May I just offer a little advice? Avoid writing sentences like that one.
You probably spotted the problem a mile away: May I just offer a little advice is loaded with qualifiers.
Qualifiers aren’t inherently wrong. When chosen well, adjectives and adverbs make our writing more precise, powerful, and expressive. But qualifiers subtly enable bad writing in a way that nouns and verbs do not. This is especially true of words and phrases like often, a little, much, somewhat, totally, really, only, and completely (and on and on, really—oops!).
How do qualifiers affect our writing?
They add words. The man shouted very loudly could effectively be reworded as the man shouted or the man roared.
They may add vagueness. Suppose I write, I feel sad, and decide that’s not precise enough. So I add a qualifier: I feel very sad. How sad is very sad? Hard to say. It would be better to come up with something more precise: I feel wretched.
Qualifiers tempt us to choose and place them carelessly. Because some qualifiers have broad meanings and can correctly be inserted in more than one part of a sentence, we treat them as though they don’t matter. Consider this sentence: Elizabeth drinks tea often. Is there a reason why often is placed at the end of the sentence when it could be placed at the beginning? Elizabeth often drinks tea. Or better yet: Elizabeth drinks tea daily.
Why do we overuse qualifiers?
Noticing excess qualifiers in someone else’s writing isn’t too hard—er, isn’t hard. It’s in our own writing that we often have some difficulty—I mean, that we have difficulty—identifying and fixing this style problem.
It may be that we don’t want to expend time or energy to find better words. We use qualifiers as shortcuts rather than figure out exactly what we want to say and finding the words to say it exactly.
We might be afraid of appearing forceful. That’s why people send business emails with sentences like I just think we should consider tapping the brakes a little on this project instead of We should pause this project while we decide whether it is worth our time.
Maybe we don’t want to be too positive. We lack conviction about what we’re saying, or we worry that someone will disagree with us or point out an error, so we dial back our meaning with qualifiers. This even happens in fiction writing when the author isn’t confident about a character arc or plot point.
Or we simply don’t see qualifiers. Certain ones are ubiquitous, colorless, and nearly meaningless—a sinister cloaking that lets them slip past our notice.
How to use qualifiers well
These tips will help you build your awareness of qualifiers and improve how you use them.
Cut qualifiers as you write.
Whenever you find yourself writing too or often, leave it out. Cut courageously and without remorse as you get comfortable with writing positively. Notice how strong your writing is without excess qualifiers. You can always add in a missing qualifier during revision.
Consult a dictionary or thesaurus.
If your writing’s tone seems too forceful or the meaning not precise enough, resist your initial urge to add qualifiers. Run, don’t walk, to the nearest lexicon. Try to find a noun, verb, or adjective that communicates your message without qualification.
Choose and place qualifiers with care.
If a qualifier is necessary, pause to select and place it properly. Not only does this improve your style (compare May I just offer some advice to May I offer just a little advice?), but the exercise might make you realize qualifiers are not needed after all. (May I offer advice?)