Brevity
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" Orwell suggests that you do the following:[1]
- 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.
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. When writing for digital media, a dictionary and thesaurus are good to have close at hand.[2].
References
- Carrol, Brian. (2010). "[1]". New York: Routledge. Retrieved 28 March 2013.