GET RID OF VAGUE AND MEANINGLESS WORDS
Here are some of the most overused but often meaningless and boring
words/phrases that appear in formal writing: thing, things, stuff, a lot
of, lots of, good, and bad. Ask yourself what do you really mean
when you use these words.
When you say “thing,” “things” or “stuff” do you actually mean?
Example/examples
trait/traits
Action/actions
quality/qualities
Similarity/Similarities
Component/components
Property/properties
fact/facts
Story/stories
activity/activities
Difference/Differences
Aspect/Aspects
Factor/Factors
Idea/ideas
event/events
Step/steps
effect/effects
feature/features
When you say “a lot of” or “lots of” do you actually mean?
Many
several
Abundant various
Quite a few
numerous frequent
copious countless
More than a few
plentiful abundant
unlimited
When you say “good” do you actually mean?
Helpful
high-quality
benefit
advantage(s)
Positive(s)
superior
improved
When you say “bad” do you actually mean?
Awful
adverse
poor
negative
serious
regretful
unhealthy regretful