What do I need to do to be more concise?

English tutors seem to like the word concise a lot. It’s a direction that requires you to say more with less, which can be frustrating, and like most things with English, there is no clear-cut way to go about this. However, with practise, it can be done! It’s helpful to go back through your essays with a highlighter. Get used to looking at the mark scheme- grab a different colour for each objective and look at where there are large chunks of text that have not gained you many marks. Try rewriting your point in a couple of lines, prioritising the parts that are most important. Often, the easiest way to get rid of unnecessary content is to look at where you are integrating quotes. For example, sentences like “In Act four Scene two, when Othello is interrogating Emilia in order to find out whether Desdemona has been unfaithful after he has formed a plan with Iago to murder her, Shakespeare employs the semantic field of disguise in the interrogative ‘to fetch her fan, her gloves, her mask, nor nothing?’ in order to demonstrate the unreasonableness of jealousy, turning innocuous items into tools of deceit” are slightly clunky. This could be edited to read something like “In Act four, Scene two, Shakespeare employs the semantic field of deceit in the interrogative ‘to fetch her fan, her gloves, her mask, nor nothing?’ to represent the unreasonableness of jealousy, turning innocuous objects into tools of deceit. This shows Othello will not be swayed from his earlier resolution to murder his wife.” You still have the context of your quote, important in demonstrating knowledge of the text, but the sentence is more fluid. It’s crucial that you always make a thorough plan. This will enable you to get to know your texts, helping you prioritise which of your points are most relevant. The more you do this, the easier it becomes. Lastly, while expanding your vocabulary is always a good idea, try to avoid overcomplicating your essays. Using a long word where a short one would work better is not always the best way to show off your knowledge.