That’s What I’m Talkin’ About…

Have you ever considered the word that? No, really. Sometimes its inclusion is vital; other times, it’s considered a “glue word” in the context of a sentence – put there simply to help stick the rest of the words together.

Years ago, in rejecting my manuscript for the great American novel, a literary agent offered a beneficial tip for tightening my writing. Her advice has gone far in helping me hone my craft. And now I want to pass that helpful nugget along to you.

If you can extract the word “that” from a sentence without changing its meaning, delete it.

It’s as simple as um… er, that.

Let’s give it a whirl. Here are two sample sentences:

Fred told Sue that he was going to Topeka by train.

Fred told Sue that was the best way to travel to Topeka.

In the first sentence, “that” is used as a conjunction and, as such, is not considered critical to the sentence. If you take “that” out of the sentence, you’re left with this: “Fred told Sue he was going to Topeka by train.” It still makes perfect sense. Therefore, in this example, you may excise “that” with not so much as a second’s lost sleep tonight (or any night).

But in the second sentence… ah, the second sentence! If you perform a that-ectomy here, you’ve pretty much killed the patient by doing the equivalent of cutting out its liver. You’re left with this awkwardly limping fragment: “Fred told Sue was the best way to travel to Topeka.” Here, you need “that” – used here as a determiner to take the place of something of which Fred has already spoken (perhaps the train), or something to which he’s pointing (again, perhaps the train) – to make the sentence complete.

It’s a simple way to streamline your writing. But for goodness’ sake, don’t agonize over it in your first draft! Write your first draft as it comes. Then, when you go back to revise, take note of every “that” in your manuscript and determine which ones can go. I usually conduct a “find” in Word, review each instance of “that” and delete the unneeded ones – except in dialogue. Lots of things that would otherwise be no-nos may be overlooked in dialogue. After all, characters definitely aren’t perfect and seldom speak perfect English.

While we’re at it, let’s discuss what part of speech “that” is, anyway. It’s rather a versatile little word, when you think about it. It may be used as a determiner (“that car, not this one”); as a conjunction (“he said that this was a good soup” – the use we just eschewed); as a pronoun (“that was the dog I saw on Montague Street last week”); or as an adverb in place of so or very (“I nearly collapsed; I was just that tired!”). Just for the record, I’m in favor of anything that can replace very.

In summary, “that” is a small word, but it has multiple jobs in the grammar world. Its proper use (or omission) can make a big difference in the quality of your communication – whether you’re writing a novel, a blog post or even a memo.

What do you think about that?

About the Author:
Rita M. Reali is an international award-winning author and longtime editor who most enjoys editing memoir, general fiction and romance, along with inspirational writing. She’s self-published four novels: Glimpse of Emerald, Diagnosis: Love, The Unintended Hero and Second Chances – the first four in the seven-volume Sheldon Family Saga. Her fifth novel, Tender Mercies, comes out in June. As a former disc jockey in her native Connecticut, Rita used to spend her days “talking to people who weren’t there” – a skill which transferred perfectly to her being an author. Now she talks to characters who aren’t there on “a little chunk of heaven in rural Tennessee.” Contact Rita.