Warm ups

It’s necessary to understand that you shouldn’t waste time proposing how you’re going to explain something.

Just explain it.

Phrases like these are padding for intellectual imitators:

• It might be pointed out that
• It could be argued that
• It seems necessary to mention that
• It’s interesting to note that
  
  

You’ll find them in student essays propping up an arbitrary word count, and in business where that student’s training now suffocates profits, and the humanity is lost to a pompous formality.

Social Capital's about page used to begin “At its core, Social Capital is an organization that . . ."

All of which can be replaced with a single word:

“We”

The fact that Social Capital is an organisation is obvious. We're on their website, so the mention of their company name is redundant and colder than “we”. And by using “at its core” they're suggesting they're something else at the extremities, which I doubt they are.

Cull pointless clusters like these because they clog up the copy and turn it cold.

• If it’s interesting, just say it
• If it can be argued, just argue it
• If it’s necessary to mention, just mention it