Strong writing is understandable by its readers. If a reader needs to read a sentence five times and still isn’t sure what a pronoun is representing (“It was over there.” –> What was over where?) or what action is taking place (“That was the last thing she saw.” What was the last thing who saw?!), the writer is doing a disservice to the reader – and to himself. Clarity gives writers a higher likelihood of having their intended ideas understood and potentially appreciated by readers; in turn, clarity gives the reader a chance to follow along and enjoy the story.
One way to improve the clarity of a written piece is to remove pronouns such as “this,” “it,” and “that.” These words can be passable as adjectives (“this chair,” “that muffin”) but not as nouns (“it flew by,” “they are passable”). Replacing them with more specific words will remove risk of confusing the reader.
You might have an idea in your head of what you’re trying to say, but your reader only knows what you get across. Put in the extra time to refine your idea, edit your copy, and make your writing understandable – in other words, work hard so your readers don’t have to. In this case, making the subject of a sentence clear will help your reader follow along with you.
Examples:
“It was the Star Team who won the race.” -> “The Star Team won the Crimson Cup.”
“It may have been a coincidence.” -> “Seeing Ralph on her birthday may have been a coincidence.”
“It wasn’t her style.” -> “A messy bun wasn’t Alexandra’s style.”
“This will be easier than I thought.” -> “Finding the killer will be easier than I thought.”
“He had access to more information than most people would divulge willingly, and that made him powerful.” -> “Having access to more information than most people would divulge willingly made him powerful beyond measure.”
“He didn’t think he’d have to deal with this again.” -> “Chad didn’t think he’d have to deal with the insolence of his family after last Thanksgiving.”
In fiction writing, a few uses of “this” or “that” could slide – the writer may have a certain style that garners suspense (“That was the last thing she saw” may be deliberately vague to pique interest!). Writers also can’t use a character’s name in every single sentence: Jennifer went to the store; Jennifer said hello to the clerk; Jennifer shopped for a bag of chips. Varying sentence structure adds a melodic quality that keeps the reader engaged while also avoiding confusing writing on one end of the spectrum and redundancy on the other.
In business writing, clarity is a must. Readers may have less time to spend reading articles, shorter attention spans, or a tendency to gravitate toward articles that follow the inverted pyramid structure (with the most important point first and supporting details following in decreasing order of importance), in which case your points must fit within fewer characters or words and pack a punch right away. You may only have a few words to capture your reader’s attention and invite them to continue reading. As such, you don’t have room to spare for unclear writing.
Examples:
“Since this is a new feature” -> “Since (name the feature) is a new feature”
An additional layer of clarity is to be more specific than “new”: “Since (name the feature) was released on (date)…”
“These insights should be taken into consideration…” -> “(Name the measurements) should be taken into consideration…”
You could also rewrite this phrase with a more active voice: “Advertisers should consider CTR and conversion rate when evaluating xyz…”
“When you do it well, you will reap the benefits.” -> “When you (name the action) well, you will (name the benefits).”
Generalizations in business writing can be misconstrued, viewed as weak, or disregarded as nonapplicable. The more specific you can get, the better. Being more specific will also focus your writing on one core idea. And if you have more to say, great – write multiple pieces, which will increase touchpoints and build trust with your audience at each step.
Of course there will be exceptions, but adding the consideration of clarity to your repertoire will tighten up your writing and make sure every word matters. You’ll also begin to consider your audience’s perspective and ensure a smooth reader’s journey for them.
Ultimately, your writing should answer who-what-when-where-why-how, and one quick tip on the path to clarity is considering whether pronouns such as this, that, it, these, etc. should be replaced with greater specificity to guide the reader through an easily understandable story, building trust with you and your brand and keeping them coming back for more.
