"The most useful of talents is to never use two words when one is enough."
- Thomas Jefferson
Many people have trouble writing enough words, while others use more than necessary, especially when they write quickly and focus on putting their words on paper. Meeting the word limit of an essay can in some cases be as difficult as reaching it. This guide will help you keep the quality of the essay high without exceeding the word limit.
Your goal is to "avoid long-winded phrases", and be concise but legible.
Steps
Step 1. Write first and then review
If you always worry about word limitations, you will often end up discarding ideas from your essay. Alternatively, you can consider adding concise thoughts as they come to mind, to get the impression that your writing expands instead of contrasts.
Step 2. Replace sentences with single words
There are always opportunities to say more with fewer words. Eg:
- You can often replace the forms "you may have to do" or "accept the fact that" with "you should do" or "tolerate".
- Replace "at the same time" with "at the same time" and "alike" with "similarly".
- You can use the adverb "immediately" in place of the phrases "immediately after" and "as soon as".
- Replace explicit phrases such as "It is clear that" and "It should be evident that" with single adverbs such as "clearly", "obviously" and "evidently".
- A sentence with "the reason why … is …" can be rewritten with the only conjunction "why". For example: "The reason ice floats is that …" becomes simply: "Ice floats because …".
Step 3. Avoid pleonastic expressions, also known as redundancies
- For example, the sentences "I don't care about this story" or "I have always imagined the sea as a clear sky behind the water" contain redundancies that can be eliminated without changing the meaning.
- Also avoid unnecessary prepositions, such as "The thought it refers to" or "Get down !!
Step 4. Eliminate repetitions
Try to express each concept only once. Expressing concepts effectively and concisely at the earliest opportunity eliminates the need for repetition. It takes practice to learn how to do it, but it is a skill worth honing; it will be useful to you throughout your life.
Step 5. Look at the verb forms
Try writing a sentence in the active form and then in the passive one. Note the one that sounds best, the one that gives the sentence the emphasis it needs, and the one that lets you use fewer words (but read the warnings on passive forms below). Do not automatically assume that the active form is more concise than the passive. In sentences where you can omit the subject, usually both forms require the same number of words or the passive one can even save you from it. In scientific writing, the passive form can be used to achieve objectivity without adding words to the sentence. Eg:
- I gave the rats propylthiouracil in water (seven words).
-
Propylthiouracil was given to rats in water (eight words)
If the subject is longer than two words, the passive form is even more concise.
- Dr. Rossi diagnosed her with hyperthyroidism yesterday (nine words).
-
She was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism yesterday (seven words).
The forms with the verb to be and predicate can be even more concise than the passive ones.
- Form with predicate: It is hyperthyroid. (two words)
- Passive form: The meeting will be held on Friday (five words).
- Form with predicate: The meeting will be Friday (four words).
- Passive form: The card is stored in the folder (six words).
- Form with predicate: The paper is in the folder (five words).
Step 6. Avoid too many hypothetical forms
In some cases, you will need to express the uncertainty of your claims, especially when discussing theories, predictions, correlations, or assumptions. Avoid using multiple hypothetical forms in the same sentence.
- There is a possibility that perhaps man can arrive today.
-
Man could come today.
"I think" is often an unnecessary hypothetical form, because your name appears at the bottom of the page; what you write is obviously your opinion. In a sentence that begins with "I think", the motivation for the person's argument is simply his or her personal thinking. Instead of writing "I think", write down the reasons that make you think that way.
- I think variable A will increase variable B.
- Variable A will probably increase variable B because …
Step 7. Avoid words that don't change the meaning of a sentence
You can omit unnecessary words such as "Indeed", "Really" or "Basically".
Step 8. Correct your essay several times
When you first wrote the essay, you may have used too many words without even realizing it. In these situations, those who delay and only commit at the last minute can have problems - they don't have time to reread it and remove unnecessary phrases, words and ideas. Almost anyone can benefit from re-reading the text to correct it without the pressure of having to write quickly.
- Have a friend good at writing check your work and have them help you eliminate unnecessary parts. A fresh pair of eyes can often be very helpful in recognizing mistakes.
- Sleep on it. Time helps you see mistakes and repetitions. If you complete the essay a day or two before the deadline, you will have time to wait and reread it later. In the review, you will almost certainly find repetitions.
Step 9. Avoid getting too attached to your writing
Knowing what to eliminate is an important trait for a good writer. Ask yourself, "Would I be willing to read all of this? Is my writing compelling and straightforward?" If the answer is no, you may not be direct and not communicate in the right way with the audience. Save your ideas for another essay.
Advice
- Stay on the subject. Anecdotes can increase the number of words in the essay; by deleting them you can shorten it. Don't dwell on the side concepts of an anecdote just because they are interesting.
- If possible, put tables, lists, studies, diagrams, concept maps, drawings, etc. in an attachment at the end of the essay to avoid overwhelming the reader.
- If you're using footnotes, make sure your professor doesn't frown on anyone who tries to hide additional information in the footnotes. Footnotes should be used for references and only occasionally to elaborate on concepts that you cannot express in any other form.
- Many teachers set the word limit as a general rule of thumb, not as a rule to be absolutely respected. In this case, slightly exceeding it will not be a serious problem. Teachers want to avoid receiving very long papers that they have to read thoroughly.
- Most advanced word processing programs will allow you to check the word count in your essay - take advantage of this feature. In Microsoft Word, open the "Tools" menu from the toolbar and then "Word Count". In other programs, you may have to search different menus & mdash use the support documentation. Alternatively, an online word count tool will allow you to view the number of words and characters.
- Keep the word limit in mind, but only make changes after you're done writing. Deleting the excess later will result in a concise essay.
