Clarity in Writing

Today in class, we struck on something that was particularly interesting to me:  writing that is intelligent, yet not convoluted.  It is so hard sometimes to be concise in academic writing because there is the looming notion that in order to sound like a scholar, you have to write with complex verbiage.  However, we know that is not the case at all.  It is so common, though, to come across "scholarly works" that are so dense that the writer's point cannot be understood.  Why is it so refreshing to stumble upon written works that are simply and intelligently presented?  Why is this not the norm?  Or is it truly what we all strive for but fail miserably to acheive?

I can personally attest to the inclination to use "academic-sounding" language for my written assignments in school.  It's how we get by in a lot of classes, honestly.  I remember that on my first Core paper my professor commented, "Too concise," or something to that effect.  So how did I solve that "problem?"  You know it--I loaded up on the fluff...BS if you will.  What else was I supposed to do?  Most teachers have an issue with people being long-winded--they just want them to get to the point.  But no, mine was opposite.  The only thing with that (besides me participating in academic BS) is that I have trouble now trying to state my point concisely.  How do you revert to something that was labeled as wrong or problematic before?  How do you look past the page minimums and just focus on what you're trying to say?  It's all related you see--at least in my book.