C’s of Style It has often been said there’s so much to be read you never can cram all those thoughts in your head. So the writer who breeds More words than he needs is making a chore for the reader who reads That’s why my belief is the briefer the brief is the greater the sigh of the reader’s relief is. -Dr. Seuss C #1: CUT

Cut repetition and wordiness Say something only once and in the best place Ex: The Lilly Library contains many rare books. The books in the library are carefully preserved. The library also houses a manuscript collection. The Lilly Library carefully preserves many rare books and manuscripts.

Cut formulaic phrases These wordy phrases should be replaced with shorter phrases –At the present time –At this point in timetoday –In this day and age –Last but not leastfinally –Are of the opinion that believe –Have the ability tocan –Because of the fact that –Due to the fact thatbecause –In spite of the fact thatalthough

Cut references to intentions In this essay I will tell you In conclusion, I have demonstrated What I want to say here is As stated in the previous paragraph YUCK!

Cut redundancy Trim words that say the same thing Ex: basic essentials, true facts, circle around, final completion, each and every, etc. PICK ONE!

Cut unnecessary quotes Use ellipses (…) to condense quotations, or just pick the most important part. Ex: Film critic Elvis Mitchell says that the Harry Potter movies are “The most awaited movies of the year that have a dreary literal-minded competence, following the letter of the law as laid down by it’s author” in it’s close portrayal of the book. Mitchell says that the movies suffer from “a dreary, literal-minded competence” in it’s close portrayal of the book.