Eradicating Filler: The 7 Secrets of Writing Sleeker Content
The Textbroker assignment instructions are staring you in the face, and their message is clear: No filler. This common stipulation poses a challenge for many writers, but it's not impossible to achieve. Here's how to trim your content and keep clients happy.
1. Limit Your Paragraphs’ Lengths
Customers increasingly demand shorter paragraphs optimized for readers who use mobile devices, social media and web browsers. Reducing the length of your content’s sections is an excellent opportunity to eliminate filler, keep concepts simple and reinforce your point.
Upon rereading a paragraph, do you get the same meaning after dropping a dubious sentence? If so, eliminate it and move on.
2. Use Headers
Headers can help you stay on task and make succinct points. Expressing an idea in as few words as possible is also great practice for low-weight writing. If your client doesn’t want headers, then apply these concepts to your leading sentences and openers instead.
3. Simplify Your Structure
Where does filler originate? Many writers feel the need to re-explain or restate already-established ideas. Cut down on fluff by being clearer the first time.
4. Eliminate Qualifiers and Weak Adjectives
Is the marketing brand that you’re writing about “extremely good” at SEO, or could you try stronger wording, like “proficient”? Although you should avoid inaccessible terminology, it’s fine to flex your vocabulary chops by using more descriptive language.
5. Edit Forwards, Then Backwards
Editing is a huge part of survival on Textbroker, and it can also help you find fluff. After reading through your content, reread all of the sentences from last to first. This trick helps you view phrases on an individual basis and judge whether they’re too cumbersome.
6. Try a Grammar Tool
Running your text through Grammarly, Hemingway or Readable.io is a good way to target overelaborate phrasing. These apps are no substitute for manual editing, but they can help you identify superfluous adverbs, gratuitous modifiers and wordiness.
7. Know Your Clients
Customers have different ideas about what constitutes filler. Many appreciate elements that inject personality into the content that they purchase. How can you tell the difference?
As a rule of thumb, always use these linguistic tools sparingly and early. If you haven’t established a firm voice within the first few sentences, then your subsequent attempts will seem clunky. Begin your writing with precise phrasing and emotive words that draw the reader in, and then stick to the facts.
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Comments
Patricia A Edwards 13. July 2017 - 19:44
There is great advice in the above words. This is very good advice and can help when learning the game. The points are clear easily read and understand.
Roxana Guex 27. July 2017 - 17:21
Hello , its very important to me . I seek an opportunity to work since my home. Icould
Be disposal work with yours. Thanks for your
reply. Greetings. Roxana Guex.
Cody Christensen 27. July 2017 - 18:01
For information regarding author signups please contact our author services team at authors@textbroker.com. Thank you!
Roxana Guex 27. July 2017 - 17:21
Yes , its well explained. Thanks.
Les M. 17. October 2017 - 19:02
A helpful blog entry; thank you for the suggestions!
Shaun Vain 2. March 2018 - 22:44
There are some helpful tips here. Thank you. I have the habit of reading everything aloud. I’ll try going through it backwards and see how that helps.
Kimberly Bracy 8. April 2018 - 3:43
I’m fairly new to this type of writing. Is using the intro paragraph to describe what’s coming and then summarizing the last paragraph with what was said be unacceptable for this type of writing? It seems that type of style would be considered filler.
Cody Christensen 9. April 2018 - 21:23
Hello,
Thank you for your message. As a freelance platform, we tend to have orders that don’t necessarily fit into a one-size fits all model. We see the same client instructions for each order that authors do. We would encourage you to avoid these types of intros and summaries unless the client has requested it. If you have questions about specific orders, you may send the client a message. To do this, find the orange client ID at the top of the article’s instructions. If you click on this, it brings you to the client’s profile. On the right side of the screen, there will be an option to send the client a message. From there, it functions like normal email, and his or her replies will appear in your Inbox. Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any other questions for us. Thank you for using Textbroker!