5 Steps to Cleaner Copy

Warning: The following post includes technical jargon. If you are averse to learning something new or revisiting concepts learned in grade school, hit the “x” at the top left of your screen immediately (or top right if you’re on a PC).

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

— Antoine de Saint Exupéry

The trick to incisive copy is to vacuum up the crap you don’t need, dust off the crap you have, and polish up on your writing knowledge. The following tips will help you to ensure your copy is nothing short of gleaming.

1. Take a look at your “that” count.

This word has a tendency to creep into copy much too frequently. The best way to address this factor is to write out your copy, then go through it count all of the times it appears. Once you have an idea of how many times it shows up, (note: this will probably be a very high number), see where you can’t simply remove the word entirely. A sentence such as, “As a company, we were certain that this client would never agree to such terms,” reads the same without “that” and makes it much less wordy. Another option for your “that” population is to replace them all with “which” to create non-restrictive clauses (does not limit the meaning of your preceding subject). Non-restrictive clauses can sometimes alter the meaning of your sentences, so use them wisely. The benefit of replacing “that” with “which” is your copy becomes much more reader friendly and engaging.

2. Lose the “I think,” “in my opinion,” “according to us,” type- phrases.

Be confident in your writing. Writers often revert to these phrases when they are unsure of their claims or fear the ramifications of their statements. Clearly, if the copy is on your blog then it’s your opinion. You’re not claiming to be a hard-hitting news organization with completely objective articles; so own that copy, darnit. If you are trying to discuss statistics or incorporate quotations then you will be citing origins, right? Second, these phrases are just fluff – they don’t provide any relevant information to your copy. Get out the broom, and sweep away these bad boys.

3. Rethink your periods.

More often than not, semi-colons, commas, or hyphens are more suitable than a period in most complex sentences. The trouble is that periods are simple, and don’t have many rules – so they often get thrown in by default. Here are some rules of thumb so you can make greater use of these grammatical gold mines:

  * Rule of thumb for the semi-colon: Use a semi-colon to join two sentences which are connected.

  * Rule of thumb for the hyphen: If you want to change the thought in the middle of the sentence without using a full stop, the dash is a good way to do it. (Ex. I didn’t get tickets in time for the ballet last month – I wouldn’t say I’m all that upset with this fact.)

  * Rule of thumb for the comma: Use a comma when you put a phrase into a sentence to give more explanation.

4. Don’t start every sentence with the same word.

This one’s easy to fix, and has some of the biggest impact. Just imagine how boring a paragraph seems when each sentence begins with the same, or similar, words. Just thinking about this makes me cringe. I just think this can all be avoided if you are aware that this may happen, and taking another look at your copy can fix it. Just look at the first word of your sentences. OKAY! You get the point. Just keep in mind that variety is the spice of life and mix it up a bit. Just be sure not to…sorry, I won’t.

5. Make it interesting, gosh darnit.

Writing clear, concise sentences is perfectly fine, but can easily become quite monotonous if it’s all you do. Mix it up, have fun, and my goodness, enjoy your writing. Getting too caught up in the technical aspect of all of this will result in bland, yet technically accurate, copy – which no one wants to read (myself, included).

There you have it! Go ahead and send your copy through this hypothetical wringer, and it should come out spotless/squeaky clean/shiny and new/countless other themed phrases I could put here, but will spare you from.