Editing Tip: Prepositions

Writers find much fluff congeals around prepositions, especially when lengthy descriptions meet wordy thoughts. Check your writing and highlight each preposition. Look for series of these "helper" words. If you find many in one sentence, rearrange words so you can delete them.

Examples:

The mother took the hand of the little girl, who held the doll of her little playmate."

The mother took the little girl's hand, which clutched a little playmate's doll.

In reviewing the temperatures among small, uninhabited islands of the world, scientists found temperatures varied between them of about two degrees.

Scientists found an approximate two degree difference among the world's small, uninhabited islands.

Strike unneeded prepositions.

Create possessives if appropriate.

Combine ideas without using "of" or "in".

If you use more than one or two prepositions in one average length sentence, rework your ideas to make clearer statements.

above about across against along among around at

before behind below beneath beside between beyond by

down during except for from

in inside into like near of off on

since to toward through under until up upon with within

Holiday weekends are great to do a few hours of editing tasks! Take your writing outside, get some sun and fresh air, and let the sun's rays zap extra prepositions from your work.

Have you found examples of prepositional barrages in other people's writing, such as in news stories on the Internet? If so, put them into a Comment and Submit them to this Blog!

Judith