Wordiness is a seductive trap. It’s true. How many times have you sat down to write and found the allure of throwing more words than is necessary irresistible? After all, an extra word here and an extra phrase there shouldn’t affect clarity all that much, all while giving us a heftier word count to run with.
Unfortunately, even a single unnecessary word every other sentence can add up. That extra clarity lost can multiply when taken as a while. Minor transgressions can lead to poor writing that’s more than the sum of its parts and that’s the biggest problem with wordiness.
Why do people construct wordy sentences? There are three main reasons:
1. To pad their word counts. Many writers get accustomed to throwing in a few extras just to make required page lengths. It’s definitely easier than going back and constructing an extra argument or digging up additional facts. Lazy editing is a major culprit to wordy constructions. Everybody knows it.
2. To be ambiguous. Some writers like to make their thoughts invisible, whatever their personal reasons might be. Being wordy is an easy way to achieve that.
3. It just happens. Some people just aren’t that good when creating early drafts. As such, their work is riddled with unnecessary ramblings and explanations.
Like all writing problems, wordiness is best handled during editing and revision. Sure, ridding your text of unnecessary elements is a chore that’s not at all easy to accomplish, even with the help of the best English writing assistant. But it must be done.
