Word limits are set to provide a level playing field amongst students/researchers. Someone submitting 6000 words would have a clear potential advantage over someone submiting 4000. That is not to say that the quality of the work is necessarily better. Longer reports often use more words to say what a smaller report says. In my experience it is not so that longer accounts are more tightly packed, but are looser, padded and conversational.More is not better.

Given that word counts are often difficult to judge when the media varieties in submissions are rich I have not really concerned with wordcounts before. It is important though to maintain a reasonable level of parity when words dominate the modscape!

Being honest there is a self interest here too, marking 20 X 6000 words is significantly more difficult than 20 X 4000 words. The simple Maths of it means that it would be desirable for limits to be adhered to, to some extent at least.

Of all these reasons, the most important issue is the quality issue, concise writing is tighter and appears sharper, more engaging.

So how to become less wordy ... my observations ....

1. Always ask ... does this paragraph/phrase contribute to answering the question or task. If not consider it unnecessary.

2. Plan your account. Sitting down to type can produce (IMHO) more wordy accounts than accounts which use planning techniques. Work out what you have to say. Make a list using imaginary subheadings for your report. Think about how many words can be allocated to each area or idea. Only then is it time to sit and type.For me this gets rid of the feeling, how will I write so much, which is often where the need for padding out a piece originates.

3. When looking for resources there is no need unless in a special case to describe how you found the resources within the scope of your report. Remember it is the literature and theory that is important, less so how you obtained it.

• For example - "I looked in journals and also did an internet search where I found awebsite that helped me to understand more about Smith (2000) who said ...."

• All of this may be simply ... "Smith (2000) said .... "

4. Paraphrase key ideas, rather than having chunks of text cited from other works, simply pinch the point! Summarise what he or she says that is of relevance to you, this may often be more direct for your purpose than taking long quotes which were not custom made for your needs and may distract your readers attention.

5. Use tables, pictures, diagrams etc. Often a well thought out table or chart can convey ideas  more clearly especially when you are trying to compare ideas and show relationships between concepts.

6. When seeking peer review, if you are wordy, say so in your pre-amble so peers have a specific issue to report back on.

7. Use other media.

8. Try to avoid conversational styles (unless you are presenting as a dialogue or journal style piece).



You may also like to look at some sites of writing tighter ...
A wordiness list (funny to look at all the phrases we unnecessarily use!)
A Powerpoint on academic writing - raises some interesting issues including wordiness.