Toss out very, really, and other empty words How will you know you’ve used a weasel word? If you sound like a politician trying to smooth over a public relations disaster, you’re on the right track. In fact, your writing will be stronger and you’ll sound more confident. You may need a qualifier every now and again, but more often than not you’ll find yourself able to cut them without changing the meaning of what you’ve written. Say what you mean! Slash words like: could, can, like, may, might, virtually, up to, as much as, believe, and possibly. They can make your position seem weak or ambiguous, as though you’re trying to create a little wiggle room. Finding incidences of some of the words below might be as simple as using your word processor’s “find” feature (ctrl + F or cmd + F), sorting through your finds, and deciding what to dump. In writing, instead of taking out the garbage, you’ll be sweeping away the extra verbiage. Kondo’s book will help you clear out a cluttered closet and find a new home for that blender you never use. It’s hard to figure out where to start editing when you look at your writing as a whole, but if you break it down into categories things become a whole lot easier. Here are some great tips inspired by Kondo’s book to help you declutter your writing and make it come to life. It is only when you put your house in order that your furniture and decorations come to life.” The same is true for the practice of feng shui. “In Japan,” writes Kondo, “people believe that things like cleaning your room and keeping your bathroom spick-and-span bring good luck, but if your house is cluttered, the effect of polishing the toilet bowl is going to be limited.
We wondered if her principles could be applied to writing and found that they work just as well for creating clean copy as they do for creating a clean habitat. Kondo, a Japanese consultant who helps people get organized, detailed her KonMari method of decluttering in her book. A few years ago, author Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, became a New York Times Bestseller.
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