How to Recognize the "Fluff" and Tips to Avoid It

[Jennifer Broflowski]

An attractive piece of writing speaks for itself. It is clear, competent and disseminates only the necessary information. But is this always the case with all writers? The answer is apparent. A good number of writers are victims of writing content full of fluff. Fluff boarders on words that are meaningless to content being written. When fluff is evident in writing, it becomes difficult to understand the message, read secrets to concise writing to avoid the "fluff".

How to recognize the "fluff":

Irrelevant repetition

It is displayed by mention of information in an essay more than one time making the essay boring. For example: John is an extrovert. He is very outgoing. The two sentences talk about the same issue. The words extrovert and outgoing have the same meaning.

Use of complex statements and words

When confusing statements and words are integrated in an essay, it is an indication of fluff.

For example: I have traversed all the odds in life. My odyssey of life has presented me with a lot of burdens to shoulder. This statement is twisted undermining readability. In a very easy manner it can be written as: I have experienced many problems in my life.

Tips to avoid the "fluff":

Plan your writing

Shortage of content to write will manifest if planning is not taken into account before writing. Take time to outline the important points that will be the focus of your writing activity. Go through them and confirm if they will uphold unity in expression of your ideas. Otherwise, you will start fumbling with words out of sheer necessity to realize the targeted words.

Relevance is a plus

Do not delve into an unfamiliar writing territory. It will only breed irrelevant writing. To achieve relevance throughout the writing process, work on your concentration ability. Maintaining total concentration when writing heightens relevance. Shifting attention from writing to other activities is a source of fluff. When your mind wanders from the writing session even for just a short while, you end up forgetting your intention of writing.

Do away with repetition

Desist from using words that convey the same meaning. For example, the statement "she is very beautiful, her looks are very appealing" can be reduced to "she is very beautiful". This statement articulates the intended meaning.

Be concise

Rather than using long statements use a short phrase to communicate the message. "Proceed to the actual writing process after proposing ideas and drafting an outline" can be reduce to "Embark on the writing process last".

Take a break

Whenever you feel you are tired of writing, there is no harm in taking a break. The break will enable you to strategize again and assess if you are still on the right track. If you ignore the signs of fatigue, boredom will catch up with you. After boredom exhibits, you will succumb to writing uncalled for information just to finish writing.

Finally, it is not a requirement to use so many words to write an interesting story, essay or feature. The sweetness of writing is in the preciseness and simplicity of words. The key to writing great content is using words that are fully understood by readers