1.6 SAT Writing - Wordiness

Wordiness: By far, wordiness is the most common error that you will find within improving sentence error questions.  Some have a strong tendency to inflate their language with long-winded statements that dilute the strength of their language.  The SAT test makers DO NOT reward ornamentation of language.  Keep it simple.  Watch out for excessive uses of language. 

Sometimes the test maker may add just one excessive word, perhaps a pronoun like "which" or a gerund like "being" to inflate the idea.  Use Occam's Razor as the helm for guiding your ship.  Occam's Razor suggests that the simplest explanation is the best explanation when choosing among competing theories in science.  Keep the same principle on the test, namely, the simplest sequence of words is the best sequence.  If you can say the same idea using fewer words, this is the statement you should choose among the answer choices.  In fact, I have often given students this advice: if you need to guess, choose the statement with the fewest words and there is a strong likelihood that the answer you choose is the correct response.  This method is a last resort method.  You certainly want a stronger more rational approach to choosing correct answer choices, but it is something to consider if you are out of time or you are stuck in a dilemma between two choices or even among three choices.