Jun 19, 2019 a remarkable advantage of apowersoft pdf editor is the use of ocr technology for editing scanned and imagebased documents. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same. However, for most forms of writing, its best to avoid using repetitious or. Revision practice writing concisely palomar college. Regardless of the reason for padded writing, we can achieve concise writing if we incorporate several strategies during the writing process and if were aware of the individual patterns of wordiness typical of our own writing. Strategies for reducing wordiness what is wordiness. Succinct writing effectively engraves itself in the readers memory. Remember, the longer it takes to read, the weaker it. Or you may have fallen into the habit of using more words than necessary just to use up space. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. The basic rule for strong academic writing is to say everything relevant in as few words as possible. Avoid overusing it is, there is, and there are weak expletives at the beginning of sentences.
Wordiness occurs when a writer uses more words than necessary to express a thought. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short, or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell. Baseball, one of our oldest and most popular outdoor summer sports in terms of total attendance at ball parks and viewing on television, has the kind of rhythm of play on the field that alternates between times when players passively wait with no action taking place between the pitches to the batter and then times when they explode into action as the batter hits a pitched ball to one of. Deleting these words, thereby reducing wordiness, leads to a more concise paper. Outside of school, writing concisely can help you create more effective business letters, email messages, memos, and other documents. Verbosity excess word use is often a result of idea generation, and wordy sentences and paragraphs, especially in early drafts. Compare it to any other business writing course youll see we cover all the essential elements of better business writing in one fastpaced, welldesigned day. Wordiness is one of the most common esl mistakes and happens when a writer, either intentionally or unintentionally, uses far too many words or unnecessarily complex or abstract words. Explores weak words, redundancy, cliches, wordy phrases and more. However, if writing contains unnecessary, pompous, or long words, it will still be hard to read. As strunk and white tell us in the elements of style 4th ed.
It lets you write on a pdf file, modify the existing text. This 4page printable resource includes an introductory page with explanations and examples of problems with wordiness. The business writing guide was created to help business students write more professional documents. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that. Regardless of the reason for padded writing, we can achieve concise writing if we. Option b, padding your writing with unnecessary, repetitious, or empty words, obscures the meaning of your writing. As a general rule, more specific words lead to more concise writing. The first story in the book is a masterpiece in itself and quite a story. Clutter may also be commonly referred to as wordiness or conciseness.
Suggested revisions are provided on the last page of this handout. In fact, being too wordy can cause many problems in your writing. Avoid wordiness by using the four strategies for eliminating wordiness below. Writers who overload their sentences with nominalizaons tend to. Busy readers appreciate getting the information they need quickly and. You might want to look at the asc short guide to essay planning.
A ctive voice concise m y assistant photocopied the documents. Replace several vague words with more powerful and specific words. Prepositions and prepositional phrases omitting unnecessary prepositions and prepositional phrases is often the easiest way to make your writing more appealing. Write sentences of proper length and with proper emphasis. Wordiness can seriously detract from the coherency and quality of your writing and will likely frustrate your readers. A short guide to writing concisely for postgraduate taught students 3 ensure that your structure is logical and easy to follow this is a big topic. Wordiness dont waste space on windy repetition of the terms of the assignment. Contrast with conciseness, directness, and clarity. Omit unnecessary words by using a who does what construction. The paper is obviously yours, so you dont need to use phrases such as i think, i believe, or it seems to me.
Reducing wordiness in your writing when youre writing, it can be tempting to write the same way youd speak, in an informal manner. Wordiness in writing is like tossing chalk dust into the cookie batter because you have no flour, a filler that will be easily detectible at first bite. Busy readers appreciate getting the information they need quickly and easily. Shows how concise writing is stronger and communicates more effectivel. Danger signals and ways to react one of the most efficient ways to improve your writing is to edit it for conciseness. Achieving conciseness through reduction the opposite of wordiness is conciseness. Your goal is to make the text as clear and concise as possible, using the strategies discussed in class. The elements of style use active voice and strong verbs.
Your goal is to make the text as clear and concise as possible, using the strategies discussed in class, without altering the meaning of the originals. Successful globalization depends on factors that involve culture more than economics. Objectives identify standards and rules for army writing. Offers many examples and solutions to common wordy sentence constructions. While these handouts are designed primarily for ell students, anyone seeking to. Eliminating wordiness the individuals grounding in an academic program specializing in the teaching of the major theories of robotics and the aspirational tenets of the ethical development of artificial. In this very timely effective business writing one day workshop participants will learn how to craft documents, for both internal and external clients, that will meet the desired outcome documents. Techniques for reducing wordinessnew macalester college. Business writing primer the short primer distills the essential characteristics of business writing. A remarkable advantage of apowersoft pdf editor is the use of ocr technology for editing scanned and imagebased documents. If your document is intended for both technical and nontechnical readers, write for the nontechnical reader. The truth is that most instructors care more about the number and strength of your ideas than they do about the number of words you write.
The use of more words than necessary to effectively convey meaning in speech or writing. Here are some strategies to help you identify wordiness and decide whether, and how, to revise it. This handout will help you write clearly and concisely. Eliminating wordiness the individuals grounding in an academic program specializing in the teaching of the major theories of robotics and the aspirational tenets of the ethical development of artificial intelligences caused that person to be regarded by potential employers as. Because of the variety of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. I am writing this letter to let you know of an alteration in my plan to lunch with you on friday in view of the fact that air transportation to your city has become unattainable as a result of the airline strike that is in progress at this time. Feb 07, 20 ive been teaching novel writing for nearly twenty years, and ive written thriller novels for longer. Often, writers use several small and ambiguous words to express a concept, wasting energy expressing ideas better relayed through fewer specific words. First, read through your paper to determine the wordy sections. If you enjoy this compilation of my thoughts and focus on the craft, and if this little ebook helps you hone your skills or if you have been entertained by my. Eliminating excessive, confusing, or redundant words from sentences can oftentimes make meanings much clearer. In this very timely effective business writing one day workshop participants will learn how to craft documents, for both internal and external clients, that will meet the desired outcome documents that are.
Some examples of how you can condense and thus strengthen your writing follow. Wordiness is using too many words to express an idea. Ive been teaching novel writing for nearly twenty years, and ive written thriller novels for longer. There is a strong feeling among several members of the staff employed at this.
You may have been struggling to think ideas through as you. Rationale using the active voice improves writing quality. Techniques for reducing wordiness try not to use i and we in a formal paper. Writing style the style requirements in the manual are intended to facilitate clear communication. Lesson 11, writing with clarity 117 wordiness introduction this map describes types of wordy expressions and ways to eliminate them. Jacobson center for writing, teaching and learning the writing process series. Writing concise sentences vigorous writing is concise. You might want to look at the asc short guide to essay planning and structure. According to amnesty international, there are 124 nations that employ.
Instant prose can come from being forced to write papers of a particular length or being told that a paragraph must always contain exactly five sentences. Eliminating excessive, confusing, or redundant words from sentences can oftentimes make. Burning words succinct writing effectively engraves are good. Avoiding wordiness wordiness causes readers to lose interest in the material, and professors may think students are attempting to increase the length of a work without providing enough information. Wordiness, says robert hartwell fiske, is arguably the biggest obstacle to clear writing and speaking 101 wordy phrases, 2005.
Of course, there is a danger in being too economical in your use of words. The chapters and sections, outlined below, provide useful guidelines and strategies for a range of. Concise writing uses the most effective words in a piece of writing, making the paper both more readable and understandable. The chapters and sections, outlined below, provide useful guidelines and strategies for a range of writing components. Rewrite the following sentences in the space provided. Wordiness often occurs when writers use repetitive or redundant filler words to reach a certain page length. I am writing this letter to let you know of an alteration in my plan to lunch with you on friday in view of the fact that air transportation to your city has become unattainable as a result of the airline strike that. Concise writing uses the most effective words in a piece of writing, making the paper. Editing for wordiness school of liberal arts iupui. Student writers often make the mistake of thinking that writing a lot of words will earn them high marks on assignments. Instant prose can come from being forced to write papers of a particular length or being told that a.
Baseball, one of our oldest and most popular outdoor summer sports in terms of total attendance at ball parks and viewing on television, has the kind of rhythm of play on the field that alternates. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no. Not only can wordiness overlabor readers, it can also cause clarity problems and lead to bad writing habits. Examine the direct, handson benefits youll get from this course listed on page 3 and throughout the overview. Describe types of wordy expressions and ways to eliminate them. This habit leads to the opposite of concisenesswordiness in sentences. Often, writers use several small and ambiguous words to express a concept, wasting energy expressing ideas better relayed through. This 4page printable resource includes an introductory page with explanations and examples of problems with wordiness in writing 40 examples of inflated commonlyused phrases that students improve with shorte. Of course, there is a danger in being too economical in your. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences. However, for most forms of writing, its best to avoid using repetitious or unnecessary phrases. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary. Humorous, animated presentation about writing concise sentences and avoiding wordiness. It lets you write on a pdf file, modify the existing text, and adjust the font size, color and more.
A short guide to writing concisely for postgraduate taught. Its even possible to underline and highlight any selected text to emphasize important details. Let students have some writing fun as they learn how to be concise in their writing. Edit objectively and rigorously editing is not a job to be just done once. For general instructions on how to apply for financial aid, please visit the office of undergraduate financial aid website. I enjoy writing them almost as much as i like talking about the process. In your effort to write well, you will profit from studying some ways to make your writing more concise. It is not a comprehensive course in academic or collegelevel writing. Recognize your own wordy sentences and know how to edit them to be. To find where your writing is repetitive, read the paper aloud to yourself, to a friend, or to a writing lab consultant. We have stated basically the same idea in 22 fewer words. Wordiness also tends to occur when were struggling to clarify our ideas or when were tired and not thinking clearly.
Passive voice wordy the documents have been photocopied by my assistant. You may have been struggling to think ideas through as you wroteand piled up alternative wordings. As you work toward a final version of your draft, your attention should turn to stylistic issues. Avoiding wordiness here are a few verbal constructions to edit from your writing. There are several reasons that wordiness impacts clarity. Editing for wordiness words are like acid the more theyre condensed, the more they burn. Many of us have learned to pad our writing with all sorts of empty phrases to reach length requirements for academic writing.
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