January 2016 - Word Counter Blog

How to Reduce Your Essay Word Count

When it comes to writing essays, there are two frequent issues that arise; the word count is either too low or too high for the stated range of the essay. For those who perpetually end up with too few words, you need to figure out ways to increase your essay word count. For those who frequently find themselves with too many words on the page, there are some simple steps to take when editing to help reduce the number of words while at the same time making it a stronger piece of writing. Below are some suggestions to do this.

Rank Your Arguments

If you find you’re well above your word count maximum, the first step is to rank the points you use to substantiate your argument. By ranking the importance of the arguments you make in the essay, you can eliminate ones which aren’t as important as others, keeping the essay strong while removing large portions of writing. If you don’t want to eliminate any of the points, you can still reduce word count by mentioning all the arguments, but not writing as much detail about those not as strong as the more important points.

Focus on the Main Point

Once you determine what the important arguments are for your essay, read through it looking for any paragraphs or sentences which fail to address your main argument(s) or topic. It’s easy to accidentally go off on tangents when writing, and eliminating these tangents can help reduce word count. The more focused you can remain on your topic and arguments, the more concise your writing will be.

Use the Best Verb

This may sound obvious, but a lot of writers don’t do this well. When writing, always use the perfect verb rather than one that’s close, but not perfect. When you use the best verb possible, it will reduce the amount of writing you do in most cases. This is due to the fact that when you use a verb that’s not quite correct, you usually need to add more words to clarify your meaning. Here’s an example:

“They beat the opposing team by a lot of points.”

While “beat” is accurate in this case, it’s not the perfect verb because they not only beat the team, they beat the team by a lot. Using the better verb “trounce” in this instant will reduce the word count while still giving the same meaning as the longer sentence.

“They trounced the opposing team.”

Remove Adverbs

Look through your essay and see if you find any adverbs, especially adverbs which have “ly” endings. In many instances, these adverbs end up being filler words which end up being placed in the writing because it’s the way we talk, but the words don’t add anything beneficial to the actual essay. Go through the essay and ask if each one is needed and remove those that aren’t. Some words you may want to look out for are (click on image to expand to see better)

Remove Adjectives

Much in the same way as adverbs make their way into writing, multiple adjectives are used when one (or none at all) would suffice. Read the essay to see if all of the adjectives used are needed, and remove those which don’t add to the meaning of the sentence being written. Some common adjectives to look for are:

able, bad, big, different, early, first, few, good, great, high, important, large, last, little, long, new, next, old, other, own, public, right, same, small, young

(Photo courtesy of Matt Hampel)

Who vs Whom

When it comes to writing, there are some words that can be confusing as to which is the correct one to use. A good example of this confusion is further versus farther. Another common word duo many people have difficulty knowing which is correct is ‘who’ and ‘whom’.

Very few people bother to use the word ‘whom’ in spoken English, but when we’re writing, we want to use the correct grammar. Since we so seldom use ‘whom’, we aren’t always sure when it is the right choice, or when we should stick to the familiar ‘who’ instead.

Most experts agree that if we are unsure, ‘who’ is a safer bet. And it’s fine for informal writing – after all ‘whom’ is slowly disappearing from our language. However, if we have to produce formal written work, we do need to know when to use the mysterious ‘whom’. Put it in the wrong places, and you’ll look pompous and silly. Omit it when you should have used it, and you’ll look unprofessional if your error is picked up.

First of all, we’ll look at the rule that governs the use of ‘whom’, and then, to make it easier for you, we’ll look at a little ‘cheat’ that you can use to test a sentence when you aren’t sure which of the two words belongs.

The rule governing the use of ‘who’ and ‘whom’

Look at the verb in your sentence. Is ‘who’ performing the action? If so, ‘who’ is the right choice to make. So ‘who’ is the subject of a verb – the one who is the doer!

Who is there?
Do you know who will attend the conference?
Who threw that snowball?
I got hit by a snowball and I want to know who threw it!
This is the man who won the prize.

You’ve probably already guessed that since you choose ‘who’ when the person you’re referring to is the subject of your verb, you’ll use ‘whom’ when the person becomes the object of the verb. The object is acted on by the verb rather than being the one responsible for the action.

With whom were you out last night?
We will inform those whom we shortlist.
Be selective about those whom you choose as friends.
To whom should the invoice be sent?

An easy ‘cheat’

Although we tend to be confused about when to use the word ‘who’ and the contexts in which ‘whom’ is the correct choice, we’re much more familiar with the words ‘he’ and ‘him’ and ‘they’ and ‘them’. We instinctively know which of the words in these pairs fit into any sentence.

You will have noticed that ‘whom’, ‘him’ and ‘them’ all end in the letter ‘m’, and the rule for choosing ‘them’ or ‘him’ rather than ‘they’ or ‘he’ is exactly the same as it is for ‘who’ and ‘whom’. By playing around with the sentence you plan to write, substituting ‘he’ or ‘him’ for ‘who’ or ‘whom’ you can get a pointer that tells you which of the two words will be correct. Of course, that won’t work as well for questions, but in that case, you can try answering the question as simply as possible to get your pointer.

Question: Who / Whom is knocking on the door? Answer: He is knocking.

So now we know that the right word to use in the question is ‘who’.

I met three men, one of who / whom is an astronaut. I met three men, one of them is an astronaut.

In this case, ‘whom’ matches ‘them’ and would be the correct word to use.

Unfortunately, our little cheat doesn’t always work as easily as it does in the above examples. If you find yourself struggling, you’ll have to return to your verb so you can decide whether who / whom is the subject or object of the verb. Always remember a subject performs the action indicated by the verb while the object is on the receiving end.

You can also look at where your prepositions are located. ‘Whom’ often follows a preposition. For example:

With whom
Of whom
Beside whom
After whom
Around whom

Still worried?

Remember, the subtleties which dictate when we use ‘who’ and when we use ‘whom’ are not clear to the majority of people. Unless you are writing a formal document, you can choose ‘who’ and hope for the best. But if you can master the ‘who / whom’ distinction, you’ll be ahead of the pack, and that’s always a great place to be.

Further Away versus Farther Away

There are times when English can be confusing, even to native speakers who learned the language from the cradle. One of the common areas of confusion arises when we have to choose between two words which seem to be almost the same. Learning to properly understand the different uses of different words is one aspect of improving your vocabulary.

For example, the question whether to use “further away” or “farther away” can be confusing. They look very similar, and their meanings are similar too. When we’re talking, few people would even notice the difference, but when we’re writing, we need to be more precise and choose our words carefully. How will we know when to use “further” and when to use “farther?” Luckily, there’s a very simple way to work it out when you proofread your writing. It’s the difference between literal distance and figurative distance.

Distances can be literal or figurative

When we refer to distance, it can be either literal or figurative. For example:

“How much farther will we have to drive to reach our hotel?”

In this example, the person asking the question is looking for a literal distance. They want to know how many miles they will have to travel to reach their destination. “Farther” is completely correct in this context.

In the following example, our distance is figurative:

“Would you like me to explain this further?”

Obviously, the answer here can’t be “Five miles” because we aren’t looking at a literal distance.

The good news is there’s a simple and useful trick to remembering the difference. To make your life easier, you can remember the correct use for “farther” by looking at the first syllable, “Far.” Now think of all the distance measurements. There are miles, kilometers, centimeters, inches and so on. Would you associate these measurements with what you are going to say? If so, then “farther” is the word you should be choosing in order to be 100% correct.

Now consider “further” as being an “add-on”:

“You can have a further $5.”
“It will be a further year before you finish your studies.”
“I was further insulted by her rude behavior on Sunday.”

It tells you that something extra is going to be added.

Interchangeability: just to make you more confused

Now that we have a clear explanation of when to use the word “farther” rather than “further” it’s time to muddy the waters a little. Although you shouldn’t use “farther” at times when “further” is the more appropriate choice, there are times when you can use “further” instead of “farther.” There are even some who advise you to choose “further” when in doubt.

People have been using these two words interchangeably for a long time, and in other parts of the world where English is spoken, “further” is used much more often, while few people use “farther” at all. But if you want to fit in with accepted modern American grammar, it’s important to remember the simple distinction between the literal distance “farther” and the figurative distance “further.” If you are writing a report or an essay, you need to choose the correct word, and the usages we’ve just discussed are accepted as correct in both the Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook.

But there are still cases in American grammar in which we will find that the two words are interchangeable. For instance:

“How much farther do you have to read?” and “How much further do you have to read?” would both be correct. After all, you could be asking someone how many pages they still need to read to finish the book, or you could be asking if they will have to read more books or more chapters to get the information they need. In the first example, you’re asking for a literal distance in the number of pages. In the second example, you’re asking for a figurative distance. As with so many other grammar rules, context is very important.

Let’s keep it simple. If reading this has made you more confused than ever, then just hold onto this thought:

“Farther” is a distance and “further” is something extra. How easy is that?

365 Day First Book Writing Challenge: How to Write a Book in a Year

You have decided you want to write a book in the next year. That’s great, but now you need to come up with a plan to make that happen that’s simple enough to help you reach the goal, yet allows you to write enough to complete a book within a year. One easy and effective way to accomplish the book-in-a-year goal is to take the 365-day book writing challenge.

The concept of this challenge is simple enough that any writer, no matter what their level, should be able to follow it to reach their goal. Most people who decide they want to write a book fail because they try to do too much in too little amount of time. This challenge leverages the fact there are 365 days in a year and that you want to build a daily writing habit.

The book writing challenge works in the following way. Once you decide to begin, each day you need to write between one and 365 words. You want to shoot for writing the highest number of words you can to cross the highest number off the chart, but as long as you write any number of words which corresponds with a number that’s still available on the chart, you’re golden. At the end of the day, you place an “x” on the chart over the number of words you wrote that day. Each day you do this for the entire year and at the end, you will have written 66,795 words. Even more importantly, you’ll have established a daily writing habit which you can then use to write your next book in even less time.

365 Day Book Writing Challenge (click on image to print PDF)

To be successful in this challenge, there are a few important steps you should take. First, you should print out the challenge sheet. Once done, you should put it somewhere where you’ll see it daily. Tape it to the top of your laptop computer or hang it on the bulletin board above your writing desk. The chart needs to be visible so you are reminded each day you need to write, even if it’s only a little bit. This visual reminder will help you reach your daily goal of writing and the ultimate goal of finishing your book.

The second rule is you aren’t allowed to go to bed until you have crossed off one of the numbers on the sheet. There really is no excuse not to cross off one of the numbers. The truth is that if you are unable to cross off a number each day of the year with all of the smaller word counts available, you’re not serious about writing the book. In a way, it’s a test to determine if you are willing to take the actions necessary to write the book, or if you just say you want to, but it’s only words. That may sound a bit harsh, but if you can’t write a few words each day no matter what happens in life, writing the book isn’t a priority in your life. The only thing that can keep you from completing this challenge is yourself.

Another key about this challenge which increases your likelihood of success is that it takes into account the reality of life. There are going to be busy days and days when the unexpected happens and you won’t be able to write as much as you hoped. You should always shoot for the highest word count number still available on the sheet, but when a day comes when that isn’t possible, crossing off a smaller number is perfectly acceptable.

While having a book written at the end of the year is a huge deal, the biggest benefit of this challenge is something you’ll gain that’s far more important. This challenge requires you to write every day. Even the days when you’re only able to write a word or two, you must sit down and write something. That daily writing will turn into a daily routine by the end of the year. Once you have established that habit, you have created a foundation which will allow you to write far more the following year.

If you have had the goal to write a book in the past but have failed in getting it done, I encourage you to try the 365-day book writing challenge. It has a lot of things going for it that other challenges don’t, which increases the likelihood you’ll actually complete it and reach your goal. Best of all, at the end of the year, you’ll have a book written and you’ll have the skill-set in place to write as many more as you want to in the future.

How Many Words in a Paragraph?

As a writer, you may find yourself pondering the question, “How many words are in a paragraph?” Much like the number of sentences in a paragraph, there’s no single answer to this question. A rule of thumb answer is, “There are usually 100 to 200 words in a paragraph,” but a more accurate answer would be “It depends…” which isn’t particularly helpful. So let’s take a more in-depth look at word count, paragraphs and how it all works.

What does a paragraph usually consist of?

A paragraph usually deals with a single idea. In general, you’ll have an introductory sentence expressing that idea, and several supporting sentences to round it off. Paragraphs are usually about 100 – 200 words long, but there are more exceptions to this rule-of-thumb than you’d expect.

Commercial Writing

Commercial writing breaks all the rules. Whether or not you find it irritating, your task is to hold your readers’ attention and get them to read what you’ve written. The average person doesn’t like to see solid blocks of text. It looks like it’s going to be difficult to get through, and nobody likes to work harder than they have to.

“White Space” is a great way to make your information look easier to master, and one of the best ways to create “white space” is through using paragraphs. For commercial writing, it’s best to keep sentences short and punchy, and the same goes for paragraphs.

People don’t usually like to see paragraphs that are more than three or four lines long. How many words is that? Again, although it’s not helpful, the answer is “It depends…” Font styles and font size will affect paragraph length – at least from a psychological perspective.

For example, this is a blog post, and I want to keep the reader engaged. The longest paragraph under this heading is only 61 words long. This is the shortest one so far, and it only uses 37 words.

I want to get your attention!

The above paragraph is only six words long, and you can count the words in this one if you like.

Dialogues

To make things easy for your reader, you’ll switch paragraphs every time you switch speakers, for example:

“I don’t know how long a paragraph should be,” said Mary, “but I hope to find out by reading this article.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” John replied, “but don’t let that limit your creativity!”

“Really? Can I bend the rules?”

“The rules are really more like guidelines.”

“Cool!”

As you can see, I was able to stop identifying the speakers as soon as the conversation began to flow because John and Mary each had paragraphs to themselves. Neither of them said anything that was even close to 100 words, but it’s still easy to see who said what. Mary’s final paragraph was one word long.

Academic Writing

In academic writing, paragraphs will usually consist of the “standard” 100 – 200 words (Burns, 2002). You will begin the paragraph with an idea and then explain it in the light of currently accepted knowledge (Phillips, 2014) with references. Bear in mind that your tutor will want to see some original thought, but will expect it to be motivated according to your reading (Williams et al, 1994). Smith (2004) supports this concept and confirms that academic writing requires longer paragraphs than those generally found in commercial writing or even story-telling. 200 words is really a bit long for any paragraph and since this one is just over 100 words, you’ll soon see why this should be the case (Me, 2015).

Whew! That was a marathon to read, wasn’t it?

How many words per paragraph? It’s really up to you!

As a takeaway, I’d like to suggest that there are absolutely no hard-and-fast rules as to how many words a paragraph should be.

Making them too short, can look a little odd.

This is an excellent example.

But it can work in some cases.

On the other hand, having really long paragraphs might work for you, but not for your reader. A lot of text without “white space” is hard on the eyes, and the brain. I’ve seen blog posts and web pages with absolutely no paragraphs to speak of. Did I want to read them? Not really. It was too difficult to separate the ideas from one another and there just didn’t seem to be a good enough reason to read them if I could find the same information split up into bite-sized chunks that were easier to digest. So, whatever you do, don’t forget the importance of paragraphs – and keep them a bit shorter than this one, unless you’re trying to baffle the reader.

By the way, the above paragraph is “only” 122 words (656 characters) long. Do you see what I mean when I say that longer isn’t always better? I’m ready to bet that you do.

(Photo courtesy of Enokson)