Summary
Highlights
The speaker introduces the importance of clear and concise writing, highlighting how it enhances readability and makes writers feel more proud of their work. The main challenge often lies in cutting out the 'fluff' and managing editing time effectively. The video promises three quick hacks to achieve this.
The first hack suggests beginning sentences with the 'doer' or 'who' is performing the action. This approach front-loads information for the reader, making it easier to understand sooner. It also naturally reduces fluff by eliminating unnecessary words. An example is provided: 'The decision to hire the third applicant was made by the committee' (12 words) becomes 'The committee decided to hire the third applicant' (7 words).
The second hack emphasizes using verbs that create a visual and convey clear meaning. Verbs are powerful elements in a sentence that can provide both information and tone. An example illustrates this: 'Your supervisor is interested in hearing your feedback' is less concise than 'Your supervisor welcomes your feedback,' 'wants your feedback,' or 'requests your feedback,' which also convey different tones.
The third hack advises against overusing 'to be' verbs (is, are, was, were, etc.) as they often introduce fluff and don't convey much information on their own. These verbs are common defaults but can be replaced with more active, meaningful verbs. For instance, 'Aaron is a writing teacher' can become 'Aaron teaches writing,' and 'You are interested in writing tips' can be condensed to 'You want writing tips.'
The video concludes by demonstrating how to apply all three hacks to a long, wordy sentence: 'This is to inform you that we are waiting on one more piece of documentation in order to complete your file.' By identifying the 'who' (we), using a visual verb (need/want/require), and avoiding 'to be' verbs, the sentence becomes 'We need one more document to complete your file.' The speaker also notes the reduction of additional fluff like 'piece of documentation' to 'document' and 'in order to' to 'to'.
The video wraps up by encouraging viewers to try these strategies and provide feedback in the comments. The presenter promises more writing hacks weekly and asks viewers to like, follow, and subscribe.