How to Write Clear and Concise Sentences?
Have you ever found yourself lost in a sea of convoluted sentences and faced difficulty in deciphering the message contained in them? If yes, then you are not alone in it! When it comes to finding information over the web, you may have come across multiple such sources. Even if there is nothing wrong with the info, their complex structure and tone might make you re-read a single paragraph multiple times. And still, you may not be able to grasp its meaning.
When you go through such articles, you’d surely never want to face such a challenge again. That’s how the majority of readers think about the sources that present them with hard-to-understand sentences. If you don’t wish to give a similar vibe to the visitors of your blog or website, it’s essential to write clear and concise sentences.
So, what can you do to achieve this goal? Is there a strategy that can be followed to eliminate all sorts of confusion from your sentences? You don’t need to have these concerns anymore, as we have come up with this blog to share actionable tips on writing the intended message with precision. So let’s dive into them without any further delay!
Write in Active Voice
The first tip to make sure you are writing clear and concise sentences is to use an active voice. Writing in active voice allows you to strengthen the action being performed and make the sentences engaging for the readers. In comparison, passive voice sentences shift the focus of readers and take away their interest in exploring your text further. You can judge the difference yourself by looking at their comparison in the example given below.
Active Voice: Alice decided to get a gym membership.
Passive Voice: A decision made by Alice to get the gym membership.
With this example, you can observe that active voice doesn’t just make sentences easier to read but makes them concise as well. If you are unsure of whether you’re writing in an active or passive voice, you can take the assistance of the grammar checker. This tool detects the passive voice sentences existing in your content so you can convert them into active voice.
Get Rid of Unimportant/Lengthy Phrases
Achieving successful results with your writing requires several things from your end. Jotting down your ideas briefly while staying relevant is one of the important elements. You can ensure it in your writing by eliminating the usage of lengthy or unimportant phrases. If you know how to complete a sentence in 2-3 words, then you must not make it unnecessarily wordier.
For instance, if you need to describe something as ‘easy,’ there is no need to write phrases like ‘a piece of cake’ or ‘a child’s play’ as it just extends the number of words in a sentence. Similarly, you can find many other phrases in the sentences you write and replace them with their one-word alternatives.
Ensure Spelling Accuracy
This tip might seem an obvious one to you, and you might feel like skipping to the next. Well, even if you’re so confident about not making spelling errors, you should still consider checking your sentences through a spell checker. It’s recommended because when we are deeply involved in writing tasks, typos can occur unintentionally. In addition, you might also face confusion in homonyms (the words with similar pronunciation but different spellings and meanings), which can lead to a blunder in your sentences.
Suppose that you need to use the word ‘except’ in a sentence, but you mistakenly write ‘accept’ instead of it. The entire meaning of the sentence will change, and the readers might not be able to comprehend it. This error can also get overlooked during manual proofreading. That’s why you must make use of a spell checker utility to ensure all spellings in your text are accurate and as per the context.
Make Complex Ideas Easier to Understand
So, you have been given a task to make a complex idea easier to understand for the audience, but the question is, what exactly accounts for complexity in sentences? You might already know about jargon, which is the technical terminology used in a text. If you want your sentences to be clear and the readers don’t face any difficulty in reading them, then you should avoid using jargon totally.
The technical terms can be understood by a limited audience, but you will surely not desire to keep a wider pool of readers away from your content. Therefore, you must avoid using complex words or replace them with words that are easier to understand for everyone. You can easily bring clarity to your writing by using a paraphrasing tool. This utility allows you to revamp an existing text while improving its readability.
Avoid Repetition
It’s often observed in many people’s written work that they keep making repetitions of words that describe the same idea in their sentences. It could be a deliberate move from writers, but it deteriorates the quality of their work, as the sentences become lengthy and create boredom for the readers. Let’s understand it with the following example:
“This free online utility works with no charges and doesn’t ask you to pay any fee.”
In this sentence, you might have gotten an idea of how a single idea is repeated three times. You can easily cut its length by avoiding the repetition of words and phrases that describe the same meaning. As a result, your sentence will become clear and concise, which can easily engage the readers.
Final Thoughts
The way we write and convey our thoughts has a direct impact on shaping our relationships, influencing decisions, and making lasting impressions. If you wish to jot down clear and concise sentences, then the above-mentioned tips can surely help you transform your writing. Also, you shouldn’t forget to keep the essential resources by your side that can provide assistance in this journey and make you work efficiently.
