One in a series of writing tips.
George Washington gave our nation’s first State of the Union Address in 1790. He spoke for 10 minutes.
Compare that to modern presidents. Bill Clinton pontificated for nearly 89 minutes in 2000, Donald Trump for 82 minutes in 2019.
What a plague of “look at me, look at me now” excess.
Writers should model Washington, not our later gasbags. They should review early drafts to cut the fat. As in:
Write.
Then read and delete – words, sentences, paragraphs.
And repeat.
Early drafts present many targets.
Start with repetitive material. It sneaks into text.
Then adverbs. A more precise verb often will make an adverb redundant. “Honked,” not “snored loudly.”
Marshmallow adverbs – “very,” “quite,” “really” – should automatically appear in red on computer screens, because they add zero nutritional value. Just zap them.
Adjectives also merit scrutiny. Many are unnecessary.
Prepositional phrases, introductory clauses and passive-voice sentences present other possible targets.
We occasionally need these words and parts of speech. And … all often deserve the unsparing attention of a tool available to every writer since Ronald Reagan was president.
The delete key.
We need a GLP-1 for writers.
Great idea, Steve.