“The reason the meeting is taking place tomorrow is because there is a fire drill today.”
The words “reason” and “because” do not need to be in the same sentence. One implies the other.
Revised:
“The meeting will take place tomorrow because there
is a fire drill today.”
Even more reduction:
‘The meeting is tomorrow, there’s a fire drill today.’
TIP:
Emphasis words - such as really, basically, actually and quite - can often be removed without interfering with meaning.
Pleonasm (or, the use of more words than necessary)
Pleonasm is so common, we don't think about it that much. But we should be on the lookout for words that don't add anything to the meaing of what we are trying to say. It takes practice, but once you start, you will find more and more instances of words you can remove from your writing.
Here are some common culprits (the words in italics can be removed):
True facts
Vast majority
Basic fundamentals
Past history
Evolve over time
Advance planning
Brief summary
Small in size or large in size
Collaborate together
Unexpected surprise
Free gift
Reducing your word count
Examples:
“The new program was really difficult to use” to “The new program was difficult to use.”
“The campus manager strongly demanded action” to “The campus manager demanded action.”
Avoiding pleonasm:
resource