Have you ever opened a box filled with foam packing peanuts? They often take up most of the box, and the unpacking process can end in a fluffy mess.
Although this filler material can be annoying, it’s necessary to ensure the contents of the box arrive intact.
In writing, fluffy filler material is unnecessary.
Fluff includes using too many adjectives, lengthy or meaningless sentences, or empty words that don’t help carry your message forward.
There are many fluffy words, but these are the two I see most often:
very—this word is vague. It doesn’t add anything meaningful to your sentence.
really (when used to mean very)—this word is also vague and meaningless.
These words fill space. You can convey the same meaning without them. Do you see how the same meaning is conveyed in each pair of sentences?
It’s very silent.
It’s silent.
That’s really unbelievable.
That’s unbelievable.
Very and really are useless. It’s ok to use them in speech. But in writing, you have time to carefully choose your words, and you don’t need to fill space.
In writing, people like using really and very in an attempt to intensify their sentences. But it’s better to use descriptive words to create strong sentences. Your readers will be annoyed if they have to unpack and clean up fluff to locate your message.
How do you avoid fluff?
- Read through your text, and highlight each fluffy word you see. (These are words that don’t add meaning to your sentences.)
- Determine whether these words can be removed or replaced with stronger, more descriptive words.
- Ensure each word and sentence contributes to your message. Remove words that don’t support your points.
Tighten your sentences. Your message doesn’t need to be padded with fluff. In fact, it’ll arrive to your readers more solid and strong if you use effective words, rather than meaningless words.
