These all really ring true to me. I tend to be (no, really?!) longwinded and over-verbose in my writing. This is especially true in my business writing, where I tend to write very loooooong emails, presenting all the salient points and drawing clear conclusions at the end in such a way as to be both convincing and answer in advance any questions the audience might have …
Which is not an effective way to communicate, at least not by email. So I have to write what I need to write, then pare it away, reduce the verbiage, leave the essential message, leave room for questions to engage with, and make sure that I put the key point of the email at the very top of the message, not at the bottom.
Still working on that. #ddtb
Reshared post from +Dan Eastwood
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Pen Time
“I have only made this letter rather long because I have not had time to make it shorter.” — Pascal
“It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” — Mark Twain
“If you want me to talk for ten minutes, I’ll come next week. If you want me to talk for an hour I’ll come tonight.” — Woodrow Wilson
Also:
Harold Macmillan: “What are you doing, prime minister?”
Winston Churchill: “Rehearsing my impromptu witticisms.”
Its the same as making sure you never ask a question you don’t know the answer to. Never make an adlib you haven’t prepared.
Actually, this is going to be a big problem as Self publishing becomes more prevalent with the growth of PoD and K%&$*e. Read any fiction on the web, and the intelligent person works out why e-books still cost money.