Avoid unnecessary repetition
- When visitors come to visit her, she tries to make them feel at home
- When visitors come, she tries to make them feel at home
Choose verbs carefully; avoid helping verbs
- When I lived at home, my mom would bake me a chocolate cake for my birthday.
- When I lived at home, my mom baked me a chocolate cake for my birthday.
Choose specific nouns that make obvious details unnecessary
- The white dog with the black spots was found in an abandoned house.
- The Dalmatian was found in an abandoned house.
Avoid starting sentences with “There” and “It”
- There are three more courses you must take.before you can graduate.
- You must take three more courses before you can graduate.
- It was a cold and windy day when I had a car accident.
- On a cold and windy day I had a car accident.
Beware of “that”
- He didn’t know that we had a meeting today.
- He didn’t know we had a meeting today.
Sometimes “that” is needed
- The dog that lives next door is a biter.
- The dog lives next door is a biter.