Guide for Writing Concisely

[Ed]

Check it out - great resource!
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/printable/635/

[melissan]

A very great resource, and writing precisely is what should be the goal of most writers. Unfortunately, some of us try to write an abundance of content on a variety of interesting topics that we don't necessarily have any idea about and therefore, a writer that is trying to reach a specific number of words for the word count that is listed on a request may become needlessly wordy in their quest to provide content that has not been researched.

Real content has real information, not fluff. I succumb to fluff sometimes because it sells, but to be a better writer, I am focusing more on content rich articles for now.

[Elizabeth Ann West]

I think it depends on the audience. Sometimes very academic information, or topics that are not particularly enjoyable to read about benefit from a certain amount of "fluff." I've read very concise scientific articles etc, and halfway through I'm ready to bore out my eyes from information overload. I wouldn't generalize that all of us here put too much fluff in to make word counts either. Most of us here are professionals, and I know I for one have no problem communicating to a client if a word count is not appropriate for the scope of an article.

Not only that, but is important to include a conclusion in articles. I see many articles that just end out there on the internet, without a complete conclusion. This drives me nuts as a reader....

Always Smiling,
Elizabeth Ann West

[Celeste Stewart]

I think it's a great exercise to tailor an article to an exact word count. For example, print magazines and newspapers only have so much space and they specify the word count in their guidelines. If your article is too short or too long, it's not considered - or if it is, it will be edited to fit which often means random paragraph chopping. Providing the right amount of information at the target length without going over or underboard on language is an art.

Unfortunately, what Melissa says is true. Many of us get paid by the word, so cutting extra words essentially cuts into our pay. A writer who turns in a 500-word article for ten cents per word gets paid less than the writer that turns in a 700-word article at ten cents per word. However, the writer who edited their article down to 500 words may have put in extra time to make their article concise.

I bet that each of us could easily cut out 20-30% of our words if we tried and our articles would be tighter and easier to understand as a result. My old critique group regularly subbed to magazines (such as Highlights for Children) that had strict word counts like 300 words or less. We would cut and cut and then submit the article to the group for more cutting and still find plenty of useless words. Sometimes, we'd cut so many useless words that we'd have room to add more information.

Here, I'll edit the above paragraph (original had 90 words, below has 52):
I bet that each writer could trim their words by 20-30%, resulting in tighter and easier-to-understand articles. My old critique group regularly submitted articles intended for magazines with strict 300-word requirements. Before submitting, we searched our articles for useless words. Sometimes, we'd cut so many that we'd have room for more information.

(I bet I could go through that paragraph again and trim even more, but I won't bore you with that.)

This week,I'm going to work on conciseness because I value it but have been lazy in my own Web writing.

[melissan]

I did not mean to insult any writers. If I have, I apologize. I was only pointing out that it is easy to say what you mean with more words than necessary. Being paid by the word makes us highly susceptible to this practice.

On the other side, I have been approached a number of times for articles (not on this site) and I've been asked to write articles for less than $5 each - a few times even $1 per 500 word article. I would make more with a tin cup on the streetcorner.

Good luck everyone and I hope this month brings strong content, incredible inspiration, and wealthy buyers.

[Celeste Stewart]

I doubt anyone's offended by your post Melissa. I sure wasn't. Gosh, if anyone's offended by your post, they'll definitely be offended by my suggestion that we all could probably cut 20-30% of our words!

The thing with writing is that as writers, we're never "really" done. But we also must be realistic. It's not practical to put a $10-$20 article through countless revisions. On the other hand, spending the time to improve in general isn't a bad thing. I like how Ed gives us food for thought. If we master, or at least improve in, one or two areas a month, imagine how much better our writing will be by the end of the year.

[melissan]

I get lazy as a writer and I think that if I'm bored writing an article, it is likely boring to read. I'm trying to be more creative, yet concise, in order to provide content not only worth reading, but worth paying money for. I am still wrapping my brain around the concept that people pay me to write for them. I know that we all have our skills, and I don't belittle the writing process, I just feel like a kid in a candy store because people pay me for doing what comes naturally. Amazing.

[Celeste Stewart]

I agree: ". . . if I'm bored writing an article, it is likely boring to read."

That's clue number one to try for a fresh perspective or time away from the content (not that we always have the luxury).

Even the most boring of topics have merit; somewhere, somehow, there's gotta be something interesting we can dig up. Hmmn, what's interesting about, say, sea slugs? I bet we could find a way to make sea slugs interesting if we really wanted to. Whether it's sea slug facts, trivia, humor, language, or a unique perspective, I believe that it's entirely possible to make sea slugs absolutely riveting (or at least irresistibly charming).

For example, did you know that there is actually an Internet forum dedicated to the lowly sea slug? It's true! *Celeste goes off on yet another tangent . . .

. . . okay, back I go to Ed's original link. I'm going to try this method and see how it compares to my own personal word-cutting technique. Hope we all have a great week!

[Ed]

One thing that caught my eye with this page was the examples used. Even without cutting too many words, one can still be more concise.

Consider:

People are being more environmentally conscious.

Today, people ARE more environmentally conscious.


When a cat is flipping his tale, it could mean he is irritated.

When a cat FLIPS his tale, it could mean he is irritated.


People these days don't care about important things.

Modern citizens don't have priorities.


If I ever discover that people are using less sophisticated/professional ways of saying something for the sake of word count (rather than because they need more practice/are still developing their writing skills), my brain will simply short circuit.

[Ed]

And EAW made an excellent point: too many articles lack conclusions. Our guidelines require conclusions, but I have a difficult time getting people to include even basic introductions at times.

[Celeste Stewart]

Don't short circuit on us just yet :)

When I say writing for a target word count is a good exercise, I'm not advocating sloppy writing. I'm advocating tight writing. Say the word count is 500 words and the first draft is 700 words, getting the word count down to 500 should be fairly easy just based on eliminating unnecessary words or redundant phrases. If the first draft comes in at 300 words, then more information is needed. I wouldn't go through and add unnecessary words or redundant phrases - Yikes! that would make my head explode too! Instead, I'd look for areas where I could expand the topic or provide more information. The key is to know what constraints (such as word count) affect your article before you start writing and make every word count.

[Ed]

Right, Celeste, I understand. Unfortunately, in the forums, I'm usually preaching to the choir. Many who could benefit most from following suggestions found in the forums aren't even nameless lurkers.

I get a lot of submissions that have words left out that are necessary for clarity, and yet those same authors will take the long way around to say something that could be succinctly put. What does this result from? Does anyone know?

[Celeste Stewart]

Even those of us in the choir benefit from these discussions. We may already know these things but often get comfortable doing what we're doing. Your gentle reminders keep us in line, so keep on preaching.

Why writers add a bunch of words is beyond me. I had a co-worker that I'd occasionally collaborate with. For example, I'd write the company training manual and run it by her as she was the office manager and her input was important. It drove me crazy though because she would go through and add phrases such as "In regards to as to whether." She also liked to change the word "use" to "utilize." If I had a sentence such as "Don't use the office phone for personal calls" she'd change it to "The office telephone shall not be utilized for personal and/or otherwise non-business related correspondences." Maybe she thought the language should be more formal? Who knows? But it drove me crazy.

[Ed]

Hahah. I've had experiences like that. May be even guilty as charged in certain circumstances.

I guess what I'd like to know is . . do authors just not proofread? Is there some way I can explain CONCISELY - hey, you need to make sure that all of your sentences make sense, contain all the words necessary for clarity, and are proofread for a certain level of sophistication (see examples I gave above). I understand (I will say it again), that writers are at different levels of development . . . but how do I help them?

[Celeste Stewart]

It's no easy task, especially as some writers aren't open to constructive criticism and take rejection notices as personal attacks. Most of us on the forum are here to continue learning and mastering the art of writing (like you say you are preaching to the choir). I'd keep pointing writers to the forum and your blog. Maybe we can start a constructive criticism thread where writers can post troublesome sentences or paragraphs for critique. Maybe have separate topics such as: clarity, concisness, word choice, punctuation, grammar

Seeing examples, posting constructive criticism, and figuring out what's wrong with a particular excerpt might help.