3 Tips for Clear and Concise Writing: How To Improve Your Writing
Summary
TLDRこのビデオスクリプトでは、読者にとって読みやすい明確で簡潔な文章を書く3つのテクニックが紹介されています。まず、誰が何かを行っているかを文の始めに置くことで、情報を早く伝え、文章の冗長性を減らすことができました。次に、視覚的に意味のある動詞を使うことです。例えば、「興味を持っている」の代わりに、「要求する」や「歓迎する」などの具体的な動詞を使うことで、文章は簡潔になります。最後に、「to be」動詞の使用を減らすことで、さらに簡潔さを追求します。これらのテクニックを実践することで、より明確で簡潔な文章を書くことができます。
Takeaways
- 📝 書き物は明確で簡潔であることが重要で、読者にとって読みやすいものであると感じられます。
- 🏆 明確で簡潔な文章を書くと、その文章に対する誇りを感じることができます。
- ❓ 冗長な表現をどのように削除し、編集時間を短縮するのかが問題となります。
- 🛠️ 3つの素早く効果的なハックを使って、文章をより明確で簡潔にすることができます。
- 👤 文章を書く際には、誰が何かを行っているかを最初に明記しましょう。
- 🔝 「誰が何かを行っているか」という情報を前にして、意味を前面に持っていくことで、文章の冗長性を自然に減らすことができます。
- 📉 「the decision was made by the committee」という例では、「the committee decided to...」のように書き換えることで、冗長な表現を削除できます。
- 🔄 動詞の選択が重要で、視覚的に意味を提供する動詞を使うことが推奨されます。
- 🚫 「to be」動詞(is, are, was, wereなど)は避けるべきで、それらは情報を提供する能力が乏しく、文章を冗長にします。
- 🔑 「Erin is a writing teacher」を「Erin teaches writing」のように書き換えることで、簡潔さを追求することができます。
- 🔄 「We are waiting on one more piece of documentation」を「We need one more document」のように簡潔にすることで、より効果的なコミュニケーションが可能になります。
- 📈 これらのハックを実践することで、文章の明確性と簡潔さを向上させることができます。
Q & A
スクリプトで説明されている「クリアで簡潔な書き方」の利点は何ですか?
-クリアで簡潔な書き方は、読者にとって読みやすく、意味を正確に伝えることができます。また、冗長な表現を省くことで、執筆者が書いたものを誇りに思えるようになります。
スクリプトで提案されている「3つのハック」とは何ですか?
-スクリプトで提案されている3つのハックは、誰が何かを行っているかを文の先頭に置くこと、視覚的な意味を持つ動詞を使うこと、そして「to be」動詞の使用を減らすことです。
誰が何かを行っているかを文の先頭に置く理由は何ですか?
-誰が何かを行っているかを文の先頭に置くことで、読者に情報を早く伝えることができます。また、その構造は自然と冗長な表現を減らし、編集の必要性を低くすることができます。
視覚的な意味を持つ動詞とはどのようなものですか?
-視覚的な意味を持つ動詞とは、具体的なアクションや状況を示し、読者にイメージを与える動詞です。例えば、「興味を持つ」の代わりに「歓迎する」や「要求する」などの動詞を使うことがあります。
「to be」動詞の使用を減らす理由は何ですか?
-「to be」動詞は情報を伝える力が弱く、文に冗長な表現を招く傾向があります。その使用を減らすことで、より簡潔で意味のある文章を書くことができます。
スクリプトで与えられた例文「The committee decided to hire the third applicant.」の改善点は何ですか?
-この例文では、主語である「委員会」を文の先頭に置いて、視覚的な動詞「decide」を使用することで、冗長な表現を省き、簡潔に伝えています。
スクリプトで提案されているハックを使って、文章を簡潔にするにはどうすればよいですか?
-まず誰が主役かを特定し、その人物を文の始めに置きます。次に、視覚的な意味を持つ動詞を選び、そして「to be」動詞を避けることで、簡潔な文章を作成します。
スクリプトで述べられている「冗長な表現」とは何ですか?
-冗長な表現とは、同じ意味を伝えるより多くの言葉を使っている表現です。例えば、「a piece of documentation」は単純に「document」に簡略化できます。
スクリプトで提示された最後の長い文章をハックを使って改善した例は何ですか?
-「This is to inform you that we are waiting on one more piece of documentation in order to complete your file.」という文章は、「We need one more document to complete your file.」のように簡潔に改善されました。
スクリプトで述べられている「編集時間」とは何ですか?
-編集時間とは、文章を書いた後、冗長な表現や不適切な文法を修正するために費やす時間です。スクリプトで提案されているハックは、編集時間を短縮するのに役立ちます。
スクリプトの最後に述べられている「コメント欄でどうやってフィードバックを与えればよいか」という言及があるのはなぜですか?
-スクリプトの最後にコメント欄でのフィードバックの呼びかけがあるのは、視聴者がこれらの書き方ハックを試してみた感想や、さらに学びたいトピックを共有できるようにするためです。
Outlines
📝 明確で簡潔な文章の作り方
この段落では、読者にとって理解しやすい明確で簡潔な文章の重要性が強調されています。作者は、冗長な表現を排除し、編集時間を短縮する方法について3つの簡潔なテクニックを紹介します。まず、誰が何かを行っているかを文の先頭に置くことで、情報を前面に配置し、文章の自然な流れで冗長性を減らす方法を学びます。次に、視覚的に意味のある動詞を使うことの重要性と、その動詞によって文章のトーンをどのように変えられるかについて解説しています。最後に、'to be'動詞(is, are, was, wereなど)の使用を減らすことで、より簡潔な文章にするためのテクニックを紹介しています。
📚 実際に文章を簡潔にする例
2つ目の段落では、実際に例文を使って3つのテクニックを適用する方法が説明されています。メールや手紙でよく使われる長い文章を例として、'we are waiting on'を'We need'に変えることで視覚的な動詞を用い、簡潔さを追求します。さらに、冗長な表現を削ぎ落とし、'one more piece of documentation'を'one more document'に簡略化することで、より簡潔な表現に仕上げています。これらのテクニックを適用することで、文章全体がより明確で簡潔になることが示されています。
Mindmap
Keywords
💡clear writing
💡concise
💡fluff
💡editing time
💡visual verbs
💡to be verb
💡front load
💡meaningful
💡redundancies
💡writing hacks
Highlights
Clear and concise writing is easier on readers and makes the writer proud.
Three quick hacks are introduced to improve writing clarity and conciseness.
Start sentences with 'who' to front-load information and reduce fluff.
Use visual, meaningful verbs to convey information and tone.
Reduce the use of 'to be' verbs like 'is', 'are', 'was', 'were' to avoid unnecessary words.
Front-loading the 'doer' in a sentence naturally eliminates empty words.
Example given: changing 'the decision was made by the committee' to 'the committee decided'.
Verbs are the most powerful part of a sentence for information and tone.
Using verbs like 'welcomes', 'wants', 'requests' instead of 'is interested in'.
Avoid default 'to be' verbs to prevent the need for additional words to convey information.
Example provided: 'Erin is a writing teacher' can be 'Erin teaches writing'.
Rewrite 'You are interested in writing tips' to 'You want writing tips' for conciseness.
Applying the three hacks to a long, wordy sentence to make it more concise.
Transform 'This is to inform you...' to 'We need one more document to complete your file'.
Look for extra words and redundancies to further refine conciseness.
Lead with 'who', follow with a visual verb, and avoid 'to be' verbs for clear writing.
Encouragement to try out the strategies and share feedback in the comments.
Promise of more writing hacks every week on the channel.
Invitation to like, follow, and subscribe for continued learning.
Transcripts
So we know clear and concise writing is easier on our readers. We know, concise is nice, right? And
we feel more proud of our writing too, when it's clear and concise. We feel like we wrote something
easy to use, easy to read that really conveys the meaning we intended and without the fluff.
But the question is, how do we get there? How do we cut that fluff?
And what do we do about all that editing time?
Today, we're going to talk about three quick hacks you can use to make your writing
more clear and concise. And they are to start a sentence with who. Who's doing something. Front load
that information. Secondly, to use visual verbs, visual meaningful verbs. And thirdly, to reduce
using the to be verb, which is words like is our was and were. Okay, so let's get to work.
First of all, we want to start with who. We want to think about who's really doing something in
this sentence and put them at the beginning. That accomplishes a couple things for us. First of all,
it informs our reader sooner. We're front loading meaning and information so that they don't have
to wait for it. Secondly, by putting that doer that who is really doing something in the front,
that sentence structure naturally reduces fluff, so you don't have to go in and edit.
It literally makes the little empty words like is, are, by, for, in, to, disappear. Let's try an example.
Imagine a decision has been made. And we have a sentence that says 'the decision to hire the
third applicant was made by the committee'. 12 words, it's not a horrible sentence. But who's
really doing something here? Who's our true doer? Is it the decision that came in the beginning of
the sentence? No, it's not. The decision didn't do anything. Who did something? The committee,
let's front load them, let's put them in the front. Then we get the committee decided to
hire the third applicant. Notice how the little junky words have just fallen away.
So number one was start with who? Okay, the remaining two hacks are both about verbs. And
that comes as no surprise because you're probably hearing a lot about verbs in these videos.
Verbs are the most powerful part of a sentence. Usually that's where we can provide information
and tone at the same time. So let's think about how we can really leverage good verbs
to make our writing more clear and concise. And so hack. Number two, is to use verbs that
provide a visual, verbs that provide meaning. For example, maybe I have been told in an email,
Your supervisor is interested in hearing your feedback. Well, that's nice that she cares about
my feedback. But the verb there was kind of that phrase 'is interested in'. Takes up a few words,
right. And it's not super informative, either. How about if we change that to your supervisor
welcomes your feedback, your supervisor wants your feedback, your supervisor requests your feedback.
Those all have a different tone to, right? Some are more inviting than others, some are more
conveying a sense of requirement than others, but all of them are more concise than the original.
Okay, third hacks fits with the second hack. So just as we want to use visual meaningful verbs,
there are also some verbs we want to avoid and reduce using, if possible, because they tend
to bring fluff. And those are the 'to be' verbs. Words like is, are, was, were, will be, has been,
and many more. Those are often our default verb in a sentence. And that's just a habit
we've picked up over the years, probably from some of the requirements in school.
But at this point, that 'to be' verb does not really convey information. Because for example,
can you imagine somebody issing? Not really. And because the is does not convey information, it
only stands to reason that we then have to bring in more words to actually provide information.
A couple quick examples. If we could talk about me and you, I could say Erin is a writing teacher
Erin is a writing teacher. And I described myself as is. And you don't learn too much.
But we then added the words about writing teachers so you can learn them.
But what if I did it right away?
Erin teaches writing. Instead of is I could have gone right to the verb that conveys meaning
and that's visual and reduce that is and reduce that clutter. Now let's go to your
side of things. You are interested in writing tips. You are interested in writing tips.
There's a verb for that you want writing tips. That's a lot more concise way to write.
So let's put it all together with one long wordy sentence and see how these three hacks would help.
Imagine a sentence where you've received perhaps an email or a letter. And it says, This is to inform
you that we are waiting on one more piece of documentation in order to complete your file.
Kind of a long sentence, right? So let's see what we can do by just using these three hacks. Okay,
who's doing something? Well, in that sentence, it's weak. We are waiting on. Let's put that we in
the front. Second hack, use a visual verb instead of 'are' right? Instead of are waiting on maybe we
could say want, maybe we could say need, maybe we can say require.
And we can reduce the sentence in similar ways,
said that we end up with, We need one more documents to complete your file.
Notice I've also reduced some of those side fluff. Instead of saying piece of documentation. I said the one word
version document. Instead of saying in order to, I said the one word version to. So you want to look
for these sort of extra words and redundancies as well. But the top three ways to just prevent
them from existing in the first place, are lead with who, follow that with a visual verb
and avoid using the verb to be as much as you can. So let me know how it goes in the comments.
Try out these strategies. See if your writing feels more clear and concise. And let me know what else
you want to learn too. Keep following our channel. I'm gonna bring you more writing hacks every week.
And if you like what you're learning, please like, follow, and subscribe. Until next time.
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