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Concision is not considered to be concise. But, a sentence
of seventy words is hardly brief; it qualifies
Clarity of goal determines how concise as concise if the point can be expressed in no
something is. It should not be mistaken with more than that. You can prevent some types
utmost brevity. A short sentence may be a com- of wordiness by adhering to a few basic sen-
bination of five words, however if the same tence-construction standards.
meaning can be said in seventy, the sentence

Examples of Concise Writing

Too Wordy Concise

At the beginning of Gogol’s life he is Gogol’s identity crisis is rooted in his
really confused. His parents are not inability to fully associate with his
from America, they are Bengali. This parents’ Bengali culture or his American
is complicated by the fact that Gogol companion’s lifestyle.
cannot identify with Americans. Add
that to the fact he has trouble identifying
as Bengali and you have an identity
crisis.

Emphasis Variety

During writing, repetition of important Writers frequently make the mistake of
words and phrases or careful word placement thinking that using short, straightforward sen-
to give some words extra weight and promi- tences of a similar length and style will make
nence serve as the emphasis. Usually, the final the content clearer for the reader, but this really
part of a sentence is the most emphatic. produces fragmented, unsophisticated para-
graphs that do not attract the reader’s atten-
Eg: I myself solved the problem. tion. By changing sentence structure and style,

Rhythm skilled authors add variety to their writing. The
use of a variety of sentence types helps in less-
Punctuation and word stress patterns in sen- ening repetition and emphasises key ideas in
tences determine the rhythm of writing. Short the text. For instance, a good way to hold the
sentences make your information more con- reader’s attention in a paragraph is to insert a
cise, whereas long ones sound more formal. brief rhetorical question between longer sen-
Your writing becomes monotonous when each tences. The paragraph has more rhythm and
sentence has the same pace and structure. intrigue when the fragmented sentences are
combined into one longer sentence.
Eg: The pot is hot.

A man is in the van.

118 SGOU - FYUGP - SLM - English for Communication