Simple tips for self-editing

Using too many words can drain clarity from text, causing it to lose meaning and reducing its overall readability. If you’re looking for simple ways to improve your writing, start by looking at what you can cut out.

Wordiness & lack of clarity

Take a look at this paragraph:

‘After carrying out my review of our pizza restaurants in the area, I can report on a number that are performing below average and therefore may be ones to consider closing. My review of a dozen restaurants showed that local people like the food we serve but they are not so keen on the prices that they say are too high for the type of restaurant we are and would not consider eating at one of our locations as a result. My review shows that we can shut down four pizza restaurants in the area to save over £100,000 every year and I have emailed the senior management team to recommend we close them before the end of the current quarter.’ (Words: 121)

While maybe not the worst sentence ever written, it does suffer from a serious case of bloating. If you read it carefully, you’ll see examples of:

  • using excess words
  • run-on sentences
  • awkward phrasing
  • burying key information
  • repetition
  • irrelevant or unnecessary information

Fixing the problem

If reading your text to yourself or aloud doesn’t throw up any obvious edits, go through the following steps:

  1. Cut run-on sentences in half to improve readability
  2. Look for phrases that could be replaced by a single word
  3. Remove repeated or erroneous information
  4. Emphasise the most important points
  5. Cut awkward phrasing

Now, compare the text in the example with the following version:

‘Following my review of 12 pizza restaurants in the area, I can report that four are underperforming and recommend they are closed before the end of Q1 2022. The closures would save £100,000 a year. Overall feedback on our menu was positive. However, locals largely think our prices are too high. Consequently, they would not visit one of our restaurants. I have emailed my findings to the CEO.’ (Words: 68)

The second version retains the fact and the meaning, but deflates the ‘bloat’ to leave something leaner and easier for readers to digest.