Informalities

This part is non-negotiable in any writing which is not deliberately labeled creative. If the language or writing style is informal, it can interfere with understanding. All instances of these informalities need to be removed from your text:

• Contractions (can’t, isn’t, it’s)
• Abbreviations (Sun., Aug., Brit. Lit.)
• Colloquialisms (What is up with that?)
• Idioms (The Doubting Thomases waited until there was irrefutable proof.)
• Clichés (Love is, as they say, blind.)
• Slang (The scientists made one sick discovery.)
• Euphemisms (She was a lady of the evening.)
• Offensive words (insults, curse words, inappropriate or informal terminology)

If the text is not a personal essay, you should also remove all personal pronouns (I, you, we).