An orphan is a similar unwanted word or short group of words that appears at the top of a page. When dealing with page limits, a great trick to gaining an entire line is attacking paragraphs with вЂњdangling words,вЂќ also known as widows or orphans.ДЄ widow is a lone word or short group of words that appears at the bottom of a paragraph, column, or page.

Target Paragraphs with Widows and Orphans Revised: The cells migrate faster when treated with the drug. Original: It has been reported that the cells migrate faster when treated with the drug. Sometimes writers like to get a head start on a sentence by using phrases such as вЂњthere are,вЂќ вЂњit is,вЂќ and вЂњthe fact that.вЂќ These phrases can be rewritten to shorten your text and make your writing more direct and concise. Patients treated with drug Y had no symptoms after 7 days. Revised: Patients treated with drug X had no symptoms after 3 days. Original: Patients treated with drug X had no symptoms after 3 days, and patients treated with drug Y had no symptoms after 7 days. Eliminate ConjunctionsД¬onjunctions ( e.g., and, or, but, however) connect two independent statements that can often be rewritten as two separate sentences. Revised: We discovered that the mutated protein affected heart function. Original: Indeed, we discovered that the mutated protein affected heart function. But some transitions ( e.g., indeed, then, furthermore) can be deleted with ease. Transitions can help maintain the flow of your writing-and make your readerвЂ™s job easy. Passive: The samples were collected by the researcher.ДЄctive: The researcher collected the samples. And active voice makes your writing clearer and more compelling, helping you tell a powerful story. Revised: We studied whether using the drug would help improve health.ДЄctive voice uses less words than passive voice. Original: We investigated whether utilizing the drug would facilitate improvements in health. Instead of investigate, facilitate, or utilize, simply use study, help, or use. Resist the temptation to use long words where short ones will do. Revised: The treatment lasted for four days, and the drug improved the health of patients. Original: The entire treatment lasted for four days, and the drug greatly improved the health of patients. Omit unnecessary adverbs and adjectives to make your writing stronger and more concise. Most adverbs and adjectives weaken strong verbs and nouns, which weaken the power of your writing. Remove Adverbs and AdjectivesДЄdverbs modify verbs, and adjectives modify nouns. Revised: We found cells expressing the mutated protein migrated across the barrier faster than wild-type cells. Original: We found that cells that express the mutated protein migrate across the barrier faster than wild-type cells. Similarly, the word вЂњthatвЂќ is often overused in writing and can be deleted with ease. Revised: The clarity of your writing depends on both content and style. Original: The clarity of your writing depends on both the content and the style. You can often omit the word вЂњtheвЂќ from your text without losing any meaning. Here are a few simple tricks you can use to quickly tighten your text and meet the limit. When you have little time to spare, small changes to your text can add up to the space you need.

But good writing is a craft that cannot be mastered within a short window before a deadline. Writing simply is the key to clear and concise content.

This process can be even more stressful when youвЂ™re under pressure to meet a deadline just hours away. One of the most agonizing parts of academic writing is cutting down your hard-won draft to meet a page, word, or character limit.

How to insert word count in word 2010