Issues With "Wordiness" Anyone?

[bhuff85]

I've been an author at CC for awhile, but really started getting active with regular article writing here in the last 6 months or so. Since then, I've published and sold quite a bit of work.

Lately, I've been having a problem with an editor who constantly kicks back my articles with the reason of "wordiness". Very vague and non-specific. Naturally, I edit the articles down and take out any unnecessary phrases or wording and resubmit. Before I know it, BOOM - another rejection, and for what? "Wordiness"....

I had an article today I wrote for a Writer Pool request. Never have I had an issue with articles for this, yet I got hit with rejection and the all-illusive the "wordiness" comment. They told me to remove a couple words after a sentence. The problem, however, is that if those words were removed, the sentence just "hung" there. In fact, it read WORSE if I were to omit the other words (which, in total were 4 to 5 words).

I understand if I took a 500 word article and padded it out to 1,000 words of nonsense, but a sentence? It's just odd to me, considering that I have been writing this way here since I started and have never had an issue with articles getting accepted, nor have I had any complaints from any clients. I get that they want quality articles, and my goal is to provide exactly that. However, I also feel like the quality is being stripped when I'm getting rejected for adding some "flair" and character to the piece of content that it desperately needs.

Anyone else having issues with this? I love the site and it's been fun getting a decent flow of work through the Writer's Pool, but if the vague rejections of "wordiness" continue, I'm going to have to pack my bags (not like it matters much, but I'd hate for it to come down to that).

[Abbamay]

Hi. Sometimes if my sentences are getting a bit too long and wordy, I split them into two. If you are comfortable doing it, you could post an example or two so we can help you. There are plenty of writers here on the forum who would be happy to advise you I'm sure.

Abba May

[bhuff85]

Thanks for the reply Abba May.

One small example:

"That means you have seconds to grab their attention or else you will lose them in the blink of an eye."

I was told to remove the phrase "in the blink of an eye", as it was too "wordy". The phrase adds character and gives the concept itself more depth, emphasizing just how quickly you can lose a visitor if you don't grab their attention fast enough. To me, this boils down to nothing more than that particular editors preference. If the article sells, the quality is on point and the client is happy, isn't that what matters?

I also find it ironic that the editor typed out "fro example", rather than "for example" when they left their comment regarding the rejection.

Point blank, it is frustrating when I've had no issues here and have had plenty of success selling MANY articles, then all of a sudden I'm getting hit with the silliest rejections out of nowhere.

[evaku]

"That means you have seconds to grab their attention or else you will lose them in the blink of an eye."

To be perfectly honest I also like it better without "in the blink of an eye" on the end. Something about it doesn't read quite right to me. You've already emphasized how quick it needs to be by saying that you only have a few seconds, so I understand how one might call it wordy. Now! I hope you don't think I am being mean! It's a preference and if I wasn't looking at it so carefully I probably wouldn't notice/care, and while I may agree with the editor on this I am sorry about the experience you have been having lately. I know that it would come as a shock to me if I was suddenly getting rejected for "wordiness,"after no prior issues, and things have only been going well for me for about a month compared to your six!

I feel like they seem willing to give established writers a pass when it comes to minor things and so I am surprised that you were pinged over one sentence in the whole piece. I think that maybe they are trying to crack down on "wordiness" as they see it because it seems to be a problem with some requests lately. Maybe a customer/customers have expressed concern about getting more direct/to the point information with as few extra words as possible. I always try to edit down my wordiness but I know I can get wordy too especially when trying to fill in some word counts, so I will have to watch out for that. Good luck! I hope things change for you for the better!

[Isabelnewth]

I have had this problem too, I got an article sent back from a writers' pool request yesterday because the wording was awkward, although generally these have gone through fine. I think that in my rush to get requests through, and having got lots accepted without revision, I probably got a bit complacent....so I am almost ok with it really.

When the eds cut out my attempts to be funny or colourful, I usually agree with them on reflection, though hardly ever at first.

I think that the correction you got was harsh but fair, your phrase being a little repetitive sounding and I also think that lots of times it would have gone through fine. I have had many worse phrases than that go through!

There's a lot of luck in it as to which editor you get I think, and how busy they are, etc etc, which is unavoidable really, as it's not just proof reading they do, and it does involve subjective decisions.

I think the challenge on this particular site is to write really clearly, not colourfully, and to me that's quite a useful discipline.

[stelle]

CC sent out an email a few weeks ago asking us to tighten up our writing for these writer pool requests, so I suspect it has to do with that. I had two articles bounced back to me for clarity issues (my first since starting back again in March). And the editor was right - my articles were better after I made the changes.

As writers, it's easy to get complacent writing in a "pass or fail" environment like this one, especially if we're writing 3500 words on one keyword. In most of the freelancing world, articles come back for revision - sometimes multiple times, and sometimes with very big changes to be made. While they stung at first, I'm actually glad to get a few rejections here - I don't want to become a lazy writer, and I want to keep improving my craft. It's hard to improve without feedback, so I consider these rejections to be feedback. Of course, it's easier to feel this way now that I've been writing here for at least a few months...if I were brand new, two rejections would send me into a minor panic attack.

I have to agree with the editor about your "in the blink of an eye". It's a cliche, and you're already said "you have just seconds". If you don't want to end suddenly with "you'll lose them", maybe try something like this (well, something better than this, but just to give you an idea):

That means you have just seconds to grab their attention before they decide to move on to something else.

[bhuff85]

Appreciate all of the feedback guys!

I'll just have to remember to tighten things up a bit when it's necessary. It just has me on my toes so to speak, as I'm afraid of submitting additional work with the fear of getting hit for something small like this again. Just zaps the motivation right out of me.

[Lysis]

I got that rejection with my first article after I came back. I always get a rejection for my first 1-2 articles when I come back here. lol I haven't been here since May 2012, so I even forgot the 12pt Arial thing. I got 1 for font correction and another for wordiness.

It's hard to write to a specific word count and not get wordy. At least to me it is. I try hard not to do it, but sometimes I feel like I'm dragging it out!

Also, just a side note, I don't remember a whole lot from my 2 required English classes, but I do remember my professor saying never to write with cliches. So when I write here, I eliminate any cliche phrases from my wording. Incidentally, the rejection I got for wordiness was when I tried to add some personality. I should learn not to do that, because whenever I try, I get smacked. lol I'm a coder by trade, so I suppose the very dry, straight-to-the-point writing works for me here and not my fun speak.

[billharbin2]

I was surprised when I got the "wordiness" rejection recently. I knew this site requires perfection with grammar, etc. However, the "wordiness" seems like objectivity call on my writing style and not writing errors. I am fairly new to the site yet not new to writing and the fear of rejection and being banned from the site always sticks in the back of my mind. I realize the site makes the rules so I intend to adapt to what they want yet the fun of writing can be taken away with the wordiness rejection.

[Lysis]

Personally, my own experience is just write very straight-to-the-point to avoid the rejection. There are some clever writers here, and I posted this site's link on Google, because I feel like CC has some super creative people who deserve a shout-out.

But personally, every time I try to add what I think is all witty and creative, I get smacked down. lol It takes some creativity to do it, and some writers here have that ability. I do not, but that's cool. If you seem to have the same problem, my suggestion is to keep it simple. That's what works for me, and it's what I suggest if you keep getting that rejection.

[stelle]

my suggestion is to keep it simple.

Yep, I agree! I think that simplicity and clarity are more important than injecting "personality".