What is verbosity?
Verbosity is padding. A verbose sentence says "due to the fact that" when "because" will do, or "in the event that" when "if" is enough. Verbosity can come from cautious hedging, from status-signaling or from simply writing faster than editing. The meaning survives, but the sentence takes longer to land.
Verbose: At this particular point in time, we would like to extend our sincere thanks for your kind patience regarding the recent delay.
Concise: Thanks for your patience with the delay.
Why does verbosity matter?
Readers skim. When every sentence costs them extra words, they skim harder and retain less, which means weaker recall of your key message. In documentation, verbose copy creates more support tickets because users miss the instruction buried in filler. Verbose copy also ages worse, because the padding ages faster than the ideas underneath.
How do you use verbosity?
Read each draft aloud and mark any sentence you stumble over, because the stumble usually lands on a verbose phrase.
Cut hedges, such as "somewhat" or "a bit of," unless the real meaning depends on the qualifier.
Set a target word count per page and delete ruthlessly when drafts run long, because the cuts almost always improve the piece.
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