” words.

Finally, “just” is my personal bad boy.  I put it far too frequently in my communications, and have only recently begun consistently editing it out.  The same with “that” and “now,” it is a word that doesn’t do much.  If you say, “We just want to get to the movie on time,” why not say, “We want to get to the movie on time?”  “Just” is a word we could eliminate from the language.  I don’t think it would be missed.

Look for these types of words when you write.  You’ll find others.  Reduce their use.  Your writing will improve.

Writing is funny.  If you go back and look over what you typed you’ll often find you typed something more than once.  Like that last sentence.  Read it again.

If you didn’t read it again, you might have again missed that the word “typed” was in there twice.  It was unnecessary, but I chose to insert it to make a point.

For years, I’ve joked about the Department of Redundancy Department as an arm of the government, churning out repeatable documents that don’t need to be generated.  They publish something about a program or issue, then another agency duplicates the finding or the same agency puts out a similar document a year later.  It’s pointless.  We got it the first time.  It becomes redundant after that.

The same holds true for writing.  Repeating a word in a sentence is avoidable (other than basics like “a” and “the,” etc.).  If you go back and look at the fourth and fifth sentences of this essay, what’s the redundant word there?

Writing redundantly writing (:-}) is caused by laziness.  We want to put something out quickly, so we rap the keyboard and hit “send.”  Take some extra time to go back over what you write and look for those words you repeat.  Substitute something else.  It will freshen your product.  You’ll sound smarter.  People will like your writing more.

Every industry has its acronyms.  For the non-technical person, acronyms confuse you.  For the individual knowledgeable in the industry, acronyms are used to hide behind.  Rather than illuminating, you obfuscate.

That’s not good, and it’s not what you want.  Limit your acronym use.  Write them fully out AND explain them (if at all possible) in clear, plain language the first time you use them.  In follow-up references, limit their use and substitute other common phrases when appropriate.

For example, when describing the BAHWTT, if you stated that up front, people would think it’s a newly democratized African nation.  If you were in the environmental field, you might instead say it stands for Best Available Hazardous Waste Treatment Technology.  If you’re a communicator, rather than BAHWTT, you could say “cleanup technology” or “environmental treatment system” or even a “waste minimizer.”  The point is, you can use multiple terms to convey what is needed to the reader.

Though many acronym users believe you need to use them regularly to show how smart you are, it’s better to have people understand you. That’s when people start to think you’re a genius. 

Next time you need to describe the best technology to clean up hazardous waste, or an EPDS (Electrical Power Distribution System – the power wires going into your home), take some extra time to remember your audience and explain what the acronym really means to others.  Otherwise, they’ll be flying blind, and you don’t want someone being their passenger.

Over ten years ago, a local reporter covered the company that I worked for, and he also wrote a column in the newspaper.  One week, there was a phrase he used in his column that stuck with me, and I commented on it to him next time we met about how impactful it was.  He replied with something like, “When I wrote that, I knew it was something that was going to stand out.”

His remark to this day makes me think about how important it is to have a few phrases that stand out when you write.  If you think about what readers take away from your story afterwards, it is usually a feeling or sense of what you described and detailed.  They may remember the tone or that they laughed at what you had to say.

But rarely will they come up to you and recite a sentence from memory.   Still, you should work hard when you put together a report, notes, a memo or anything else you write for an audience in your business life so that a few phrases jump out at the reader.  They should be “head nodders.”  By that, I mean you get the readers nodding their heads at what you wrote.  It’s a phrase, statement or description that jumps out at them.

Spend a little extra time to find a few phrases to make your writing special.  You’ll grow your readership, and find they may voice appreciation for something you eloquently described.

This may sound slightly counter intuitive, but when you are charged with reporting on an event, consider taking fewer notes.  Rather than judiciously writing everything down, capture the key point or points from the event, meeting, conference, or whatever it is you are covering.  This serves a number of purposes, and adds value to the people who will read your roundup.

First, if you write down less rather than more, that means you are actively listening and know how to fill in the blanks, if called upon.  Second, you perform your editing function actively if you take a smaller number of notes – your mind is editing as the speaker is speaking, so you mentally cut out what is not needed during a presentation rather than afterwards.  Finally, by jotting down fewer words, you are forced to understand the concepts under discussion. 

As a journalist 25 years ago in Washington, D.C., I regularly covered Congressional hearings on environmental issues.  I would grab written testimony and listen actively, taking meticulous notes as the hearings droned on and on.  A New York Times reporter often sat with us at the press table.  He was older than us young bucks, seasoned and savvy, and he got the tone of the hearings accurately on a consistent basis.  I marveled at his note-taking.

He carried a small flip pad.  He wrote in big letters, just a few words to each page.  I couldn’t figure out how he made sense of the hearing when he wrote the story up later that day for the morning edition.

Now I do.  I follow his routine.  That means:  Understanding the issues.  Developing a strong background so you know the terrain.  Drill down into what’s most important.  Recognize the tone and tenor of what is being said.  Then fill in the blanks in a way that builds the story and captures the essence of what occurred and the most important things said.

You won’t be perfect.  Reporting and writing never are.  But using this technique will help you keep improving, and simplify your writing when you get in front of your desktop, laptop, iPad to make sense of it all.