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Grammar SOS > Redundancy
Say you have 500 words for your article. Why waste any?
What is reporting, anyway? My definition is "finding information and presenting it in a clear manner that readers can understand." To that end, get directly to the point, without wasting words. This does not stifle creativity; in fact, creative people achieve interesting writing in a minimum of words, always a bonus to readers.
Examples:
- "somewhat rigorous" (it either was rigorous or it wasn't)
- "go through the ins and outs of the work." (This is meaningless. What are the ins and outs?)
- It all started when she was six years old. And now, almost 14-years-later, she is still at it.
"I started playing at age six," said Subject, now 20 years old.
(Why quote someone who is saying what you just said?)
The fix:
- It all started when she was 6. Jane, now 20, still is playing soccer.
- It all started when she was 6 and 14 years later, she still is at it.
"I just can't get enough soccer," Jane said.
Or
How about this:
- He's also picking up some instruction on the job from his fellow designers.
"I don't have much experience," he said. "I've learned from other designer picking up how they do it."
Keep the first sentence, cut the next and go onto the next direct quote:
- He's also picking up some instruction on the job from his fellow designers.
"But it's kind of hard to get," he said. "I've learned to do cut-outs five different ways from five different people."
The second example gives us information, then supports that with a quote that expands that info instead of just repeating it.
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