Essay woes...

Why do I always seem to manage to use 10 words to say something when 1 or 2 would probably do the job just as well?!! I've just finished a 1st draft of an essay a few days later than planned. It has been very interesting and challenging reading and writing about the characteristics of, and the challenges facing, Britain's Muslim community. The problem is I've got to write it in an absolute maximum of 3000 words - my draft has come out at 4,700! I always seem to have problems keeping to the imposed word limits, but even by my standards this one is bad - it's going to be a major job to edit and tidy it up. Ah well - at midnight on a Friday night that worry is for another time.