Are you inadvertently boring your readers to death? If your steadily declining readership indicates an unacceptably high body count then you might want to think about zhooshing things up a bit by swapping words and phrases that aren’t doing your writing any favours. Such as…
At the end of the day
Almost as bad as proclaiming ‘it is what it is’, this phrase can be readily changed for:
- In conclusion
- Ultimately
- Finally
- Eventually
In terms of
You can replace this old chestnut with:
- Of
- Regarding
- About
Fairly unique
No, no and a double serving of no. Rather like the impossibility of being ‘a little bit pregnant’, something is either unique or it isn’t. Simple as that. ‘Fairly’ and ‘unique’ do not belong together.
Kind of
This is a filler term and can be deleted altogether without any qualms. ‘She was kind of laughing like crazy’ means exactly the same as ‘She was laughing like crazy’.
Includes but is not limited to
Unless you’re writing in legalese – and most of us won’t be – then you can safely shorten this phrase. Truly, give readers some credit for understanding that a list is generally not considered exhaustive. You can change it to:
- Includes
- Typically
- Plus
- Involving
At this moment in time
A shameless waste of letters, you can get to the point much faster by using:
- Now
- Today
- Currently
- Presently
Practice tighter writing to brighten your message and keep your readers engaged far longer.