How to Write More Concisely

Concise writing conveys ideas clearly and efficiently, using only the necessary words. It is particularly important in academic writing, where complex topics are common.

Two main obstacles to concise writing are:

• Inflated phrases
• Redundancies

While it may seem that complicated phrases make your writing more academic, they often just reduce clarity.

Implementing the following techniques will streamline your writing and enhance its impact.

Avoid inflated phrases

Many wordy phrases have shorter alternatives that are just as clear. To tighten your writing, replace inflated phrases with concise substitutes.

Examples  

Inflated Phrase	Example	More Concise Alternative	Example
at the present time	At the present time, the project is on hold.	now	The project is on hold now.
in order to	In order to complete the task, we need more resources.	to	To complete the task, we need more resources.
in spite of the fact that	He succeeded in spite of the fact that he had little experience.	although	He succeeded although he had little experience.
until such time as	We will wait until such time as the contract is signed.	until	We will wait until the contract is signed.
due to the fact that	The event was canceled due to the fact that the venue was unavailable.	because	The event was canceled because the venue was unavailable.
in the event that	In the event that it rains, the picnic will be postponed.	if	If it rains, the picnic will be postponed.
for the purpose of	The meeting was called for the purpose of discussing the budget.	to	The meeting was called to discuss the budget.
in light of the fact that	In light of the fact that sales have decreased, we must cut costs.	since	Since sales have decreased, we must cut costs.
in the near future	We plan to expand our operations in the near future.	soon	We plan to expand our operations soon.
it is clear that	It is clear that more research is needed on this topic.	clearly	More research is clearly needed on this topic.
has the ability to	This software has the ability to streamline our workflow.	can	This software can streamline our workflow.
a large number of	A large number of participants attended the conference.	many	Many participants attended the conference.
is able to	She is able to speak five languages fluently.	can	She can speak five languages fluently.
prior to	Please submit your application prior to the deadline.	before	Please submit your application before the deadline.
in close proximity to	The hotel is located in close proximity to the airport.	near	The hotel is located near the airport.

Replacing a prepositional phrase with an adverb may require moving the adverb to a different position in the sentence.

Here’s an example:

• Original sentence with a prepositional phrase: In a careful manner, she removed the old photograph from the album.
• Revised sentence with an adverb: She carefully removed the old photograph from the album.

In the revised sentence, the prepositional phrase “in a careful manner” is replaced by the adverb “carefully”. The adverb is then shifted to a position immediately before the verb “removed” to maintain the proper sentence structure and clarity.

Avoid redundancies

Redundancies occur when a word or phrase is unnecessarily repeated, often using different words that convey the same meaning. Eliminating redundancies makes your writing more concise and easier to understand.

Examples

Redundant Phrase	Improvement
absolutely essential	essential
actual fact	fact
add an additional	add
all-time record	record
alternative choice	alternative
briefly summarize	summarize
cancel out	cancel
close proximity	proximity
collaborate together	collaborate
completely filled	filled
component part	component
consensus of opinion	consensus
continue on	continue
current trend	trend
disappear from sight	disappear
empty space	space
exact same	same
false pretense	pretense
final conclusion	conclusion
foreign imports	imports
free of charge	free
gather together	gather
general public	public
honest truth	truth
important essentials	essentials
knowledgeable experts	experts
major breakthrough	breakthrough
merge together	merge
mutual cooperation	cooperation
new beginning	beginning
overused cliché	cliché