How to write shorter sentences (that make your copy clearer)

Have you ever been listening to your mate tell a story when they go off on a random tangent about something seemingly unrelated? You’re trying desperately to cling on to the original thread. And scanning the new story to understand how this narrative connects to the one they started on. It makes your brain hurt, doesn’t it?

That’s how your reader feels when you don’t trim your sentences.

What do I mean by trimming your sentences?

Well, let’s assume you’ve written your first draft. One of the first things you should do during the editing stage is make sure your sentences are short and sweet by giving them a good edit, one by one.

Like that bush by the back door that, if you don’t give it a decent prune now, will be tickling your nose every time you put the recycling out come June.

Here are some common ways you can chop words and make your copy more springy, less dingy:

Use the active voice

❌ the suit was made by us
✅ we made the suit

Avoid wordy phrases

❌ in order to 
✅ to 

❌ she is able to
✅ she can

Avoid tautologies (where extra words don’t add meaning)

❌ the final outcome
✅ the outcome 

❌ tunes from live musicians
✅ live music

Replace adverbs with specific verbs

❌ she moved quickly
✅ she ran

If you’d like to chat more about writing for your business, I’d love to hear from you.