{"id":4269,"date":"2017-02-13T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kibin.com\/blog\/?p=4269"},"modified":"2019-03-11T04:56:40","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T11:56:40","slug":"why-eliminating-wordiness-is-so-important-for-your-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kibin.com\/essay-writing-blog\/why-eliminating-wordiness-is-so-important-for-your-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Eliminating Wordiness Is So Important for Your Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever had to meet a specific word count for an essay and found yourself coming up short? Did you \u201crevise\u201d by simply adding words here and there trying to stretch it out?<\/p>\n

Or have you ever written a paper and it seemed like it was full of fluff<\/a>, rather than strong content?<\/p>\n

These types of papers have one thing in common: wordiness. While they do <\/i>contain lots of words, they aren\u2019t necessarily well-written papers.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re guilty of adding lots of fluff to your paper (you know who you are), here\u2019s why eliminating wordiness is so important for your essay.<\/p>\n

Wordiness Adds Words\u2013It Doesn\u2019t Add Meaning<\/h2>\n

Just because you\u2019ve added more words to your paper doesn\u2019t mean that you\u2019ve added any meaning.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019ve drafted your paper, and you\u2019re at 862 words. Your paper is supposed to be a minimum of 900 words, and your prof is a real stickler for word count. You decide to add words to meet the magical number. But this doesn\u2019t necessarily add any meaning to your paper.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I mean. Let\u2019s say the paragraph below is part of your first draft:<\/p>\n

Doing laundry for the first time can be scary. You don\u2019t want to ruin your new spring wardrobe simply because of your laundry ignorance. Should you wash everything in cold or warm? Your mom told you to separate whites and colors, but what about grays? Are they whites, or are they colors?<\/i><\/p>\n

When you realize you haven\u2019t met word count, you add more words. Now your paragraph looks like this:<\/p>\n

Doing laundry <\/i>on your own<\/i><\/b> for the <\/i>very <\/i><\/b>first time can be <\/i>really <\/i><\/b>scary. You don\u2019t want to ruin <\/i>all of<\/i><\/b> your <\/i>fabulous <\/i><\/b>new spring wardrobe simply because of your laundry ignorance. Should you <\/i>decide to <\/i><\/b>wash everything in cold or warm? Your <\/i>caring <\/i><\/b>mom told you to <\/i>always remember to <\/i><\/b>separate whites and colors, but what <\/i>should you do <\/i><\/b>about grays? Are they whites, or are they colors?<\/i><\/p>\n

The revision adds 17 words. Great, right? Not so much. While it does <\/i>help meet word count, it\u2019s obvious that you didn\u2019t add any meaning to your paper<\/i>.<\/p>\n\t

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You\u2019ve added words just for the sake of adding words. You didn\u2019t improve your writing. In fact, you\u2019ve made your writing clunkier and harder to read.<\/p>\n

The takeaway: Don\u2019t add words simply to meet word count!<\/b><\/p>\n

Eliminating Wordiness Improves Clarity<\/h2>\n

Wordiness can sneak into your paper without you even realizing it. When we draft, we often write how we think or speak. These extra words, however, need to be eliminated in academic writing in order to improve clarity.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of a wordy paragraph:<\/p>\n

A survey of 143 teens found that most of these teens decided that they wanted to enroll in college based on a large variety of different and varied factors. Many teens said that they made their decisions on where to go to college because of where their parents attended college or where their parents graduated from. Some other teens said that they decided to choose their college based on the number and kind of scholarships they received from each specific college.<\/i><\/p>\n

Sure, you can understand what the writer is saying (after reading it a few times), but let\u2019s look at this same paragraph without the wordiness.<\/p>\n

A survey of 143 teens revealed that students\u2019 choice of college was based on many reasons, including scholarships awarded and their parents\u2019 alma mater.<\/i><\/p>\n

That cuts out a whole mess of words! (It adds clarity too.)<\/p>\n

3 Simple Ways to Reduce Wordiness<\/h2>\n

What can you do to eliminate wordiness in your own writing?<\/p>\n

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What can you do to eliminate wordiness in your writing? Try these 3 things.<\/a><\/div>\n

Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n

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#1: Replace a phrase with one word<\/h3>\n