Wordy?

Some sentences don't have enough words. On the other hand, some sentences have surplus, extra and unnecessary words.

Here is an example: When reading seminary textbooks and articles, one discovers that many times the author, whoever he or she may be, uses needless clauses and modifiers, that is, descriptive and parenthetical words and phrases, to try to communicate with you the reader, perhaps thinking that such a tactic sounds more sophisticated or academic or maybe just to see if you can plow through all the verbiage to get to the point they may (or may not) be making.

WHEW! Try to read that without taking a breath.

The written world of theological and biblical studies is full of long, run-on, dense and hard-to-read texts. When reading them, do your best to skim and scan for the main point. You can't change the authors you are assigned to read, or their enabling editors.

When YOU write, it is not an asset to be wordy. You can be clear, and have a precise point to each sentence and paragraph. You can communicate with a variety of sentences, changing the length and the structure to suit the flow of your argument. Your professor will thank you, and you will become, through practice, a fluid writer.