Brevity as a result of using the exact word to convey the exact thought or message? A goal I continually aspire to.

If I had to pick one writing goal that I continually aspire toward it’s being more “succinct.” I especially appreciate brevity in the online environment.

I must admit that I still have a long way to go to get to Brevity.

Slade

For those of you who haven’t already seen Six Word Memoirs, you’ll enjoy: http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/

I find the Hemingway story on that page fascinating because of its impact. At the same time I wonder: how many people died? Nobody? The baby? The mother giving birth? The expecting parents? I apologize for being morbid, but it seems like that six-word story could be the beginning of so many different Lifetime Channel movies.

Seems to me that brevity only leads to clarity with sufficient shared context. I didn’t understand that Tom was referring to writing instead of conversation, so I replied here. My ex and I didn’t understand where each other’s emails were coming from (e.g., how much disgust versus how much love were in them) so we’re exes. And if I may presume: Tom wasn’t familiar with the context of Chuang Tzu/Zhuangzi’s work, so Fawn’s quotation appeared unclear.

(Amazing how dead guys from China can change their name

Peter – for many years, my mother nagged me that the authors of “DOS for Dummies” and “PCs for Dummies” made millions in royalties in spite of the manuals that came with the computer for free. People – including my parents – didn’t buy the books because they were wordy; they bought them because they felt understood by the authors, and learned more that way. Please consider that understanding your audience (“shared context”) and writing for them may be more important than length.

Oh yeah – Mom stopped nagging me when she figured out that I was one of those geeks who preferred manuals to “Dummies” computer books. De gustibus non est disputandum? Guess I prefer brevity for some things…

Peter I agree with your assessment on the value of your books. If the writing is concise and I trust the content I appreciate
brevity because it gets to the point quickly.

Robin cute.

Laurie don’t get me started on common sense and traditional education. Understanding where these practices originate is a challenge.

Barbara here here!

Yes, less is more.

Barbara Swaffords last blog post..Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 8 – The Future of Blogging

@ Robin- very nice. :O)

Robins last blog post..This Blogging Life!

Brevity is an art and few of us take the time to perfect it.

We tend to value books by their length rather than their impact. So much of what’s communitated is more time-consuming than valuable.

I am currently writing two books and I feel the pressure to lengthen them. After consideing your article I will focus on shortening them. One is only 16 pages and perhaps long enough. I think I’ll charge extra for the all the time that brevity will save the reader!

Cheers,

Peter

Fawn brevity leads to clarity. Sorry I must be dense today. I’m sure Mr. Tzu is a profound philosopher but I’m not getting it and I read it five times. Perhaps he needed another line to communicate?

Clem a reply is unnecessary except to say thanks for commenting.