Wordiness and Repetition
Wdy: avoid wordiness by simplifying phrases and sentence structure.
WORDY: is reflective of there is a bird singing did not do anything CONCISE: reflects a bird sings did nothing WORDY: It is the wordiness of my writing that is indicative of the fact that there is little that I have to say.
CONCISE: I have little to say.
Red: avoid redundant expressions. The Keables Guide uses the term redundancy to describe single phrases like "true fact," and repetition for ideas repeated over several sentences.
background experience gory bloodbath pity and sympathy fellow teammates he thinks to himself reply back first started opening introduction we share the same room Do not use two pronouns when one will do:
REDUNDANT: his reason for his decision
BETTER: the reason for his decision
Some absolute modifiers do not take intensifiers or the comparative or superlative degree:
ILLOGICAL: very unique, more perfectly, totally destroyed, the most eternal
Rep: avoid repeating the same idea over several sentences. The Keables Guide uses repetition for ideas repeated over several sentences, and redundancy for single phrases like "true fact."
REPETITIOUS: The ending of the story is happy and satisfying, but it is also unhappy and dissatisfying in other ways. It is happy and satisfying because Jim is set free and Huck Finn's inheritance is intact. It is unhappy and dissatisfying in other ways because Huck is not happy at home and wants to run away. Whereas Jim is free, Huck still wants to escape.
CONCISE: Although at the end Jim is free and Huck's inheritance is intact, Huck remains unhappy and eager to escape.
Where you can do so with no loss of clarity, omit understood words to avoid repetition:
REPETITIOUS: I do not have the time to shop for jewelry or the money to shop for jewelry.
CONCISE: I have neither the time nor the money to shop for jewelry.
Circ: avoid circular reasoning. Also known as tautology: an argument that says nothing.
CIRCULAR: They disagree with each other due to their different opinions.