In academic writing, regardless of whether you’re a first-year undergraduate or doctoral candidate, writing concisely is vital for communicating clearly.
The same applies in other realms of life, from blogging to international politics. As such, concision is an important skill if you value the written word.
The advantages of writing concisely are many, though the most important factor in academic writing is that being concise will gain you marks because:
There are numerous things you can do to make your written work concise. A few of these include:
After you’ve written the first draft of your essay, go back through and remove any repetition, as well as anything not directly relevant to your topic. Each point you make should contribute to your overall argument.
Many sentences contain unnecessary redundancies. For example, since a ‘redundancy’ is by definition unnecessary, the previous sentence could have been written more concisely as ‘Many sentences contain redundancies.’
As well as unnecessary synonyms, you should watch out for sentences that include repeated words. For example:
The swimmer Michael Phelps is one of the most successful swimmers in history.
This would be better written as simply:
Michael Phelps is one of the most successful swimmers in history.
Similarly, redundant pairs are pairs of words that say the same thing (e.g., ‘each and every’ or ‘unexpected surprise’) and should be avoided.
Long-winded phrases can often be cut down or replaced with a word or two. Be careful about using phrases containing terms like ‘which is’ or ‘who were’, as usually these aren’t necessary:
Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.
Original – Bill Gates, who is the founder of Microsoft, told the journalist…
Edit – Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, told the journalist…
It’s also best to avoid long modifying phrases when a single word could be used:
Original – People who suffer from short-sightedness may need corrective lenses.
Edit – Short-sighted people may need glasses.
Moreover, some commonly-used phrases can be replaced with a single word. These include:
The active voice is often more concise than the passive voice, which may involve moving the subject to the end of the sentence. For example:
The mat was sat on by the cat.
We could make this passive sentence more succinct by using the active voice:
The cat sat on the mat.
Δ
2-minute read
If you’re writing about health issues, you might need to reference the Centers for Disease...
5-minute read
Introduction If you’re involved with ecommerce, you’re likely familiar with the often painstaking process of...
3-minute read
Are you interested in learning more about the role of a content editor and the...
4-minute read
Proofreading is important to ensure your writing is clear and concise for your readers. Whether...
Creating presentations can be time-consuming and frustrating. Trying to construct a visually appealing and informative...
No matter your industry, conducting market research helps you keep up to date with shifting...