I not only overthink, but I write long essays that could be condensed into a single sentence or two. And like, I can’t help it because I try to be precise and “professional” about it, but even then, it sounds silly.
Yesterday at work, where there aren’t many of us on duty, I tried to set someone up on the gaming computers and couldn’t find a mouse (which I later found) and another mouse wasn’t working. I asked the supervisor (she isn’t mine, but was the only one there who overlooked all of us) and she told me to write an incident report so my managers could send a ticket to our tech support. And I’m like, “Why do I have to fill an incident report on a mouse?” because honestly, I can just tell my supervisors on Monday about it. But whatever, I did it anyway. And when I told my family, they laughed at how silly it was—which, I agree, it’s silly—but it got me thinking: the report I wrote was kind of long. Like it’s a hefty paragraph. But I tried to be as professional as possible about it and precise.
The writer in me took over and I just couldn’t stop. And so many people make fun of me for writing textbook-level things that could’ve been said in a smaller format. I get it. But it’s just not how my mind works, and I hate it sometimes.
Looks like you told them exactly what you’d say to your supervisor if you were talking face to face. We do tend to say more and talk longer when we’re talking in person. I doubt they’ll mind the report, though. I wouldn’t worry about it. ( -.-)\(^◡^ )
I see the writerly words in there. “crevice” “Puzzled, I asked Eve” “I grabbed it, used it for the computer with a missing mouse”. And the mystery continues! The case of the missing mouse. I’m honestly intrigued XD
On a serious note, I think it’s better to be thorough than too brief.
If it’s too brief, they would have a lot of questions for you and there might be a lot of confusion. If it’s thorough, likely they will be able to sort the problem without having to ask you too many questions. Probably get the issue sorted out faster even.
The writer side of me took over, and so did the editor in me because it used to be “crack,” but I changed it to sound better.
My co-worker was like, “Are you writing an essay?” because she heard the keys going at it, and I felt so embarrassed, especially after telling her I was writing an incident report because I just kept going.
there’s nothing wrong with being wordy! although if “professionalism” is your goal then it’s actually more professional to be concise.
I run into this problem writing professional correspondence too, sometimes. Anxiety and insecurity play a big role in the need to overexplain things. And of course ye olde writerly urges. But ironically, overexplaining like this actually makes what you’re trying to communicate way less clear, because you’re adding in a lot of “noise” that distracts the other person from your actual message.
And like, I can’t help it because I try to be precise and “professional” about it, but even then, it sounds silly.
professional 
And so many people make fun of me for writing textbook-level things that could’ve been said in a smaller format. I get it. But it’s just not how my mind works, and I hate it sometimes.
“Puzzled, I asked Eve” “I grabbed it, used it for the computer with a missing mouse”. And the mystery continues! The case of the missing mouse. I’m honestly intrigued XD
