Conciseness (or how to avoid wordiness in your writing)

LEO: Strategies for Reducing Wordiness

Strategies for eliminating wordiness
Patterns of wordiness
Omit the following from beginning of sentences: "it is," "there is," "there are," and "this"
Change "which" or "that" constructions to an "-ing" word
Omit "which" or "that" altogether
Replace passive verbs with active verbs
Change "is" or "was" to a strong verb
Replace "is," "are," "was," "were," or "have + an -ing word" to a simple present or past tense verb
Replace "should," "would," or "could" with strong verbs
Substitute strong verbs for "-tion" and "-sion" words whenever possible
Replace prepositional phrases with one-word modifiers
Combine two closely related short sentences by omitting part of one

OWL: Methods of Eliminating Wordiness

Eliminate unnecessary determiners and modifiers
Change phrases into single words
Change unnecessary that, who, and which clauses into phrases
Avoid overusing expletives at the beginning of sentences: "it is," "there are," "there was," etc.
Use active rather than passive verbs
Avoid overusing noun forms of verbs
Reword unnecessary infinitive phrases
Replace circumlocutions with direct expressions
Omit words that explain the obvious or provide excessive detail
Omit repetitive wording

Blank, K.: Wordiness List

List of words and phrases that should NOT be used in your writing. Some of the words in this list are marked DELETE, which means you should never use the words. Other words have substitutions that are more concise.

CCC: Writing Concise Sentences

Redundant words to avoid
Reducing clauses to phrases, phrases to single words
Avoiding intensifiers
Avoiding expletive constructions
Phrases to omit (list)
Eliminating cliché's and euphemisms