People love to talk.
And one area where that’s obvious is in writing. I’ve been writing and editing for nearly 30 years, and one common habit I’ve seen during that time has been wordiness. We have a tendency to use more words than necessary to get our point across.
One habit that contributes to wordiness is using multi-word phrases when a single word would do. Sometimes what we think we need several words for can actually be described in a single word.
Examples:
- Find out vs. Discover
- Come up with vs. Provide
- Put up with vs. Endure
- Look in on vs. Visit
So, if you’re having a problem with wordiness, check whether you’re using more words to say something that could be said in just one.