“I have already made this paper too long, for which I must crave pardon, not having now time to make it shorter.” — attributed to Benjamin Franklin.
A pithier version of this quotation is sometimes attributed to Mark Twain:
“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
While reading concert reports, I sometimes think of this. ;-)
One goal of editing is to eliminate unnecessary words that interfere with your reader’s comprehension of your points. A longer paper is not always a better paper, and excessive length may mean that you did not edit carefully. On many college papers you should work to make your writing clear and concise. Too many words (yeah, I do it, too) obscures your good points and reduces the quality of your writing.
Speaking of the avoidance of “too many words,” this is a useful article.
Dan Mitchell 