How to Avoid Being Wordy

The point of academic writing is to get to the point as quickly as possible. Words are precious in academic writing and each word used should help make the message clearer. Often, wordy sentences, or sentences that unclear because of the amount of words used and can be said in a simpler fashion, can easily be reduced. This blog post is here to help you figure out where those words are that can easily be eliminated to help make your writing clearer and easier to understand.

Eliminating Redundancies:

Wordy: Tonight was really fun, incredibly intense and absolutely something I would do again.

Modifiers such as very, rather and really and intensifiers such as absolutely, definitely and incredibly do not add meaning to a sentence but are redundant.

Correct: Tonight was fun, intense and something I would do again.

Do Not Repeat Words Unnecessarily:

Wordy: The plants enjoy being watered in the morning and enjoy being watered in the afternoon.

Repetition is sometimes good for emphasis, but unnecessary repetitions weaken sentences and should be removed.

Correct: The plants enjoy being watered in the mornings and afternoon.

Avoid Wordy Phrases:

Wordy: In the event that the world runs out of oil in the not-to-distant-future, alternative fuels will have to be found in order to keep humanity in the space-age.

Make your sentences more specific by replacing wordy phrases with appropriate one-word alternatives or by eliminating them.

Correct: If the world runs out of oil soon, alternative fuels will have to be found to keep humanity in the space-age.

Reduce Clauses and Phrases:

Wordy: In the essay, Alternative Learning, which was written by Jessica Price, she talks about uncommon methods to teach children who need additional help learning.

For conciseness and clarity, simplify your sentence structure by turning modifying clauses into phrases. Also, look for opportunities to reduce phrases to single words.

Correct: Jessica Price writes in her essay, Alternative Learning, about uncommon methods for teaching children.

Make Your Sentence Straightforward:

Wordy: There are many stylistic similarities in both the film The Grapes of Wrath and the novel, which reflects the influence the book had on the movie.

Straightforward sentences get to the point quickly. Eliminating expletive construction like there is, there are  and it is and replacing the static verbs to be  and have with more active words makes a sentence not only more direct, but brings a less passive voice forward.

Correct: The novel, The Grapes of Wrath, had an obvious strong stylistic influence on the movie.

Feel free to come visit us in the Fullerton College Writing Center with your next writing assignment. We are open Monday through Friday. Our hours are Monday through Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Friday 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Please call ahead and make your appointment today! The Fullerton College Writing Center phone number is (714) 992-7153.