How to fix wordiness (without losing your voice)

As a copyeditor, I’m often briefed to remove wordiness. But why is it a problem and where do you draw the line? Understandably, there's a lot of confusion around this topic because wordiness is subjective – and how much you get away with depends on your style and audience. So in this post, I'll explain what wordiness is (with examples), when it's okay and how you can minimise it to make your writing more impactful.

What is wordiness?

Wordiness, sometimes called overwriting, is when you use more words than necessary to express an idea. It's the opposite of concise or economical writing. Culprits may include:

• fillers (e.g. needless to say, sort of)

• filter words (e.g. I feel, I think, I realise)

• redundancies (e.g. end result, PIN number)

• repetition (e.g. saying the same thing in two or three different ways)

• too many intensifiers (e.g. very, really)

• too many moderators (e.g. quite, somewhat)

• too many mitigators (e.g. slightly, a little)

• lengthy constructions (e.g. has the effect of, finding yourself having to)

• too many long or complex words (e.g. evidenced, utilisation).  

Filter words, moderators and jargon aren't wrong, per se. They all have their place. They just need to be used intentionally and sparingly.

Why is wordiness a problem?

Sadly, wordiness is a leftover from our school or university days when we had to meet word counts or try to sound clever by using long or complex words. But this doesn't fly outside the classroom. If your book, blog post or report is wordy, readers may get bored, impatient or confused. So it's important to convey information quickly and succinctly.

Here are some examples of wordy sentences and how you can correct them:

❌ People are finding themselves having to use free services.

✅ People are using free services.

❌ These are quite literally the worst results we’ve had.

✅ These are the worst results we’ve had.

❌ When I was working as a chiropractor, I worked with a lot of sportspeople.

✅ As a chiropractor, I worked with a lot of sportspeople.

❌ Try and make an effort to be polite.

✅ Make an effort to be polite.

❌ If you struggle to pay your bills, I would suggest that you consider seeing a financial counsellor.

✅ If you struggle to pay your bills, consider seeing a financial counsellor.

❌ Each of us needs to try harder as individuals.

✅ We need to try harder.

❌ We use social media platforms to interface with our customers.

✅ We use social media to communicate with our customers.

As you can see, the second examples are shorter, tighter and easier to read. And I didn’t have to do any rewriting or recasting (except for the last two). All I did was remove a couple of words.

Are wordy constructions ever okay?

Yes, there are times when fillers or intensifiers are appropriate. For example, if you’re emphasising a point, writing copy for a personality-driven brand or using a conversational tone.

I recently edited a book written in an irreverent style – and I kept a lot of fillers and intensifiers. They were part of the author's voice. But I also deleted a few that affected readability or created repetition.

Eliminating wordiness is always a delicate balance. Going too far can strip your writing of precision and/or personality and make it sound like everyone’s favourite AI minion (you know who I mean)!

This can also happen if you use grammar checkers like Grammarly. They often suggest changes that can change your tone or meaning. If you're trying to eliminate wordiness, opt for a human editor. They can use their judgement – and an understanding of your voice and style – to determine what should stay and what should go. For more on this topic, see Will AI replace editors?

Final thoughts: How to fix wordiness (without losing your voice)

In the end, fixing wordiness is about clarity and always keeping your target audience in mind. So when you’re self-editing, ask yourself:

• Do I have to read the sentence twice to understand its meaning?

• Will those extra words engage or put off my target audience?

• Is every word in the sentence necessary?

• Am I explaining things that are obvious?

• Am I making an idea unnecessarily complicated?

• Am I out of breath when I read the sentence out loud?

And then edit accordingly … or better yet, let me do the hard yakka for you! If you need someone to remove wordy distractions so you can educate, inspire or persuade readers to take action, drop me a line or request a sample edit.