In this installment of the CTRL+F series, we’re going to talk about confidence in your writing and how to stop hedging. Let things be, and be confident in what they are. This list might be the one with the most nuance when compared to both Show Don’t Tell and Avoiding the Vague, Weak and Simply Unnecessary; I feel like we started at the “almost always” and worked ourselves down to the voicy-est list.

This post includes some red flags for when we’re using vague, weak or completely unnecessary words. While leaving some room for interpretation in our writing can be good, not every vague moment is an effective one. And some words add no actual meaning, we’re just used to using them in speech, but spoken and written word require different things. With each CTRL+F suggestion, I’ve included some examples with a fix or two to create a more compelling statement.

“Show don’t tell,” is maybe one of the most ubiquitous writing rules. There is nuance to this, like all things, but for the purposes of this post, we’re going to look at some of the signposts that we’re not just showing things happen; we’re telling the reader they happened. With each CTRL+F suggestion, I’ve included some show don’t tell examples with a fix or two to create a more compelling statement.