November 23, 2005
Trimming the Fat
A major challenge of editing academic prose is "trimming the fat." Despite word limits of 10,000-12,000 words, some authors will weigh in with 15,000. Richard Lanham's Revising Prose, for example, offers some effective ways to reduce what he calls the "lard factor." One way is to look at the prepostions and prepositional phrases in a sentence and cut what is superfluous.
Editing is more than "knowing the rules." There are exceptions to rules. Most editors I know use the same reference books, but most admit to subjective prejudices about what they accept or don't. In addition to knowledge of grammar and style, experience and an "ear for language"--trusting your gut--probably play a more important role.
Linda Miller, a former editor of International Studies Review, argues that "however" is unnecessary and can be either cut entirely or replaced with the simple one-syllable word "yet." I tend to agree, but will allow an author's use of "however" if the added emphasis to contrast a thought or argument is justified. Usually, the contrast is already obvious or implied, so you don't need it.
I'm tougher on the rampant use of "thus," "indeed," "in fact," etc. I'm much tougher on "prior to"--use "before";" the extent to which"--"how much"; "the ways in which"--"how"; among other expressions. Why? Because such expressions add words (and syllables) that most often can expressed more succinctly.
Many authors hyphenate adverbs when they don't need to, for example, "highly-recommended," which I don't recommend. Since the second edition in 1966 of Fowler's Modern English Usage, there has been a trend to avoid hyphens whenever possible. Fowler advises us to either write the words separately or join them as one--especially if they are nouns: "nation building," "policy making," "peace support," etc. But we also see "policymaking," "decisonmaking," "peacekeeping," among many other joined words. Compound modifiers, such as "peace-keeping mission" or "peace-support operations" usually justify the hyphen, but some editors are dropping them, too. See any recent edition of Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and look up the prefixes: non-, post-, pre-, and un-, for example. Is it a pre- or postmodern phenomenon?
Most important (note that I did not write "most importantly"), be consistent!
As for "most importantly," it is really an abbreviated form of "what is most important." In short, drop the ly ending. You don't need it and you'll impress your editors more when you don't use it.
For more tips on how to write leaner and meaner, also see Joseph M. Williams's Style Toward Clarity and Grace(see especially the chapter on concision, pp. 115-133)
Another way to help develop a leaner writing style is to take a journalism course or a creative writing course in poetry or fiction. There's no form of writing that is leaner yet more expressive than poetry. What does poetry have to do with academic writing? Not much, but it might make a writer more aware of not wasting words and developing perhaps a more "telescopic" style.
To be continued....
Posted by Fred Fullerton at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)
