Lose the Excess

One way to trim down excess verbage is to locate every "very" and "really" in your copy, and delete them. It's fast and easy: Just plug those words into your Find/Replace program. I guarantee, you will not miss a one of them!

Other words to consider deleting, especially in business or technical writing:
well
so (sometimes, not all the time)
just (when used as an adverb)
any adverb that duplicates what the verb has already said ("No yawning sleepily in the meeting.")
suddenly
finally

After you've written your memo, email, flyer, brochure, or instruction book, do a read-through for the specific purpose of deleting unnecessary words. You'll find yourself with sleek copy that's easy to read and understand.

(c)2014 Suzann Kale

Tags: adverbs, grammar, syntax, business writing, technical writing, verbs