Some writers annoy the pants off me. 

Because they’re wordy and don’t even know it.  If you want more income, don’t be wordy without knowing it.  Here are some of my pet peeves:

a considerable amount of       Why can’t you say many? Or better yet exactly                 how many?

the vast majority of                Isn’t that most?

added bonus                            Duh?  (I hope I don’t have to point out to you that bonuses are additions.)

advance warning                     Warning.  Because if it’s not in advance it ain’t a warning!

advance planning                    Have you ever planned to do something you’ve already done?

after all is said and done        There’s no replacement for this one.

all of a sudden                                    Why can’t you just say suddenly?

along the lines of                    Like is so much faster and elegant.

as a whole                               The group as a whole implies that you can say the group as individuals, which don’t exist.  So don’t say it.

at the conclusion of                Why use it when you’ve got ‘after?’

basic necessity                        If it’s not a basic necessity it’s not a necessity so nix basic necessity.  Honest!

close scrutiny                         Close look yes.  Close scrutiny no.  Because scrutiny means close look.

common similarities              As opposed to? 

complete stranger                   Ever met a partial stranger?

completely eliminate             No such thing as partial elimination.

during the course of               Why isn’t during enough?

first priority                            Priority means first thing, doesn’t it?

foreseeable future                   How long is that?  Isn’t it better to say it in years and months?

free gift                                   As a thinking person, this one annoys the hell out of me.  As a marketer, I’ll have to give this one a pass.

in a very real sense                 Why would you even use it?  You ever say, In a very fake sense?

in light of the fact that                       Isn’t ‘because’ gorgeous enough for you?

in spite of the fact that                       Ditto for “although.”

in the majority of instances   Ditto again for ‘usually.’

inner feelings                          If you show me outer feelings, I’ll eat your hat.

mainly focuses on                  If you only mainly focus on something, you’re not really focusing, are you?  So either focus or not claim to be focusing.

mix together                           Mix me something apart and I’ll do the hat trick again.

mutual agreement                   If party one agrees but party two doesn’t, then they don’t agree.  Conversely, when people agree, it’s always mutual.

the complete opposite of        There’s no partially opposite!  Sheesh!

the final conclusion                Conclusions are always final things.

total abstinence                      I hate to break it to you, but partial abstinence in the area of sex gets you a baby.

total annihilation                    Total is part of the meaning.  There’s never been partial annihilation of anything.

true facts                                 Facts, by definition, are true.

utmost perfection                   There’s perfect and not perfect.  There’s nothing beyond perfect.  So stop it.

valuable asset                         If it’s not valuable, it’s not an asset.

violent murder                        Isn’t murder when you die because somebody did something violent to you?