Writing Less Is Better (And Harder) Than Writing More
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.
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Caroline said,
Wrote on November 24, 2008 @ 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.
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Dan Z. said,
Wrote on November 24, 2008 @ 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.
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Creer un site said,
Wrote on November 24, 2008 @ 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…
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Brian Armstrong reply on November 25th, 2008 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.
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Matt Thomas said,
Wrote on November 26, 2008 @ 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.
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Creer un site said,
Wrote on December 3, 2008 @ 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
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Meeting With Self-made Millionaire Erica Douglass said,
Wrote on December 31, 2008 @ 6:50 pm
[...] are willing to put in the time and effort to become great. This is similar to a great book I read a little while back, Seth Godin’s The Dip, which I also highly [...]