Simply say what you mean

"Simplify," Thoreau said. Good advice for cluttered lives and for bloated writing. It's easy when we write to let our message wander into a wilderness of tangled sentences and thorny paragraphs. We know what we want to say and could express it clearly if we were talking to someone. But when we try to communicate through writing, it's as though we've donned a powdered wig and taken up a plumed pen. We get too formal, too darned starchy.

Before long, awkward phrases like "despite the fact that," "at the present time," "during the course of," and similarly sluggish expressions start wandering onto the stage. This is where it's wise to remember Thoreau's edict. Simplify, be straightforward, use one word instead of two or three. Taken in order, the phrases above could be pared to "although," "now" and "during."

Most of us rarely use overly formal phrasing when we're speaking. It's just when we take up that feathery pen that it spills out. Next time you're writing and you spot a mucky string of words, scratch them out and imagine that you're having a conversation with a good listener. How would you say it? Usually, a more direct, less cumbersome word or words will come to you. Use them and you'll edge that much closer to communicating effectively. Simple, isn't it?