[[Nicolas Cole]] on LinkedIn: --- This legendary author's hot take on writing changed the way I write forever. When I was studying literature in college, I discovered a fascinating rule Hemingway used: He hated adverbs. Adverbs are any descriptor word ending in -ly: • Definitely • Literally • Honestly • Happily • Etc. I still think about this rule 13 years later. Now, sure, I sometimes use one too many adverbs here and there. But I try very hard not to fill my sentences with them. Adverbs are passive ways of saying the same thing the sentence is already saying. But since learning about this rule, and realizing the ways it improved my writing, I started looking for more rules. And a big one I’ve come across has been the importance of removing “little words:” • It • So • Just • That • Well • Like • This • Much • Often • Really • Better • Usually • Probably • Sometimes • And, and, and Little words (especially in turns of phrase like “In so forth” or “So much as”) have a knack for killing what could be a great, powerful, concise sentence. They turn it into a soupy mess. For example: [Original sentence]: “One of the most common changes that occurs when people go off to college is they become different versions of themselves.” [Rewrite]: “When people go off to college, they become different versions of themselves.” Both sentences are saying “the same thing,” and yet the second sentence reads 10x easier than the first. Why? We removed all the little words: • One • Of • The • That • Is So, the next time you’re staring at a sentence and can’t quite put your finger on why it’s not reading the way you want it to read, ask yourself: “What little words can I delete here?” With writing, less is always more. Related Notes: - [[Writing Tips Wallet]]