One Simple Trick to Writing More Concisely

"Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."--William Strunk, Jr.

"If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out."--George Orwell

Writing concisely is the key to writing clearly. If you keep your words to a minimum, the minimum necessary to get your message across, you are more likely to be read and comprehended.

If you tend to ramble (to write more than is necessary to make your point), then apply this trick to your prose: eliminate metadiscourse. Metadiscourse is writing about writing, adding words to comment on your own writing. Metadiscourse is extraneous and almost always unnecessary.

Some metadiscourse phrases are: to sum up; candidly; I believe; note that; it has become clear; I would like to point out.

Examples

Metadiscourse version:
"I would like to personally thank you for your time yesterday."

Concise version:
"Thank you for your time yesterday."

The metadiscourse in the above sentence is the entire beginning--"I would like to personally...." It is not necessary to tell the person that you would like to thank him right before you thank him; just thank him.

Metadiscourse version:
"Here's a news flash: You're not the only one to experience this."

More concise version:
"News flash: You're not the only one to experience this."

Concise version: "You're not the only one to experience this."

There's no need to tell your reader that you're about to tell him some news--just tell him. Certainly don't say, "Here is ...." Just say it from the outset. Don't add filler.

Metadiscourse version:
"This is the reality: For all intents and purposes, you may as well be a fly on the wall when you're with that crowd."

More concise version:
"The reality: You may as well be a fly on the wall when you're with them."

Concise version:
"They don't notice you."

Trickery and poetry

Some writers will object that I'm cutting too many words and stripping the poetry from prose. Not really. Most "extra" writing is just that--extra. It's not necessary and it makes you take longer to get to your point, sometimes burying your thesis. When writing anything, you want your main point to be explicitly clear and by eliminating metadiscourse, you can more easily do that.

So...you want to write more clearly? Then write more concisely. Want to write more concisely? Then apply this trick--eliminating all metadiscourse--to everything you write. When you catch yourself describing what you're about to say, cut the filler and just say it.

Bad:
"It is my opinion that we should cut taxes."

Okay:
"I believe we should cut taxes."

Better:
"We should cut taxes."

Best:
"Cut taxes."

We cut our word count from nine to two and got our point out more quickly and clearly than we would have if we had tried to sound "professional" and serious. If you are the one saying we should cut taxes, then anyone listening already understands that you believe we should cut taxes (because you're the one saying so) and absolutely gets that this is your opinion (again, because you're the one saying it).

Writing concisely = eliminating metadiscourse.

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