Writing a precise and to-the-point essay without stuffing unnecessary arguments is crucial for better audience engagement. If you have filled your essay with so many irrelevant details, then learn how to shorten an essay.
To make it readable, use the 6 proven steps, from trimming down the unnecessarily prolonged paragraphs to ruthlessly removing sections that don’t add value to the context.
You can use the steps below to shorten an argumentative, descriptive, narrative, or any type of essay
The following recommendations will surely be helpful for you to shorten your essay and avoid getting poor grades in the essay writing assignment.
Before starting an essay, authors usually ponder the essay and create a rough outline in their minds. Creating a good outline is of fundamental importance. One must scribble down all the ideas and narratives that come to mind. The following steps involve research; the researched material must be penned alongside the initial outline.
Once you are done with the groundwork, the next step involves removing, rejecting, and crossing out anything and everything that does not support the thesis statement. Almost every college, school, or application essay has a word limit. A good outline with to-the-point material can help you stick to the topic and create a concise, well-written essay.
Essays above the allowed word count limit are prone to mismanagement while writing. One such case is using redundant vocabulary while writing.
Students are prone to overexplaining a stance and forgetting that the sentence or word used previously offers enough explanation to the readers. There is no need to write an extra sentence. Remove repeated ideas or even phrases to make your writing appealing and concise. Let us consider the following example.
“Children were playing football in the park with the ball.”
The highlighted portion of the above sentence is unnecessary, as football is played with the ball and, even if avoided, can provide enough knowledge about children’s activity. Scrapping the redundant phrase will remove four words from the sentence. This technique can be instrumental when shortening an essay before submission.
Combining sentences that convey similar meanings can be helpful in reducing the word count. This can be done by compressing similar sentences to eliminate undesirable words from the sentences. A little conscious effort can help you identify parts that can be merged, significantly reducing the word count. Consider the following example,
“Children were playing football in the park. My son was also playing football with them.”
“My son was playing football with the children in the park.”
The above two sentences reflect how you can compress different sentences together, and the new sentence delivers the same meaning but with a lesser word count. As in the example, the first sentence is composed of 15 words, whereas the combined sentence’s word count is 10. So, you can eliminate five words.
Extending this approach to seven to ten sentences can help you cut at least 50 words.
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Writing is a tough task. A writer is prone to overuse wordy sentences, repeatedly using prepositions. You will unconsciously increase the length of the sentence if you overuse prepositions. The example below will give you an idea of why you need to be critical about the use of prepositions.
“Here is the schedule of the work for today. (9 words)”
“Here is today’s work schedule. (5 Words)”
The first sentence uses several prepositions, hence adding to the length, whereas the second sentence is concise and delivers the same message with increased efficiency. Review your essay for such errors before submission. You can quickly identify many instances where you can use relatively efficient sentences and avoid using excessive prepositions.
Reviewing requires a good focus. If you feel like you have done all you can, then you can seek help for your essay from a friend or tutor.
The English language is famous for its vast vocabulary. There are always words that you can use in place of wordy phrases. This practice will reduce the length and magnify the appeal of the essay. There are several dynamic words that you can use in place of wordy sentences.
The examples you are going to counter below can be used as a vanguard in your writing.
“It is raining very heavily (5 words)”
“It is pouring (3 words)”
Here, three words were alternated by a single word. The new sentence is concise, delivers the meaning with intensity, and adds more appeal to the phrase. Similarly,
“He was very afraid. (4 words)”
“It is pouring (3 words)”
This approach will not only help you shorten your essay but also reduce verbosity.
Review your essay by keeping the central argument or topic in focus. If you find any points that do not add value to your main argument or are irrelevant to the main idea, it is advisable to omit those sentences from the essay to shorten the essay’s length.
Most students are used to over-expanding ideas by adding details. However, it would be best to abide by the word limit set by your college or school.
To shorten an essay, start by removing unnecessary words, phrases, or sentences that do not contribute to the main message. Ensure each paragraph serves a clear purpose and eliminates repetitive information. Use concise language, combine or rephrase sentences, and focus on the most relevant points while maintaining coherence and clarity.
You can if they are not relevant to your key arguments, and there’s an audience of such examples complementing the thesis statement spread throughout the prose.
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