Cut 40% of fluff using reader brain science, not guesswork

Most readers don’t quit because they’re lazy. They quit because the writer makes their brain do extra work. Every filler word, vague phrase, and winding sentence takes a toll on working memory, the small mental notepad we use to hold ideas while we process them. When you overload it, the reader’s eyes skim forward but their understanding falls behind. That’s the quiet moment when a phone buzzes on the table and your piece loses the competition.

Clutter rarely looks like “bad writing.” It often looks like manners: “It should be noted that…” or “I’d just like to quickly mention…” It sounds polite in conversation, but on the page it fogs the signal. I once cut 600 words from a 1,200‑word memo by bracketing every phrase that didn’t carry new meaning. The surprising part was what stayed clear after the cuts. Decisions got sharper, and timelines popped.

Your ear is your best editor. When you read aloud, you can hear where air runs out and meaning gets thin. A manager told me he thought his weekly updates were “fine,” then tried reading them to his team. He stopped three times in the first paragraph to catch his breath. That was enough proof to rebuild the update into four crisp sections. People started replying with useful questions instead of silence.

Short words and active verbs are not baby talk. They’re respect. They reduce cognitive load, the mental effort required to understand. Research on processing fluency shows that when information is easy to parse, people judge it as more credible and are more likely to remember it. Clarity isn’t dumbing down. It’s speeding up the brain’s path from words to understanding.

Practically, this is cognitive load theory applied to prose: minimize extraneous load (clutter), preserve essential load (key ideas), and increase germane load (connections and examples). Brackets expose waste, reading aloud reveals rhythm problems, and shorter, active sentences protect the reader’s attention. The result is writing that feels effortless to read—and that’s what keeps people reading.

Start by printing your draft and bracketing any word or sentence that doesn’t add new meaning. Then read the whole thing aloud, marking every spot where you stumble or feel bored, because your ear won’t lie to you. Swap long words for short, precise ones and flip passives into actives so readers always know who did what. Take your worst paragraph and cut every other sentence, then restore only what the reader truly needs. You’ll hear the difference immediately—lighter, faster, clearer. Give it a try tonight.