Concise Writing Resources

“The goal of concise writing is to use the most effective words. Concise writing does not always have the fewest words, but it always uses the strongest ones. Writers often fill sentences with weak or unnecessary words that can be deleted or replaced. Words and phrases should be deliberately chosen for the work they are doing. Like bad employees, words that don’t accomplish enough should be fired. When only the most effective words remain, writing will be far more concise and readable.”   

-Taken from the Owl Purdue Website

Sarah Harris was looking to reinforce skills of concise writing, so I gathered these (potentially) helpful resources and thought I would share.

On a sub-note, because it is a test focused on students’ ability to revise, concise writing is one of the major skills required for ACT preparation.

Here is a link to an online quiz that could be taken in class with students.  I also made a Concise Writing Practice Handout that goes along with it so that students can have a hard copy, too.

This link has a PDF handout about tips for revision focusing on concise language.  It is a good reference for teachers and students.