They make journalists cry ‘hype’ and more
“Atticus told me to delete the adjectives
and I’d have the facts.”
— Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird
Why cut adjectives and adverbs from your copy? Because modifiers:
1. Strike journalists as hype
Writing media relations pieces? Journalists hate hype and fluff … and modifiers are hype-y and fluffy.
“Be fair,” one journalist told researchers in the 17th Annual Bennett & Company Media Survey. “Don’t stretch the truth or tell half-truths. When words such as ‘first,’ ‘best,’ ‘biggest’ or ‘only’ are used, there had better be supportive explanations.”
No wonder people call this stuff marketing fluff. Or, as one of my clients says, “pouffle dust.”
“Frequently, we use adjectives to paper over a shortage of facts,” writes Mark Duvoisin, reporter and editor for the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call. He says:
“A ‘troubling number’ — how many is that? And who was troubled by it? Better to let the facts speak. Did half the workers fail to show? Ten percent? One percent? Give the reader the info and let her judge whether it’s troubling or not.”
2. Weaken meaning
Modifiers usually dilute, rather than intensify, your point.
“‘Very angry’ [is] always less than ‘angry,’” wrote the late Donald M. Murray, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, in Writing to Deadline: The Journalist at Work.
And casino and resort developer Steve Wynn says: “Have you seen any resort built in the last twenty years that isn’t world class? Those words have been drained of all their blood.”
Some adjectives and adverbs combine with nouns and verbs to create formulaic language.
“Knee-jerk modifiers … automatically attach themselves to some nouns,” writes Jack Hart, managing editor of the Oregonian, in A Writer’s Coach. “Who needs to hear about one more ‘spirited chase’? Or another ‘troubled teenager’? And haven’t we all had enough of ‘angry mobs,’ ‘nasty cuts,’ and ‘trying times’?”
3. Add bulk without meaning
Besides, modifiers are “the great deceivers,” according to The Associated Press Guide to Good News Writing. Choose strong nouns and verbs instead.
Cut Through the Clutter
Too often, writers smother their copy in adjectives, hype and puffery. So how can you clear away the blather and let your message come through?
In Cut Through the Clutter — our tight-writing Master Class on May 11-12 in Chicago — you’ll learn how to make every piece they write easier to read and understand. You’ll walk away with secrets you can use to reach more readers, measurably improve readability, sell tight writing to management — even help your company save time and money with tight writing.
Specifically, you’ll learn to how to:
- Write for Readability: Craft messages that get read & remembered
- Cut Through the Clutter: Make every piece you write easier to read & understand
- Start Making Sense: Get the gobbledygook, jargon and gibberish out of your copy
- Take the ‘Numb’ Out of Numbers: Make statistics interesting and accessible
- Boost reading ease up to 300% in our Readability Smackdown: Bring your laptop and a story to work on, write and rewrite, get and give feedback, and leave with a totally rewritten piece. (Participants in our most recent Readability Smackdown boosted reading ease by up to 300%!)
Browse all upcoming Master Classes.
Would you like to hold an in-house Cut Through the Clutter workshop? Contact Ann directly.