We’re being blasted by record snowfall. Hour after hour. Day after day. Inches and inches of snow. Thigh-high snow. Unrelenting, never-ending snow.

It is irksome, annoying and monotonous.

And there’s nothing I can do about it.

But irksome, annoying and monotonous copy? Well, that’s something that can be helped.

Here’s how:

~ Vary sentence length.

~ Use active voice.

~ Choose highly descriptive words.

~ Eliminate redundancies.

~ Create logical paragraph transitions.

~ Start some sentences with verbs, some with nouns.

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Regardless of your job title, you probably have to write something every day (email, memo, documentation).

Improve your writing instantly with my three top tips:

1. Read it out loud to see how it will “sound” to the reader. Fix anything that trips you up. (I call these hiccups.)

2. Examine each individual word. Can you delete it? If not, can you substitute a short, simple word? (One of my favorites is swapping “use” for “utilize.”)

3. Vary sentence length. Some should be short. Some long. Still other sentences should be longer, since they create a rhythm that’s more interesting to the reader.

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