July 12, 2010
Online Copy Editors Loathe Verbiage
Verbiage is bad. It’s any text that uses too many words or overly technical terms. As your copy editor, I prevent verbiage from taking over Web pages, how-to videos, blog posts, articles, reviews and any other rich content modality. The final result isn’t verbiage. It shouldn’t be wordy. It can’t be technical. Your text must be clear and concise. Clean and precise, too. My goal is plain language that doesn’t sound plain.
Want to keep verbiage from nixing rich content readability? Write it. Read it aloud. Phone a friend. Revise it. And repeat. That’s how online copy editors cut the misleading mazes to create direct phrases.
