Read the sample slowly. Reduce phrases to the fewest number of words that retain the same meaning or delete phrases all together. Don't use more words than are needed to express a thought. Wordy phrases hamper the flow of writing. For example, "an adequate number of" is a wordy phrase. This phrase can be replaced with "enough." Another example is "at this point in time." This phrase can be replaced with "now" or "today." Consult a style guide like "The Elements of Style" for common wordy phrases. This example illustrates an unneeded phrase: Many jobless people, who have no place to work, seek unemployment benefits. The phrase "who have no place to work" is redundant and should be deleted.
Look for passive constructions and change to active ones. A passive sentence makes the object of the action the subject. This type of sentence always uses a form of the verb "be" plus the past participle of a verb. For example, "The city had been destroyed by the earthquake." This sentence can be revised to "The earthquake destroyed the city." Watch for passive sentences that start with "there are" and "there were." Change these sentences to active ones. "There was a dog crossing the road" becomes "A dog crossed the road."
Look for nouns being used as verbs. For example, "A friend fanned me on a website." "Fanned" is the noun "fan" used as a verb. Reword the sentence to "A friend became my fan on a website." For the sentence "The company incentivized its employees," "incentivized" is an example of using the noun "incentive" as a verb. The revison is "The company offered incentives to its employees."
Choose more specific words to increase clarity. Look at each noun in every sentence. For example, replace "tree" with "willow" or replace "dog" with "beagle." Also consider each verb in every sentence. For example, replace "ran" with "dashed" or "sat" with "reclined." Use a thesaurus to assist with word choice. A thesaurus is a collection of synonyms and antonyms. Some thesauruses are in dictionary form. Some are classified by word meaning. Use the index in the back of this kind of thesaurus to find the page where your word appears. Thesaurus software is available from on-line sources. Simply type in the word into a search box and press "return." The program will offer synonyms and in some cases antonyms.
A precise adjective adds clarity to writing. Adjectives are like salt in writing. If there are no adjectives, the writing is bland. If there are too many adjectives, the writing has too much "salt." Add a few adjectives to the writing sample if it has none. If adjectives abound, reduce the number. For example, "The drippy, tasty, yummy ice cream fell on the hot, steamy, shiny sidewalk." Revise to "The drippy ice cream fell on the sidewalk." It is also important to delete imprecise adjectives such as "really," "very," and "totally." For example, "The man was really very fat." Revise to "The man was obese."