Redundancies

There are a lot of redundancies in writing. It exists on several levels and occurs for a number of reasons, but few, if any, of them are worth keeping.

On the smallest level, redundancies start occurring in phrases. Some of our common phrases, like 'null and void', 'cease and desist', and 'unexpected surprise' are all guilty of redundancy. Sentences are also very common. There are not common sentences the way we have common phrases, but whenever you see sentences that keep repeating the information with different words, that's redundancy to the letter. Redundancies may also exist in paragraphs, but one would hope that those would be caught easily. If they existed in any level larger than that, the writer either needs to be smacked very hard or taken out behind the shed and put out of his or her misery.

Regardless of the level, I've found redundancies exist for one of three reasons. The first is for emphasis. When you focus on a single point by using several words that all have the same meaning (like saying 'single point'), it shows that you really care about that point, that the point itself is important (as opposed to things that are affecting that point). The next reason is that the author just doesn't know what to say next. A paragraph with only two sentences is too short, but if thre is nothing else to say, the easiest thing to do is just repeat yourself until it is big enough. The third reason is that the author has multiple ideas of how to say something and can't decide which one they like more. If you have non space limits and you can't pick an option, then they just pick both.

Redundancy is one of the problems I still have. I think it comes from my oral writing style. Certain redundancies are very effective, if not downright crucial, to giving a speech. But when a person has those words in front of them and has the luxury of taking their time and rereading whenever they want, it is more effective to be concise than it is to be redundant. Whatever the reason, you are usually better off using fewer words than more. When writers give the advice to cut out unnecessary words, redundancies are the best place to start chopping.