Cutting wordiness.

Anybody can write right? If you plan on throwing some words down on a piece of paper or a computer screen and calling it finished, you have a long way to go. Many writers like to use embellished words and fancy adjectives, but in reality, not many editors like this.

Online readers have a short attention span and they do not want to read a 1,000 word article that could have been written in 750 words. They are reading for quick information, not pleasure. People today are so accustomed to the "Novel" way of writing, and I know you know what I'm talking about--"In the dark, eerie forest, I saw what seemed to be a small glimmer of sheer hope!" Unless you are specifically writing a short fiction story for a client, you're not going to have much luck with that excerpt.

It is important that after your write, you re-read what you wrote and take out as many words as possible without altering the meaning of a sentence or paragraph. Also, your article should still be tight in its concept and cohesive. A lot of sites that I write for have strict guidelines. Not only do I need to have perfect grammar in my articles, I also need to make sure that each paragraph is cohesive and free of excess words.

Reducing wordiness is something I have been actively practicing with each article I write. If you plan on writing for online media outlets, practice how you write your sentences. Each sentence needs to be clear and concise, and it needs to get straight to the point.

Here are some quick things to look for when checking for wordiness:

.Are there a lot of adverbs?
.Do you have unnecessary adjectives?
.Do your compound nouns need to be in the sentence?
.If you have a subordinate clause, can it be removed without altering the sentence's idea?
.Do you have any run-on sentences in the article?
.Are you using unnecessary articles, like "A" "An" And "The"?
.If you read each sentence backwards, would they still make sense?

A perfectly healthy sentence, it is true, is extremely rare.  For the most part we miss the hue and fragrance of the thought; as if we could be satisfied with the dews of the morning or evening without their colors, or the heavens without their azure.  ~Henry David Thoreau