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Friday, August 6, 2010

WRITING TIPS: THE SHORTER THE BETTER

Novels have chapters, articles have sections, poems have stanzas while plays have acts and scenes. Should you make them longer or shorter? Most readers love your scenes, sections and chapters shorter for they make for faster reading. You don't want to sit brooding over a piece of writing for ages, do you? Your reader wants a story or a play or an article that will move and move fast. He or she wants the flesh of your writing, not lots of fat!
What should you do then? Write short paragraphs, write short sections, write short chapters and when given a choice between using shorter or longer words, pick the shorter word if it doesn't change the meaning you wish to pass across. Have subtitles for all your sections, especially for online writing. Do not try to sound academic, the reader is more intelligent than you assume. Stick to simple words that make a lot of sense and remember, always remember, the shorter the better!

1 comment:

  1. I guess, academic people will always understand simple & less words, but less educated people will not be able to understand or will get lost with lots of academic words... Great advice!

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