Today’s blog post is a quick writing lesson from News To Live By, the career advice blog maintained by RCG Vice President Danny Rubin.
Read the original blog post here.
Pronouns make it difficult for readers to understand your message. In many cases, you should delete the pronoun (ex: “this”) and use the actual word or phrase.
Example: “I am proud of this because…”
Better written as: “I am proud of the decision to start my own business because…”
Instructions
1. Hit CTRL+F and look for these pronouns: this, that, these and those.
2. If the pronoun represents a word or phrase, consider if you should delete and replace.
- “I wrote that to prove a point” becomes “I wrote the grammar lesson to prove a point”
- “Sally gave me this to say thanks” becomes “Sally gave me the present to say thanks”
- “The Millers need these for the vacation” becomes “The Millers need the house keys for the vacation”
- “John handed me those to be helpful” becomes “John handed me the hammer and nails to be helpful”
3. Check your edits for clarity and comprehension.
4. Voila! You made your work sharper and more professional in a few quick minutes.
