SEVEN SUREFIRE WAYS TO WEAKEN YOUR WRITING
SEVEN SUREFIRE WAYS TO WEAKEN YOUR WRITING
by Ellen Notbohm
Kudoplauseulations! You undertook the grand adventure of writing and publishing a book. And now you’ve either learned, or will shortly learn, that the final page of your book is not the end of writing, but the segue from writing the book into writing about the book. Today’s publishing market is a media-content glutton. Whether you’ve written a novel or a nonfiction book, you’ll find yourself churning out essays, blogposts, presentations, interview questions and answers, newsletters, and memes.
Regardless of audience and format, your credibility is everything. You want your words to ring strong, true, relevant, and original. That’s how you grab and hold a reader’s attention, how you make them want to read more from you, how you build an ongoing readership—how you become an established author with a following.
Nothing will stamp you as unoriginal, bland, and of dubious authority as will the use of cliches that cast aspersions on your creativity and believability. Here are seven to avoid.
- “I’m not gonna lie”
A pediatric dental hygienist once told me, “The worst thing you can say to your child is, ‘don’t worry, it won’t hurt.’ Chances are your child wasn’t worried about pain until you brought it up.”
The same goes for telling your reader you’re not gonna lie. Before you qualified what you’re about to say by suggesting there are times when you do lie, your readers assumed you to be a trustworthy source. Now they wonder why you felt you had to say that, and whether it means that statements you don’t preface with “I’m not gonna lie” are untrue.
Gotta love one of Urban Dictionary’s definitions of the phrase: “A term that when prefixed to a statement does more damage than good.”
Whether you’re trying to establish credibility for your opinion, reveal an endearing vulnerability, or defend yourself against an unpopular stance, a strong standalone statement will have more impact on your readers.
And beware of doubt-casting cousins like “I’ll be honest,” “In all honesty,” and “Truth be told,” and . . .
- “Trust me”
There’s good reason why writers are admonished to show, not tell. If you have to fall back on “Trust me” to gain the compliance or confidence of others, you haven’t taken actions or provided the information or perspectives that instill trust. Show us. You have to earn trust; it’s never an entitlement. We show, not tell, as demonstration of integrity and engagement. There’s no shortcut directive for that.
- “ . . . of all time”
The Big Bang was more than 13 billion years ago. And even that’s not all of time, because what about the moment before the Big Bang? Time is infinite, human recorded history is only a few thousand years. How infinitely silly it sounds classify something like television shows, football players, mobile apps, and running shoes as the best “of all time.”
If you’re talking about a favorite something, it needs no qualification. “Cherry Garcia is my favorite ice cream” is quite clear. If you must qualify, “Atticus Finch is the greatest hero in film history” carries more weight than a film “of all time” when film has been around less than 150 years.
- “Let that sink in.”
The use of this junk phrase means you either didn’t use language clear enough to make your point, or you believe your reader lacks the intellect to know when you’ve made an important point.
It’s condescending. Let that si . . . see what I mean?
A clear, succinct statement needs no command tag, but if you just can’t let go of the sinking-in idiom, you can take the conceit out of it by flipping it onto yourself:
When I let that sink in, I was able to take a step back and look for solutions.
I let that sink in, and how very troubling it was. Now what?
Letting something that heavy sink in took a while.
Now your reader is empathizing with you rather than feeling irritated or patronized.
- “I know this sounds stupid, but . . .”
See #1 above. Chances are no one thought you sounded stupid until you suggested it. They thought you sounded like an engaged thinker. Ask a question, make a statement, pose a thought—but own it. Project confidence.
- “Must ____!”
When I’m assaulted by must-read or must-have or must-do, I think of Deborah Kerr in The King and I when told she must go to the King at once. Tossing that fabulous yard-long red hair over her shoulder, she replies, “Indeed? And why must I?”
Must- directives come off particularly silly when they are all but impossible. 50 Must-Read Books for Spring! 100 Must-Try Christmas Desserts! 40 Must-Go Vacation Spots! 30 Must-Buy Gadgets!
This reader-writer Must-Take Nap!
If you can’t articulate the value of an object or idea, perhaps it’s not so vital after all?
- “At the end of the day”
Unless you’re referring to the actual evening hours or the end of a work shift, this is verbal clutter that indicates you don’t think the statement that follows it is strong enough on its own. Contrast “At the end of the day, the course of treatment doesn’t seem to be working” with “The course of treatment hasn’t worked.”
Proper use: “At the end of the day, I reviewed the ten pages I’d written and rejoiced at finding them free of cliches.”
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Ellen Notbohm’s internationally renowned work has informed and delighted millions in more than twenty-five languages. Her widely acclaimed novel The River by Starlight and perennial nonfiction bestseller Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew have captured audiences on every continent and won numerous awards, including a Chanticleer International Grand Prize, Sarton Women’s Book Award, WWA Spur Award, and IBPA Gold Medal. She is also a popular book editor and writing coach. Explore her work at https://ellennotbohm.com and on social media.
Read Ellen’s Women Writers, Women’s Books post, “A Different Kind of Wonder Woman” at http://booksbywomen.org/a-different-kind-of-wonder-woman-by-ellen-notbohm/ .
RIVER BY STARLIGHT
Her brother’s letter touched a match to the wick of Annie’s doused dreams. Dream enough for her, to stroll the length of a town without the abortive glances, the stilted greetings, the wider berth given her on the sidewalk. “I could use some help out here,” he wrote. “What’s holding you to Iowa anyway?”
Annie Rushton leaves behind an unsettling past to join her brother on his Montana homestead and make a determined fresh start. There, sparks fly when she tangles with Adam Fielding, a visionary businessman-farmer determined to make his own way and answer to no one. Neither is looking for a partner, but they give in to their undeniable chemistry.
Annie and Adam’s marriage brims with astounding success and unanticipated passion, but their dream of having a child eludes them as a mysterious illness of mind and body plagues Annie’s pregnancies. Amidst deepening economic adversity, natural disaster, and the onset of world war, their personal struggles collide with the societal mores of the day. Annie’s shattering periods of black depression and violent outbursts exact a terrible price. The life the Fieldings have forged begins to unravel, and the only path ahead leads to unthinkable loss.
Based on true events, this sweeping novel weaves a century-old story, timeless in its telling of love, heartbreak, healing, and redemption embodied in one woman’s tenacious quest for control over her own destiny in the face of devastating misfortune and social injustice.
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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips
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