GMAT

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How to Write Better by Improving Your Sentence Structure Topic Sentences Identification Analysis How to Identify Reduce Wordiness in Writing How to Avoid Redundancy in Your Writing

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GMAT: How to Structure Sentences in an Essay
How to Identify Reduce Wordiness in Writing

The overuse of words is a very problematic issue in any form of writing. But how do you actually cut down on wordiness? This lesson gives tips on how to identify and reduce wordiness.

How to Identify Reduce Wordiness in Writing

Wordiness

Words are an indispensable component of a well functioning society. They allow for communication, which is essential for groups of people to work together. Imagine going through a day without speaking or writing a single word to another human being. Wouldn't that be frustrating?

Having established the importance of words, we must also discuss how using words haphazardly can be nearly as bad as having no words at all. This disposable sort of thinking can lead to wordiness, which occurs when more words are used than necessary to convey a message.

For instance, look at JFK's famous quote:

'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.'

Imagine if he said this instead:

Don't worry about all the benefits of living in the United States that you may be able to take advantage of at some point in your life, but instead focus on how you as an individual will be able to improve the community of people living in this region of North America.

The first quote has 17 words. The second has 52. More than triple! Furthermore, which version makes the best impact on the audience? Clearly the second one loses much of its meaning due to the unnecessary use of words.

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Ask not what words can do for you, ask what you can do with your words!

For this reason wordiness is more than just a nuisance; it can lead to demeaned importance and confusion. Whenever possible, you should focus on reducing wordiness in your writing. The rest of this lesson focuses on how to do so.

Repetition

When reducing wordiness, first look for repetition, which occurs when words or ideas are repeated. Many students unconsciously form the habit of repetition, especially when writing long papers. Just because an idea is reworded, it does not mean you're avoiding repetition or saying anything new.

Fixing this sort of repetition can take some serious thought. Depending on what it is you're repeating, you may have to delete whole sentences, even paragraphs. One way to reduce repetitive ideas is to ensure each paragraph has its own clear topic. Rearrange sentences or paragraphs to accomplish this. If you still have repeating ideas, then try adding in new information that will support the topic of each paragraph. In this way, you can replace the repeated ideas with new information.

The repetition of one word or phrase, however, is much easier to correct. Usually you can use synonyms or delete it altogether. Large can be replaced with huge or tremendous. Also, the phrase on the other hand can be replaced with the word however. Repeating words and ideas is actually pretty common in writing. Through practice, though, you'll be able to eliminate this form of wordiness!