When proofreading a document, you want to make sure that your message is clear. You have an idea in your mind; you transform it into words, and hope that the person reading your words understands your idea.Sometimes the words that we choose when writing are too conversational. If you nonchalantly spoke certain words or phrases in conversation, your idea would likely make perfect sense and not disrupt the cohesiveness of the discussion. In writing, even if it is appropriate to use an informal tone, little differences can affect the clarity and effectiveness of your message. You want to choose formal words even amidst a humorous, witty, or casual subject matter.
You can quickly polish your writing by looking out for these three errors that frequently appear in writing that is too colloquial.
Which and That
Let’s look at a sentence that I just wrote as an example: “You can quickly polish your writing by looking out for these three errors that frequently appear in writing that is too colloquial.” Note that the word “that” appears twice in the sentence.
When speaking, if you substituted the first instance of the word “that” for the word “which,” you’d probably get away with it, and your conversation would continue smoothly. However, the word “which” is not appropriate in the written sentence, unless you also change the structure of the sentence.
The word “that” initiates a phrase that specifically describes a noun, while the word “which” initiates a clause in the sentence. Use a comma and the word “which” when you set off a clause, enclosed in two commas.
That: You can quickly polish your writing by looking out for these three errors that frequently appear in writing that is too colloquial.
Which: Look out for these three errors, which frequently appear in writing that is too colloquial, in order to polish your writing.
As you can see, the use of the word “that” begins a “restrictive clause” because it limits the description that it prompts to the noun that it follows; the use of the word “which” is a “non-restrictive” clause because it just prompts a tangent within the sentence.
Some
I like to use examples from my own writing to show how easy it is to add imprecision to your writing. A thorough proofreading can fix these minor flaws. Minor as they may be, without them your writing transforms to a more professional level. Your reader effortlessly comprehends what you intend to communicate, rather than struggling to understand overworked sentences.
The word “some” is usually a word that we type out when writing a first draft. For example, I could have written above, “I like to use some examples from my own writing to show how easy it is to add imprecision to your writing.”
Tighten your text by removing empty words. The version of the sentence without the word “some” conveys the same meaning and is even stronger. Look for the word “some” and other vague adjectives in your writing. Delete accordingly.
Start to/Begin to
Similarly to the word “some” and vague adjectives, certain phrases that may be perfectly fine for conversation add no value to persuasive writing.
It’s almost always beneficial to delete the phrases “start to ___” and “begin to ___.” Other than word count, there is no substantial difference between the instructions “start to look for …” and simply “look for….”
Instead of instructing you to “start to look for ways to trim words in your text that are ineffective,” I’ll simply state, “look for ways to trim words in your text that are ineffective.” It’s all part of the proofreading process.
About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours to eliminate reputation-crushing mistakes from your writing. She's a professional proofreader and the founder of Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services. Connect with Stefanie on Twitter.
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