(image by MarkyBon)
I will be the first to admit that I sometimes write wordy sentences. A couple of weeks ago, I attended a writing seminar on conciseness. I’ll be sharing some of the tips I learned as a service to my readers and as a method of reinforcement for myself. <– That last sentence’s length makes me nervous.
Today’s tip: Don’t nominalize.
Nominalization occurs when you convert a non-noun part of speech to a noun. For example:
“Susie made the suggestion that we go to the zoo.”
The fragment “made the suggestion” is a nominalization of the verb “to suggest.” I can shorten this sentence to:
“Susie suggested we go to the zoo.”
The second sentence gets to the point without meandering. Remember, the goal is not simply to chop words. It’s to communicate a clear message without verbosity.
