Improve Your Writing Tip #10: Chop away deadwood

Improve your writing

No, we're not talking about the HBO show. Deadwood phrases are wordy ways of saying simple things. We all use them from time to time, even though we shouldn't.

For example, we might write "has the ability to" in place of a simple "can." Or "in regards to" instead of "regarding." These phrases make our writing far less readable, not to mention lengthier.

Some other examples:

At this point in time => Now
Due to the fact that => Because
In order to => To
In the event that => If
Prior to the start of => Before

You can search for deadwood on your own. Or you can use ProWritingAid's writing improvement software to find it and improve it.

Next writing tip: Improve Your Writing Tip #11: Read your work aloud.

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