Writing clearly and appealingly is not an easy task. Unless you have access to skilled authors or professional editors who can assist you in editing your content, utilize as few repetitious words as possible.
Have you noticed that you frequently use the same word in a variety of contexts, such as attending meetings, giving presentations, or conversing with friends? If that’s the case, it’s likely that you’ll continue to do so when producing documents. Repetition of words in normal speech is acceptable, but repetition of words in writing not only lowers the quality of the text, but also produces pain for the reader every time it “catches the eye”. People have a tendency to exaggerate, which leads to the usage of unnecessary words or phrases.
Concise, to-the-point information will help you deliver your message effectively, leading visitors to other content. Knowing which terms to avoid just addresses half of the problem; if no good alternative exists, you will be forced to stick with the old approach. In this post, we’ll alleviate some of your concerns by presenting alternate formulations for ten of the most often used English words, allowing you to increase the quality of your work and retain readers.
#1. STUFF
Stuff: used to refer to a substance, material, group of objects, etc. when you do not know the name, when the name is not important or when it is obvious what you are talking about. (Oxford Dictionary)
“Stuff” has a broad meaning. This word does not specify what you own or how much. Unless you’re using an intimate term, don’t use “stuff,” but rather a more particular noun, such as “He had an absurd amount of Star Wars figurines.”
#2. WENT
The phrase “I traveled to the shops on foot” is far more appealing than “I went to the shops.” It explains where you’re heading and how you’ll get there. This writing style allows you to attract the reader’s interest while also developing the tale.
#3. NICE
The word “nice” has no stress. Using this word is like checking the “agree or disagree” box while participating in a poll. This is a safe, but less attractive choice. Because you have innumerable other, much more thorough ways to explain the same occurrence or phenomenon. Try thinking about the item, person or scenario you want to describe, then try to include words like delightful, divine, attractive or well-mannered in your phrases. Nice, right?
#4. NEW
Everyone enjoys experiencing new things. With such connotation, “new” frequently indicates enthusiasm. However, “new” is unlikely to be an effective noun modifier. “Dave bought a new car” is an example. We know Dave owns a car, but we don’t know what kind of automobile it is—make, model, or size. Instead, “Dave bought a huge, top-of-the-line Mercedes” helps the reader imagine the object in question in greater detail.
#5. THINGS
Similar to “stuff”, the difficulty is that “things” is so simple to use that writers can get “lazy” and choose simple writing like “She had things to think about” or “He gathered up all his things” rather than spending the effort to write things. It is tough to come up with more specific statements like “He gathered all of the stationery on his desk.” This word provides readers with absolutely no information, therefore remove it as quickly as feasible.
#6. REALLY
“Really” is an excellent example of superfluous word stuffing when writing content. In most circumstances, simply removing this word will not alter the sense of the phrase. On the other hand, its inclusion in the sentence makes it less persuasive. Instead, use stronger, more passionate terms. For example, “Jim really wanted a drink” can be translated as “Jim yearned for water”.
#7. IMPORTANT
“Important” is frequently used in emails. Nowadays, it appears that everything is considered significant, resulting in the presence of “important” everywhere. That is the fundamental difficulty. Because it is seen so frequently, “important” gradually loses its significance. We are so “hardened” to it that we no longer feel the urgency that it should express. As a result, alternative ways to indicate importance and urgency are required, such as “urgent attention required” or “vital documents enclosed”.
#8. INTERESTING
Even an unattractive dog can be described as interesting. If you can explain why something is interesting, you don’t have to use the term. Readers want to know why anything is interesting.
#9. THINK
Another example of unconvincing language. Writers frequently use this word when they lack confidence, using it as a method to convey their point. To avoid using this term, the best option is to present specific proof and data gathered through research and statistics. After all, thinking and understanding are fundamentally distinct. Credibility is essential for content. And Google, like your readers, enjoys numbers and facts.
#10. BETTER
Everyone can improve. This article might have been written better, or an editor could have improved it. Even so, no one is sure what to do better. “Better” is frequently used as an excuse to avoid giving specific explanations. “You could improve the click rate of this article by writing a more engaging title” is a lot more helpful than “you could write a more interesting title to make the article better” .
Repeating words is tough to avoid, especially when you need to produce a great amount of information in a short period of time. In addition to the ten words discussed in this article, there are hundreds of more commonly misused words and phrases that you should be aware of. Hopefully, after reading this post, you will have a better understanding of how to protect yourself from uninteresting expressions that are out to harm your work.