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[[Blog_Writing_for_College_Students|Home]] | |||
[[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 === | === Writing for Brevity === | ||
When writing for brevity | 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. | # Never use a long word where a short one will do. | ||
# If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. | # If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. | ||
# Never use a foreign phrase, | # 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>. | |||
== Notes== | |||
<references/> | |||
==References== | |||
#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]] | |||