clarity-editinglisted

# Clarity Editing Good writing is rewriting. First draft: get the thought on the page. Second draft: make the thought disappear behind the sentence. This skill is the second draft. ## The four editing passes Run in order. Each pass targets one problem. ### Pass 1 — compress Cut every word that does not carry its weight. Typical savings: 20-40%. | Cut | Keep | |---|---| | "in order to" | "to" | | "due to the fact that" | "because" | | "at this point in time" | "now" | | "a number of" | "several" / "many" / a number | | "is able to" | "can" | | "make a decision" | "decide" | | "in the event that" | "if" | | "on a daily basis" | "daily" | Sentence-level compression: if a sentence is over 25 words, look for a comma that could be a period. ### Pass 2 — active voice Passive voice hides the actor and adds words. | Passive | Active | |---|---| | "A decision was made by the team to defer the launch." | "The team deferred the launch." | | "It has been observed that users are churning." | "Users are churning." | | "The bug was caused by the cache layer." | "The cache layer caused the bug." | Exceptions — use passive when: - The actor is irrelevant ("the package was delivered"). - The actor is unknown. - You deliberately de-emphasize the actor (accountability writing). Default: active. Every passive sentence should be deliberate. ### Pass 3 — strip hedges Hedges and weasel words sap authority. | Hedge | Strip to | |---|---| | "I think that it might be a good idea to" | ""