Writing Less Is Better (And Harder) Than Writing More

In: Education By: Brian Armstrong

24 Nov 2008

This weekend I read Skinny Bitch (don’t recommend it) and The Dip (highly recommend it).

Both were short, tiny little books with big type. A few years ago I would have looked down on these books because I figured the author was trying sell a whole book with half the material.

I don’t see it that way now because I know it is harder and more valuable to be concise.

In fact, the first time I wrote that last sentence, I wrote it as: “But now I don’t see it that way at all, because I know it is harder and often much more valuable to say something in fewer words.”

Being concise gets your message across more powerfully and memorably. It’s respectful of other people’s time. And it often requires you to write just as much as a long winded version – except you take out all of the crap and leave only your best material behind.

I like (and am much more likely to read) short blog posts and short emails. I believe it was Ben Franklin (?) who once apologized for writing such a long letter – he did not have the time to choose his words carefully and write a short one.

After writing an email today, see what can be taken out and still convey your message. It will make your writing better.

Be Sociable, Share!

Tags: concise, writing

9 Responses

Caroline

November 24th, 2008 at 5:36 am

I agree it can be difficult to concentrate your writing so that it has more impact and less filler. One method I use is to re-read and either cut out sentences or combine several sentences into one.

Dan Z.

November 24th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

If you are serious about whittling down your words to their essence, definitely take a look at William Zinsser’s “On Writing Well.” It’s almost as enjoyable to read as it is helpful — something that can’t be said of most writing/grammar books.

Creer un site

November 24th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

I did not like ‘the dip’ so much, I thought the concept can be so much concise. perhaps 5 pages, that’s all

it’s over and over the same concept, with a lot of examples which are not really necessary…

Brian Armstrong

November 25th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

Good point, it could have been ever shorter…I know that quitting certain projects has been very hard for me so it was a message I needed to hear.

Matt Thomas

November 26th, 2008 at 10:24 pm

I completely agree with you. Unfortunately I tend to write longer pieces at times and I find that those that I edit down, the message is a lot clearer and is more easily delivered to the reader. It may be harder to edit down, but it is well worth it.

Creer un site

December 3rd, 2008 at 11:37 am

unfortunatly, for the blogs, search engines prefer quantity over quality, and at the beginning, reaching good positions in the SERPs would be a nightmare with 3 lines post

BillinDetroit

January 20th, 2009 at 3:06 pm

My best posts start out in the 3,000 to 5,000 word range. Then I go through and pitch roughly half. I re-write whats left so that it makes sense and once again pitch half.

One, perhaps two, more re-writes and it’s about as good as I can make it.

Then I let it rest a few days, cut another 1/3 to 1/4 and it’s good to go.

I probably pare 5,000 words to get down to 1,500 … but they are a -good- 1,500.

Brian Armstrong

January 20th, 2009 at 4:44 pm

Wow…that’s dedication, and I don’t doubt you’re right. I usually don’t have the time for that but I’m sure my posts would be better if I did.

There was a guy I went to school with who did that. He’d get A’s on every paper and I found out how one time. For a 10 page paper he’d write 20 pages and then cut stuff out until it was down to 10. Thanks!

Breaking Free

Writing Less Is Better (And Harder) Than Writing More

9 Responses

Leave A Comment

About this blog

Most Popular Posts

You should follow me on Twitter here.