Be a Better Writer. Cut the Fluff.

Fluffy Writing Dilutes Your Message. Here’s How to Fix It.

Fluff is the enemy of clear, compelling writing. It sneaks in through unnecessary words, redundant phrases, and overcomplicated sentences. The result? Your message gets lost in a sea of filler. If you want to communicate effectively, you must cut the fluff. Let’s talk about how to recognize and, more importantly, eliminate it.

Why Does Fluff Happen?

Fluff creeps in for many reasons:

• The writer is rushing to meet a deadline
• The writer isn’t confident in their message
• The writer is filling space to meet a word count
• The writer relies on crutch words out of habit
• The writer doesn’t have enough information (or hasn’t researched enough)
• The writer adds personal opinions in a non-opinionated piece

Fluffy writing weakens your content, making it harder for readers to grasp the main point. The good news? You can train yourself to spot and remove it.

Know Your Subject, Cut the Fluff

One main contributor to fluffy writing is a lack of subject matter knowledge. When a writer doesn’t fully understand their topic, they tend to:

• Use vague, generic phrases instead of precise language
• Rely on jargon to sound authoritative
• Overuse superlatives and filler words to mask uncertainty

If you’re writing about a topic you don’t know well, fix that. Read expert sources, clarify key concepts, and simplify complex ideas for your audience. Your writing will be tighter, clearer, and more impactful when you truly understand your subject.

Common Fluff Words & Stronger Alternatives

Here are some of the worst offenders—and what to use instead:

1. A lot → Use a stronger descriptor: “He cares for her deeply” instead of “He cares for her a lot.”
2. So → Often unnecessary: “I think we should…” is stronger than “So, I think we should…”
3. Kind of / Sort of → Be direct: “It hurt” instead of “It kind of hurt”
4. Basically → Cut it: “We need to…” instead of “Basically, we need to…”
5. Really / Very → Replace with a stronger word/rephrase: “The news shocked me” instead of “It really hit me hard”
6. Just → Weakens your writing: “We wanted to help” instead of “We just wanted to help”
7. Even → Cut it: “Even if we hit the target, we’re still stuck.”
8. Totally / Completely → Often redundant: “The document is empty” instead of “The document is completely empty”
9. Obviously → Let the facts speak: “Obviously, the metrics were up” sometimes, including “Obviously” will come across as condescending
10. Absolutely → Usually unnecessary: “There is absolutely nothing wrong with the report”
11. Literally → Unless someone spontaneously combusted or you are writing for teenagers, you probably don’t need to include this word
12. Maybe → Sounds uncertain – rephrase or eliminate. “Can we meet at 1:30 PM” instead of “Maybe we can meet at 1:30 PM”
13. In order to → Unnecessary: “I need to leave now in order to get home on time.”
14. Increasingly important → If it’s important, it’s important. Use “urgent” or “priority”
15. Better → Can almost always be improved “I like the red color better than the blue” can become “I like the red color more” or simply “I prefer the red color”
16. Picking up steam → Be precise: “The metrics are trending upward.”
17. In other words → Be direct: “We can’t leave early because there’s an emergency”
18. At the end of the day → Often filler: “It doesn’t matter at the end of the day because we can’t fulfill the order”
19. At the current/present time → Redundant: “We are currently experiencing outages”
20. Due to the fact that → Use “Because”
21. When it comes to → Not needed: “When it comes to marketing, strategy should come before tactics” can be “Marketing strategy should come before tactics”

Why Fluff Hurts Your Writing

Excess fluff makes your writing:

• Less clear – Readers struggle to find the main point
• Less engaging – Long-winded content loses attention fast
• Less trustworthy – Readers may not trust your expertise if you can’t communicate concisely
• Less effective – Readers will skim (or abandon) content that feels like a waste of time

How to Spot & Eliminate Fluff

The best way to cut fluff is through editing. When reviewing your work:

• Look for unnecessary words at the beginning of sentences and trim them
• Rework long-winded sentences for clarity
• Challenge yourself to remove at least 10% of your words without losing meaning

Three simple habits to sharpen your writing:

1. Edit yourself – Find at least one way to tighten your writing before hitting publish
2. Kill crutch words mercilessly – Keep this list handy and avoid overusing fluff words
3. Prioritize clarity over word count – Every word should serve a purpose; if it doesn’t, cut it

The best writing is clear, concise, and compelling. Your content should be, too.

Ready for 162 ways to cut the fluff from your writing?

About the Author

Jordan Ballard-Kriegh

Jordan Ballard-Kriegh is a powerhouse production manager and copywriter and is responsible for helping our clients and team stay on track, on time, and on budget.

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