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Word Up!

“I simply love the book. It gives me ideas about my own direction. Marcia was smart to write it as a series of essays rather than attempting to create a formal style guide. She has a unique voice. I’m glad she let us hear it.”

— Eddie VanArsdall, author of Content Insomnia blog
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Category Archives: Tighten This! [game]

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Tighten This! A Special Emergency One-Time-Only Revival Competition Edition

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Marcia Riefer Johnston

Special revival edition of the Tighten This! game.
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Tagged Concise sentences, Concise writing, Conciseness, Editing, Filler words, Sentences, Tight sentences, Tight writing, Writing

Ta Ta, Tighten This!

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Marcia Riefer Johnston
tight-writing

The final post in the Tighten This! game.
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Tagged Concise sentences, Concise writing, Conciseness, Editing, Filler words, Sentences, Tight sentences, Tight writing, Writing

Tighten This! Challenge Sentence 60 [writing/editing game]

Posted on August 6, 2016 by Marcia Riefer Johnston
tight writing

How would you tighten this week’s Challenge Sentence? “The successful candidate will be the key leader and customer advocate working closely with…” Continue reading →

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Tagged Concise sentences, Concise writing, Conciseness, Editing, Filler words, Sentences, Tight sentences, Tight writing, Writing

Tighten This! Challenge Sentence 59 [writing/editing game]

Posted on July 30, 2016 by Marcia Riefer Johnston
preposition bloat

How would you tighten this week’s Challenge Sentence? “There remains a lot of confusion about what buyer personas are and aren’t and how…”
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Tagged Concise sentences, Concise writing, Conciseness, Editing, Filler words, Sentences, Tight sentences, Tight writing, Writing

Tighten This! Challenge Sentence 58 [writing/editing game]

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Marcia Riefer Johnston
concise writing1

How would you tighten this week’s Challenge Sentence? “In this tutorial you’ll find a demonstration of techniques for eliminating preposition bloat through…” Continue reading →

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Tagged Concise sentences, Concise writing, Conciseness, Editing, Filler words, Sentences, Tight sentences, Tight writing, Writing

Tighten This! Challenge Sentence 57 [writing/editing game]

Posted on July 17, 2016 by Marcia Riefer Johnston
Concise writing winner

How would you tighten this week’s Challenge Sentence? “Often, the focus is on transferring meaning and vocabulary, so much so that…”
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Tagged Concise sentences, Concise writing, Conciseness, Editing, Filler words, Sentences, Singular they, Tight sentences, Tight writing, Writing

Tighten This! Challenge Sentence 56 [writing/editing game]

Posted on July 9, 2016 by Marcia Riefer Johnston
succinct

How would you tighten this week’s Challenge Sentence? “This individual uses their understanding of the marketplace to advise and lead internal…” Continue reading →

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Tagged Concise sentences, Concise writing, Conciseness, Editing, Filler words, Sentences, Tight sentences, Tight writing, Writing

Tighten This! Challenge Sentence 55 [writing/editing game]

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Marcia Riefer Johnston
tight writing1

How would you tighten this week’s Challenge Sentence? “The adoption of virtualization technologies in the data center has opened the environment to a…” Continue reading →

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Tagged Concise sentences, Concise writing, Conciseness, Editing, Filler words, Sentences, Tight sentences, Tight writing, Writing

Tighten This! Challenge Sentence 54 [writing/editing game]

Posted on June 25, 2016 by Marcia Riefer Johnston
Danni-write-tight

How would you tighten this week’s Challenge Sentence? “I thrive in environments where I interface with the public, learn new applications, develop…” Continue reading →

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Tagged Concise sentences, Concise writing, Conciseness, Editing, Filler words, Sentences, Tight sentences, Tight writing, Writing

Tighten This! Challenge Sentence 53 [writing/editing game]

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Marcia Riefer Johnston
Marguerite tight writing example

How would you tighten this week’s Challenge Sentence? “Engineers have given the world many products of…” Continue reading →

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Tagged Concise sentences, Concise writing, Conciseness, Editing, Filler words, Sentences, Tight sentences, Tight writing, Writing

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Word Up!
Want to write more powerfully? You've come to the right book. Word Up!--an eclectic collection of essays, more inspiration guide than style guide--serves up tips and insights for anyone who wants to write with more umph.
Written by: Marcia Riefer Johnston
Published by: Northwest Brainstorms Publishing
Date published: April 27, 2013
ISBN: B00CYSB2IK
Available in Ebook Paperback
You Can Say That Again
A light look at how we fill our writing, our speech, and our thoughts with needlessly repetitive (okay, just repetitive) words. Includes a list of 750 redundant phrases we hear and use--say it ain't so!--every day.
Written by: Marcia Riefer Johnston
Published by: Northwest Brainstorms Publishing
Date published: April 6, 2015
ISBN: B00VSBRB0M
Available in Ebook Paperback
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