Make Copy Shine By Editing 2023

Objective – In this lesson, I can: • Define active verbs and descriptive nouns for strong leads. • Identify weak vocabulary that should be avoided in writing.

When the Roman aqueducts were built in the first century to keep water flowing to the city, they were built at a precise angle. Too steep of an incline and the water would have flooded the houses; not steep enough and the water would have stagnated. The Romans worked to get the incline exactly right, or the entire operation would have been a catastrophe. A similar situation occurs when choosing the words you will use to convey a story. Words are powerful when you take the time to be precise and choose the exact ones. Just throwing in “good-enough” words will either muddy your message or create stale, watered down copy. “Right” and “almost-right” are worlds apart. It’s time to edit out the superfluous language and the almost-right words and find the perfect word that best says what you are trying to say. If you can successfully edit the language of a piece, the story will flow naturally and clearly. POWER OF THE FIRST WORD First impressions are everything. Think about meeting someone for the first time. We spend time putting together the best outfit and thinking of interesting things to share. We want to appear exciting and intriguing. So what better place to start editing word choices than the first word? Starting a story with the word “students” is the equivalent of wearing sweatpants on a first date. The first word of a story is the first impression to the reader. It is going to tell the reader what kind of story they are in for and may help them determine whether it is worth it to keep reading. Therefore, you must edit to make sure that a powerful word or phrase is used up front to create impact from the beginning.

• Figure out what words in the lead you can bring to the front of the sentence to set a good tone and high energy level to the writing. • Get to the impact verb quickly. • Beware of vague

and ambiguous terms or words.

LEADS AND LANGUAGE Lesson 2 8 Photo by Ashley Flores