When writing papers in high school and college, you may have found it necessary to be extra wordy just to reach the word count minimum. But when you work as a writer, being too wordy can be a problem. The age of constant social media usage has left many readers with short attention spans. To those who write online content, especially those who work in copywriting, adding too many words can cause readers to click away. Everyone has a different writing style, but for those who tend to be on the wordy side, learning to write more concisely can help enhance your writing skills.
Why too many words can be an issue
When a reader is looking for information online, they have so many choices, which can make it difficult to decide which content is worth reading. If your content has too many words, especially large words and flowery phrases, a reader may look elsewhere. Most readers are looking for quick answers to their questions and they want that sudden satisfaction of reading content that gets to the point quickly. For copywriters, this means being concise, but clear with the point you’re trying to make.
Removing the unnecessary words and phrases
During the initial editing process, you may easily see what needs to be removed or changed. Look for uncommonly used words that an average reader would not be familiar with. People often become frustrated if they must look up definitions of words to understand the point of an article or blog. Avoid phrases that are used in the industry and try to stick with common and concise sentences with basic sentence structure. Sometimes, it’s as easy as removing extra adjectives and making your sentences shorter to create content that appeals to a wider audience of readers.
Wordy writing works well for scholarly pursuits, but it’s not ideal in everyday copywriting. Your reader should understand your point without doing extra research about the meaning of the words and phrases you use. Online writers, and especially those who work in copywriting, can benefit from knowing how best to reach their audience with a clear and concise message.
