There’s a subtle thief hiding in much nonfiction writing, stealing the life from sentences. Yes, it’s time to talk about dummy subjects—when “it” and “there” stand in for an undetermined subject in a sentence.
There’s nothing grammatically wrong with dummy subjects. But — and there’s a “but” of course — this usage dims the power of your prose. It pays to search them out, as they may weaken your writing voice.
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Did you notice that those first paragraphs used it and there as subjects? I confess: Those sentence structures come to me easily. For people who write about abstract topics (policy makers, academics, lawyers), dummy subjects can become second nature.
But if you rely on them too much, your prose can be boring. And they have a dark side; they may hide the true actor or the author’s views. We can do better.
Detecting the dummies
You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to spot the dummy subjects in your writing. They usually take one of two forms.
The existential there:
- There is a reason for my action
- There are people who say…
The indeterminate it, where ‘it’ doesn’t refer to any past noun readers can easily find, but points at some abstract idea you have yet to present. For example:
- It is obvious that…
- It is time to …
It’s no mystery why we write with dummy subjects—they are useful in writing and common in speech. (I just used one so I could use the phrase “it’s no mystery.”)
We may not know the true subject of a sentence, or don’t want to shine the spotlight on the actor. Using” “there” might be easier than figuring out who’s responsible. (We also use passive voice to avoid naming the subject, but that’s a topic for a different post.)
Dummy subjects often thrive in corporate writing or academic writing—situations in which writers deal with abstractions rather than people. Yet those types of writing also benefit from fewer dummies.
Find the real actor
Dummy subjects keep your writing more firmly in the realm of the abstract, rather than the concrete. We can’t picture what “there” looks like. Running into a vague “it” may send us hunting for the reference like a detective.
You might need to think more deeply about your subject to replace the dummies, but the effort usually pays off. (Seriously, I started to write “it’s usually worth the effort.” This habit is hard to kick.)
Let’s revisit the start of this post. Here’s the first sentence.
There is a subtle thief hiding in much nonfiction writing, stealing the life from sentences.
The word “thief” elevates the sentence—bringing energy and meaning to the sentence at the fifth word. But, the first three words are essentially throw-aways, or what my friend Erin Lebacqz calls a “slow lead-in.”
What if we starting with meaning right away and simply make thief the true subject:
A hidden thief is stealing the life from our sentences.
Ooh, that is more interesting. I cannot yet picture the thief, but I’m intrigued.
Or, let’s keep the detective/theft analogy while bringing in the reader directly:
A sneaky thief might be hiding in your nonfiction prose—and stealing your voice.
You get the idea.
Making peace with the dummies
If your first drafts are loaded with dummy subjects, they may reflect the way your brain assembles ideas into words. You are not alone.
I’ve made peace with my first drafts, as I’m too old to change thought patterns established over decades. But, I can always revise, for my readers’ sake.
I humbly offer the same suggestion to you: Write your first drafts without judgment. Then, do a global search for dummie subjects:
- there is, there are, or there’s
- it is or it’s
Filter out the legitimate uses of those words, like where ‘it’ replaces a previous noun.
Then, rework some of those sentences to use real subjects, even if you have to use an abstract concept. You’ll probably find that eliminating the dummies gives the sentence more energy. You may choose to let a few remain, as they reflect natural speech patterns. But as a general rule, dial down the dummies.
Related content
Dummy subjects often show up when you write about abstract concepts. Here are a few resources on dealing with abstractions:
Writing in the Workplace: Abstract Concepts
Writing to Be Understood has a chapter on abstractions.
Erin Lebacqz has created a wonderful video on slow lead-ins and “fluff” words in business writing, which applies to all kinds of writing. Watch it here.
