While reading "The Elements of Style" I found many things that I wish to incorporate into my writing, as well as many things I would like to change.
"16. Use definite, specific and concrete language"
I often times find that my writing is hampered by vagueness. I don't know if it is laziness or lack of consciousness towards this lack of concrete language, but I feel this change could improve my writing greatly both in journalism and creative fiction situations.
"17. Omit needless words"
I think my tendency to use needless words ties in to my problem with vague writing. Often times because my writing is vague, I feel the need to "spice it up" with needless adverbs or adjectives. This hurts the quality of my writing as it sometimes makes it difficult to decipher the real meaning in a paragraph or section of my work.
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I think omitting needless words is one of the hardest things for all of us. We have a tendency to be really verbose and we want to make things sound pretty when, in this case, we need to just be concise.
ReplyDeleteIf you can do these two things, your writing will improve infinitely. Don't you love a challenge?
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