Hi guys,
This is a bit of a general question but I am currently finishing off my bio depth study, and am approx. 500 words over the word count...
Does anyone have advice on things I could do to cut it down (I have already removed almost all of the adjectives)? I'm a bit concerned that cutting down will mean losing content...
Thanks!!
Hi there! I know you posted this a while ago but just for future reference. My advice to decrease word count is using SST’s, in my school SST’s are Subject Specific Terminology. These are like fancy words used throughout a subject (e.g. for biology = polypeptide synthesis, RNA, meiosis, crossing over, Human Genome Bank etc).
My advice is to find and use words that sound scientific and sophisticated in bio, a lot of times these words encompass the entire concept/idea which will help to lower the word count.
E.G.
‘GM crops can possibly lead to humans only cultivating a single crop in a certain area’
Compare this to:
‘GM crops can possibly lead to monocultures’
In this case the SST I used was ‘monocultures’. Even though in the second sentence I’ve removed 10 words the idea I’m arguing is still the same, it’s just that I’ve used a fancier word that encompasses that entire idea of cultivating a single crop. Besides lessening the word count, SST’s also makes your responses sound more concise and sophisticated.
So I would say, go back over your response and think, is there any place where I’m explaining a concept or idea (especially since explaining can take up a couple of words). And then, is there a possible word I have or can find that conveys that exact same idea?
Hope this helps for the future!