Okay, we’re going to take this week’s blog to level with you. As B2B writers, we tend to get wrapped up in our topics and lose sight of the actual writing. Let’s take a step back and dive into 10 bad writing habits that Contently’s Kieran Dahl explains for us. We can all afford to break some of these.
- “Overusing ‘ultimately’ to tidily wrap up an article” This is probably one of the most overused words words in content writing. We all use it when we want to just tie up loose ends and finish off an article. Of course, ‘ultimately’ does sound a lot more professional than some other phrases with the same meaning, but at the end of the day, is it worth it to be so repetitive? Probably not.
- “Using ‘in-depth’ so much it loses meaning” This is actually a big pet peeve of ours. We can’t even count how many times we’ve read the words ‘in-depth study’ or ‘in-depth research report.’ How can a checklist, a research report, a case study, and countless other things all be ‘IN-DEPTH.’ Honestly though, if everything is in-depth, then nothing really is. So, let’s all just take a step back and actually call our content what it is.
- “Using ‘in fact’ in reference to non-facts” So because we live in a society filled with turmoil, angst, and ‘alternative facts,’ we have to be extremely careful how we use certain phrases. Case in point: in fact. How many times have we used this colloquialism to propagate our own opinion?
- “Transforming nouns into verbs and verbs into nouns” This happens so often in the business world. We use words like ‘incentivize’ or add -ing to all of our favorite words. We also tend to turn verbs into nouns like “I need an ‘ask’” or maybe you’re requesting a “build.” Either way, we are corporatizing human emotion and that just needs to stop. It’s definitely a bad writing habit we want to break.
- “Using ‘luckily’ when there’s no luck involved” A lot of people (ourselves included) use ‘luckily’ as a transitional phrase when we aren’t even talking about things that involve luck. Most often, luck has nothing to do with the sentences that follow the initial word, so let’s just get rid of it all together. Luckily, it won’t be that hard! Har har… see what we did there?
- “Overusing ‘in other words’” Okay, so you don’t need to say ‘in other words’ to explain your thought further. Just write about it without using this redundant phrase. Most of the time, we use this to over explain something. Just get rid of the sentence entirely and you’ll be fine.
- “Misusing identifier-name comments” Grammar is incredibly hard. We get that, but there are certain grammatical errors that run rampant we can’t ignore anymore. Kieran Dahl’s explains the misuse of identifier-name comments and how to avoid the in this article. We are also a big supporter of the Oxford Comma. Either way, try to be mindful of your grammar and syntax when crafting quality content.
- “Using ‘etc.’ when you’ve run out of things to say” We can sum this one up in one sentence: Don’t be lazy. If you don’t have anymore things to add to your list, don’t use ‘etc.’ Take the time to compile a list that will actually help your readers understand your point.
- “Putting em dashes in too many places” Okay, so we are totally guilty of over using the em dash. We probably even used it in this blog! We like these because it feels less awkward than parenthesis, but in reality, over using anything ends up ruining it.
- “Starting sentences with ‘For example’” Are you writing an essay for your college lit professor? No? Then don’t use ‘for example’ in your content articles. You should try to write in a less awkward/way too formal way. Write the way you speak! Of course, you should be consistent with the tone of your brand, but don’t act like you’re about to write an MLA essay on Pride and Prejudice.
We know that writing is complicated and can be a chore, but just try to do the best you can. Getting rid of these writing no-nos will definitely help you in the long run! By bettering your writing, you will attract more readers.
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