Estudiante

WHAT IS WORDINESS?
The wordy definition: The situation of wordiness is one in which writers attempt to utilize several words or extravagant
words in the place of a few, well-chosen, concise, and less ambiguous words. The clearer definition: Wordiness means
“using more [words] than necessary to express thought” (Merriam-Webster’s 1363). Readers find wordy papers difficult
to follow.
1Wordiness is a result of idea generation. Most people write wordy sentences and paragraphs when they are
writing early drafts. In final drafts, however, writers need trim those wordy passages.
2 Many people write wordy papers because they are trying to make their ideas sound important by using
long words and intricate sentences. They think that their writing must be complicated to seem professional.Although these writers are trying to impress their readers, they often end up confusing them. The best writing is
clear, concise, and easy to understand. Your ideas are much more impressive when your reader does not have to
fight to understand you.
3 When a writer can’t find the “perfect” word, s/he often ends up putting a long phrase in its place. Some
wordiness, then, is the result of awriter’s frustration at not being able to find that perfect word.
4 Finally, passive sentences and other constructions that hide the subject are often wordy. For example, the
passive sentence, “The cat was eaten by the dog,” has many more words than the active sentence “ The dog
ate the cat.” One passive sentence is OK; a paper full of passive sentences is full of extra words.

HOW TO AVOIDWORDINESS
1 Revise! Don’t be afraid of wordiness in drafts. Write down what you need to write down at first. Then, in
revision, go through your paper carefully, cutting unnecessary sentences, phrases, and words.
2 Have confidence in your ideas. You don’t need to make them sound more complex than they really are. Say
what you mean completely but concisely; your reader will thank you.
3 Write outloud! That is, say what you’re writing out loud as you write it. Most people don’t speak in a wordy
way, so if you can say what you mean, transfer it directly on to the page or screen. Sometimes it’s easier to
find that “perfect” word by talking through several choices.
4 Avoid passive constructions. You can write a passive sentence down and then change it. Find the person or
thing in thesentence that is doing the action and make it the subject. For example, the thing doing the acting
in the sentence “The cat was eaten by the dog” is the dog. Make “the dog” the subject: “The dog ate the cat.”
5 Use the active verbs rather than forms of “to be.” For example, change “It is difficult in situations when
every sentence in a paper is marked “wordy” to “Students panic when their teachersmark every sentence in a
paper as wordy.”
METHODS OF ELIMINATING WORDINESS
1. Eliminate unnecessary articles (a, an, the)
Wordy Concise
The evidence we have… Evidence we have…
Balancing the sales by Friday is an impossibility without any Balancing sales by Friday is impossible without extra help.
kind of extra help
Center for Academic Excellence, Saint Joseph College, Revised 2002 1
2.Change prepositional phrases into one word modifiers
Wordy Concise
The employee with ambition… The ambitious employee…
The department of marketing… The marketing department
Jeff Converse, our chief of consulting, suggested at our last At our last board meeting, Jeff Converse, our chief
board meeting the installation of microfilm consultant, suggested we install microfilm
equipment in thedepartment of data processing. equipment in our data processing department.
3. Delete unnecessary “that,” “who,” and “which” clauses
Wordy Concise
The report that discussed… The report discussing…
All applicants who are interested in the job must… All job applicants must…
The system which is most efficient and accurate… The most efficient and accurate system…

4. Avoid overusing “it is,” “there...