How to Make Your Articles More Engaging and Readable
I’ve graded thousands of high school essays, and I bet you’re making the same mistakes.
Image by Angelina Litvin on Unsplash
As a twenty-year high school writing teacher, I’ve been asked, “Would you look over this essay?” by more adolescents than I can count.
However, they’re not the only ones who request my help.
When family members in college need help on an essay that’s thirty percent of their grade, they use the “family card” and say, “I’d really like your opinion of what I’ve written. Maybe you could tell me if I need to make changes.”
When my friends have a wedding speech or job presentation to give, they come to me with a pitiful “My writing sucks. Could you help me make this better?”
I usually say yes to these requests because I know immediately what common errors most of these people will make. If you find that statement arrogant, let me tell you. I make the same mistakes many times myself.
That’s why, no matter how talented we are as writers, careful editing is a must, so here are tips to make your writing tighter, more focused, and more likely to be read from start to finish.
Take out unnecessary words.
If you write the sentence “I’ve struggled with depression frequently in my life, do you really need the phrase “in my life”?
No.
The “I” takes care of the “in your life,” so eliminating the obvious will make for better reading.
Another example:
“To me, meditation is a waste of time.”
Do you really need the “to me”?
Again, the answer is no. You’ve stated your opinion, so there’s no need to write this opening phrase. As a matter of fact, the fewer unnecessary words you use, the more powerful the sentence will be.
Example three:
“I’ve been struggling, and it’s been extremely difficult to move forward after my divorce.”
Can you figure out what words or phrases are needlessly repeated?
If you noted something about the repeated idea of “struggling” and “difficult,” you’re getting the hang of things.
Focus on eliminating these types of mistakes.
Maintain your article’s focus.
Sometimes when we write, we start off focused on our topic and then take a wrong turn into “What does this have to do with anything?” land.
Unfortunately, our readers notice this and often stop reading.
For example, when you write a title, you promise to tell your reader certain information. Unfortunately, your readers’ desire to read more disintegrates if you break this promise mid-article.
The importance of outlines
Outlines give you a road map to follow. Here’s how to create one.
First, separate your ideas into different chunks of information.
Then brainstorm subheadings that might go under one of your main points.
After that, list possible bullet points you’ll use under your subheadings.
A teacher’s trick to keeping your article focused
When I teach my students writing, we discuss the issue of focus.
When we do, I explain good writing is like a braid. Each strand must be woven and re-woven into the essay.
Then, I tell them the most important thing to “braid” into their essay is their “main idea” words.
For writers, these “main idea” words are the most essential words in the title. For example, if your title is “The Reasons Most Marriages Fail,” you’ll want to weave these words throughout your article.
Now, don’t get me wrong. There is such a thing as overkill. Just make sure you use these words enough to remind the reader you’re giving them the information they want.
Another reason I tell my high school writers to “sprinkle” those words throughout their piece of writing is that doing so is beneficial for another reason. Incorporating these words consistently not only keeps your reader focused on the main subject of your writing. It also keeps you focused as well.
The importance of synonyms
While your main goal is to use those keywords, using synonyms (or different phrasings)for these words produces much more sophisticated writing.
For example, let’s say your title is “Ways to Make Your Weekday Mornings Less Stressful.” Think of all the different phrases you can use for the word “morning.”
At the start of the day
When you wake up
When you begin your day
When the alarm goes off
In the early hours
From the minute your feet hit the floor
Before the nine-to-five starts
Using synonyms and various phrasings with the same meaning helps you maintain focus while not sounding robotically repetitive.
Beware of unintentional repetition.
When used the right way, repetition can be a valuable writing tool. It can add emphasis and rhythm, like the chorus of your favorite song. Look at the following example.
Let’s say the topic is an introductory personal anecdote about teens “tuning out” parents. The writing below is an example of how purposeful repetition can enhance style.
“When you pick your child up from school and ask them how their day went, what’s their response?
A roll of their eyes and a nasty glare.
When you enter your teen’s room to let them know dinner’s ready, what’s their response?
A roll of their eyes and a nasty glare.
You’ve planned a surprise for your teen. You bought popcorn and rented the movie they’ve mentioned they’re dying to see. You call them downstairs, hear the angry thunder of footsteps, and before you can even reveal your kind gesture, what’s their response?
You guessed it.
A roll of their eyes and a nasty glare.”
When you use repetition in this way, it increases the emphasis of your idea. It also incorporates a sort of “lyrical poetry” that makes your writing more compelling.
However, there’s repetition to create “poetry” and repetition that needs to go. The repetition I’m speaking of is needlessly repeating facts you’ve already made clear.
Here’s an example. Can you find the needless repetition?
“Covid is a potentially fatal virus. It threatens millions of lives every day. It spreads through droplets in the air and mouth, so it’s very important to wear a mask to protect yourself. Mask wearing is absolutely essential. It’s also critical to wash your hands frequently to prevent germs on your hands from entering your mouth and nose. Be sure to use hand sanitizer immediately afterward.”
The second sentence, “[Covid] threatens millions of lives every day,” has already been stated in the paragraph’s first sentence. Therefore, the sentence “Mask wearing is absolutely essential” is needless because you made the same point in the sentence immediately before it.
Making the same point over and over again frustrates the reader. They want to move forward and learn what you’ve promised, and the quicker you can give them the information, the more likely they’ll keep reading.
The bottom line:
William Zinsser, the author of On Writing Well, says:
“Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills, and meaningless jargon.”
If you follow the editing guidelines above, you can do some significant decluttering. This means a cleaner read and a “tighter” piece of writing that allows your reader to follow your ideas more easily and gather information more quickly.
Trust me. That’s what all readers want.
So, dust off the computer keyboard and let the cleaning begin.