Prepositional phrases are often unnecessary and make your writing wordy. Prepositional phrases that most commonly weasel their way into writings (AKA the two I find myself having to edit from my writings most often) include: In order to Of the Let me explain how to nix these grammar parasites from your writing. But first, if prepositional phrases are bad, why do they find their way into so much content?   My belief is that it happens because we are wordier when we talk, and sometimes that wordiness carries into the content we produce. This is but one reason why editing and rewriting are so important. Here’s how to extinguish...

  If you do only one thing to improve your writing skills, let it be reading On Writing Well by William Zinsser. This book opened my eyes to a “whole new world.” Like me, you may find you’ve been writing with too many words, using words that aren’t even real words and breaking a gazillion other rules. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from this wonderful book: “The more I work at the craft of writing, the more I realize that there’s nothing more interesting than the truth.” “Good writing is lean and confident.” “Every little qualifier whittles away some fraction of the reader’s trust.” “Thinking clearly is...