Good writing starts by killing zombie nouns

We are currently undertaking the implementation of an improvement to our communication.

Or: we are improving our writing.

Zombie nouns eat verbs and leave sentences shuffling around in search of a pulse. “Make a decision” replaces “decide”. “Conduct an evaluation” stands where “evaluate” was perfectly happy. The longer version sounds official, which is useful when the writer wants authority without an identifiable action.

Nouns also hide responsibility. “There was a failure in the delivery process” arrived from nowhere and hurt nobody. “We delivered it late” has fingerprints. Bureaucracies prefer weather to culprits.

The cure is wonderfully violent. Circle the abstract nouns. Ask which verb they embalmed. Put the actor before it. Delete “there is” and “it is” when they merely escort the sentence to its own beginning.

Some nouns earn their place. Language needs ideas, categories and things. The target is verbal fat: words added because plain action feels too naked.

Good prose does not always mean short prose. It means every word performs work. A long sentence can carry a complex thought; a short one can still be dead.

If your organisation is facilitating the initiation of a review process, it is reviewing something. Say who. Say what.

On the edited page, “the implementation of improvements will be undertaken” becomes “the service team will fix the form by Friday”. The sentence is shorter, but the useful change is that a person, an action and a date have appeared. Send that version.