Mark Twain on Keeping it Short
Here’s the quote I like to use to remind me to try and keep my writing short:
“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” — MARK TWAIN
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3 Responses to “Mark Twain on Keeping it Short”
By Tami Parrington on Jul 10, 2008 | Reply
LOL You sure accomplished it in this post! Up
Love your blog.
By Will Bontrager on Jul 11, 2008 | Reply
Yes, it’s good to have reminders that long, drawn out copy, even though it may be natural for some writers to say the same thing in different words or to compare the idea with related ones, not necessarily so all readers will understand the concept, although the author may be under that self-delusion, but simply because the author gets satisfaction from reading the words back and admiring the creative phrases.
The master is right. To boil it down to short and understandable takes work, and thought, and the ability to see things from readers’ perspectives, and, well, I’ll quit that right now.
Some sayings resonate.
A phrase I keep on my desktop is, “emotionally significant imagery,” as a reminder of one thing it takes to engage a reader of web page copy. It’s a gem I found in Paul Myers’ TalkBiz News.
Will
By Wordpreneur on Jul 12, 2008 | Reply
Hi William, long time no chat!
The first time I even noticed this type of “keep it short” advice from top authors was when Stephen King said it in a piece he wrote for one of those writer’s guides or directories. Thought it was funny, since the guy didn’t seem to follow his own advice.
ees