How to Reduce Wordiness in an Essay: A Practical Checklist
Cut filler phrases, redundant pairs and empty openers to bring an essay under its word limit without losing points.
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Most essays over the limit are not too long in ideas. They are long in phrasing. These cuts usually save 10 to 20 percent without dropping an argument, though results depend on the draft.
Filler phrases to replace
- "In order to" becomes "to".
- "Due to the fact that" becomes "because".
- "At this point in time" becomes "now".
- "It is important to note that" can usually go entirely.
Redundant pairs
"Each and every", "final outcome", "past history": keep one word.
Empty openers
"There are many reasons why..." becomes a sentence that states the first reason.
Repeated summaries
If a paragraph ends by restating its first line, cut the restatement.
Measure as you go
Use the free concision checker to highlight wordy phrases, and the essay word counter to track the limit. The Rewriter has a Make concise goal for full passes.
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