Sunday, November 25, 2012

Flex your Verbs, not your Nouns.

Powerful writing comes from sentences that depend on active verbs to work. They are always more effective than sentences made from noun-forms of those verbs.

What do I mean by that?

Here is a list of verbs:

Specialize

Analyze

Explain

Recognize

Explain

Reconcile

Discuss

Limit

Eliminate

Save

Establish

Here is a list of nouns made out of those verbs:

Specialty

Analysis

Explanation

Recognition

Explanation

Reconciliation

Discussion

Limitation

Elimination

Savings

Establishment

The following sentence depends on a verb to work:

After studying many subjects, he specialized in one.

Here is one that depends on a noun to work:

He had many specialties before choosing one.

Which sentence (of the above two) seems to be written more professionally?

Here is a sentence that depends on nouns to make its point:

After a great deal of discussion, the committee decided on the elimination of expense accounts for overall department savings.

Here is one that depends on verbs to work:

The committee discussed the issue and decided to eliminate expense accounts to save money.

Of these two, which seems more succinct and professionally written to you?

Which sentence do you prefer?

The one dependent on nouns:The reconciliation between expenses and revenues was established.

Or the one dependent on verbs:The audit team reconciled expenses with revenues.

Which sentence gets to the point faster?

The establishment of the elimination of the deficit as its primary purpose dominated the discussion.

Or:

Ways to eliminate the deficit dominated the discussion.

Here's a second strategy: Zero in on clauses beginning with which or who. Zero in on sentences beginning with There were, There is as well as It is and It was. These sentences can usually be improved.

Which sentence do you prefer?

The Industrial Revolution, which was marked by the development of mass production methods, began with the invention of the cotton gin, which was invented by Eli Whitney in 1793.

Or:

The Industrial Revolution, marked by mass production, began with Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793.

Which of the next two sentences sounds wordy?

Any person who works all the time to the detriment of his relationships and outside interests can actually be less effective than the person who takes off and enjoys weekends.

Or:

People who balance their work lives with their social lives often make better employees.

Which sounds more professional?

There are many reasons why people find mathematics difficult to master.

Or:

People find mathematics difficult to master for many reasons.

Which sentence to you like more?

It was in 1848 that America's westward expansion became manifest.

Or:

America's westward expansion became manifest in 1848.

To summarize: Strength in writing comes from focusing on the power of well-chosen verbs instead of using nouns made from those verbs. Avoid clauses that begin with which or who. Avoid sentences that begin with There is, There are, It is and It was. Those are all symptoms of wordy sentence constructions.