Avoid Waffling: The Importance of Writing Concisely
The art of writing concisely is not an easy one. It requires a lot of careful thinking, and most importantly, practice! However, once you master this skill it will help your reader understand what you're trying to say in less time. Writing concisely is one of the most important skills that a business owner can possess. Most people don't realize it, but being concise will save you time and increase your productivity.
Writing concisely is a habit that has to be developed. It's important for the reader, and it can also help you get your point across more effectively. If you're struggling with how to write concisely, here are some tips to keep in mind:
-Give one idea at a time
-Keep sentences short and sweet (aim for about 15 words or less) -Omit unnecessary words
There are two types of writers, those who write concisely and those who waffle. If you're the latter, here's some advice for writing more concisely:
1) Cut out any unnecessary words.
2) Don't say what is obvious from the context or from previous sentences.
3) Avoid meaningless phrases such as "it can be said that" or "in my opinion."
4) Use active voice rather than passive voice wherever possible.
5) Be specific instead of vague where appropriate.
Writing concisely is a key component to writing well. The idea that you can just write and keep adding on more words as you go along may make sense in your head, but in reality, it's not the best way to write. Concise writing forces you to be more direct with what you are saying, which will allow your readers to understand the meaning much better. It also leaves them wanting more instead of feeling like they've read too much already.
It is difficult to read through a wordy, unclear article. Articles that are written concisely will be more interesting and engaging for the reader because they know what to expect after reading only a few words.
It's amazing how many times we have to read articles, blog posts, or email messages that are full of fluff and waffle. We don't need this kind of content in our lives! If you want your readers to be engaged with your message, then it is important for you to focus on writing concisely. It might take some practice but the end result will more than makeup for the effort.
Every day, new blog posts are published that contain hundreds of words and try to cover every possible angle. The problem with this is that it's difficult for readers to actually take in all the information when they have a lot going on in their lives.
What you need to understand is that people don't want to read through your entire post, just because they're interested in one small aspect of what you've written. Instead of publishing long-winded content like this, why not break it up into smaller chunks?
This will make your work more readable and give the reader what they came for: a solution or piece of advice!
Recent Comments
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Hey
No waffling here, if I spot an article I walk away.
I got a nice compliment comment from Partha on my latest blog post I have written that it was engaging and tells a story.
Great blog post.
Thank you.
Lula
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Writing concisely is a skill that comes from practice. I'm fortunate to learn some of the ins and outs from a writer's group that I belong to. We read something we wrote; usually people listen first, and then we read it again, and they make their critiques. It is cool how much you can learn in this way. It's also a good way to get a grammar check. Sometimes more than one pair of eyes can find the errors that we missed.
This is so important for us as writers. Thanks Fran