Friday, October 3, 2014

it is noted that

Another writing pet peeve to add to the pile:

I work with a few people who have the "it is observed/noted" writing tic, and it drives me nuts. You don't need to tell the reader that you're observing/noting it because you already have it in there. And that construction is so passive as to be a parody of itself. Really, who observed it and thought it was important enough to put it in? You, the writer did! Gah.

Luckily, it's an easy fix.

"It is noted that the site is inundated with floodwater when it rains, and every time this happens the treatment system shuts down for six hours."

to

"The site is inundated with floodwater when it rains, and every time this happens the treatment system shuts down for the six hours."

And while I have my red pencil out (and I can't resist this sort of thing):

"The site floods with every rainstorm because the seven-acre parcel drains directly into the treatment system pen. Whenever this happens, the treatment system shuts down for six hours to allow the innards PLC module to dry."

See? So much better.

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