CHAPTER 2: MINIMISE

  In this chapter we'll discuss the importance of: 

- Minimising your words.

- Reducing words per sentence.

- Limiting auxiliary verbs.

- Cutting out the obvious.

- Preposition ending rules.

6. Minimising your words. - 

  In the film Ocean’s Eleven, Brad Pitt summed it up: “Don’t use seven words when four will do.” That goes for writing. The fewer words, the better: In order to obtain a driver’s license issued by the state of California, you must be able to locate the nearest DMV. Becomes: To get a California driver’s license, find the nearest DMV. This should sum' it up! 

7. Reducing words per sentence. - 

  Auxiliary verbs are forms of the verb “to be” such as: is, are, was, and were. “To be” words have their place. I’ve used a few but try not to use too many. Be careful when starting a sentence with “there were” or “there was.” Nine times out of ten, you can delete them by figuring out where the action in the sentence is and replacing “there is” with a strong action word. Strong nouns and strong verbs are the building blocks of strong sentences. There was thick smoke in the room. There was a hit man standing by the door holding a gun. Becomes: Thick smoke darkened the room. The hit man stood by the door holding a gun.

8. Limiting auxiliary verbs. -

  Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. That doesn’t mean adverbs make the words they modify better or more intense. Find a better word to replace the adverbs or just take them out. Action and dialog can often kill the need for an adverb: She walked quickly out of the bedroom to escape the boiling rage her husband provoked. Becomes: “You bastard ! I hate you!” She slapped her husband and stomped out of the bedroom. Instead of “walked quickly,” the strong verb “stomped” gives the reader a sharper picture. Through her actions and the dialog, you feel her rage.

9. Cutting out the obvious. -

  Shrugging and nodding are movements exclusive to specific body parts. When you nod or shrug, we all know which body parts are doing the action. No need to say “he nodded his head” or “she shrugged her shoulders.” To simplify, just say “he nodded” or “she shrugged.” In the same way, “he thought to himself” has too many words. Who else would do the thinking? “He thought” will do.

10. Preposition ending rules. - 

   You can break this rule with dialogue because some people talk this way, but not so much in the narrative. Ending a sentence with “at,”“to,” or, “of” may indicate poor writing, according to prescriptive grammarians, 

but not everyone agrees and they do have a point. Winston Churchill despised this advice and quipped, “This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.”