Up

Up has a tendency toward clutter, appearing often in writing as a crutch of the poor writer and the writer who doesn’t think. Do shoelaces need to be tied up or just tied, do people wake up or wake (or awaken), are ideas thought up or thought? The list goes on but the point is made. Though not a bad word by itself, up requires consideration when used. Sometimes it is necessary (to catch up does not match to catch) but often it is not. Read the phrase to which you have included it and ask yourself whether the meaning remains the same without the up. If it does, cut the fluff.