{"id":360,"date":"2022-11-02T04:25:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T04:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wordvice.com\/?p=360"},"modified":"2023-01-30T02:04:51","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T02:04:51","slug":"avoid-fillers-powerful-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/avoid-fillers-powerful-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoid Fillers and Unnecessary Words in Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Whether you are <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/seminar-how-to-write-an-effective-research-paper\/\">writing a research paper<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/dissertation-vs-thesis-key-differences\/\">dissertation<\/a>, or another kind of <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/what-is-academic-writing\/\">academic writing<\/a>, creating sentences that are strong and concise is important in conveying your message and arguments to your audience. In this article on writing and editing for wordiness (i.e., how to reduce word count), we focus on something you may not know you are doing: using too many filler words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why You Should Avoid Filler Words in Writing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Filler words are unnecessary words that many writers use, either intentionally or unintentionally, that do not contribute to clarifying their points or arguments. For example,&nbsp;<strong>take a close look at this very sentence because there are some things we did here that you probably weren&#8217;t aware were problematic!&nbsp;<\/strong>By&nbsp;reading this article, we hope you realize how toxic fillers are to your writing. So, if you want to draft more powerful sentences, read on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Removing Fillers &amp; Unnecessary Words<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you look at the last sentence of the preceding paragraph, you&#8217;ll find us guilty of our category 3 wordiness offense! That is, we used many filler words that we should have eliminated. (By the way, if you&#8217;re wondering what our other categories are, we&#8217;ve written about two others so far\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/improve-writing-edit-nominalizations\/\">nominalizations<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/improve-writing-eliminate-prepositions\/\">preposition errors<\/a>\u2014and we&#8217;ll share a few more with you over the next few weeks!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are unnecessary words (filler words)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Fillers are words that add no substantive meaning to a sentence and merely &#8220;fill the space.&#8221; Why are we discussing fillers (typically a habit from spoken language) when we&#8217;re writing about editing? Simply put, more often than we realize, we write how we speak. Take our blog, for example. We\u2019ve intentionally written this in a conversational tone. (Have you found some of the fillers we&#8217;ve used?) While it&#8217;s okay for us to do so (since we&#8217;re not worried about word count and are aiming to deliver you informative and fun editing advice), if we were writing an academic or research paper, however, we would be more careful to write concisely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For general and academic writing purposes, avoid fillers and other unnecessary words and phrases.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s look at the following examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is an octopus sitting on top of my car.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This is actually an interesting question.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In order to apply the new method to our entire system, perhaps we should perform a local test.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you spot the fillers and other unnecessary words in the above sentences? Grammatically, these sentences are correct, but they would be shorter if we remove some unnecessary words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">There is<\/mark>\u00a0an octopus sitting on top of my car. [10 words]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This is&nbsp;<mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">actually&nbsp;<\/mark>an interesting question. [6 words]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">In order to<\/mark>\u00a0apply the new method to our\u00a0<mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">entire<\/mark>\u00a0system,\u00a0<mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">perhaps<\/mark>\u00a0we should perform a local test. [18 words]<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s look at the revisions below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">An octopus<\/mark>\u00a0is sitting on my car. [7 words]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">This question<\/mark>\u00a0is interesting. [4 words]<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We should perform a local test&nbsp;<mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">before applying<\/mark>&nbsp;the new method to&nbsp;<mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">our system<\/mark>. [14 words]<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>As shown in the examples above, eliminating filler words can significantly reduce your word count! On average, we&#8217;ve cut the word count of the sentences above by 25-30%. Look at your most recent writing. Now imagine it 25-30% leaner by eliminating fillers alone. Amazing, right? Wait until you apply our other word-count reduction rules!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How to Identify and Revise Fillers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To help you strengthen your writing and editing skills, we have compiled&nbsp;<strong>a list of common fillers and other unnecessary words and phrases, below. While you can revise words and phrases in many ways, we&#8217;ve prepared some suggestions that work well in most situations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Filler or Unnecessary Word\/Phrase<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Suggested Revision<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Example<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>A&#8230; then B&#8230; [chronological relationship]<\/td><td>Use the structure &#8220;A&#8230; and B&#8230;&#8221;&nbsp;Sometimes, readers can understand sequences because of causality implied in the sentence\u2019s context.<\/td><td>Joe ran up the hill&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">then<\/span>&nbsp;fell back down. \u2192 Joe ran up the hill&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">and&nbsp;<\/span>fell back down.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Absolutely, Certainly, Completely, Definitely<\/td><td>Delete. In most cases, the verb accompanying these adverbs imply 100% unless otherwise qualified.<\/td><td>We&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">absolutely&nbsp;<\/span>agree with that theory. \u2192 We&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">agree with<\/span>&nbsp;that theory.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>All of the<\/td><td>Use &#8220;all the.&#8221;<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">All of the cells<\/span>&nbsp;ruptured. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">All the<\/span>&nbsp;cells ruptured.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>As to whether<\/td><td>Use &#8220;whether.&#8221;<\/td><td>He was uncertain&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">as to whether<\/span>&nbsp;he would attend the event next week. \u2192 He was uncertain&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">whether&nbsp;<\/span>he would attend the event next week.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>At all times<\/td><td>Delete. If you state a general fact, it is always true unless you qualify it otherwise.<\/td><td>You must follow these rules<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&nbsp;at all times<\/span>. \u2192 You must follow these&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">rules<\/span>.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Commonly<\/td><td>Delete. Since &#8220;commonly&#8221; implies a general statement, it&#8217;s unnecessary to use it when your statement is a general fact.<\/td><td>People once&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">commonly&nbsp;<\/span>believed that the sun revolved around Earth. \u2192 People&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">once believed<\/span>&nbsp;the sun revolved around Earth.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Due to the fact that<\/td><td>Use &#8220;because&#8221; or restructure the sentence using stronger verbs.<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Due to the fact that<\/span>&nbsp;we have limited resources, we will need to ration our daily intake. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">We must ration<\/span>&nbsp;our daily intake&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">because of<\/span>&nbsp;limited resources. OR&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Limited resources require<\/span>&nbsp;us to ration our daily intake.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>For all intents and purposes<\/td><td>Delete.<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">For all intents and purposes<\/span>, this project will be run by the Zurich office. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">This project<\/span>&nbsp;will be run by the Zurich office.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>For the purpose of<\/td><td>Use &#8220;to&#8221; + verb.<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">For the purpose of<\/span>&nbsp;creating a new cohort, we would like to&#8230; \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">To create<\/span>&nbsp;a new cohort, we would like to&#8230;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Has the ability to<\/td><td>Use &#8220;can.&#8221;<\/td><td>Jackson&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">has the ability to<\/span>&nbsp;mesmerize an audience with his charm. \u2192 Jackson&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">can&nbsp;<\/span>mesmerize an audience with his charm.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>I\/we believe; In my\/our opinion<\/td><td>Delete&nbsp;unless it would become unclear that the sentence reflects your thought alone. For example, if you are describing other people&#8217;s thoughts and want to contrast those ideas with your opinion, you may wish to use these fillers. However, use them sparingly. In most cases, you can avoid the filler, as shown in the second example in the next column.<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">In our opinion<\/span>, our results are inconclusive. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Our results<\/span>&nbsp;are inconclusive.Scientists believe that water once flowed on Mars; however,&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">we believe<\/span>&nbsp;this theory is unlikely because&#8230; \u2192 Scientists believe that water once flowed on Mars; however,&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">this theory<\/span>&nbsp;is unlikely because&#8230;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>In spite of the fact that<\/td><td>Use &#8220;despite&#8221; or &#8220;although.&#8221;<\/td><td>She agreed to volunteer for the event&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">in spite of<\/span>&nbsp;the fact that&nbsp;she was busy with other work. \u2192 She agreed to volunteer for the event&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">although&nbsp;<\/span>she was busy with other work.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>In terms of<\/td><td>Delete and restructure or use &#8220;about&#8221; or &#8220;regarding,&#8221; depending on the context.<\/td><td>We can agree with you&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">in terms of<\/span>&nbsp;the proposed timeframe. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">We agree with<\/span>&nbsp;your proposed timeframe. <span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">In terms of&nbsp;price<\/span>, we would like to request a discount. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Regarding<\/span>&nbsp;price, we would like to request a discount.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>In the event that<\/td><td>Use &#8220;if.&#8221;<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">In the event that<\/span>&nbsp;you can&#8217;t meet the deadline, please contact us immediately. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">If<\/span>&nbsp;you can&#8217;t meet the deadline, please contact us immediately.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>In the process of<\/td><td>Use &#8220;while&#8221; or &#8220;when,&#8221; depending on the context.<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">In the process of<\/span>&nbsp;starting a new business, I hired an assistant. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">When&nbsp;<\/span>I started a new business, I hired an assistant<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>In order to<\/td><td>Use &#8220;to.&#8221;<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">In order to<\/span>&nbsp;advance to the next level, we must pass this exam. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">To advance<\/span>&nbsp;to the next level, we must pass this exam.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>It is important to note<\/td><td>Delete. If it wasn&#8217;t important, you wouldn&#8217;t be writing it, right?<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">It is important to note that<\/span>&nbsp;inclusion and exclusion criteria are not used to reject people personally. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Inclusion&nbsp;<\/span>and exclusion criteria are not used to reject people personally.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>It is possible that<\/td><td>Use &#8220;can,&#8221; &#8220;could,&#8221; &#8220;may,&#8221; or &#8220;might,&#8221; depending on the context.<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">It is possible that<\/span>&nbsp;the show will be canceled due to inclement weather. \u2192 The show&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">could be canceled<\/span>&nbsp;due to inclement weather.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Just, Really, Very, Even<\/td><td>Delete.<\/td><td>He&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">really&nbsp;<\/span>loves winter, especially when it snows. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">He loves<\/span>&nbsp;winter, especially when it snows.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Needless to say<\/td><td>Delete.<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Needless to say<\/span>, the project will end tomorrow. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">The project<\/span>&nbsp;will end tomorrow.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>That<\/td><td>Delete unless it is essential for making the sentence clear.<\/td><td>She believed&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">that&nbsp;<\/span>he was innocent. \u2192 She&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">believed he<\/span>&nbsp;was innocent. She liked the house&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">that&nbsp;<\/span>sat on top of the hill. \u2192 She liked the house&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">that&nbsp;<\/span>sat on top of the hill. [&#8220;That&#8221; is essential to explain which house.]<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>The fact that<\/td><td>Delete and restructure.<\/td><td>Mary hated&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">the fact that<\/span>&nbsp;she had to work on Mondays. \u2192<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">&nbsp;Mary hated<\/span>&nbsp;working on Mondays.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>There\/Here\/It is&#8230;There has\/have been&#8230;<\/td><td>Delete and restructure to create a stronger active subject\/verb. These phrases distract from your sentence&#8217;s main point.<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">There have been<\/span>&nbsp;many discussions among the scientific community about ethical boundaries in gene-splicing research. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">The scientific community has<\/span>&nbsp;frequently discussed the ethical boundaries in gene-splicing research.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>With regard\/reference to<\/td><td>Use &#8220;regarding&#8221; or &#8220;about,&#8221; depending on the context. You can also rearrange your sentence to eliminate the&nbsp;&#8220;with regard to&#8221;\/&#8221;regarding&#8221; phrase.<\/td><td><span style=\"color:#ff0000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">With regard to<\/span>&nbsp;your previous questions, we will answer them during our meeting later today. \u2192&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">Regarding&nbsp;<\/span>your previous questions, we will answer them during our meeting later today. OR&nbsp;<span style=\"color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">We will answer your previous questions<\/span>&nbsp;during our meeting later today.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you think of any other filler words you use regularly? After seeing our examples above, how would you edit your fillers? An even better way to ensure that your academic work is ready for submission to journals for publication is to receive&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/research-academic-editing-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">English editing services<\/a>&nbsp;from a professional editing service like Wordvice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the meantime, if you&#8217;d like to try a few more exercises, please see the example sentences below and see if you can remove the filler words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the end, we&#8217;d like to choose option A.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We just need to move on to the next task; otherwise, we&#8217;ll really run out of time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>While we believe this project can be completed in three months, in order to do so, we will need to incur additional costs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the event that I don&#8217;t make it on time, please start without me.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With reference to the new project, it is possible that we will start next month.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is important to note that you can apply to the program at any time you want; however, due to the fact that we admit participants on a rolling basis, we may have no room left if you wait too long.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Answer key:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">We&#8217;d<\/mark>\u00a0like to choose option A.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">We need<\/mark>\u00a0to move on to the next task; otherwise,\u00a0<mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">we&#8217;ll run<\/mark>\u00a0out of time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">While this<\/mark>\u00a0project can be completed in three months,<mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">\u00a0to<\/mark>\u00a0do so, we will need to incur additional costs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">If<\/mark>\u00a0I don&#8217;t make it on time, please start without me.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">We can start<\/mark>\u00a0the new project next month.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">You\u00a0<\/mark>can apply to the program at any time; however, if you wait too long, we may not have any room\u00a0<mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);color:#008000\" class=\"has-inline-color\">because\u00a0<\/mark>we admit participants on a rolling basis.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Wordvice  Resources<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to filler words, writers often have questions about many other writing issues, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/video-which-verb-tenses-should-i-use-in-a-research-paper\/\">what verb tenses to use in academic writing<\/a>, how to use the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/topic\/language-rules\/active-passive-voice\/\">active and passive voice<\/a>, and various<a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/topic\/language-rules\/sentence-structure\/\"> sentence structure rules<\/a>. You can find answers to these and many other writing and grammar questions by visiting Wordvice\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/academy-academic\/\">Academic Resources<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/writing-and-editing-guide\/\">Writing &amp; Editing Guide<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wordvice offers a full suite of <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\">English editing services<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\">professional proofreading services<\/a>. If you produce writing for business, check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/services\/business-editing\/\">business editing services<\/a>, which include <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/services\/report-editing\/\">report editing<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/services\/document-editing\/\">document editing<\/a>, before publishing those important documents or forwarding them to your clients and coworkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, before submitting your writing to your professor or journal for publication, be sure to receive <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/services\/academic-editing\">academic editing services<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/about-us\/editors\/\">professional editors<\/a>, including <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/services\/dissertation-editing\">dissertation editing<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/services\/thesis-editing\">thesis editing<\/a> to make sure your document is polished and ready for submission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you are writing a research paper, a dissertation, or another kind of academic writing, creating sentences that are strong and concise is important in conveying your message and arguments to your audience. In this article on writing and editing for wordiness (i.e., how to reduce word count), we focus on something you may not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[33,40],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic","category-grammar","tag-editing-tips","tag-wordiness"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Avoid Fillers and Unnecessary Words in Writing - Wordvice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Write stronger sentences by eliminating fillers and unnecessary words in writing. Writing exercises and examples included!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wordvice.com\/blog\/avoid-fillers-powerful-writing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Avoid Fillers and Unnecessary Words in Writing - Wordvice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Write stronger sentences by eliminating fillers and unnecessary words in writing. 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