Brevity: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 08:33, 3 May 2013

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Brevity relies on focusing your thoughts.

As one of the foundational writing skills, Brevity is essential for all writing. It forces the writer to be more intentional with their words and keeps readers from having to read through chunks of unneeded text.

Writing for Brevity

When writing for brevity, try to avoid "humbug and general vagueness"^[1]. Orwell suggests that you do the following:

Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use a foreign phrase, scientific word or jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

Writers should always be brief, precise, and direct. When writing a word it should mean exactly what it intends, no more and no less. Always use the precise word that your writing requires. When writing for digital media, have a dictionary and thesaurus close at hand ^[2].

Notes

↑ Carroll, 14
↑ Carroll, 8

References

Carrol, Brian. (2010).Writing for Digital Media. New York: Routledge. Retrieved 28 March 2013.

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+[[Blog_Writing_for_College_Students|Home]]
-'''Brevity''' is essential for all writing. It forces the writer to be more intentional with their words and keeps readers from having to read through chunks of unneeded text. '''Brevity''' according to Webster "is the quality of being brief: such as the use of few words to say something".
+[[File:developingbrief.jpg|thumb|upright=2| Brevity relies on focusing your thoughts.]]
+As one of the [[Foundational_Writing_Skills#Brief_and_Concise|foundational writing skills]], Brevity is essential for all writing. It forces the writer to be more intentional with their words and keeps readers from having to read through chunks of unneeded text.
 === Writing for Brevity ===
-When writing for brevity and avoiding "humbug and general vagueness" Orwell suggests that you do the following <ref>Carroll, 14</ref>:
+When writing for brevity, try to avoid "humbug and general vagueness"<ref>Carroll, 14</ref>. Orwell suggests that you do the following:
 # Never use a long word where a short one will do.
 # If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
-# Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
+# Never use a foreign phrase, scientific word or jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
+Writers should always be brief, precise, and direct. When writing a word it should mean exactly what it intends, no more and no less. Always use the precise word that your writing requires. When writing for digital media, have a dictionary and thesaurus close at hand <ref>Carroll, 8</ref>.
-Writers should always be brief, precise and direct. When writing a word it should mean exactly what it says it means, no more and no less. Always use the precise word that your writing requires. A dictionary and thesaurus should always be close especially when writing for digital media<ref>Carroll, 8</ref>:.
+== Notes==
+<references/>
 ==References==
-#Carrol, Brian. (2010). ''"[http://www.scribd.com/doc/64429015/Writing-for-Digital-Media Writing for Digital Media]"''. New York: Routledge. Retrieved  28 March 2013.
+#Carrol, Brian. (2010).[http://bookmoving.com/book/writing-digital-media_3430.html ''Writing for Digital Media'']. New York: Routledge. Retrieved  28 March 2013.
+==See Also==
+*[[Foundational Writing Skills|Foundational Writing Skills]]
+*[[Scan-ability|Scan-ability]]
+*[[Inverted Pyramid|Inverted Pyramid]]
+*[[Proofreading|Proofreading]]
+[[Category:New Media]]