Wordiness to Avoid

Don't be unnecessarily wordy. When the meaning is obvious, don't say it.

Unnecessary wordiness
Ex: I was driving my car on the road. Suddenly my passenger next to me got sick.
                               what & where else?                     passenger is already in the car
Better
I was driving, and suddenly my passenger got sick

Unnecessary wordiness
In conclusion, I will summarize how dogs make good pets.
       Don't advertise just say it.        
   Better
Dogs make good pets.

In my opinion

In the present day and age

The world that we live in today

In my honest opinion

I honestly think

I guess what I'm saying

In my life

In the real world

What I am trying to say

At this time

We as people

As I said earlier

In this society

We as students

Food to eat on the table

In this crazy world

In this changing world

Honestly

In this crazy world we live

Its purpose and aim

Due to the fact

In the real world

Personally, I think

I think

examples
Wordy: In my opinion, US made cars are better than imports.
Better: US made cars are better than imports

Wordy: Every piece of information that is learned helps. 
Better: Every piece of information helps.

Wordy: In order to be a productive human being in this lifetime work hard.
Better: To be productive work hard

Wordy: We as students believe and are interested in furthering our education to get ahead in life.
Better: Students are interested in getting ahead.

 
Trite Expressions to avoid
Trite = stale, corny, overused, dull, ordinary, repetitious, tedious etc. 

If you want to be an interesting writer, avoid using these & similar terms
We have all heard them many times before. Be original to be interesting.
 

add insult to injury
better late than never
cool, calm, and collected
crushing blow
cut as a button
easier said than done
face the music
few and far between
green with envy
hard as a rock

hard header
heavy as lead
hit the nail on the head
hour of need
moving experience
a needle in a haystack
point of pride
ripe old age
rude awakening
sadder but wiser

shoulder the burden
shoulder to cry on
sneaky suspicion
stand in awe
stand in my way
strong as an ox
thin as a rail
tried but true
wise old owl

Practice Exercise:    Eliminate unnecessary words, or rewrite to make less wordy.

1. The reason I am happy is because today is my birthday.
2. In my opinion, I feel television is playing an important role in our modern society.
3. Through the years bikes have been improved and made better.
4. Many violent films are rated R because of their violence.
5. Rembrandt, he was the greatest art painter of all time.
6. Do not hold or depress the tongue down.
7. If that lamp has no use, no purposes, and no reason for being, then please remove it from the room.
8. When I practiced my speech, some of the contents of my speech were twisted, which caused distortion  in it's development.
9. May dog Champ can catch a ball in his mouth and return it back to you.
10. Where is the registrar's office at?
11. I always obey my feeling and emotions.
12. The significance of the title "The Abyss,"  is very important.