Redundancy in linguistics implies the usage of words and phrases that repeat what has been already said or can be understood from the context. Although it can help the reader better understand emotions or situations in nonfiction, it’s unwelcome in academic writing. Hence, when trying to shorten your essay, start by eliminating redundancy. The introduction needs to clearly and concisely frame the thesis statement to garner the reader’s attention.

• There’s no hard and fast rule for how many paragraphs an essay should have.
• Before you begin writing the essay, use an outline to plan out what you want to say in each of your paragraphs.
• Our smart word count decreaser will do the job for you!
• Find any details that don’t serve your argument and delete them.

Just make sure that the final sentence isn’t too long because long complex sentences will make your essay difficult to read. This approach can be very effective if you realize that you need to shorten your essay significantly. For instance, if you should shorten your essay by 200 or 300 words, this is the right approach. Prepositions are very useful words because they can help you create a smooth flow of thoughts and put words together to communicate complex ideas.

Stop using “What” and “There” as subjects

If your project is expository, the most commonly misunderstood aspect is the conclusion. You need to write the conclusion at the end of your project. Make sure it is clear, concise, and to the point.

Use these tips to reduce words and strengthen your writing. There’s no hard and fast rule for how many paragraphs an essay should have. When we receive instructions to write a formal essay, there is a short list of determining factors that play into the final paragraph count. This can include assignment-specific directions, overall essay content, and essay length.

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The writer can become more focused on the number of words than on getting their point across clearly and concisely. In most cases, adverbs and adjectives are used as elements of figurative language and how to introduce a quote do not add any vital content to your text. Thus, by removing them altogether, you don’t undermine the meaning of your essay and deliver the same facts and arguments, though in a far more concise form.

Don’t forget that your grader will be reading 30, 50, or 100 of these things. It’s not tricky to hold two next to each other and compare font sizes, or hold them up to the light in front of each other to compare spacing and margins.

How Long Should an Essay Be?

You may want to remove paragraphs that lack references or have references to unreliable sources. You may also think of what paragraphs are the least convincing. Make sure to leave the strongest paragraphs that actually contribute to the topic and that can impress your audience. Zoom out and paint the picture with broad strokes, focusing on the general information.

• On the other hand, the active voice makes the sentences more compelling and clear because they are straight to the point.
• The bottom line is that the actual content of the essay is more important than the number of paragraphs you end up writing.
• You must use the active voice if you follow plain language rules.

Similarly, abbreviations can feel casual, and in many cases, they aren’t the correct choice for an essay. Consult your style guide if you’re in doubt, but in general, don’t abbreviate. There’s nothing wrong with using contractions in your writing; however, they can add a casual touch to your essay. If you want your work to sound more serious, replace the contractions with the longer versions. You’ll find this also makes your essay a bit longer. Your essay can always be stronger, and the way to make it awesome is to add more evidence .

Tips for Students Working on Their Thesis

Sometimes there is another way to phrase your thoughts and make sentences shorter. For example, the usage of active voice instead of passive can significantly help you with that. Passive voice is often used in academic writing because it how to make an essay shorter makes your text sound more professional and unbiased. However, it takes more words to put the sentence together and it makes writing more complex. There are a few things that can help you stick to the word limit from the very beginning.

• Redwood Ink is a team of biomedical writing consultants and coaches.
• Upon seeing it, people become curious to read more; thus, you can’t avoid it when writing a paper.
• This is especially relevant when writing academic essays where you are required to present your arguments professionally and straightforwardly.
• In other words, you can trust the reader to get the point if the details rock.
• Identify the topic by reading the prompt carefully.

The producer took the script, grabbed 20 pages, and ripped them out. The two rules of writing, from G K Chesterton I think are “stick to the point, and whenever you can, cut”. The person grading these will have looked at maybe dozens before yours. Any attempt to use “subtle” tricks will be instantly detectable–including 1.7 spacing, moving the margins, decreasing the font size, etc. etc. You can reduce the size of your paragraph indent to .25 or even .2.

ways to reduce word count

I think the things that you’re willing to do are all going to out your paper as not meeting the requirements. I’m guessing this is some sort of University assignment, and let’s just say that anyone who grades written assignments on a regular basis is wise to this sort of trick. When you’ve got a stack of papers with MS-Word default margins, the paper with different margins, well, sticks out. Not that every professor is going to notice, but I don’t think hiding in plain sight really works in this kind of situation. Use specific and concrete examples instead of generalizations. This will make your essay more understandable and easier to follow.

• Delete examples if you’ve already proven your point with another example.
• It’s not tricky to hold two next to each other and compare font sizes, or hold them up to the light in front of each other to compare spacing and margins.
• For one thing, a shorter essay is often easier to read and understand than a longer one.
• It is critical to examine and follow the instructions to the letter.
• We recommend going through these phrases and removing some of them from the text to help manage your word count.

Like any piece of word shortener, the output from software needs to be treated with care. The English language is highly complex and software available today simply cannot comprehend the context and the many other peculiarities. It is therefore likely to make mistakes when it creates new rundown. It should be carefully read and edited before submitting. It should not be simply used without careful thought on your part. Make the closing paragraphs as short as possible.

Sentencing Structure

If you’re only writing first drafts of any assignment, you’re not putting your best work forward. While your advice seems like it’s simple, it actually is bad advice for those who want to get good grades. When it comes to writing essays, there are two frequent issues that arise; the word count is either too low or too high for the stated range of the essay. For those who perpetually end up with too few words, you need to figure out ways to increase your essay word count. To remove the excess text and hit the word limit can be pretty challenging, especially when you have already shortened the paragraphs as much as possible. Besides, as an author, you may consider every written phase as incredibly important.

It’s clear to the reader that they did not understand, not in the least. Sometimes “extra” words are essential for the sound and pace we want. For “voice” (which is a super vague term, meaning something like “saying something in a way that roughly only you would say it”). So if you have to err on the side of a little more to strike the right beat or tone, do so.

Research Paper

‍If you’re looking for tips on how to INCREASE word count, check out this article. Using “What” or “There” as the subject of a sentence will add unnecessary words to your writing. Instead, you can rephrase the sentence to make the subject more specific. Once you get in the habit of shortening your phrases, it will be like second nature. There are also some tools that can help you with that, like Wordtune’s “shorten” feature, which can suggest shorter ways to write a sentence without sacrificing clarity.

Take a good look at the writing style and tone to see if you can make improvements to make the essay more engaging or readable. To do this, direct your voice to the most intelligent reader in your audience rather than the least. How often do you exceed the word count by more than 10%? How often do you lack the required amount of words? In many cases, writing a text of the exact size is difficult.