Conciseness

What is conciseness?

Conciseness means to, write the paper with strong and few words.

Good writing needs better selection of vocabulary and words

and this comes from reading books and articles etc.

In the fast pace of life no one has time to spend on reading and the readers wants the nut of the

paper/article because the readers need the words which are more effective and clear in reading. The

technical areas need the conciseness every where. Concise article offers the material which is actually

required by the readers.

Strategies Of Adopting Conciseness

The writer can adopt conciseness by developing a proper introduction and outline for the article because these two tactics can shorten the length. Elimination of the irrelevant material is very important and this course of action could be achieved by reading the whole document very critically.

It is easy for the writers to add graphics while writing in the paper because these can describe the concept/fact in the shortest way. Revising is a key to conciseness.

While writing the writers should use to avoid the following:

Passive voice

Repetition of words Infinitive Phrases

Vague and slang language should be avoided while writing because these are actually irrelevant words and weak in nature.

One can avoid wordiness and vague words by getting guidance from the thesaurus.

Brainstorming facilitates the writer in developing concise document.

Concise writing helps the audience to hold the needed information more easily.

Ways Of Improving Concise Writing Skills

The basics of writing should be clear. The audience is the most important factor to be focused while writing and use the language which is understandable for them.

Proper transition of paragraph is very useful. Grip on the English language affects a lot while writing concise.

Prewriting is very essential for writing concise because in this way the writer can add all the relevant points but with less wordiness.

The culture of the institute affects  very much in the writing skills of the students because some teachers required that the students should write as much as he/she can so in this case the  it is impossible for the student to focus on conciseness

PRECIS WRITING

"A précis is a brief, original summary of the important ideas given in a long selection. Its aim is to give the general effect created by the original selection."

A summary or a précis is NOT a personal interpretation of a work or an expression of your opinion of the idea; it is, rather, an exact replica in miniature of the work, often reduced to one-quarter to one-fifth of its size, in which you express the complete argument!

A précis is useful as an exercise in grasping the essential ideas of an already completed composition and in stating these ideas in concentrated form. The précis shears away all elaborations of the thought and gives only what is left, in such a way as to make the summary a complete composition. Many of the articles in The Reader's Digest are only précis, so skillfully done that the average reader does not know that he is reading a summary.

It is a concise and lucid summary that forsakes all unnecessary details (including illustrations, amplifications, and embellishments) in favor of reproducing the logic, development, organization and emphasis of the original.

Facts about précis and the basic steps in writing.

A précis is a short summary. It is not a paraphrase, which merely says in different and simpler words exactly what the passage being paraphrased has to say. A paraphrase may be a long as the passage itself. A précis rarely is more than one-third the length of the original selection and may be only one-fourth as long.

A précis gives only the "heart" of a passage. It omits repetition and such details as examples, illustrations, and adjectives unless they are of unusual importance.

A précis is written entirely in the words of the person writing it, not in the words of the original selection. Avoid the temptation to lift long phrases and whole sentences from the original.

A précis is written from the point of view of the author whose work is being summarized. Do not begin with such expressions as "This author says" or "The paragraph means." Begin as though you were summarizing your own writing.

In writing a précis proceed as follows

Read carefully, sentence by sentence, the passage to be summarized. Try to grasp the writer's main point. Spotting the topic sentence will help. Look up in the dictionary any words whose meaning is not absolutely clear. As you read, take brief notes to be used in your writing.

When you have finally decided what the author's main point is, write it out in your own words. Do not use the wording of the original except for certain key words which you may find indispensable. If you cannot translate the idea into language of your own, you do not understand them very well. Be especially careful not to rely too much on the topic sentence. Do not add any opinions or ideas of your own

Revise your writing until you are sure that you have given an accurate summary.

Usually you will find your précis is too long, if it is more than one-third the length of the original. Continue your revision until you have reduced the précis to the proper length. For the purpose of this class your précis should be no longer than 1 typed double spaced page with 1” margins (approx. 200 – 250 words).

Example

Original text

At a typical football match we are likely to see players committing deliberate fouls, often behind the referee's back. They might try to take a throw-in or a free kick from an incorrect but more advantageous positions in defiance of the clearly stated rules of the game. They sometimes challenge the rulings of the referee or linesmen in an offensive way which often deserves exemplary punishment or even sending off. No wonder spectators fight amongst themselves, damage stadiums, or take the law into their own hands by invading the pitch in the hope of affecting the outcome of the match.' [100 words]

Summary

Unsportsmanlike like behavior by footballers may cause hooliganism among spectators. [9 words]

What To Do

Mrs. Johnson, a strong black woman living on her southern farm with her younger daughter, Maggie, is waiting for a visit by her elder daughter, Dee. Dee is returning from her home in the city, and the mother has cleaned and swept the house and yard in order to make a good impression.

What to avoid

Walker opens the story by building up the contrast that will soon be made apparent. Her narrator, Mrs. Johnson, is a plain, down-to-earth woman who has worked hard all her life and whose basic value is her home and possessions. The contrast is her daughter Dee, whose visit she is waiting for. Dee has left home and lives a sophisticated life in the city. Mrs. Johnson takes pride in her home, while Dee will regard the home and her mother's belongings as being of no more use than to be put on display.

In what to avoid the paragraph starts with a topic sentence, to which the sentences that follow adhere. Such writing is commendable elsewhere, but not in a précis. The other paragraph is better writing as a précis, for it presents a selection of details only as they appear in the story, without introductory sentences. In the story there are no such introductions.

Sentences: Because a précis should be concise and factual, it is tempting to write sentences that are like short bursts of machine-gun fire. Sentences of this kind are often called "choppy," or "bumpy." Here is an example of choppy sentences:

Dee comes in a car. She is dressed flamboyantly. She is with a strange man. He is short and bearded. She greets her mother and sister in foreign phrases. The man does, too. she immediately begins taking pictures. She snaps her mother with her sister in the background. she also takes pictures of wandering cows. She makes sure to get the house in all the shots. She kisses her mother the, on the forehead

An entire essay consisting of sentences like these might make readers feel as though they have been machine-gunned. Although you should include details, you also need to shape and organize your sentences. Here is a more acceptable set of sentences revised to contain the same information:

When Dee comes, she is flamboyantly dressed, and she gets out of the car with a strange, short, and bearded man. Both Dee and the man greet Mrs. Johnson and Maggie in foreign phrases. Before embracing her mother, Dee gets her Polaroid camera and takes pictures of her mother, her sister, and wandering cows, taking care to include the house in all her shots. Only then does she kiss her mother, and then only on the forehead.

This revision blends the shorter sentences together while still attempting to cover the essential details from the story. They phrase "only then" beginning the last sentence gets at Dee's ridiculous behavior without calling it ridiculous.